Riassunto per capitoli del romanzo "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", Appunti di Inglese

Scarica Riassunto per capitoli del romanzo "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE CHAPTER 1 – The story of the door - Mr Utterson: we are told/we learn that he is a very well-known London’s lawyer in London. He is a quiet, kind and serious man. He leads a very quiet life. He is shy with strangers and afraid of showing his feelings, but he is kind and good with friends. He doesn’t allow himself many enjoyable things in life: he eats and drinks simply. He lives alone and he has a very quiet life. He has some friends who trust him a lot, indeed they always tell him their secrets (he doesn’t have many friends, but people trust him and reveal him their secrets; he is a very trusted man). - Mr Richard Enfield is one of Mr Utterson’s closest friends, and he is also a relative of him (he is one of Mr Utterson’s cousins). Although they walk together every Sunday (they like doing this), they don’t talk much to each other. We are not told much about him, despite the fact that he plays a central role in chapter 1, as he tells “the story of the door”. The story of the door: During a Sunday walk in a nice neighbourhood, Utterson and Enfield notice a house that stands out from the others. Mr Enfield says he knows a story about this house, and he tells it to Mr Utterson. The street was empty, except a little girl and a man. They ran into each other at a corner, and the little girl fell down. The little girl was on the ground, and the man walked right over her body. There was an angry crowd in the street which went to see what just happened. The girl was fine, but she was crying loudly, since she was scared about what happened to her. People threatened the man to tell everything he has done, and he was obliged to give 100 pounds to the child’s family as an apology. He stated that finding all that money at night was difficult, but the man said that he knows where he could find them. He went to a house, opened the door with a key he had, he entered and went out with a part of the money. He had 10 pounds in notes, and a cheque for ninety pounds, which was signed by another man very well known in London, which sounded very strange. He waited until the bank was opened and the morning after the bank paid the cheque he owed the family of the girl. The man paid his debt and it was not a forgery as the other people who were present thought. - Mr Hyde is a short and ugly man, strange and peculiar in his appearance. There is something strange in his appearance, something ugly and not pleasant. Mr Enfield was immediately disgusted and felt that he already knew him, even though he had never seen him. We can assume/we can suppose/imagine he is not a kind person. He is referred “a small ugly man”. He is portrayed in a very negative way as you understand from the expressions: “strange”, “unpleasant”, “physically deform”, “disgusting”, “hated” “disliked”. He is hated by everyone for having walked over her without stopping. He usually appears as night and it’s the reason why they are not able to describe him in detail. His name includes the verb (to) hide, even though the spelling is different: it is probably referred to his dark side, which usually appears at night. The time of the day when he usually appears: streets are empty so there are fewer possibilities to meet people. This name reveals a fundamental aspect of his personality. He appears at night as if he didn’t want to be seen. The house where he probably lives is dark and dirty, whereas the others are “bright”, “cheerful” and “clean”. The story of the door takes place in a quiet street with bright, cheerful and clean houses, except the house where Mr Hyde probably lives, which is dirty and dark. The house reflects the character’s personality. The house is dark. Black is the predominant colour of Mr Hyde and the colour of the night, when he usually appears. The dirty of his house may/might can reflect the dirty nature of this man (he commits a “dirty action”, a negative and bad action). Dr Jekyll is the rational and conscious part of man, which appears in daylight, that is during the day. He reveals to the other people, whereas/instead/on the contrary Mr Hyde represents/embodies the asleep part of the man which awakens during the nights in dreams. A dream was probably the origin of the novel (it was written after a dream). Dr Jekyll is a scientist but he has strange ideas about science. SUMMARY: Three main characters are introduced in chapter I: Mr Utterson, Mr Enfield, Mr Hyde. Mr Utterson and Mr Enfield are having one of their usual walks throw the streets of London on a Sunday morning. While they are having their walks, Mr Enfield decides to tell his close friend a story, “The story of the door”. One night, Mr Enfield was walking alone along the same street when he noticed a short ugly man and a little girl who was running. He bumped into the girl and