Question

Read the excerpt from chapter 4 of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

An ivory-faced and silvery-haired old woman opened the door. She had an evil face, smoothed by hypocrisy: but her manners were excellent. Yes, she said, this was Mr. Hyde’s, but he was not at home; he had been in that night very late, but he had gone away again in less than an hour; there was nothing strange in that; his habits were very irregular, and he was often absent; for instance, it was nearly two months since she had seen him till yesterday.

The plot creates
by making the reader wonder why Mr. Hyde is away from home for such extended periods of time

Answer 1

suspense — the unexplained absences make readers question Hyde’s activities and motives, building tension and curiosity about what he’s hiding.