The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

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Overview

"This Master Hyde, if he were studied,' thought he, 'must have secrets of his own; black secrets, by the look of him; secrets compared to which poor Jekyll's worst would be like sunshine.'" —The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

When Edward Hyde traples an innocent girl, two bystanders catch the fellow and force him to pay reparations to the girl's family. A respected lawyer, Utterson, hears this story and begins to unravel the seemingly manic behavior of his best friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and his connection with Hyde. Utterson probes into both Jekyll and his unlikely protégé, increasingly unnerved at each new revelation. In a forerunner of psychological dramas to come, Robert Louis stevenson uses Hyde to show that we are both repulsed and attracted to the darker side of life, particularly when we can experience it in anonymity.

Includes Companion eBook

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• Includes table of contents and index

A retelling of the tale in which a kind and well-respected doctor is transformed into a murderous madman by taking a secret drug of his own creation. Illustrated notes throughout the text explain the historical background of the story.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Mattotti and his longtime collaborator Kramsky return to the comix world with an interpretation of Robert Louis Stevenson's tale of gothic horror. While the story is set in Victorian England, Mattotti's artwork evokes the masterful expressionism of Berlin of the 1930s and such influences as Max Beckman, George Grosz and Giorgio de Chirico. Dr. Jekyll's obsession with the duality of the human personality-the good and evil that reside within-leads him to concoct the potion that brings out his purely evil side. Depicting this transformation, Mattotti's art becomes even more expressive, reminiscent of the later paintings of Francis Bacon. Jekyll's assertion that with his potion "Life would be relieved of all that is horrible" proves wrong. Indeed, he has distilled life's horrors in the person of the brutal Mr. Hyde, who haunts the nightclubs, parties, darkened streets and brothels of London, a perfect vehicle for Mattotti's masterful command of color, composition and mood. An accomplished colorist, Mattotti saturates the book's pages with a rich palette, and each panel is beautiful and expressive. Kramsky's adept condensation of Stevenson's book appropriates snatches of the original text verbatim, maintaining the power of Stevenson's prose while using a minimum amount of text. This is an impressive and vivid interpretation of Stevenson's timeless tale of the human spirit. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Children's Literature
For more than one hundred years this shocking mystery has enthralled readers. Within six months of publication 40,000 copies had been sold in England. The story propelled Stevenson to national and international fame. Inspired by his dreams or rather nightmares, readers journey through the good and evil sides of one man. The story of Dr. Jekyll and his evil self is enhanced with information about the period and a profusion of illustrations. While some may find it distracting, most will relish the insights into the culture, dress and general lifestyle of the period. It makes many aspects of the story more understandable and may encourage kids to tackle more of Stevenson's books. For older students of literature, this and others in "The Whole Story" series will open the door to further research. 1999, Viking, Ages 9 up, $25.99. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot
School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up

This simplified retelling of the classic novella is clearly meant for students. There are quotes from the original throughout, but the majority of the text consists of paraphrased summaries of Stevenson's story. Vocabulary words and potentially confusing plot points are footnoted and explained. Sometimes this addition is well executed, but there are several instances in which words that are fairly self-explanatory are defined anyway, giving the book an overly educational feel. The story itself fills just 33 pages of a 48-page book. The rest of the space is filled with biographical information on Stevenson, a science/medicine/crime time line from 1765 to 1850, and a history of performances based on the novel. Gelev's artwork is skilled and realistic, and he does wonderful things with glowing lights from candles and lanterns. Unfortunately the art does not get a chance to shine because the layout isolates each (too-small) image from the others on the page. The only place where readers can really appreciate Gelev's talents is on the front cover, which shows Jekyll mixing the potion, drinking it, and turning into Hyde. Which, if you think about it, will spoil the biggest surprise in the story for anyone unfamiliar with it. This is a serviceable book for larger collections where classics in graphic novel form are needed.-Andrea Lipinski, New York Public Library

Publishers Weekly
Martin Jarvis delivers a gripping reading of Stevenson's classic. When Gabriel Utteron discovers that the sinister Mr. Hyde has moved into the home of his friend Dr. Jekyll and stands to benefit from his will, he becomes concerned and enlists the help of their mutual friend, Dr. Hastie Lanyon. Things go from bad to worse: Jekyll withdraws further from his social circle; Hyde's criminal sprees culminate in murder; and Utteron and Lanyon fight to save their friend and unravel the mystery of Hyde's origins and disappearance. Jarvis's pacing is excellent, his characterization spot on, and his renditions of Jekyll and Hyde perfect; he creates two distinct characters that illustrate the story's exploration into the duality of human nature. (Feb.)
Choice

Delightfully detailed explanatory notes...This is a major edition of a major work...Essential.

English Literature in Translation

The Centenary Edition marches majestically and triumphantly on... A Splendid edition.

