3 Review(s)

R.L. Stevenson's novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is about a London lawyer, John Utterson who investigates some eccentric occurrences between his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and the evil, Edward Hyde. It describes a case of split personality as good and evil--two completely opposite sides of morality--existing in the same person. The phrase --Jekyll and Hyde--has come to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next, which shows the impact of the novella. Mr. Utterson goes for a walk with his friend and relative Mr. Enfield, who tells a sad story in which a brute of a man knocks down a little girl, everyone yells at him, and he offers to pay a lot of money and brings a large cheque drawn from Dr. Jekyll's bank account. Mr. Utterson is Dr. Jekyll's lawyer. In the event of Dr. Jekyll's death or disappearance, his entire estate will go to Mr. Hyde. Mr. Utterson, who thinks highly of Dr. Jekyll, is suspicious of this and decides to uncover the truth. He hunts down Mr. Hyde and is impressed with the evil just oozing out of Hyde's pores. When asked, Dr. Jekyll refuses to comment. A year later, a prominent politician is brutally murdered. The witness, a maid, names Mr. Hyde as the culprit, but no one is able to hunt him down. Meanwhile, Dr. Jekyll is in great health and spirits, entertaining his friends, and giving dinner parties. Two months later, Dr. Jekyll's friend, Dr. Lanyon dies, leaving mysterious documents in Mr. Utterson's possession. One evening, Dr. Jekyll's butler visits Mr. Utterson at home. He is worried about his master and suspects foul play. The butler and Mr. Utterson break into Dr. Jekyll's laboratory. They find Mr. Hyde dead on the floor. From the documents we discover that by means of a potion, Dr. Jekyll was able to transform into Mr. Hyde and give in to a world of pleasure and self-serving crime.