THE STRANGE CASE OF DR.
JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
By Robert Louis Stevenson
(1886)
A lawyer named Mr Utterson came to know that one night a
man called Mr Hyde accidentally hurt a little girl while he was walking on the
street.
To avoid the police, Hyde paid her family with a cheque signed by Dr
Henry Jekyll, a respected doctor and one of Utterson’s friends.
Utterson thought
that maybe Hyde was blackmailing Jekyll. In fact, Utterson had Jekyll’s will in which, in
case of his death, he wanted to leave all his possessions to Hyde.
Utterson decided to discover who Hyde was. He waited for
him and was shocked when he saw Hyde’s deformity.
So, he asked Jekyll about
Hyde, and Jekyll answered that Hyde wasn’t a problem for him and that he could
rid himself of Hyde if he wanted.
Almost a year passed without incident. One night, a servant
saw Hyde killing a man with a walking stick: it was the stick that Utterson gave
as a present to Jekyll.
The attack was so ferocious that the stick broke in two.
The police found the other half of the walking stick in Hyde’s room.
When Utterson asked Jekyll for information, his friend said
that Hyde left London forever. He also gave Utterson a letter from Hyde saying
that. But, when Utterson examined the letter, he saw that the writing was
Jekyll’s.
More time passed and there
was no news about Hyde.
Suddenly, one day, Jekyll closed into his study at home
and didn’t want to see anyone. Then, Jekyll’s butler, Poole, went to Utterson
and asked him to come to Jekyll’s house. He said that Hyde killed Jekyll.
Poole said that Hyde was locked in Jekyll’s study – he
could hear a different voice. Hyde ordered Poole to get supplies from chemists
all over London. Utterson and Poole broke into the study and found Hyde’s body
– he had committed suicide when he heard them.
Utterson and Poole looked around but they couldn’t find
Jekyll. All they found was a letter from Jekyll and a new will in which Jekyll
left his possessions to Utterson.
Utterson read the letter. It revealed that Jekyll was
fascinated by the duality of man. He made experiments and he discovered a
potion that turned him into evil Mr Hyde. Taking the same solution a second
time, he could become good Dr Jekyll again.
At first, Jekyll liked becoming Hyde, but then he felt
deep remorse. However, he had more and more difficulties to eliminate Hyde.
At
the end, Jekyll turned into Hyde even without the potion. Meanwhile, the supply
of the special salt needed as a vital ingredient of the potion could not be
found anywhere in London.
So, Jekyll took the final dose and wrote the letter, saying
that he hoped Hyde could kill himself.
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. What
was Jekyll’s and Utterson’s job?
2. What
happened between Hyde and a little girl?
3. How
did Utterson discover a link between Jekyll and Hyde?
4. What
did the first Jekyll’s will say?
5. Why
was Utterson shocked when he saw Hyde?
6. What
did Hyde do with a walking stick?
7. What
did the police discover?
8. Why
did Jekyll say that Hyde wasn’t in London anymore?
9. What
was strange in that letter?
10. Why
did Poole ask for Utterson’s help?
11. What
did Hyde want from Poole?
12. What
did Utterson and Poole see in Jekyll’s study?
13. Where
was Jekyll?
14. How
was the second will different from the first one?
15. What
was written in the final letter?
16. How
did the potion work?
17. What
was the main ingredient of the potion?
18. What
was Jekyll’s problem in his last days?
19. What
did Jekyll hope?
20. What
is your opinion on this story?
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