— Harold Orel

Midwest Book Review
"Martin Danahay's new edition of the Robert Louis Stevenson horror fantasy classic (first published in 1886) sets this seminal, influential work firmly in the context out of which it emerged. The many appendices include a range of contemporary reactions to the novel; a selection of Victorian views on criminality and degeneracy; descriptions of Soho and London's West End in the 1880s; and a portfolio of newspaper accounts of and reaction to the 'Jack the Ripper' murders. This scholarly edition of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is highly recommended for personal and academic library collections and literary studies reading lists."
School Library Journal
Gr 5 Up—Each book opens with a few paragraphs about the author and closes with a couple pages of related educational material. Dr. Jekyll has profiles of mad scientists, Gulliver's Travels offers an introduction to "Monsters and Midgets" in folklore, and Swiss Family Robinson includes a discussion of caves and their formation and uses. There is a clearly formulaic approach to the books, but the artwork is solid across the board and the layouts are attractive. Adherence to the original texts varies from title to title. For example, Swiss Family Robinson takes some liberties with dialogue and narration, whereas Gulliver's Travels is almost verbatim in its adaptation, changing only a few 25-cent words to 10-cent words, or similar paraphrasing. The most obvious shortcoming is the use of computer-generated speech bubbles and typed text, which looks really out of place in the middle of the lovely and detailed, hand-drawn illustrations. Overall, the quality of the art and respect for the original works give these adaptations an edge over what schools and libraries normally have to choose from in this category.—Jason M. Poole, Webster Public Library, NY

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780451528957
  • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
  • Publication date: 9/28/2003
  • Format: Mass Market Paperback
  • Edition description: Reissue
  • Pages: 144
  • Sales rank: 65,438
  • Lexile: 0560L (what's this?)
  • Product dimensions: 4.32 (w) x 6.86 (h) x 0.43 (d)

Meet the Author

Robert Louis  Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson

Richard Dury is associate professor at the University of Bergamo, Italy

Biography

Robert Louis Stevenson was born in 1850 in Edinburgh. His father was an engineer, the head of a family firm that had constructed most of Scotland's lighthouses, and the family had a comfortable income. Stevenson was an only child and was often ill; as a result, he was much coddled by both his parents and his long-time nurse. The family took frequent trips to southern Europe to escape the cruel Edinburgh winters, trips that, along with his many illnesses, caused Stevenson to miss much of his formal schooling. He entered Edinburgh University in 1867, intending to become an engineer and enter the family business, but he was a desultory, disengaged student and never took a degree. In 1871, Stevenson switched his study to law, a profession which would leave time for his already-budding literary ambitions, and he managed to pass the bar in 1875.

Illness put an end to his legal career before it had even started, and Stevenson spent the next few years traveling in Europe and writing travel essays and literary criticism. In 1876, Stevenson fell in love with Fanny Vandergrift Osbourne, a married American woman more than ten years his senior, and returned with her to London, where he published his first fiction, "The Suicide Club." In 1879, Stevenson set sail for America, apparently in response to a telegram from Fanny, who had returned to California in an attempt to reconcile with her husband. Fanny obtained a divorce and the couple married in 1880, eventually returning to Europe, where they lived for the next several years. Stevenson was by this time beset by terrifying lung hemorrhages that would appear without warning and required months of convalescence in a healthy climate. Despite his periodic illnesses and his peripatetic life, Stevenson completed some of his most enduring works during this period: Treasure Island (1883), A Child's Garden of Verses (1885), Kidnapped (1886), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886).

After his father's death and a trip to Edinburgh which he knew would be his last, Stevenson set sail once more for America in 1887 with his wife, mother, and stepson. In 1888, after spending a frigid winter in the Adirondack Mountains, Stevenson chartered a yacht and set sail from California bound for the South Pacific. The Stevensons spent time in Tahiti, Hawaii, Micronesia, and Australia, before settling in Samoa, where Stevenson bought a plantation called Vailima. Though he kept up a vigorous publishing schedule, Stevenson never returned to Europe. He died of a sudden brain hemorrhage on December 3, 1894.

Author biography from the Barnes & Noble Classics edition of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Good To Know

It has been said that Stevenson may well be the inventor of the sleeping bag -- he described a large fleece-lined sack he brought along to sleep in on a journey through France in his book Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes.

Long John Silver, the one-legged pirate cook in Stevenson's classic Treasure Island, is said to be based on the author's friend William Ernest Henley, whom he met when Henley was in Edinburgh for surgery to save his one good leg from tuberculosis.

Stevenson died in 1894 at Vailima,, his home on the South Pacific island of Upolu, Samoa. He was helping his wife make mayonnaise for dinner when he suffered a fatal stroke.

    1. Also Known As:
      Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson
    1. Date of Birth:
      November 13, 1850
    2. Place of Birth:
      Edinburgh, Scotland
    1. Date of Death:
      December 3, 1894
    2. Place of Death:
      Vailima, Samoa

Read an Excerpt

Story of the Door


MR. UTTERSON the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow lovable. At friendly meetings, and when the wine was to his taste, something eminently human beaconed from his eye; something indeed which never found its way into his talk, but which spoke not only in these silent symbols of the after-dinner face, but more often and loudly in the acts of his life. He was austere with himself; drank gin when he was alone, to mortify a taste for vintages; and though he enjoyed the theater, had not crossed the doors of one for twenty years. But he had an approved tolerance for others; sometimes wondering, almost with envy, at the high pressure of spirits involved in their misdeeds; and in any extremity inclined to help rather than to reprove. "I incline to Cain's heresy," he used to say quaintly: "I let my brother go to the devil in his own way." In this character, it was frequently his fortune to be the last reputable acquaintance and the last good influence in the lives of downgoing men. And to such as these, so long as they came about his chambers, he never marked a shade of change in his demeanour.

No doubt the feat was easy to Mr. Utterson; for he was undemonstrative at the best, and even his friendship seemed to be founded in a similar catholicity of good-nature. It is the mark of a modest man to accept his friendly circle ready-made from the hands of opportunity; and that was the lawyer's way. His friends were those of his own blood or those whom he had known the longest; hisaffections, like ivy, were the growth of time, they implied no aptness in the object. Hence, no doubt, the bond that united him to Mr. Richard Enfield, his distant kinsman, the well-known man about town. It was a nut to crack for many, what these two could see in each other, or what subject they could find in common. It was reported by those who encountered them in their Sunday walks, that they said nothing, looked singularly dull, and would hail with obvious relief the appearance of a friend. For all that, the two men put the greatest store by these excursions, counted them the chief jewel of each week, and not only set aside occasions of pleasure, but even resisted the calls of business, that they might enjoy them uninterrupted.

