The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: summary, characters and analysis

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) is a novel by the British writer Robert Luis Stevenson published in 1886.

It is a book of terror and intrigue in which a debate between good and evil is revealed, as well as the duality of the human being. Its origin is due to a nightmare of the author himself who, soon, on paper, became a classic of literature.

But what does this work have? What have been your interpretations? Let's learn more about this Stevenson book in context.

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Approach: the mystery of the door

Winter 1884 in London. Two men, Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enffield, walk through the streets of the city. When crossing a narrow street they come across a mysterious door.

Then, Enffield decides to narrate an event that happened right there some time ago and that he himself witnessed. A strange looking man stepped on a girl.

Faced with this situation, both the subject and the family reached an economic agreement so that what happened did not come out of there. The check the man gave the family was signed by Dr. Jekyll, and while Enfield initially hoped the check was a fake, it turned out to be true.

Knot: Who is Mr. Hyde?

Later, surprised by the story, Mr. Utterson, Jekyll's friend and lawyer, decides to review his will. To his surprise, Jekyll indicates that he leaves everything to Mr. Hyde, whether he dies or if he disappears for more than three months.

Afterwards, Mr. Utterson goes back to the door to investigate. There he has an abrupt encounter with Hyde. However, he is unable to find Jekyll at his home.

Mr. Utterson believes that Jekyll is being manipulated by Hyde and decides to go visit Dr. Lanyon, convinced that he is a good friend of Jekyll. However, Lanyon claims they are no longer related.

Later, Jekyll organizes a meeting of friends that Utterson attends to ask about his relationship with Hyde. Jekyll reassures Utterson, however, asks him for total discretion on the matter.

One night, a crime is committed, which is witnessed by a young woman from her window. Hyde kills Mr. Carew with a cane. When the police investigate the crime, they find an envelope addressed to the lawyer. Soon, the authorities discover that the killer is Hyde.

Uttersón decides to carry out the investigation on his own and goes to speak with Jekyll to explain his relationship with Hyde.

Then, Jekyll asks Utterson to calm down because, he affirms that Hyde will not return. To support his argument, she shows him a letter that, supposedly, Hyde had left her. The lawyer keeps the letter and leaves.

Some time later, Utterson receives an invitation from Jekyll through a note. Soon, the man is stunned to find that the handwriting of his friend Jekyll matches that of Hyde's envelope.

After a few days, Jekyll closes the doors of his house and decides not to receive any more visitors. Surprised, Utterson goes to speak with Lanyon, but he asks him not to mention Jekyll again. A few days later, Lanyon dies and leaves an envelope with the lawyer in which he indicates that its contents should only be discovered if Dr. Jekyll dies. Thus, Utterson fulfills his mission.

The lawyer tries to ignore the subject but on one of his walks next to the Enfield he runs into the door again. They also notice that Jekyll is watching from one of the windows of his house. Upon being discovered, Jekyll is horrified and quickly closes the window.

Outcome: the split personality

A short time later, Poole, one of the Jekyll household employees, visits Utterson at his home. Then, the butler shows his concern for Jekyll, who has been locked in his cabinet for days and suspects that he has been murdered.

Later, when they enter the laboratory, they discover Hyde's body lying on the ground. However, they do not find a trace of Jekyll. On the table was an envelope confirming Jekyll's death.

Utterson goes to his house and opens the envelopes Lanyon left behind with the idea of ​​finding out what's going on. In the letter Lanyon explains how he witnessed the transformation of Hyde into Jekyll, after he drank a potion.

The book ends with the confession of Henry Jekyll, which explains how he discovered the double human personality and, specifically, Hyde, his.

Analysis

Before examining this work in detail, it is important to look at its historical context. This is a narrative that is set in the Victorian era.

The end of the 19th century was marked by technological progress. However, as this progress became latent, society questioned the ideals prevailing, which resulted in a feeling of pessimism, especially in terms of artistic.

In this context, stories like this one by Stevenson appear, where the author himself shows his disappointment with these advances, he also highlights some tensions generated in this development. Which is reflected, not only in the particularity of its characters but also in the "dark" setting of the city of London.

As a result of the context of the novel and the author's own experiences, different interpretations have emerged. Some of them try to answer the following questions: Is this a story about the duality of the human being? Is it a representation of good versus evil? Is it a criticism of the prevailing society? Let's see, next, the different readings.