trembled over her without stopping. The girl’s family and Mr Enfield were enraged/got furious/very angry/upset and obliged the small man to pay 100 pounds as compensation for the damage. The small man went into a house - which was probably/presumably his house as he had the keys- and came out with 10 pounds in notes and a cheque for 90 pounds. The cheque had to be signed by Dr Jekyll. Mr Enfield recognises Dr Jekyll’s signature on the cheque. VOCABULARY: - a compensation for a damage (risarcimento per un danno) - (to) compensate a damage - (to claim (esigere) a compensation - (to) ask for - (to) be given/ (to) get - (to) sign a cheque → If you don’t have enough money on your bank account when you do a cheque, - the cheque is a forge (un assegno a vuoto, un falso) - (to) recognise a signature CHAPTER 2 – The search for Mr Hyde Mr Utterson’s investigation about Hyde: When Mr. Utterson became aware of the inconvenience between Dr Jekyll and Hyde, he remembered a will written by a close friend of him, Dr Jekyll. In this will, Mr Jekyll left everything he owned to Hyde in case of disappearance. Mr Utterson decided to investigate Mr Hyde, worrying for his dear friend. He decided to go to a close friend of theirs: Dr. Lanyon. Dr. Lanyon tells Utterson that he hasn’t seen Jekyll for a long time, as he no longer shares his ideals about science. Witness: The police found evidence they need that proved Hyde’s guiltiness (the young woman/servant who saw the murder, so she was a direct witness, a piece of Mr Hyde’s stick in the dead body of the old man and the letter Mr Hyde left), so they started to search for him in the whole city, since after the terrible murder he had disappeared. They wanted to put up pictures of him all over London, but later came up that’s was quite difficult to do that. The main problem was that they didn’t have a photograph of Hyde and the ones who had seen him could not describe him, they could only agree on the fact that he was ugly and small. - Jekyll burnt the envelope of the letter Hyde sent him. - No one actually came with a letter, because Poole did not see anyone leaving a letter. Investigation by the police: The police found a piece of the murder’s stick which was next to the man’s body. They searched the body and they found a wallet, papers and a letter addressed to Utterson. The police went to Mr Utterson’s house, asking for information about Hyde. Utterson knew who he was and went to his house, but Mr Hyde wasn’t there. Then, they went to the bank and discovered that Hyde had thousands of pounds in his account. Then they promised Utterson they would find Hyde. SUMMARY: Mr Hyde walks throw the foggy streets of London. The murder of Mr Carew, a member of Parliament. The young woman is the high witness. The police found a piece of Mr Hyde’s stick. The police found in Hyde’s room the other part of the stick, a wallet, a letter and the cheque which was burning in the fireplace. One-night an old man with white hair Mr Carew, a well-known was murder in a London’s foggy street by a small ugly man who killed him with his stick (the dead body of a member of Parliament was found in the street by the police). A young servant witness to the murder from the window of her bedroom. She fainted but when she woke up she called the police. The police found a piece of the stick near the corpse and called Mr Utterson. The lawyer recognised the stick and the police went to Hyde’s house to search for evidences of his guiltiness. The police go to Mr Hyde’s house to search his room, where they found the other pieces of the stick and a cheque book burning in the fireplace. This was evidence enough to prove that Mr Hyde was the murderer/to prove Hyde’s involvement in the murder. The night is referred to as a key moment/ is of vital importance/is significant in all 3 chapters:  in chapter 1 , the night is the time of the day when “the story of the door” is set;  in chapter 2 , Mr Hyde appears to Mr Utterson for the first time at night;  in chapter 3 , the Carew’s murder happens at night. Both episodes, that is the two episodes of violence by Hyde, reflect his dirty nature. The both/common denominator in these episodes, the one of the girl and the murder of the old man, is: - in both episodes Mr Hyde overreacts (the word “overreact” stands for a reaction which is not proportioned to the actual danger). For this reason, the reaction is not justified at all. - physical violence is used in both episodes. In the first episode, the victim is a little girl, who get hurt, but in the second episode Mr Hyde goes further, because he kills a person, an old man. - both victims are helpless people, who don’t represent a danger. Both the girl and the old man probably didn’t notice Mr Hyde at all, but they became his victims (the girl is only hurt, but the old man was killed). None of them attacked him (they were simply going away) and they were hurt or killed by Hyde. - bad actions or crimes are always committed at night; the