It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led them down a by-street in a busy quarter of London. The street was small and what is called quiet, but it drove a thriving trade on the weekdays. The inhabitants were all doing well, it seemed, and all emulously hoping to do better still, and laying out the surplus of their grains in coquetry; so that the shop fronts stood along that thoroughfare with an air of invitation, like rows of smiling saleswomen. Even on Sunday, when it veiled its more florid charms and lay comparatively empty of passage, the street shone out in contrast to its dingy neighbourhood, like a fire in a forest; and with its freshly painted shutters, well-polished brasses, and general cleanliness and gaiety of note, instantly caught and pleased the eye of the passenger.

Two doors from one corner, on the left hand going east, the line was broken by the entry of a court; and just at that point, a certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street. It was two storeys high; showed no window, nothing but a door on the lower storey and a blind forehead of discoloured wall on the upper; and bore in every feature, the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence. The door, which was equipped with neither bell nor knocker, was blistered and distained. Tramps slouched into the recess and struck matches on the panels; children kept shop upon the steps; the schoolboy had tried his knife on the mouldings; and for close on a generation, no one had appeared to drive away these random visitors or to repair their ravages.

Mr. Enfield and the lawyer were on the other side of the by-street; but when they came abreast of the entry, the former lifted up his cane and pointed.

"Did you ever remark that door?" he asked; and when his companion had replied in the affirmative, "It is connected in my mind," added he, "with a very odd story."

"Indeed?" said Mr. Utterson, with a slight change of voice, "and what was that?"

"Well, it was this way," returned Mr. Enfield: "I was coming home from some place at the end of the world, about three o'clock of a black winter morning, and my way lay through a part of town where there was literally nothing to be seen but lamps. Street after street, and all the folks asleep--street after street, all lighted up as if for a procession and all as empty as a church--till at last I got into that state of mind when a man listens and listens and begins to long for the sight of a policeman. All at once, I saw two figures: one a little man who was stumping along eastward at a good walk, and the other a girl of maybe eight or ten who was running as hard as she was able down a cross street. Well, sir, the two ran into one another naturally enough at the corner; and then came the horrible part of the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the child's body and left her screaming on the ground. It sounds nothing to hear, but it was hellish to see. It wasn't like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut. I gave a view halloa, took to my heels, collared my gentleman, and brought him back to where there was already quite a group about the screaming child. He was perfectly cool and made no resistance, but gave me one look, so ugly that it brought out the sweat on me like running. The people who had turned out were the girl's own family; and pretty soon, the doctor, for whom she had been sent, put in his appearance. Well, the child was not much the worse, more frightened, according to the Sawbones; and there you might have supposed would be an end to it. But there was one curious circumstance. I had taken a loathing to my gentleman at first sight. So had the child's family, which was only natural. But the doctor's case was what struck me. He was the usual cut and dry apothecary, of no particular age and colour, with a strong Edinburgh accent, and about as emotional as a bagpipe. Well, sir, he was like the rest of us; every time he looked at my prisoner, I saw that Sawbones turn sick and white with desire to kill him. I knew what was in his mind, just as he knew what was in mine; and killing being out of the question, we did the next best. We told the man we could and would make such a scandal out of this, as should make his name stink from one end of London to the other. If he had any friends or any credit, we undertook that he should lose them. And all the time, as we were pitching it in red hot, we were keeping the women off him as best we could, for they were as wild as harpies. I never saw a circle of such hateful faces; and there was the man in the middle, with a kind of black, sneering coolness--frightened too, I could see that--but carrying it off, sir, really like Satan. 'If you choose to make capital out of this accident,' said he, 'I am naturally helpless. No gentleman but wishes to avoid a scene,' says he. 'Name your figure.' Well, we screwed him up to a hundred pounds for the child's family; he would have clearly liked to stick out; but there was something about the lot of us that meant mischief, and at last he struck. The next thing was to get the money; and where do you think he carried us but to that place with the door?--whipped out a key, went in, and presently came back with the matter of ten pounds in gold and a cheque for the balance on Coutts's, drawn payable to bearer and signed with a name that I can't mention, though it's one of the points of my story, but it was a name at least very well known and often printed. The figure was stiff; but the signature was good for more than that, if it was only genuine. I took the liberty of pointing out to my gentleman that the whole business looked apocryphal, and that a man does not, in real life, walk into a cellar door at four in the morning and come out with another man's cheque for close upon a hundred pounds. But he was quite easy and sneering. 'Set your mind at rest,' says he, 'I will stay with you till the banks open and cash the cheque myself.' So we all set off, the doctor, and the child's father, and our friend and myself, and passed the rest of the night in my chambers; and next day, when we had breakfasted, went in a body to the bank. I gave in the cheque myself, and said I had every reason to believe it was a forgery. Not a bit of it. The cheque was genuine."

"Tut-tut," said Mr. Utterson.

"I see you feel as I do," said Mr. Enfield. "Yes, it's a bad story. For my man was a fellow that nobody could have to do with, a really damnable man; and the person that drew the cheque is the very pink of the proprieties, celebrated too, and (what makes it worse) one of your fellows who do what they call good. Black mail, I suppose; an honest man paying through the nose for some of the capers of his youth. Black Mail House is what I call the place with the door, in consequence. Though even that, you know, is far from explaining all," he added, and with the words fell into a vein of musing.