Duality of the human being

Who is Mr. Hyde? What is Dr. Jekyll really like? What do they mean? To answer these questions we will look at the meaning of duality, that is, the "manifestation of two different characters in the same person or state of affairs."

This concept is important because, in reality, duality has been present in humanity. We always feel the need to define things by their opposites, it also helps us to find our own identity.

In this case, good and evil are described in this narrative. On the one hand, Dr. Jekyll is the representation of kindness, kindness, and responsibility. Unlike his "other" me of his, Mr. Hyde, which reflects the evil side, not only through his personality, but also through his imposing features.

At the end of the book, Jekyll tries to explain it and sustains this duality of the human being:

Every day, and with the help of the two aspects of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I got closer to that truth whose partial discovery has led me to this terrible shipwreck and which consists in that man is not only one, but two.

Criticism of Victorian society

Could it be said that this book reflects the enormous disagreements that prevailed in Victorian times?

Taking into account the characters and places described in the book, a photograph of the society of the time can be taken.

All of them belong to an upper-middle social class that lives by appearances. Jekyll's character tries to preserve his public image. He is, after all, a good and respected doctor. Meanwhile, Hyde represents the "dark" side of this society.

It is evident that, in this period, people lived under a strict code of social conduct, which required discipline and honesty. But, in reality, everything was mere appearance, a facade to justify that an exemplary society guarantees its proper functioning. However, reality was bathed in great contradictions. There was, therefore, a double standard present, especially in the upper classes.

Is it a prediction of psychoanalysis?

Some research works suggest that, in some way, Robert Louis Stevenson predicted some bases that were later devised by Sigmund Freud, father of psychoanalysis, with his Ello, me and superego, with which he tried to explain the human personality.

While, in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde the author establishes a conflict between good (Jekyll) and evil (Hyde), in the same person. Two decades later Sigmund Freud describes the three categories that describe the Psyche human, one represents the impulsive part (It), another the rational part (I) and, finally, the moral part (superego).

Characters

Dr. Jekyll

Henry Jekyll is a renowned Doctor of Medicine and member of the Royal Society, who has a wealthy life and lives in a luxurious home. He is, apparently, an educated and honorable person.

Among Jekyll's beliefs is that of thinking that the human being is the result of the duality of two forces, good and evil. This leads him to investigate through a dangerous experiment to try to differentiate them. In this case, Mr. Jekyll would represent goodness.

Mr hyde

Edward Hyde is described as a small man, pale in complexion, and misshapen. His smile produces distaste.

Mr. Hyde is actually the cruel and evil part of Dr. Jekyll, part of an experiment of this to describe the duality of the human being.

Lord Utterson

He is a prestigious attorney who has been in a long-term friendship with Dr. Jekyll. According to the description in the book, Mr. Utterson is a man with a serious, reserved and sober countenance. A man of few words who, nevertheless, is capable of arousing esteem.

Serving as the thread of the story, he decides to investigate the relationship between his friend Jekyll and the murderer Mr. Hyde. He is the observer who tries to find a rational explanation for what happened.

Influence of the book on art

Shortly after its publication, Stevenson's narrative became a cult work. For this reason, different adaptations began to appear, especially in theater and cinema.

The first of them arises in 1887, with the premiere of a play in Boston, just one year after the publication of the play. From that moment, and to this day, Stevenson's novel remains latent through different artistic and expression media.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Luis Stevenson was a Scottish writer and poet who was born in 1850 into a wealthy family. He was the only child of the marriage of lighthouse engineer Thomas Stevenson and Margaret Isabella Balfour.

Stevenson had a tough childhood in terms of health, as he had breathing difficulties that caused intense coughing spells. To this, different nightmares were added that, later, influenced the writing of some of his stories.

Later, in his adulthood, he began law studies in Edinburgh, his hometown, after leaving engineering studies, which he had enrolled in under the influence of his progenitor. At the age of 20 Stevenson suffers from a respiratory condition that almost cost him his life.

With the idea of ​​improving his health, the writer moved to Grez (France), there he dedicated himself to writing. In France he also meets Fanny Osbourne, who would become his wife years later. In 1883 Stevenson published his work The island of the treasure.

In 1885 his health worsened considerably, it was that year when he began to write The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Later, he had a life marked by different trips and transfers of place. But, in the year 1894 he died from a cerebral hemorrhage.