same person appears on the scene of the crime/violence. NOTES: - The murder is observes/seen by a young woman. - Mr Utterson identifies Mr Carew. He is asked to the police to identify the dead man. He also recognises the stick (the murder weapon). - Mr Hyde’s servant, who opens the door when the police arrived at his house. She is an old woman with an evil face. The idea of sin and evil is underlines once again. - The police see comfortable rooms, with pictures but they are untidy. The lack of order reflects the moral order in Mr Hyde’s personality. - The chequebook is burning in the fireplace. - The police discover that Hyde had thousands on his bank account. - Is Hyde extorting money to Jekyll? He is blackmailing him and Jekyll to to reveal some secret about him. Dr Jekyll is asked about Hyde several times, but he answers that he went away. - Hyde’s violence started in chapter 1 and increases/grows as the story went on. - Hyde probably (but we don’t know) bumped into the girl accidentally, but intentionally killed the old man. VOCABULARY: - (to) make one’s will (fare testament) - (to be in danger/ (to) be at risk - (to) warn (mettere in guardia) - (to) put in danger CHAPTER 4 - An incident at the window The police continue to search for Mr Hyde, and offer a cash reward for those who have information about him. His past comes to light, and it turns out he’s done terrible things. Since there’s no sign of Mr Hyde, Mr Utterson thinks his friend Dr Jekyll is safe. Indeed, he seems quiet, and sees his friends almost every day for two months. On the 8th January, Mr Utterson, Dr Lanyon and other guests dine at Dr Jekyll’s house. Mr Utterson calls his friend’s house on the 12th of January, but Poole tells him that Dr Jekyll is not home. Mr Utterson returned on the 14th. This time the doctor is at home, but he can’t see anyone because he is ill. The next day the same thing happens. Mr Utterson decides to visit Dr Lanyon, and finds him very ill, in fact tells him that he will die in a few weeks. Mr Utterson asks about Dr Jekyll, but Dr Lanyon tells him that he no longer wants to hear about him and that it is as if he were dead to him. After this meeting Mr Utterson returns home and writes a letter to Dr Jekyll, in which he asks him what is going on and why he quarrelled with Dr Lanyon. The next day, Dr Jekyll answers his letter and tells him that he has decided not to see anyone in the future and that he cannot explain the argument with Dr Lanyon. “The only thing you can tell him is that he did a horrible thing, and this is his punishment”. Utterson begins to think his friend is crazy. Dr Lanyon dies three weeks later, and Mr Utterson goes to his funeral. The night after the funeral he receives a letter from Dr Lanyon, but the second envelope says that he must open it only after Dr Jekyll has disappeared. The disappearance of Dr Jekyll was already foreseen in his will, in fact Mr Utterson becomes suspicious. He often goes to Dr Jekyll’s house, but he’s always in the lab, and he doesn’t want anyone to see him. Mr Utterson decides to stop going to his house. One Sunday, Mr Utterson and Mr Enfield meet for their usual walk. They start talking about Mr Hyde, how they hate him and how he’s missing. They then enter an old house, the laboratory of Dr Jekyll, to take a look. Dr Jekyll was sitting at a window. They ask him how he is, and he replies that he will die soon. They ask him to take a walk with them, but he says that he would but it is better not. Mr Utterson says that they’ll stay and talk to him from there. Dr. Jekyll says he was going to suggest it, and that would make him happy. Suddenly, however, his expression changes and the smile disappears, giving way to an expression of horror. Dr Jekyll closes the window and leaves. “The incident” refers to the moment when Mr Utterson and Mr Enfield enter Jekyll’s garden and visit him, since they wanted to check Jekyll’s health. The two friends are upset. The house where is Jekyll is probably/presumably the house of Mr Hyde, the house in front of which the story of the door takes place. Carew murder took place two months before. Mr Hyde is identified as the murderer and the police had been looking for him, but he seemed to be disappeared (the police weren’t able to find him, without success), which would be something positive for the doctor. Indeed, Mr Utterson is even relieved, because before Hyde represented a danger for the doctor (Mr Utterson fears that Hyde is blackmailing the doctor and that he is giving him money to keep him silent, as the cheque was signed by Jekyll). Jekyll is found sitting at the door. He doesn’t want to go out with his friends. He doesn’t want to let them him with the excuse that the house is untidy. Their friends have been looking for him for weeks and have gone to his house several times, asking the servants to see him/to talk to him, but they are always told that the doctor didn’t want to see anyone or isn’t at home. They begin to think that