From this he was recalled by Mr. Utterson asking rather suddenly: "And you don't know if the drawer of the cheque lives there?"

"A likely place, isn't it?" returned Mr. Enfield. "But I happen to have noticed his address; he lives in some square or other."

"And you never asked about the--place with the door?" said Mr. Utterson.

"No, sir: I had a delicacy," was the reply. "I feel very strongly about putting questions; it partakes too much of the style of the day of judgment. You start a question, and it's like starting a stone. You sit quietly on the top of a hill; and away the stone goes, starting others; and presently some bland old bird (the last you would have thought of) is knocked on the head in his own back garden and the family have to change their name. No sir, I make it a rule of mine: the more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask."

"A very good rule, too," said the lawyer.

"But I have studied the place for myself," continued Mr. Enfield. "It seems scarcely a house. There is no other door, and nobody goes in or out of that one but, once in a great while, the gentleman of my adventure. There are three windows looking on the court on the first floor; none below; the windows are always shut but they're clean. And then there is a chimney which is generally smoking; so somebody must live there. And yet it's not so sure; for the buildings are so packed together about the court, that it's hard to say where one ends and another begins."

The pair walked on again for a while in silence; and then "Enfield," said Mr. Utterson, "that's a good rule of yours."

"Yes, I think it is," returned Enfield.

"But for all that," continued the lawyer, "there's one point I want to ask: I want to ask the name of that man who walked over the child."

"Well," said Mr. Enfield, "I can't see what harm it would do. It was a man of the name of Hyde."

"Hm," said Mr. Utterson. "What sort of a man is he to see?"

"He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn't specify the point. He's an extraordinary-looking man, and yet I really can name nothing out of the way. No, sir; I can make no hand of it; I can't describe him. And it's not want of memory; for I declare I can see him this moment."

Mr. Utterson again walked some way in silence and obviously under a weight of consideration. "You are sure he used a key?" he inquired at last.

"My dear sir . . ." began Enfield, surprised out of himself.

"Yes, I know," said Utterson; "I know it must seem strange. The fact is, if I do not ask you the name of the other party, it is because I know it already. You see, Richard, your tale has gone home. If you have been inexact in any point, you had better correct it."

"I think you might have warned me," returned the other with a touch of sullenness. "But I have been pedantically exact, as you call it. The fellow had a key; and what's more, he has it still. I saw him use it, not a week ago."

Mr. Utterson sighed deeply but said never a word; and the young man presently resumed. "Here is another lesson to say nothing," said he. "I am ashamed of my long tongue. Let us make a bargain never to refer to this again."

"With all my heart," said the lawyer. "I shake hands on that, Richard."


Searching for Mr.Hyde


THAT EVENING Mr. Utterson came home to his bachelor house in sombre spirits and sat down to dinner without relish. It was his custom of a Sunday, when this meal was over, to sit close by the fire, a volume of some dry divinity on his reading desk, until the clock of the neighbouring church rang out the hour of twelve, when he would go soberly and gratefully to bed. On this night, however, as soon as the cloth was taken away, he took up a candle and went into his business room. There he opened his safe, took from the most private part of it a document endorsed on the envelope as Dr. Jekyll's Will, and sat down with a clouded brow to study its contents. The will was holograph, for Mr. Utterson, though he took charge of it now that it was made, had refused to lend the least assistance in the making of it; it provided not only that, in case of the decease of Henry Jekyll, M.D., D.C.L., L.L.D., F.R.S., etc., all his possessions were to pass into the hands of his "friend and benefactor Edward Hyde," but that in case of Dr. Jekyll's "disappearance or unexplained absence for any period exceeding three calendar months," the said Edward Hyde should step into the said Henry Jekyll's shoes without further delay and free from any burthen or obligation, beyond the payment of a few small sums to the members of the doctor's household. This document had long been the lawyer's eyesore. It offended him both as a lawyer and as a lover of the sane and customary sides of life, to whom the fanciful was the immodest. And hitherto it was his ignorance of Mr. Hyde that had swelled his indignation; now, by a sudden turn, it was his knowledge. It was already bad enough when the name was but a name of which he could learn no more. It was worse when it began to be clothed upon with destestable attributes; and out of the shifting, insubstantial mists that had so long baffled his eye, there leaped up the sudden, definite presentment of a fiend.

From the Paperback edition.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 1
Notes 83
Biographical note 85

First Chapter

STORY OF THE DOOR


MR. UTTERSON the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow lovable. At friendly meetings, and when the wine was to his taste, something eminently human beaconed from his eye; something indeed which never found its way into his talk, but which spoke not only in these silent symbols of the after-dinner face, but more often and loudly in the acts of his life. He was austere with himself; drank gin when he was alone, to mortify a taste for vintages; and though he enjoyed the theater, had not crossed the doors of one for twenty years. But he had an approved tolerance for others; sometimes wondering, almost with envy, at the high pressure of spirits involved in their misdeeds; and in any extremity inclined to help rather than to reprove. "I incline to Cain's heresy," he used to say quaintly: "I let my brother go to the devil in his own way." In this character, it was frequently his fortune to be the last reputable acquaintance and the last good influence in the lives of downgoing men. And to such as these, so long as they came about his chambers, he never marked a shade of change in his demeanour.

