Dec 15, 2009

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | Introduction

Robert Louis Stevenson's supernatural story The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (most commonly known by the shortened title Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) became an immediate best-seller in Great Britain and America when it was published in 1886. The novel has also earned accolades from the academic community for its artistic style and penetrating psychological themes. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is based on the story of Edinburgh's infamous Deacon Brodie, who was discovered to have been living a double life, coupled with a dream Stevenson had one night, what he called "a fine bogey tale," about a man who drinks a potion made from a white powder and subsequently transforms into a devilish creature. The next morning, Stevenson started to write a detective/horror story in the style of those written by Edgar Allan Poe, and three days later his draft was complete. After a critical response from his wife, Stevenson threw the draft in the fire and started a new one that he completed in another three days and revised during the next six weeks. This version became, with minor alterations, the published version of the text, with its compelling illustration of one man's futile attempts to weed out the evil inclinations of his soul. Most of Stevenson's readers would agree with Stewart F. Sanderson's judgment that the complex characterization of the tortured Dr. Henry Jekyll creates "a work of extraordinary psychological depth and powerful impact."

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Summary

The story opens with Dr. Jekyll's friend and solicitor, Gabriel John Utterson, and Utterson' s distant kinsman, Mr. Enfield, taking a walk one Sunday. They find themselves passing a "certain sinister block of building" in the London district of Soho that "bore in every feature, the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence." After stopping in front of a "blistered and distained" door on this block, Mr. Enfield recalls that one evening at three he was returning home through that section of the city when he saw a man run into a little girl. He notes that "the man trampled calmly over the child's body and left her screaming on the ground." Immediately, Enfield apprehended the man and brought him back to the child and to the group that was gathering around her. Enfield admits that the suspect "was perfectly cool and made no resistance, but gave me one look, so ugly that it brought out the sweat on me." The rest of the crowd responded similarly. After ascertaining that the child was not severely harmed, Enfield directed the man to pay the family compensatory damages. The man then withdrew behind the same door at which... » Complete The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Summary