Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: a short summary, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: a short summary e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: a short summary The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a 1886 novel, written by Robert Louis Stevenson. This novel had its origin in a dream: the author, afflicted by tuberculosis and persecuted by insomnia and melancholy, wrote in his diary that he had dreamed of a man in a laboratory who had swallowed a drug and transformed himself into a different being. It was the gothic aspect of this story that excited him and made him produce a first draft. The book had an extraordinary success after the publication, indeed 40,000 copies were sold in six months and after only two years a theatrical adaptation was performed. Today there are approximately 20 films about Stevenson’s novel. The main character of the story is Mr Utterson, a respectable London lawyer and friend to the brilliant scientist Dr Henry Jekyll, a gentleman of impeccable reputation. One day during a walk Mr. Utterson and his cousin Mr. Enfield pass near a basement that reminds Mr. Utterson of a rather unusual episode. Some time before, Mr. Enfield in fact witnessed a bizarre event: a strange and horrible-looking man, with an evil grin, came out of the basement in a big hurry, hitting a little girl without stopping. Fortunately, however, he managed to catch up with him and convince him to pay compensation to the girl's parents. Then, an even stranger event happened: the man, who was named Edward Hyde, paid off his debt thanks to a check signed by Dr. Henry Jekyll. Utterson begins to question the odd behaviour of his friend, so he investigates further into the life of his friend. Utterson discovers a story so terrifying, that he can hardly believe it. In fact, his friend has created a potion able to release his evil side, Mr Hyde. These two beings are in an eternal struggle; once Hyde is released from hiding, he takes control of the Jekyll aspect, so that the individual has only two choices. On the one hand, the man may choose a life of crime or, on the other hand, Jekyll must eliminate Hyde, by killing him. Hence Jekyll's suicide is the final and only choice. The novel has a rather complex narrative structure, so there are four narrators, each of them tells the story from their own point of view. The first one is Mr Utterson, who carries out the investigation of these strange events; then there is Mr Enfield, Utterson's cousin, who tells the episode of Mr Hyde and the little girl. The last part of the narration takes place through two letters read by Utterson, as the last two narrators are now dead. The first letter is from Dr Lanyon, who says that he had seen Jekyll turn into Hyde; the last letter is from Dr Jekyll, who tells of his experiment and of the duplicity of the human being, divided into good and evil. The story takes place in London in the 1870s and most scenes happen at night in a gloomy atmosphere, lighted only by a few dim lamps and often accompanied by fog and darkness, for example when Mr Hyde hit the little girl. The theme of the double is present all over the novel, in fact Stevenson was familiar with the theme of the double from his youth, as the Calvinism of his family gave him a sense of man's ambivalence. Examples with this theme can be found starting with the setting, in fact London had a 'double' nature and reflected the hypocrisy of Victorian society: the respectable West End was in contrast with the poverty of the East End slums. This dublicity is emphasised also by Jekyll’s house façade, one is the front of the house and a part of a square, the other one is the back of the house and a part of a dreadful block of buildings. However, where the theme of the double is more evident is the character of Jekyll: Dr Jekyll represents the good and this is also suggested by his handsome appearance and his virtuous attitude, while Mr. Hyde represents the evil, in fact he is not harmoniously proportioned, he is pale and slight and his hands are dark and hairy. Moreover, as Mr Hyde gradually takes control of Dr Jekyll, he grows in stature. Someone says that the description of Mr. Hyde is conditioned by Darwin's theory of evolution, as he might portray the primitive man, since he is small, hairy and has the instincts and manners typical of prehistoric man.