No doubt the feat was easy to Mr. Utterson; for he was undemonstrative at the best, and even his friendship seemed to be founded in a similar catholicity of good-nature. It is the mark of a modest man to accept his friendly circle ready-made from the hands of opportunity; and that was the lawyer's way. His friends were those of his own blood or those whom he had known the longest; his affections, like ivy, were the growthof time, they implied no aptness in the object. Hence, no doubt, the bond that united him to Mr. Richard Enfield, his distant kinsman, the well-known man about town. It was a nut to crack for many, what these two could see in each other, or what subject they could find in common. It was reported by those who encountered them in their Sunday walks, that they said nothing, looked singularly dull, and would hail with obvious relief the appearance of a friend. For all that, the two men put the greatest store by these excursions, counted them the chief jewel of each week, and not only set aside occasions of pleasure, but even resisted the calls of business, that they might enjoy them uninterrupted.

It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led them down a by-street in a busy quarter of London. The street was small and what is called quiet, but it drove a thriving trade on the weekdays. The inhabitants were all doing well, it seemed, and all emulously hoping to do better still, and laying out the surplus of their grains in coquetry; so that the shop fronts stood along that thoroughfare with an air of invitation, like rows of smiling saleswomen. Even on Sunday, when it veiled its more florid charms and lay comparatively empty of passage, the street shone out in contrast to its dingy neighbourhood, like a fire in a forest; and with its freshly painted shutters, well-polished brasses, and general cleanliness and gaiety of note, instantly caught and pleased the eye of the passenger.

Two doors from one corner, on the left hand going east, the line was broken by the entry of a court; and just at that point, a certain sinister block of building thrust forward its gable on the street. It was two storeys high; showed no window, nothing but a door on the lower storey and a blind forehead of discoloured wall on the upper; and bore in every feature, the marks of prolonged and sordid negligence. The door, which was equipped with neither bell nor knocker, was blistered and distained. Tramps slouched into the recess and struck matches on the panels; children kept shop upon the steps; the schoolboy had tried his knife on the mouldings; and for close on a generation, no one had appeared to drive away these random visitors or to repair their ravages.

Mr. Enfield and the lawyer were on the other side of the by-street; but when they came abreast of the entry, the former lifted up his cane and pointed.

"Did you ever remark that door?" he asked; and when his companion had replied in the affirmative, "It is connected in my mind," added he, "with a very odd story."

"Indeed?" said Mr. Utterson, with a slight change of voice, "and what was that?"

"Well, it was this way," returned Mr. Enfield: "I was coming home from some place at the end of the world, about three o'clock of a black winter morning, and my way lay through a part of town where there was literally nothing to be seen but lamps. Street after street, and all the folks asleep--street after street, all lighted up as if for a procession and all as empty as a church--till at last I got into that state of mind when a man listens and listens and begins to long for the sight of a policeman. All at once, I saw two figures: one a little man who was stumping along eastward at a good walk, and the other a girl of maybe eight or ten who was running as hard as she was able down a cross street. Well, sir, the two ran into one another naturally enough at the corner; and then came the horrible part of the thing; for the man trampled calmly over the child's body and left her screaming on the ground. It sounds nothing to hear, but it was hellish to see. It wasn't like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut. I gave a view halloa, took to my heels, collared my gentleman, and brought him back to where there was already quite a group about the screaming child. He was perfectly cool and made no resistance, but gave me one look, so ugly that it brought out the sweat on me like running. The people who had turned out were the girl's own family; and pretty soon, the doctor, for whom she had been sent, put in his appearance. Well, the child was not much the worse, more frightened, according to the Sawbones; and there you might have supposed would be an end to it. But there was one curious circumstance. I had taken a loathing to my gentleman at first sight. So had the child's family, which was only natural. But the doctor's case was what struck me. He was the usual cut and dry apothecary, of no particular age and colour, with a strong Edinburgh accent, and about as emotional as a bagpipe. Well, sir, he was like the rest of us; every time he looked at my prisoner, I saw that Sawbones turn sick and white with desire to kill him. I knew what was in his mind, just as he knew what was in mine; and killing being out of the question, we did the next best. We told the man we could and would make such a scandal out of this, as should make his name stink from one end of London to the other. If he had any friends or any credit, we undertook that he should lose them. And all the time, as we were pitching it in red hot, we were keeping the women off him as best we could, for they were as wild as harpies. I never saw a circle of such hateful faces; and there was the man in the middle, with a kind of black, sneering coolness--frightened too, I could see that--but carrying it off, sir, really like Satan. 'If you choose to make capital out of this accident,' said he, 'I am naturally helpless. No gentleman but wishes to avoid a scene,' says he. 'Name your figure.' Well, we screwed him up to a hundred pounds for the child's family; he would have clearly liked to stick out; but there was something about the lot of us that meant mischief, and at last he struck. The next thing was to get the money; and where do you think he carried us but to that place with the door?--whipped out a key, went in, and presently came back with the matter of ten pounds in gold and a cheque for the balance on Coutts's, drawn payable to bearer and signed with a name that I can't mention, though it's one of the points of my story, but it was a name at least very well known and often printed. The figure was stiff; but the signature was good for more than that, if it was only genuine. I took the liberty of pointing out to my gentleman that the whole business looked apocryphal, and that a man does not, in real life, walk into a cellar door at four in the morning and come out with another man's cheque for close upon a hundred pounds. But he was quite easy and sneering. 'Set your mind at rest,' says he, 'I will stay with you till the banks open and cash the cheque myself.' So we all set off, the doctor, and the child's father, and our friend and myself, and passed the rest of the night in my chambers; and next day, when we had breakfasted, went in a body to the bank. I gave in the cheque myself, and said I had every reason to believe it was a forgery. Not a bit of it. The cheque was genuine."

