Forgery

The creation of a false document or imitation of someone’s writing intended to appear genuine.

An imitation of someone else’s writing or document intended to deceive. Utterson suspects that Jekyll has produced a letter pretending to be from Hyde.

Guest establishes a resemblance; Utterson infers forgery. Structurally, Stevenson gives the reader important evidence while allowing the investigator’s mistaken explanation to keep the mystery alive. The document seems to offer reliable written evidence, but its meaning still depends on who interprets it.

Utterson’s implied explanation is forgery. ‘Henry Jekyll forge for a murderer!’ is his horrified thought, not spoken dialogue or an authoritative explanation from the narrator (Chapter 5). He believes his friend may have manufactured evidence to protect Hyde.

A false document or signature made to appear genuine.

Definition

How each exam board covers it

Edexcel GCSE English Literature · 1ET0

OCR GCSE English Literature · J352

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Eduqas GCSE English Literature · C720