My Thoughts on “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”

When I had first picked up “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, I was quite surprised by how short it was. The entire book was only about seventy pages. I was so surprised, that I actually asked Mrs. Stotts-Jones about the length of the book because I thought I had picked up a condensed or a shorter version. She informed me that the book was actually a “novelette” or a shorter novel. I was disappointed, thinking that it would be some short children’s story. Oh how wrong I was.

I started reading the story and within the first 5 or 10 pages, a woman gets massacred. Children’s story? Not even close. The novel has a dark, eerie feel to it, and what it lacks in length, it makes up for in everything else. I wasn’t too sure of why the characters acted certain ways around other characters, but everything gets revealed to you as soon as you read through. It’s one of those stories that you want to finish in one day, just so you can learn what happens at the end. There are a few moments that are either very descriptive or very action packed, something that novels today can sometimes lack.

Overall, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is a really great novel. I do have to admit, the language was hard to understand at times, just because Robert Louis Stevenson uses complex language throughout the entire novel. The story is engaging and keeps you reading until you have finished the entire thing. I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes classic texts, and anyone who wants a short, but very good read.

Theme

The main theme throughout “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” would have to be Mystery. Everything about this novel is intriguing. The story is set in the dark streets of London, which gives it a somewhat dark tone to the entire story overall. The entire Dr. Jekyll – Mr. Hyde transformation is probably the most intriguing of all. It keeps you guessing until the end and throws a few curveballs along the way. Mr. Hyde plays his own mysterious character as he doesn’t like to be social or seen anywhere. I think the coolest thing of all is how Robert thought up the story. Apparently he dreamed up something along the lines of this story and his wife helped him to correct the dream so that it would make a suitable story.

The Climaxs of the Novel

In my opinion, there were two climaxes that took place. While reading, it was very enjoyable to have something amazing happen, and then when you thought it was over, another climax happened right away. As a reader, I thought that this technique was very cool and different. I haven’t read very many books where there is more than one moment that makes you surprised more than once.

The first climax happens when Mr. Utterson breaks down the door to Dr. Jekyll’s laboratory. When he enters the lab, he finds Mr. Hyde’s dead, limp body lying on the floor. I had already pieced together most of the story and this was the confirming point as to who Mr. Hyde was. It was a great way to finish up the loose ties of the story, even though this wasn’t the complete end to the novel. I wasn’t exactly shocked that he found the body; I was more appreciative that all his hard work had paid off.

The second climax for me was when Mr. Utterson went home and read the letters. The first was Dr. Jekyll telling his story about how he had experimented and they eventually went wrong and transformed into his evil alter ego. The other letter described Dr. Lanyon’s experiences when he witnessed the amazing transformation of Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde. The letter is written very well and makes a great addition into the novel.

Characters List & Background Information

This post will be about the characters in the novel "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"

Throughout the post, I will give a summary of the characters, and how they are important in relation to the novel.

Mr. Gabriel John Utterson

Utterson is one of the main characters in the novel, although you would not have guessed that when reading the title. He is a lawyer by occupation and is a rather uninteresting character. Some of the novels action takes place with him in the scene; however, it is usually more focused towards other characters. Throughout the novel, Mr. Utterson is reading over Mr. Jekyll’s legal documents. Reading over these reveals the main plot line of the story, which I will not ruin for you. He is also a very professional character. He never jumps to conclusions when things get ugly between his friends. He looks for an explanation. Even when his close friend Mr. Jekyll is being suspected of committing a criminal offence, he still looks over what evidence he has, rather that accusing him.

Dr. Henry Jekyll

Dr. Jekyll is another one of the main characters of the novel. He is a well-respected man who is well known in and around the community. He is good friends to Mr. Uttenson and Dr. Lanyon. It is eventually revealed that he has been preforming some dangerous experiments on himself in order to bring out his darker side. The experiments are intended to separate his two sides: good and evil. It usually just requires a potion to turn back, but eventually he transforms too many times and can do it without even experimenting on himself. He does it one day while sitting in the park, which is the first time he does it while he is awake. Ultimately, the novel concludes with a letter written from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Utterson. Once again, I won’t spoil what it contains.

Mr. Edward Hyde

Mr. Hyde is another main character in the novel. He is described as a hideous and deformed creature that doesn’t appear to be human. Throughout the novel, you discover that he is the alter ego of the friendly, intelligent, and respectable Dr. Jekyll. Mr. Hyde is the result of Dr. Jekyll’s experiments gone wrong. He is the dark, evil side of Jekyll and he causes havoc, including murdering a few characters.

Dr. Hastie Lanyon

While he doesn’t play a huge part in the story, he does play enough of a part to be mentioned. He mentions Dr. Jekyll’s experiments early on, but you don’t clue in to what they mean until the later chapters of the novel. Lanyon and Jekyll were once very close friends and both did experiments, but they took separate paths. You could even imagine that they once shared research together. They eventually split up, because Lanyon thinks that Jekyll’s experiments aren’t scientific. Near the end, Lanyon sees Jekyll transform; something that he cannot believe. Lanyon chooses his life over living with the fact that he was wrong about Jekyll, and dies shortly after.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! The purpose of this blog will be to inform readers of my experiences while reading "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson. Listed below is 10 links that you can find out more information about the novel, the author and other related subjects.

http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-drjekyllmrhyde/bio.html

http://www.robert-louis-stevenson.org/

http://kirjasto.sci.fi/rlsteven.htm

http://www.helium.com/items/416526-book-reviews-the-strange-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde-by-robert-louis-stevenson

http://www.shvoong.com/books/26687-strange-case-dr-jekyll-mr/

http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/stevensonbio.html

http://www.online-literature.com/stevenson/

http://robert-louis-stevenson.classic-literature.co.uk/

http://www.robert-louis-stevenson.org/works

http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/rlstevenson/bl-rlst-wri-1.htm