THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR HYDE, Schemi e mappe concettuali di Inglese

Scarica THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR HYDE e più Schemi e mappe concettuali in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE • AUTHOR: "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is a novella by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, born in Edimburgh in 1850. One of his most famous novels is Treasure Island (1881). He was a sickly boy and a young rebel. He had a respiratory illness; he stayed in bed a lot, that’s why he began writing. He was curious about the world and travelled a lot. In 1876 he met his wife, Fanny Osbourne, an American woman and he moved to California to join her. He became a famous author and published over 24 works until his death in 1894. • PUBLICATION: The legend tells that Stevenson wrote the novella in 3 days, but his wife was shocked by the first version and forced him to burn it and rewrite it. He wrote the new version in six weeks while he was sick and drugged, not in three days. The novel was published in January 1886 • GENRE: Gothic mystery story: it’s part detective-story or mystery, part Gothic horror and part science fiction. Gothic novels are full of monsters, ghosts, poltergeists, villains and damsel in distress. The main settings are castle, abandoned churches, labs, graveyards and woods. Sounds: screams, steps approaching, storms, chains, door’s shuting. Atmosphere: fog, groomy. Most of the actions are in the dark. Stevenson uses London fog to create a dark atmosphere. • SETTING: We know that The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde takes place in London sometime in the 1800s, in the Victorian Era (1837 – 1901). He chose this city because there was the Victorian morality: you must be respectable, rich, you must work and you mustn’t drink, smoke ect. In London there were two different parts: respectable West End (rich and good), disreputable East End (poor and evil). Victorian London was a dramatic place: there were rich people in West End, but there were also very poor people, living in squalid conditions in the slums, in East End, where poverty was considered like a disease. Lanyon’s house and Jekyll’s house are in respectable areas. Hyde was born in a Lab behind Jekyll’s house. Hyde’s house is in Soho, a part of London that was associated with crime and immoral living in the Victorian period. Houses were squalid and overcrowded, so people spent a lot of time out on the streets, even when it was very cold. The area looks similar to Hyde’s character, full of crime and desperation. It is in contrast with Jekyll’s pleasant house, set in Harley Street on Cavendish Square, full of doctors and medicine. Their houses are like the human personality: beautiful outside, but dangerous and evil inside. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde one’s reputation is very important, that’s why Jekyll has a big and beautiful house. Behind his house, there is Hyde’s house. Jekyll repressed Hyde for ages and he suddenly comes out in a violent way. Gossip is wrong, so if someone ruins one’s reputation, he ruins his own reputation at the same time. • STORYTELLER: The narrator is anonymous and speaks in the third person. The novella is divided into ten chapters: eight narrated from the point of view of the lawyer Utterson; in the last two chapters, Dr Lanyon and Dr Jekyll report their experiences from their own perspectives as confessional letters. • CHARACTERS: The inspiration for the novella is real: Dr Hunter, one of the most important people at that time, lived in Leicester Square and his house is Jekyll’s house; he did experiments on corpses and he needed them, so he paid resurrection men. They digged up and delivered the corpses to him. They put them on his doorstep William Brody: he was a city counsellor leading a double life. He was heavily drunk in the night and married; he had two mistresses and five illegitimate children. He had a second job too: he repaired locks and he became a burglar. Chantrelle: he was a French Stevenson’s friend, kind, funny. He drugged his wife and killed her, then he invited four guests to poison them with opium. Stevenson was shocked and this was inspiration for his characters. Vivet: the first man with bipersonality, discovered after the publication of the novella. Dr. Henry Jekyll: he is a respected scientist, welcoming and he has many friends, but sometimes he feels like an impostor. He discovers the dark side of science. Since he was a child, he was interested into dualism. He wants to bring out his 'second' nature: he uses a mysterious potion, transforming himself into Mr Hyde - his evil alter ego; when he is Hyde, he feels free, without civil laws. Jekyll tries to control Hyde, but at the end of the novella Hyde takes over and this brings them to death. Mr. Edward Hyde: he is short, less developed, young, ugly, scary and he looks like a monster. He is short because he is the evil part, repressed for 50 years. People consider him a monster. Mr. Gabriel John Utterson: he is a lawyer and Dr. Jekill’s friend Dr. Hastie Lanyon: he is a doctor and one of Dr. Jekyll’s closest friends Mr. Poole: Dr. Jekyll’s butler. Mr. Richard Enfield: Mr. Utterson’s cousin Sir Danvers Carew: An old nobleman and a Utterson’s client