"Tut-tut," said Mr. Utterson.

"I see you feel as I do," said Mr. Enfield. "Yes, it's a bad story. For my man was a fellow that nobody could have to do with, a really damnable man; and the person that drew the cheque is the very pink of the proprieties, celebrated too, and (what makes it worse) one of your fellows who do what they call good. Black mail, I suppose; an honest man paying through the nose for some of the capers of his youth. Black Mail House is what I call the place with the door, in consequence. Though even that, you know, is far from explaining all," he added, and with the words fell into a vein of musing.

From this he was recalled by Mr. Utterson asking rather suddenly: "And you don't know if the drawer of the cheque lives there?"

"A likely place, isn't it?" returned Mr. Enfield. "But I happen to have noticed his address; he lives in some square or other."

"And you never asked about the--place with the door?" said Mr. Utterson.

"No, sir: I had a delicacy," was the reply. "I feel very strongly about putting questions; it partakes too much of the style of the day of judgment. You start a question, and it's like starting a stone. You sit quietly on the top of a hill; and away the stone goes, starting others; and presently some bland old bird (the last you would have thought of) is knocked on the head in his own back garden and the family have to change their name. No sir, I make it a rule of mine: the more it looks like Queer Street, the less I ask."

"A very good rule, too," said the lawyer.

"But I have studied the place for myself," continued Mr. Enfield. "It seems scarcely a house. There is no other door, and nobody goes in or out of that one but, once in a great while, the gentleman of my adventure. There are three windows looking on the court on the first floor; none below; the windows are always shut but they're clean. And then there is a chimney which is generally smoking; so somebody must live there. And yet it's not so sure; for the buildings are so packed together about the court, that it's hard to say where one ends and another begins."

The pair walked on again for a while in silence; and then "Enfield," said Mr. Utterson, "that's a good rule of yours."

"Yes, I think it is," returned Enfield.

"But for all that," continued the lawyer, "there's one point I want to ask: I want to ask the name of that man who walked over the child."

"Well," said Mr. Enfield, "I can't see what harm it would do. It was a man of the name of Hyde."

"Hm," said Mr. Utterson. "What sort of a man is he to see?"

"He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn't specify the point. He's an extraordinary-looking man, and yet I really can name nothing out of the way. No, sir; I can make no hand of it; I can't describe him. And it's not want of memory; for I declare I can see him this moment."

Mr. Utterson again walked some way in silence and obviously under a weight of consideration. "You are sure he used a key?" he inquired at last.

"My dear sir . . ." began Enfield, surprised out of himself.

"Yes, I know," said Utterson; "I know it must seem strange. The fact is, if I do not ask you the name of the other party, it is because I know it already. You see, Richard, your tale has gone home. If you have been inexact in any point, you had better correct it."

"I think you might have warned me," returned the other with a touch of sullenness. "But I have been pedantically exact, as you call it. The fellow had a key; and what's more, he has it still. I saw him use it, not a week ago."

Mr. Utterson sighed deeply but said never a word; and the young man presently resumed. "Here is another lesson to say nothing," said he. "I am ashamed of my long tongue. Let us make a bargain never to refer to this again."

"With all my heart," said the lawyer. "I shake hands on that, Richard."



SEARCH FOR MR. HYDE



THAT EVENING Mr. Utterson came home to his bachelor house in sombre spirits and sat down to dinner without relish. It was his custom of a Sunday, when this meal was over, to sit close by the fire, a volume of some dry divinity on his reading desk, until the clock of the neighbouring church rang out the hour of twelve, when he would go soberly and gratefully to bed. On this night, however, as soon as the cloth was taken away, he took up a candle and went into his business room. There he opened his safe, took from the most private part of it a document endorsed on the envelope as Dr. Jekyll's Will, and sat down with a clouded brow to study its contents. The will was holograph, for Mr. Utterson, though he took charge of it now that it was made, had refused to lend the least assistance in the making of it; it provided not only that, in case of the decease of Henry Jekyll, M.D., D.C.L., L.L.D., F.R.S., etc., all his possessions were to pass into the hands of his "friend and benefactor Edward Hyde," but that in case of Dr. Jekyll's "disappearance or unexplained absence for any period exceeding three calendar months," the said Edward Hyde should step into the said Henry Jekyll's shoes without further delay and free from any burthen or obligation, beyond the payment of a few small sums to the members of the doctor's household. This document had long been the lawyer's eyesore. It offended him both as a lawyer and as a lover of the sane and customary sides of life, to whom the fanciful was the immodest. And hitherto it was his ignorance of Mr. Hyde that had swelled his indignation; now, by a sudden turn, it was his knowledge. It was already bad enough when the name was but a name of which he could learn no more. It was worse when it began to be clothed upon with destestable attributes; and out of the shifting, insubstantial mists that had so long baffled his eye, there leaped up the sudden, definite presentment of a fiend.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 330 Customer Reviews
  • Anonymous

    Posted June 20, 2011

    great reading

    Very useful book, apparently, as all the books in this series. Prior to that, I bought "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes."

    155 out of 157 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 15, 2008

    the horror hits you afterwards

    'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' is very well-written and intriguing. The true horror of the tale is not so much the fate of the experimental Dr. Jekyll as a result of his tampering with his soul, but rather the chilling possibilty presented to the reader that if he or she had the same opportunity for evil, the story might well be the same. This novella left me wondering if the potential for such evil as is present in Mr. Hyde really exists in the recesses of everyone's soul. The creepiness of this tale isn't strongly present during the reading of it, but upon contemplating it afterwards, the eeriness sets in.

