The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Dispense di Inglese

Scarica The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde e più Dispense in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! The strange case of Dr Jecky and Mr Hyde 1. All about the author Robert Louis Stevenson was a novelist, essayist and poet in the Victorian era. He was born in Edinburgh in 1850; he suffered from serious bronchial trouble for much of his life. He was first tutored at home, then he started to attend the University of Edinburgh to study engineering and law, just to satisfy his father. As a youngman, he travelled widely looking for a friendly climate: he lived in the south of England, Germany, France and Italy. During this time he became one of the examples of the bohemian in Britain: his hair was long, his manners eccentric and he also took a dandy style. When he was 30 he married an american woman and, since his health kept deteriorating, they moved out first to Australia and then to Tahiti, where he died in 1894 2. Plot Mr Utterson is a respectable London lawyer and friend to a well-known scientist , Dr Henry Jekyll. He’s out for a walk with Mr Enfield when they pass a strange looking-door. Enfield recalls a disturbing story involving that door. There was a man, Mr Hyde, who had trampled over a little girl: when her family caught the mysterious man, they didn’t decide to call the police, but wanted him to pay off a cheque. WhenMr Hyde comes back the cheque was fromHenry Jekyll. The situation is made even stranger when Utterson explains that his friend, Dr Jekyll, has changed: when he’d die or disappear, then all his possessions are to go to Mr Hyde. A year later Mr Hyde kills attacking a man and as Utterson knows who’s the victim, he gets involved in the police investigation. One night Utterson is afraid Mr Hydemay have murdered his friend: when he reaches Dr Jekyll’s house, he finds the monster in the laboratory in Jekyll’s clothes. Eventually he find a letter where his friend explains the mystery of his double identity: he had created a potion able to release the evil side: Mr Hyde who had gradually achieved domination 3. Setting The novel is set in the London of the late Victorian age. The author uses London’s “double” nature to show the hypocrisy of Victorian society: ● Dr Jekyll represents the aristocracy, all refined and kind ● MrHyde instead symbolises its contradictions and secrets; moreover, it may embody poverty of the slums Also Jekyll’s residence shows this social dualism: ● The doctor’s official house has a handsome façade and its interior is elegant, it expresses wealth and comfort ● Anyway, there’s a back door used byMr Hyde which leads to a small yard in a sinister and mysterious block of building with no windows. It’s like a metaphor for the evil that lies behind the façade of civilization and refinement 4. Characters Throughout the novel the two characters appear to be two separate individuals. This occurs especially because they are so different in nature. As the reader we recognize that they are actually two different individuals living in the same body. Doing so, Stevenson shows the duality in human nature: every human being is composed of 2 contrasting sides: the good and evil which are in perpetual struggle ● Dr Jekyll is perceived as a kind, educated and popular scientist. He is the embodiment of 'goodness.‘ In the novel, Stevenson creates a hero in him, who aware of the evil in his own being, and sick of the duplicity in his life, succeeds by way of his experiments on himself in freeing the evil part of his being as Mr. Hyde ● MrHyde is perceived as a cruel, ugly, vicious man who commits wild acts of violence against innocent people. He’s pure evil and amoral; not only his psyche is different fromDr Jekyll’s but also his body is grotesque and deformed.He is the embodiment of 'evilness'. (the novel has also been considered a case demonstration of substance dependence) ● Utterson and Enfield represents the respectable Victorian world, which Jekyll rejects 5. Good vs Evil Stevenson creates in Dr. Jekyll andMr. Hyde, two equipotent, coexistent, and eternally opposed components that make up a “normal” individual. Here, good and evil are not related but are two independent entities, individuals even, different in mental and physical attributes and constantly at war with each other. Evil now does not require the existence of good to justify itself but it exists simply as itself, depicted as being the more powerful, the more enjoyable of the two, and in the end ultimately it is the one that leads to Dr. Jekyll's downfall and death. 6. Narrative technique The novel has multiple narrative structure with a complex series of points of view. They belong to Utterson, Mr Enfield and Dr Jekyll who speaks in first person with his final confession in the last chapter. The novel has many features of the crime fiction genre. To solve the mystery Stevenson create the character of Mr Utterson, that is the detective, and the novel is built around his inquiry into the mystery. 7. DUALISM A religion that is dualistic admits not only that the universe comprises good and evil, or light and darkness, but also that though these are eternally opposed they are coeternal, coexistent, and equipotent.the dualism of the human soul and the body which it animates was made clearer and is emphasised by the church. In the same vein, Christianity holds that evil is the necessary limitation of finite created beings and is a consequence of creation of beings possessed by free will. As an imperfection inherent in the manufacturing process of individuals, evil is tolerated by God. T61 The investigation of the mystery This text gives to the reader Mr Hyde’s physical description. He’s small, pale and plainly dressed, the look of him went somehow strongly against the watcher’s inclination. He gave an impression of deformity and he showed amurderous mixture of timidity and boldness, speaking with a husky and whispering voice: everything about him could disgust the watcher. Utterson says that he seems hardly human, something troglodytic, so primitive and animalistic that he seems prehistoric (tema del primitivo). The passage concludes with Utterson stating “for Omy poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend” T62 The scientist and the diabolical monster This passage is from the last chapter of the novel. Here the mystery is revealed by Dr Jekyll: he is also Mr Hyde. Jekyll explains all the events in a letter that was left in his laboratory for Mr Utterson.