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| Stevenson, Robert Louis: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Stevenson, Robert Louis: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Bookreport:
Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Author:
Robert Louis Stevenson
R.L. Stevenson was born in Scotland in 1850.He hoped to be an engineer,
because his father was an engineer, too, but his health wasn’t very good
so he became an author and a poet. Because of his health he often travelled and
in Californian he married. His best works are: Treasure Island, Kidnapped
and of course Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He died in Samoa in 1894.
Characters :
Mr. Utterson – he is a lawyer and one of the most important
characters in this story
Dr. Jekyll – he is a friend of Mr Utterson and a scientist
Mr. Hyde - he is the bad version of Dr. Jekyll, because he and Dr. Jekill
are the same person.
Dr. Lanyon – a friend of Mr. Utterson and Dr. Jekyll
Mr. Enfield – a friend of Mr. Utterson
Plot:
One Sunday Mr. Utterson and Mr. Enfield go through a street with an ugly
house with an old door. Mr. Enfield tells Mr. Utterson a story about this door.
One day there was a man who went into this door. He had to pay one hundred
pounds to the family of a little girl, because he had stepped on her and had
hurt her. He went into this door and came back with a cheque, which was signed
by a very famous man – Dr. Jekyll. After Mr. Utterson had heard that he
goes to his office and looks at the last will of Dr. Jekyll, an old friend of
him. He finds out who the ugly man from the story was - a mystery man named Mr.
Hyde,who is the only heir of Dr. Jekyll. Mr. U. is very nosy to see this Mr.
Hyde and so he watches the old door, which is the entrance to Dr.
Jekyll’s workroom. At last he sees Mr. Hyde late in the night, when he
comes to the door and wants to go in. They talk a little bit then he disappears
into the house. Nearly a year later a famous man named Carew is killed. A maid
has seen the crime from a window and she has seen the murderer. It has been Mr.
Hyde. The police searches for Mr. Hyde, but can’t find him. After some
days Mr. Utterson visits Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Jekyll must promise him that he will
never see his friend Mr. Hyde again. Then Dr. Jekyll shows him a letter from Mr.
Hyde in which he thanks for his help and asks to forgive and forget him. Mr. U.
shows this letter a man who can read about the character in a person’s
handwriting. He sees the handwriting of Dr. Jekyll, too and he says that they
were both written by the same man. But why has Dr. Jekyll written a false letter
for a murderer?
The time runs on and for Dr. Jekyll begins a new life. He, Mr. Utterson and
Dr. Lanyon become friends again and they meet each other very often. Mr.
Utterson thinks that Dr. Jekyll has forgotten Mr. Hyde and is very happy, but
from one day to another Dr. Jekyll doesn’t invite him any more to have
dinner with him and Dr. Lanyon becomes very ill. Mr. Utterson writes a letter to
Dr. Jekyll in which he asks what happened. In the long answer stands that Dr.
Jekyll and Dr. Lanyon have quarrelled and that he must not see him again. After
about two weeks Dr. Lanyon died, but he left a letter for Mr. Utterson which
must not be opened before Dr. Jekyll dies or disappears. So he puts it into the
safe and forgets it until Poole, the butler of Dr. Jekyll, comes to visit him.
From him Mr. Utterson is told that Dr. Jekyll has become ill too and that he has
locked himself in his workroom. He also hears that Poole has seen him by chance
and that it has been Mr. Hyde. So Mr. Utterson goes to Dr. Jekyll’s house
to speak with him but he doesn’t answer. So Mr. Utterson and Poole break
down the door of the workroom and find a dead body on the floor who is mr. Hyde
and wears Dr. Jekyll’s clothes. Mr. Utterson finds an envelope from Dr.
Jekyll and goes home to read both letters.(the one from Dr. Lanyon and the one
from Dr. Jekyll) At first he reads Dr. Lanyon’s with the following
(shortened) content:
One day I got a letter from Dr. Jekyll in which he begged me to get some
medicine from his house for him. He wanted to come for it in the evening. I was
astonished but I did it. In the night a man came, who said that was a friend of
Dr. Jekyll. I gave him the medicine , he mixed it and drank it. When I saw the
man’s face I saw that it was Mr. Hyde but suddenly he changed into Dr.
Jekyll. I started to cry and to scream and because of the shock I became very
ill. Now you know my story.
Hastie Lanyon
At first Mr. Utterson can’t believe what he has read and so he opens
the envelope from Dr. Jekyll. This is his explanation: (in shortened
form)
I had a nice life but I always had the feeling that I had not enough fun in my
life and by chance I invented a drug. This drug splits the character of a person
in a bad and a good person. When i took this drug I changed to Mr. Hyde, the bad
side of me. As Dr. Jekyll I was the respectable inventor and as Mr. Hyde I could
have fun. Everything was alright until I killed as Mr. Hyde a man. I decided not
to take the drug again. But one day I changed into Mr. Hyde without taking the
drug. One time it happened when I was outside and so I asked Dr. Lanyon for
help. You know the rest of the story. When I was at home again I took the last
drug that I had and locked myself into the workroom. It is the last time that I
am Dr. Henry Jekyll. When I change into Mr. Hyde again Dr. Jekyll will be dead.
What will happen to Mr Hyde? It is not my problem.
Dr. Henry Jekyll
Personal opinion:
I think it is a really good book and the version that I have read, which is
written by D. K. Swan, is easy to read and to understand. The idea from the
story is probably from the illness schizophrenia. It shows an extreme case of a
person’s mind splitting into good and bad. It is an unique and strange
book, because you can’t say what a kind of book it is – it
isn’t really a thriller or a detective story. It is somewhere between. The
characters are all very serious people and it plays in the high society. Dr.
Jekyll is a little bit crazy and I think he is caught in his body in a serious
and elegant world but he wants to have fun and so he takes the drug. The book is
exciting, it is something that you think about and the end is surprising. All in
all it is a very good book and I recommend it to everyone.
by Stephanie Parragh 3e
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