    4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 2, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    Wonderful Edition for a Wonderful Book

    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Steven­son is a novella writ­ten by the Scot­tish born author. The 1886 work is con­sid­ered a clas­sic of British literature.

    Pros­e­cu­tor Gabriel John Utter­son has taken cer­tain inter­est in Mr. Edward Hyde even since he tram­pled a lit­tle girl. The crowd gath­ered forced Mr. Hyde to make ret­ri­bu­tion, how­ever the check he gave the girl was signed by Dr. Henry Jekyll.

    Mr. Utter­son also dis­cov­ers that Mr. Hyde is the sole ben­e­fi­ciary of all of Dr. Jekyll¿s wealth. Utter­son tries to dis­cuss the mat­ter of Mr. Hyde with the good doc­tor which, as one might guess, doesn¿t yield any results.

    A year later a mem­ber of the British Par­lia­ment is mur­dered and the maid iden­ti­fies Mr. Hyde. Utter­son con­fronts Dr. Jekyll who shows the lawyer a let­ter in which Mr. Hyde states that he is will dis­ap­pear forever.

    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Steven­son is a well known novella which deals with split per­son­al­ity.

    I found it inter­est­ing that the book has only two set­tings, let­ters and lab­o­ra­tory. Not the clean, ster­ile lab­o­ra­tory we imag­ine, but a dis­gust­ing, dirty and bloody one which implores the reader to feel the Gothic hor­ror which the author wishes to con­vey. In this envi­ron­ment is where Mis­ter Hyde is cre­ated, a trou­bled fig­ure, mean and unabated.

    Mis­ter Hyde is what Dr. Jekyll wants to be but sup­presses within him­self. Hyde yearns for vio­lence and sex­u­al­ity, he is full of strength, uncar­ing and out of con­trol ¿ or is he actu­ally in full con­trol?
    Mr. Hyde cel­e­brates the nature of men unhin­dered by social norms, rules or laws while Dr. Jekyll self cen­sors him­self as a proper gen­tle­man should in Vic­to­rian England.

    As time goes on, this novella could be read in sev­eral ways. There is the most known one, that of split per­son­al­ity, but also could be a patho­log­i­cal angle of inves­ti­gat­ing the nature of men­tal ill­ness. In these days, where sci­ence, tech­nol­ogy and med­i­cine is much more advanced, the story could also be read as a warn­ing on the extreme use of mind alter­ing chem­i­cals, drugs or alco­hol and the self destruc­tive prop­er­ties of such actions.

    But Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde could also be read as a phi­los­o­phy book which deals with the knowl­edge that we are all on death¿s door. Death, in this case, is rep­re­sented as a man of flesh and blood. A psy­cho­an­a­lyst could also, some­what jus­ti­fi­ably, could read the story as the psy­chotic and nar­cis­sist fan­tasy of Dr. Jekyll.

    I found the book¿s sub­ject dis­turb­ing, not because of the mur­der or Goth involved, but more on a psy­cho­log­i­cal level. The pos­si­bil­ity of every indi­vid&

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 13, 2011

    not my type...

    Too many errors and many spelling errors. Could not get through this book.

    2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted July 20, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    An intriguing tale on the duality of man

    Like Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a tale of a good man who lets his ambitions lead him astray. But unlike Frankenstein, where one should not judge by looks alone, Mr. Hyde is exactly as he appears. To borrow a cliche, evil incarnate.

    While most of Frankenstein is told from a first-person's perspective, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is narrated by several people who have either met Hyde or knows Jekyll. If I wasn't already aware of how the story played out, I imagine this would have been a great setup for the dramatic revelation at the end. As it is, there are times when I couldn't help but forget about the ending in my search for any tell-tale hints early on to clue in the reader. There are a few but I'm not sure I could have made the correct deduction on my own.

    The battle between the personalities of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is supposed to reflect the duality of man, a battle of good versus evil. If so, the ending is a rather pessimistic outlook isn't it ? Mr. Hyde as the personification of evil may not have escaped just punishment but at least in his struggles with Dr. Jekyll, he gained the upper hand. However if the winner of their battle was Dr. Jekyll, the tale might not have been as memorable. That is my take at least.

    An enjoyable read. Definitely should be read at least once.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 18, 2002

    Opinion of a student...

    I'm 14 years old, and recently had to read Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for my English assignment. The assignment was comparing this fiction text, to a non-fiction text about crimes in a similar era. I think that Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was good for this assignment, however it was a bit too slow moving for me.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 9, 2012

    Half of the words are messed up!

    It says stuff like chapter 18* chApER 1% and crap like that,atleast on mine.

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 21, 2009

    Not a great book.

    The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, is very unorignal. While reading, you will find yourself thinking about the point of the story. Well, there is no meaning behind this book. It's hard to enjoy, and you will get nothing out of it. You will not like it, even if you are reading for "fun" DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY!

    1 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 13, 2012

    Scary

    I liked it but i'm gonna sleep with the lights on tonight.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 4, 2012

    Abridged

    The original is good. This isjt. Its abridged

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  • Posted July 29, 2010

    A Thrill to Read

    Stevenson was an interesting intellectual of his time and cleverly depicting his ideas in this extraordinary story, inspiring a long line of thrillers to come.I really enjoyed reading the old English and crave to read more like it. But I can't help thinking how much more I would have enjoyed this book, had I not known the punch line.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 24, 2006

    Outstanding!!!!!

    this book shows what good and evil are. I impressed a lot from this book

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 6, 2003

    Well Written

    Conscience impedes our sinful desires. Yet, at some time or another, we all wish to indulge (and sometimes do), while our moral and ethical nature attempts to prohibit us. If we could do so vicariously through another, unrecognizable body, we might permit ourselves to these gratifications. Robert Louis Stevenson explores this concept in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I thoroughly enjoyed the book because of its concise, conclusive nature. It avoids extensive detail and description, sticking to the mystery and plot. The upper level language is copious, but brilliantly implemented, and most can be derived from the context. As a result, the book takes longer than one would originally anticipate for completion, but the reader will not be bored; thus they will not notice this extra time.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 6, 2003

    Wonderful Mystery!!

    Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a beautifully written, highly entertaining mystery. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy thrilling action and a philosophical plot. Known as a classic tale, this story explores the struggles between good and evil that exist in the minds of every member of mankind. Despite uses of sophisticated language in the text, I would suggest this story to readers of nearly all ages. Not only is it a quick read, the suspenseful actions of the plot are presented very directly and avoid wordiness. The universal ideas and ingenious organization of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde create an exceptional, mysterious story not to be forgotten on the lists of classics. Frankly, you won¿t want to put the book down!! The concepts in this tale travel beyond the words printed on the page; Steven expresses the profound idea of the contrasting nature of man.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 1, 2003

    Jekkyl and Hyde, two men trapped in one body.

    Jekkyl is a man who is damned to live a life of murder and horror as a monster known as Edward Hyde. I love this book. This Halloween, I am choosing to go as Jekkyl and Hyde. If you like theatre, I recommend getting the Jekkyl and Hyde soundtrack. This is the classic tale of Good vs. Evil.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 20, 2003

    GREAT BOOK!!

    im a 14 year old who read this book over the summer for high school next year. I thought it was one of the better books i have read. I would recommend this book to anyone.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 24, 2003

    This is a great book

    I have only read a small portion of this book. It is a bought a man who is actually no man at all. He becoms a monster that is refered to as Mr. Hyde.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 24, 2003

    A good, short book

    This wasn't my favorite book, but as a classic of horror it wasn't bad. There are some interesting psychological points touched on by the author about the duality of man's nature and the ongoing conflict of reason over raw power, good over evil. It is only about one hundred pages long, so you can easily read it in a matter of hours.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 16, 2002

    On "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"

    Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was the product of one of Robert Louis Stevenson¿s nightmares, from which his wife, alarmed by his screaming, awoke him. It takes place in London, England- one assumes during the latter half of the 1800¿s since that was the time in which it was written. Mr. Utterson, a very well mannered lawyer, begins to become suspicious of the detestable Mr. Hyde when Dr. Jekyll, a scientist and good friend of Utterson¿s, proclaims him the sole heir of all that is his in the case of his death or disappearance. Hyde is an unfavorable man who appears to lack all proper feeling and morals, which becomes apparent when he tramples a little girl and merely continues on his way. The situation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde turns more and more intense as horrible event after horrible event unfolds, and Mr. Utterson grows desperate to solve the strange conundrum which his friend is so deeply and impenetrably entwined in. There were a few things about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that really disappointed me. For instance, my copy had a 34-page introduction by Vladimir Nabokov. Perhaps it might have been interesting had I already read the book, but this was not the case; it gives away every important event of the book so that, by the time you get to the first chapter, you feel as if you¿ve already read it. Also, after reading through the entire book, I found that I still didn¿t know much about Dr. Jekyll or any of the other characters. It was purely about the event, and consequently it lost the advantage of my being emotionally attached and made me wonder why I should care what happens. Another point that I was disappointed about was that, though you often read that Mr. Hyde is pure evil, you never see any evidence that he¿s any worse than your common murderer. Certainly that is terrible in it¿s own right, but it¿s still not pure evil. You must just take the author¿s word for it. On the other hand, you must consider the times in which it was written and the social boundaries of what was acceptable and what was not. In that light, this book is indeed a superb piece, though were it published now there is little chance of it ever becoming so well known as it is. What really struck me were the little things that were probably hardly considered extraordinary by Stevenson. For example, wine is a major part, though of minimal importance, of the 19th century society. It is mentioned quite often throughout the book, and seems to be taken for granted as much as coffee is in our own times; an interesting little keyhole-glimpse at the culture of that time. Though this book is perhaps not the style or genre that I most enjoy, I freely admit that it is a well-written and worthy classic. It is of a completely different mood than his Treasure Island. The point or moral that Stevenson was portraying is that man is neither good nor evil but is a combination of both. He gets that view across to readers very clearly, despite the gap in times.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 25, 2002

    BEST BOOK EVER !!!!!!!!!!! Highly recommended.

    This book is one of the best books ever written by Robertson. It is about a doctor named Dr. Henry Jekyll. He discovers a potion that can divide his good and evil side. It is narrated by Mr. Utterson. It is set in London, England in the late 1800s or 19th century. The setting is by the mention of wine all through out the book. The author creates suspension by shifting point-of-views. The main theme is dual nature. Man is not good and evil, but a combination of both. The symbolism is great. The book has lots of hidden meanings and can go one way or another. The book is not really believable, but you might believe it depending on who you are. I loved the theme of the book. I also loved how pithy it was. Eventhough the book says that Mr. Hyde is pure evil, there is actually no proof in the novel that makes him worse than your average murderer. Books like Dracula are long and have no excitement, but Robertson uses suspense and makes it exciting. I especially loved the contradiction between good and evil. The book was very close to being realistic. The author used a lot of vocabulary from the 19th century and a wide variety. I had to read this book for my Outside Reading Project and it was very good. Trust me you will love it. Don't use cliff notes, you miss the meaning and ecitement of the book.

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