Title
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Author
Robert Louis Stevenson
Characters
Dr Jekyll, Mr Hyde,Mr Utterson,Mr Enfield,Poole,Mr Carew,Mr Lanyon,maid-servant,Mr Newcomen,Mr Guest.
Relationship between the characters
Dr Jekyll is Mr Utterson,Mr Enfield and Mr Lanyon’s friend.
Mr Hyde Is the evil personality of Dr Jekyll.
Dr Jekyll’s servant is Poole.
Mr Newcomen is Scotland Yard’s inspector.
Mr Guest is the city’s handwriting expert.
Mr Utterson is a lawyer.
Mr Lanyon is Mr Jekyll’s old colleague.
Summary
One morning, Mr Utterson and Mr Enfield were walking down a street in London: suddenly they stopped in front of a building with a black door and Mr Enfield began to talk about a strange accident.
He said that one day a strange man and a little girl were running very fast: the two collided and the man trampled on the poor lady.
Mr Enfield collared him and ordered him to bring some money: so he brought a cheque in the name of a respectable gentleman and he said that his name was Mr Hyde.
After listening to this story, Mr Utterson went home and he began reading Dr Jekyll’s will: in the paper he found out that in case of the doctor’s death or disappearance all his possessions must go to Edward Hyde.
At this point, Mr Utterson went to Mr Lanyon’s home and asked him about Mr Hyde, but Mr Lanyon refused to talk about him.
A year later, Dr Jekyll’s maid-servant witnessed an old crime: she said that she saw a strange man striking Mr Carew.
The next morning, Mr Newcomen and Mr Utterson went to Hyde’s house and they found the murder weapon there.
The same day Mr Utterson went to Jekyll’s house and he found a letter where Mr Hyde promised that he wouldn’t return.
After that, the lawyer went to a handwriting expert who noticed that Mr Hyde’s and Dr Jekyll’s handwritings were similar.
On the following days, Mr Utterson visited Dr Jekyll, but the man didn’t want to see anyone: the lawyer was very worried, so he went to Lanyon’s home who gave him an envelope telling him to open it after Dr Jekyll’s death.
Later, Mr Lanyon died.
After some time, Poole arrived unexpectedly at Mr Utterson’s house and he told him that Dr Jekyll had been in his cabinet for a week. He also said that he thought there was foul play.
After that, they went to the doctor’s house and they noticed that Dr Jekyll’s voice was very different, so they thought that there was Mr Hyde inside.
They found some notes where the doctor wrote that he needed some sort of drugs. At this point Mr Utterson broke the door of the cabinet and he saw Mr Hyde’s dead body and a letter by Dr Jekyll.
The lawyer went home and first he read Mr Lanyon’s narrative, then the one written by the doctor.
In his writing, Lanyon said that one night Mr Hyde arrived at his home and drank some chemicals, then suddenly he transformed into Dr Jekyll.
The doctor, instead, told everything in detail: he started talking about his respectable life, but he said that he had a personality at odds with his gentlemanly life. So he wanted to have two personalities: in fact he created a drug and gave birth to Mr Hyde.
The problem was that Mr Hyde was becoming stronger than him and even if he didn’t take drugs,he automatically transformed into Hyde.
At last, Dr Jekyll didn’t know what to do,so he committed suicide and wrote the letter for his friend.
This is the sad end of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
La Voce del Casettaro 