something might happen with him and they don’t understand why he doesn’t want to see them. He is found sitting at the window: this is an incident, since he feels weak after the Carew’s murder and looks ill. Mr Utterson is a lawyer and people often entrust him their secrets, such as their will, which has to be carried out after their death, or you can give to him into Dr. Jekyll. Lanyon informs Utterson that the short man who showed up at his door was actually Mr Hyde, the murderer Dr Lanyon narrates a very strange episode which took place at night. A small ugly man went to Lanyon’s house to collect the medicines he needed. The man asked the small man an explanation. The man changed his appearance completely and transformed into the doctor. Lanyon was impressed. An experiment was carried out by Mr Hyde in Lanyon’s house. The experiments showed that by using the powders Mr Hyde could turn into Dr Jekyll. Lanyon was so terrified that he became ill and probably died because of the experiments he has witnessed (he had seen it with his own eyes). Mr Hyde went to Lanyon’s house wearing Jekyll’s clothes and carrying out the experiments the drugs sold by the chemist. Jekyll had sent Lanyon a letter where he asked him for a favour: Lanyon had been asked to go to his house and collect a book and special powders from a special cabinet, and bring them to his house because a small and ugly an would go to Lanyon house to collect them. This man was clearly Hyde wearing’s clothes (the clothes remain the same, since he is sometimes Dr Jekyll and sometimes Mr Hyde). What Lanyon saw during the experiments made him ill and he died as consequence of it. Jekyll was ill for an unknown reason. The book I a record of the doctor’s experiments and the powders were bought at the chemist. A key-episode in the novel is an experiment carried out by Mr Hyde, which takes place at night. All the episode takes place at night and Mr Hyde is always involved in them. The night represents a sort of thread (what you need for sewing) running threw the novel and all central episodes regular take place at night and evolve Mr Hyde. A double: it can be a person similar to another person, referring to different people, or one of the two sides of the same person. It can be something outside the character (reflecting the character’s nature and actions) or it can be within the character (reflecting one of the two opposing sides of the same person). Mr Hyde and Dr Jekyll are not two different identities. The picture of Dorian Gary: the double is reflected by the picture, which changes and reflects Dorian’s actions. As Dorian commits bad actions, the picture starts changing. Both novels contain the theme of the double which is dealt with in different ways, but you can easily compare Dorian on the one hand with Hyde on the other hand, considering that both novels where written during the late- Victorian Age. The double was dealt with not only by Stevenson or Wilde, but also Mary Shelley or Edgar Allan Poe. This theme is repeatedly dealt during the 19th century with the Victorian Age, which is a period with a strict and severe moral code. The picture of Dorian Gary is taken in an attic/in an an- used room upstairs. CHAPTER 7 – Henry Jekyll’s Statement When Mr. Utterson finished reading Lanyon’s letter, he picked up the paper from Dr. Jekyll’s laboratory. It is possible to divide the letter into two parts, the first in which Dr. Jekyll explains his theory about the dual identity of people. According to the doctor, everyone has a double personality: a bad boy and a good one. His good and kind personality is that of Dr. Jekyll, while the bad one is Mr. Hyde. In the second part, he tells of all the cruel actions carried out by Hyde, such as trampling on the body of the child, beating an old man and the murder of Carew. At the end, he explains that he could no longer control the bad part, that is Mr. Hyde. VOCABULARY: - pick up= prendere raccogliere - fight against each other = litigare tra di loro - chemist= farmacia - damage= danno, danneggiare - bank account= cono bancario After reading Dr Lanyon’s letter, Mr Utterson becomes aware of Dr. Jekyll’s statement. A statement is usually a sentence, something which is affirmed. In the book, the word “statement” stands for “will” or “confession”. A potion he used to prepare using some powder. The effect of the potion at first was that he felt ill and this explains the so called “incident at the window”, why he was looking sick and weak sitting at the window. The potion he prepared made him sick, but he was able to keep the two identities under control. The potion didn’t always work: on some occasions Dr. Jekyll was not able to control this evil identity, with the consequence that he committed evil/bad actions or a crime. He admits the presence of a double within himself. The double is a second identity he is not able to control. At fist he tries and manages to keep the two identities separates and this explains the fact