Read the excerpt from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The butler was awaiting my arrival; he had received by the sa
me post as mine a registered letter of instruction, and had sent at once for a locksmith and a carpenter. The tradesmen came while we were yet speaking; and we moved in a body to old Dr. Denman’s surgical theatre, from which (as you are doubtless aware) Jekyll’s private cabinet is most conveniently entered. The door was very strong, the lock excellent; the carpenter avowed he would have great trouble and have to do much damage, if force were to be used; and the locksmith was near despair. But this last was a handy fellow, and after two hour’s work, the door stood open. How does the complication affect the story? It resolves the story. It delivers exposition. It introduces a theme. It intensifies the conflict.
Any time there is a complication in a story, the pupose is to intensify the conflict. Exposition delivers necessary information (example: the setting), and a conflict does not resolve (end) a story nor introduce a theme.
