Concetti Chiave
- The passage describes Mr. Utterson as a typical Victorian man with a rugged appearance, cold demeanor, and a helpful nature.
- Mr. Enfield, a distant relative and friend of Mr. Utterson, narrates an incident that occurred while walking home one night.
- Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield share a habitual friendship, often walking together despite having little in common.
- They encounter a neglected house with a door that triggers Mr. Enfield's memory of a disturbing incident with a little girl.
- The incident involves a 'little man' who tramples over a girl, highlighting the novel's theme of the dual nature of human consciousness.
This passage is set at night, in a side street in a busy neighbourhood of London. The Characters are Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield.
Description of Mr. Utterson
It starts with the description of Mr.Utterson.He's a typical Victorian man of rugged countenance, with a cold attitude, scanty, austere with himself, tolerant to the others and inclined to help. From a physical point of view, he is tall and good-looking.
The second section deals with Mr.Enfield's narration of what happened to him, one night, while he was walking back home in a side street in London.
Relationship between Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield
Mr. Enfield is Mr.Utterson's distant relative and friend. They always walk together on Sunday but they rarely speak; their friendship is a matter of habit, they do not have many things in common and they know it but, to them, it is more difficult to make new friends than going on with the usual patterns of behaviour.
While Mr.Utterson and Mr. Enfield are walking together, they see a back door of a house along the side street mentioned above.
The house is 'two storey high', it has 'no windows' and one door.
Both the facade and the door show 'the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence'; the door is 'blistered and distained'; it has ' neither bell nor locker'; the panels have been spoi
lt because 'matches had been struck on them', the moulding has been used by school boys to try their knives on it.
The incident with the girl
When Mr.Enfield sees the door, he's reminded of something he saw the night mentioned above and he tells Mr.Utterson about it.
A little girl was running and she crashed into a 'little man' who was coming from the opposite direction, she fell and he trampled over her. He had a ferocious expression on his face. A crowd of people surrounded them and Mr. Enfield noticed how everybody felt repulsion for that man, he conveyed a sensation of repulsion even in the doctor, who, meanwhile had reached them to help the little girl. All the expressions about 'the little man' connote 'the horrid', he's described as a monster. Mr. Hyde stands for 'pure evil', the dark side of the human soul and this is the reason why people can't bear his presence.
This suggests to us one of the main themes of the novel: the dual nature of human consciousness.
Domande da interrogazione
- What are the key characteristics of Mr. Utterson as described in the passage?
- How is the relationship between Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield characterized?
Mr. Utterson is depicted as a typical Victorian man with a rugged countenance, cold attitude, and austere nature. He is tolerant of others, inclined to help, tall, and good-looking.
Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield are distant relatives and friends who habitually walk together on Sundays. Their friendship is based on routine rather than shared interests, as they find it easier to maintain their habitual relationship than to form new friendships.
Accedi a tutti gli appunti
Tutor AI: studia meglio e in meno tempo