that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are not seen at the same time. The person can only appear with a single identity. He succeeds in keeping the two identities separated thanks to/by means of the potion. He cannot show himself with the who identities at the same time. He can only appear as a person at time. He changed to Mr Hyde even against his will and commits bad actions he shouldn’t commit. There are clear references to the Victorian moral code and the concept of “respectability”. He admits the existence of a double identity in himself. The wo identities are needed in two different concepts. The good one is needed in public to show himself in society, where he has to appear as a serious man who has a respectable life. The evil identity is needed to satisfy his pleasures, his cravings/desires. People had to pay a price if they want to be happy. The price Dr. Jekyll is that he has to pay to be happy to transform into Mr Hyde → Dr. Fosters is a Renaissance’s scholar who symbolize the Renaissance man with his thirst for knowledge. The more you know the more you can understand. At the end he has to admit that human knowledge is limited. You will never be able to understand everything. The much you learn you will never achieve a universal knowledge. He signs a pact/alliance He makes a pact with the devil. The devil will enable him to know everything for 28 years, and when the years finish, he will be damn and send to hell. The pact with the devil is a metaphor. Singing a pact with the devil is not realistic, it can mean using means /instruments which are not always moral acceptable or correct (the devil stands for evil), but which you need to reach a certain goal (his goal is to have a complete knowledge). He is ready to pay this price in order to know and to be satisfied/happy. Dr. Jekyll can be seen as a sort of Mr. Fosters. He is a Victorian man and has to conform to Victorian ideal of respectability (integration and acceptance), but he can’t satisfy his desire. The only way to do that is to transform into Mr Hyde. In both works, if you want to fulfilled your desires, you have to pay a price, that is to use means which are not morally acceptable or to admit the existence of a Mr Hyde in yourself. As Dr. Jekyll he cannot achieve pleasure. Only being Mr Hyde, he can do this: he has to accept his evil part. On the one hand there was the well-known and respected Dr. Jekyll, but on the other hand there was the evil and cruel Mr Hyde. If he wants to achieve the moral satisfaction. he had to be Mr Hyde as well. He uses the trick of the potion to do this. With the passing of the time Mr Hyde loses control of this trick and he becomes Hyde when he didn’t want to and when he is evil he even commits crimes. Reputation in the Victorian Age stands for “respectability”. To be accepted in society he had to be Dr. Jekyll but to be satisfied he had to be Mr Hyde. CHAPTER 8 – The sad conclusion In this chapter is explained the last part of the letter found in Jekyll’s laboratory. In the letter, Jekyll tells how the facts evolved after Carew’s death. Mr Hyde had been identified as guilty, so he had to hide. The only way not to be found was to turn into Dr. Jekyll, but he did not have the potion available. He decides to write a letter to Dr Lanyon and ask him to go to his laboratory to collect the powders to create it. In the evening, he goes to his house and the doctor observes the transformation from Hyde to Jekyll. He returns to the laboratory as Jekyll, but begins a long period of malaise (malessere) and pain for him, in which the two identities collide and the bad side becomes more and more powerful. Dr Jekyll decides to take his life, to put an end to his unhappy life. At first, he turns in Hyde only at night or in the lab, but then the risk was to turn into Hyde when he is in daylight, when everyone could see him. He had to be identified as the murderer of Mr. Carew. VOCABULARY: - trust someone= fidarsi di qualcuno - put down= mettere giù - kill himself= suicidarsi, uccidersi - to be afraid of someone= avere paura di qualcuno The theme of the novel is man’s duality or man’s identity. The final problem/issue is ‘who is man?’ and the answer is, according to the novel, that each man has two identities, that is there is a duality inside man.  The evil identity stands for feelings, instincts, the irrational, the subconscious.  The good identity stands for rationality, respectability. According to Freud and his Theories of Psychoanalysis, which appeared later, since they were formulated at the beginning of the 2oth century, exist this duality inside man, and Stevenson anticipated this theory. The two authors use different definitions: Stevenson speaks about an evil and good identity inside man, whereas Freud refers to the conscious and subconscious, the rational and irrational/unknown part of man. The unconscious part emerges like in Mr Hyde in dreams, since while you’re sleeping your rationality is asleep.