Scarica The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: A Detective Story of Good and Evil e più Appunti in PDF di Storia solo su Docsity! ANALYSIS of THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE The long short story (or short novel) was written by R. L. Stevenson in 1885 and can be considered a detective story – as the complete title suggests: it was inspired by a dream. At the time of publication it was a popular success, which was due in part to the story itself, the atmosphere, mystery and the horror it evoked. The setting is London, but it could easily be the Edinburgh of the Old Town that Stevenson knew so well. THE PLOT IN DETAIL The story begins with the introduction of one of the main characters – Mr Utterson – who is having his usual Sunday walk together with Mr Enfield, his distant kinsman. It is a cold evening and they are walking along a by-street when they notice a particularly bleak door. Mr Enfield tells Utterson a very odd incident he had witnessed: a ‘little man with an ugly look’ trampled calmly over a child’s body after the two had run into one another. Enfield himself had intervened to hold back the man and help free the little child. That very bad man was a certain Mr Hyde. Mr Utterson knows the name very well: it was mentioned in the will of one of his best friends, Dr Henry Jekyll. In fact, this will stated that in case of Dr Jekyll’s disappearance Edward Hyde was to inherit everything. Mr Utterson meets Hyde one night and he finds him “pale and dwarfish”: a deformed man who inspires disgust. He also notices he has the key of the bleak door: what is exceptional is that this door was in the rear part of Dr Jekyll’s house. Some months later, a very bad crime shakes London: Sir Danvers Carew – a Member of Parliament – was assassinated in the street at night by someone who looked like Mr Hyde. In fact, the murder has a witness: a maid-servant who saw everything from her window. Mr Hyde then seems to disappear, while Dr Jekyll is seen in society and by his friends (among whom Dr Lanyon) for two months. However, after some time he disappears and denies himself when Mr Utterson goes to pay him visit. So Mr Utterson decides to call on Dr Lanyon to ask him if he knows more: when he sees the man he almost doesn’t recognise him, since he has extremely changed. In his words, “he had his death-warrant written legibly upon his face”; in fact, a week after the visit Dr Lanyon dies and Mr Utterson is left with a letter sealed and marked “not to be opened till the death or disappearance of Dr Henry Jekyll”. Then, one night of a cold March, Utterson receives the visit of Poole – Dr Jekyll’s faithful butler. He is very worried about his master, who has not been seen in his house for about a week. What’s more, there is someone in his laboratory who doesn’t seem to be the Doctor, since his voice behind the lab’s door resembles more Mr Hyde’s one. Pool believes Mr Hyde has killed Dr Jekyll. When finally the door is broken down by Utterson and some servants, they found the dead body of Mr Hyde and nobody else. A large envelope is found on the desk, with the name of Mr Utterson on it. Inside, Henry Jekyll urges his friend to read Dr Lanyon’s narrative first and then his own confession. Before calling the police, Mr Utterson goes home and – in tranquillity – he reads the two narratives in which the mysteries will find the solution. Two flashbacks follow: the first is “Dr Lanyon’s Narrative”. Dr Lanyon describes the sequences of the transformation of Mr Hyde in Dr Jekyll he himself witnessed a night in December, an experience that left him shocked. The second flashback comes with the reading of “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case”, which is also the final chapter of the book. Here we are presented with Jekyll’s point of view about what he has discovered in man: he thinks he has learned to recognise the duality of man – the good part and the bad part of man’s nature. In his narration he talks about the composition of the drug he experiments, then about the first effects of the drug (when he feels real pain) and the second effects of the drug (when he begins to feel stronger, lighter, and free). Becoming Mr Hyde means being the evil side of Jekyll’s soul. CHARACTERS Mr Gabriel John UTTERSON: a lawyer and a bachelor; he is described as austere, inclined to solitude, but certainly a reliable friend. He becomes the investigator of “the case”, after he understands the strange link between the detestable Mr Hyde and his long-time friend Dr Jekyll. Dr Henry JEKYLL: a large, well-made man of fifty; he has several titles (Doctor in Medecine, Doctor of Civil Law, etc), but principally he is a scientist. He lives in a stately house, has servants and is well considered in society. He has a number of friends: Mr Utterson (his lawyer) and Dr Lanyon (his doctor) are two of his closest. As a scientist, he works in a laboratory which is located at the back of his house. He is a bachelor, too.
