Question

Compare and contrast Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Lanyon from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Accepted Answer

Dr. Lanyon is a medical doctor who is well-respected and presumably wealthy, just like Dr. Jekyll. In the beginning of the novel, we learn that he is part of Jekyll's circle of friends. In contrast to Jekyll's stylish, calm nature, Lanyon is red-faced and boisterous. He also is the more rational of the two and the man who Jekyll calls for help when he finds himself falling victim to his own experiment.

Answer

Dr. Lanyon is one of the oldest friends in Dr. Jekyll's circle.
Some of the similarities that both characters share include the fact that they are both medical doctors who are highly respected in London, and each of them has his own views on science and how to approach their practices. They run in similar circles of wealthy, sophisticated, professional men who like the best things in life.

The doctor gave one of his pleasant dinners to some five or six old cronies, all intelligent reputable men, and all judges of good wine.

The key contrasts between Dr. Hastie Lanyon and Dr. Jekyll include that Lanyon, as opposed to Jekyll, is a believer of rational treatments and conventional medicine. He believes in prevention, as most physicians do, and he is quite hands-on with his methodology.
Jekyll, on the other hand, is more of an idealist. After all, isn't he busy preparing a weird concoction to separate his evil side from his good side? That's way against the typical mindset of any man of science.
Yet, there is additional evidence in the novel that shows that the biggest contrast between Jekyll and Lanyon has always been their approach to science. This is found in the letter that Jekyll writes to Lanyon in a cry for help.

DEAR LANYON, You are one of my oldest friends; and although we may have differed at times on scientific questions, I cannot remember, at least on my side, any break in our affection.

Alongside their differences in scientific opinion, we could also add that Lanyon's personality and physical appearance is different from Jekyll's.
Lanyon is described as ruddy, heavy, and with a brash demeanor.

He was a hearty, healthy, dapper, red-faced gentleman, with a shock of hair prematurely white, and a boisterous and decided manner.

Whereas Jekyll is described as decidedly "handsome," with a more peaceful nature and with a disposition for kindness.

He was a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a stylish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and kindness.

Still, notice that, even after parting ways with Jekyll, he saw Lanyon, of all people, as the only physician who could save him.
In the letter written by Jekyll, it is clear that Jekyll sees in Lanyon someone who was an equal in terms of ability and talents in the medical field.
While the two men argue about how things should be approached, in the end, the idealistic Jekyll falls prey to his own experiment and would obviously reach out to someone whom he would believe to be talented enough, or even more talented than him, to be able to save him from the huge disaster that he gets himself into.

Lanyon, my life, my honour my reason, are all at your mercy; if you fail me to-night, I am lost. You might suppose, after this preface, that I am going to ask you for something dishonorable to grant. Judge for yourself.

With these statements, we could also add that, between the two of them, Lanyon is also more mature and has more common sense than Jekyll.

Answer

There are few similarities between Dr. Lanyon and Dr. Jekyll aside from their friendship with Utterson and the obvious fact that they are both doctors. Dr. Jekyll values reputation above character. He is supposedly pious and does good works without understanding that it is not possible to live a moral life without possessing integrity. He seeks to avoid responsibility for his actions. The flamboyantly evil Mr. Hyde represents Jekyll’s darker side, but there is a slyness, weakness, and lack of reason in Jekyll that has given birth to his ugly twin.
Dr. Lanyon is a friend of Jekyll and Utterson and is the character in the book who is most wedded to rationality. He withdraws from Jekyll when he perceives that Jekyll has rejected science and reason. Jekyll turns to Lanyon when he needs reliable and dispassionate help. Contrary to reason, Lanyon does not refuse Jekyll, and this has dire consequences.

Answer

Lanyon and Jekyll are both medical doctors and old acquaintances. They also have Utterson as a close mutual friend, but beyond this they have little else in common. Lanyon is a stolid conservative type, who believes very much in sticking to the rules in his life and work. Jekyll is the opposite; he is adventurous and imaginative. He seeks after forbidden knowledge, to push limits, break rules. 
Lanyon is the voice of convention, the representative of law-abiding society, Jekyll is a romantic, and dangerous Faust-like figure, dabbling in unholy acts in order to pursue his lusts and passions under cover of his second self Hyde. His actions drive a wedge between him and Lanyon, while Utterson tries vainly to mediate between them. Lanyon, in fact, is so appalled when he sees the results of Jekyll’s unholy experiments that the shock literally kills him. 
Yet Lanyon and Jekyll are not simple polar opposites. Jekyll repents of his deeds and suffers terribly, as is clear in his confession. His longing for greater knowledge and freedom need not in itself have been a bad thing, the problem is that he was unable to curb the darker side of his nature, which leads to his alter ego Hyde ultimately taking over completely. Jekyll, in his confession, shows the kind of propriety, the concern to maintain social respectability, that is so evident in Lanyon.
Lanyon, meanwhile, is maybe not as narrow-minded and set in his ways as might be thought. When he is about to (unwittingly) witness Hyde’s transformation into Jekyll, Hyde issues a word of warning.

Will you be wise? will you be guided? will you suffer me to take this glass in my hand and to go forth from your house without further parley? or has the greed of curiosity too much command of you?  (chapter 9)

Hyde, then, asks whether Lanyon will be 'wise' and prudent, or not. Lanyon, for once, acts without caution, and decides to see the whole strange business through. He stays to witness Hyde's metamorphosis into Jekyll, which has the effect of almost blasting his senses. However, he does for a moment show the kind of curiosity and interest in unlawful things that Jekyll has in larger doses. It might be that he is not so rigid after all, although it is hard to imagine that he would ever have gone to the kind of lengths that Jekyll does.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Compare and contrast Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Lanyon from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

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