Concetti Chiave
- Dr. Jekyll, a respectable doctor, attempts to separate his good and evil sides, but instead creates the malevolent Mr. Hyde.
- Mr. Hyde is a violent, cruel figure whose physical appearance mirrors his malicious nature, committing various crimes.
- Dr. Jekyll eventually loses control over his transformations, leading to his tragic demise as he locks himself away.
- The novel's characters, such as Mr. Utterson and Dr. Lanyon, represent the Victorian era's rationalism and materialism.
- The theme explores the duality of human nature and the Victorian moral standards, foreshadowing the era of psychoanalysis.
The novel consists in 10 chapters.
The Transformation of Dr Jekyll
Dr Jekyll is a respectable doctor and scientist who is obsessed with the conflict between the good side and the evil side of his personality. He wants to get rid of his negative half. He prepares a potion and drinks it, but the result is exactly the opposite. As a matter of fact, he turns into a short, horrid and evil man, Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde is also violent and cruel and he commits many crimes. For example, during one of their walks, the lawyer Mr. Utterson and his cousin Mr. Enfield witness an act of cruelty committed by Mr. Hide against a little girl. When Dr Jekyll wants to turn back into his usual self, all he has to do is to drink the potion again. During the day, Dr Jekyll leaves from the front door of his house, while at night, when he turns into Mr. Hyde, he leaves from the back door.
The Control of Mr Hyde
However, Dr Jekyll loses control over Mr. Hyde; as a matter of fact, he doesn’t need the potion anymore to turn into Hyde. Dr Jekyll locks himself in his laboratory and kills himself. He leaves a long letter which is a sort of spiritual will. In this letter he explains what has happened to him and leaves all his goods to Mr. Hyde.
Dr Jekyll: he’s a respectable doctor and scientist and decides to try to separate his good side from his evil side trough some experiments. However, the result he gets is different from his expectations, since he creates Mr. Hyde, who embodies his negative half.
Mr. Hyde: he’s short, ugly and wicked. His disgusting physical appearance mirrors his low morality and his cruelty. As a matter of fact Hyde is willing to commit any sort of crime.
Mr. Utterson: he’s a lawyer and he’s fair, serious, fond to justice and strict. He embodies the obsession with rational explanations and the refusal of supernatural of the Victorian society.
Mr. Enfield: he’s a cousin of Mr. Utterson. They usually take walks on Sundays without talking to each other.
Dr Lanyon: he’s a former friend and colleague of Dr. Jekyll and together with Mr. Utterson he embodies rationalism and materialism.
Mr. Poole: he’s Jekyll’s loyal and faithful butler. As he understands that something is wrong with his master he leads Utterson to break down the door of his laboratory. They find the dead body of Hyde wearing Jekyll’ s clothes and a letter from Jekyll to Utterson, where he promises to explain him everything.
Mr. Guest: he’s Utterson clerk and an expert of handwriting. He finds out a particular resemblance between an invitation card written by Jekyll and a farewell note left by Hyde.
What is the Theme of Dual Personality?
Man’s double personality: man embodies good and evil and the conflict between these two opposite sides may bring about his self-destruction.
The double side of the moral standards of the Victorian age.
The different and often contradictory pieces that made up man’s personality, which announces the age of psychoanalysis.
Domande da interrogazione
- What is the main conflict Dr. Jekyll faces in the novel?
Dr. Jekyll is obsessed with separating the good and evil sides of his personality, but his experiments result in the creation of Mr. Hyde, who embodies his negative half.
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