Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Collected Works of Robert Louis Stevenson) [Hardcover]

Robert Louis Stevenson (Author), Richard Dury (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 13, 2004 | Series: Collected Works of Robert Louis Stevenson

This story of a double-life in which the protagonist by day worked as a respectable doctor and by night roamed the back alleys of old-town London, was first published as a 'shilling shocker' in 1886 and became an instant classic. In the first six months of publication 40,000 copies were sold, and it remains one of the best tales ever written about the divided self. The story opens with Mr Utterson the lawyer learning of an inexplicable attack on a young girl by a certain Mr Hyde, who he knows to be a protege of his old friend Henry Jekyll. Deciding to discover more about the matter, he questions those who might know something and finally manages to speak to Hyde himself. Though it sounds like the beginning of a detective story, the reader is already aware that things are deeper than they might appear: those who meet Hyde feel an irrational hatred and are unable to describe him in any detail. And the language of the text itself seems to be hiding something: vague, ambiguous, at times opaque and full of repetitions. Something is going on here, but we're not sure what it is.In the end, after Hyde has committed a murder, a distressed Jekyll locks himself in his study; but when Utterson breaks down the door, he finds not Jekyll but the dead body of Hyde. He also discovers a document which, along with another already acquired from the last two chapters, explains many things -- but not all. This new edition contains a substantial introduction, with the story of composition (amid difficulties), first publication and early reception, followed by a survey of the main critical interpretations of this much-discussed work, a brief study of its language, and an overview of the most important derivative works: stage plays, films, comic books, graphic novels, and retellings of various kinds. Key Features: / The most complete, scholarly edition of Jekyll and Hyde -- with full introduction, notes, etc. / The story of the composition and publication reveals new details -- of interest to RLS biographers / Summarises the many various critical approaches to Jekyll and Hyde / Explanatory notes cover archaic and Scots words, the origins and meanings of characters' names, and comment on cultural and literary allusions

Editorial Reviews

Review

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

(Choice 48; 3)

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

(Harold Orel English Literature in Translation )

About the Author

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

(5/1/05)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press (October 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0748615180
• ISBN-13: 978-0748615186
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,402,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, July 26, 2007

By 

Kerry's Students "from Honors 150" (Provo, UT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Collected Works of Robert Louis Stevenson) (Hardcover)

Mariam Silverio

Honors 150

Analysis Paper

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a terror tale written in the Victorian era. It is counted as one of Stevenson's gothic tales. It is a classic. This tale tells us about a man that unintentionally has a double life. The author of this book is using fallacies, and a really good characterization. This book explains the bad and good parts of human beings. It tells us about an internal fight that Dr. Jekyll has against his bad self. This book also explains the potential that every human being has to do good or evil, according to their decisions.

"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is written with an inductive logic, giving us the facts first, and the reasons why things happened at the end. It is the atrocities that are going on close to Mr. Utterson, a respected lawyer, and that are related to his friend, Dr. Jekyll, what makes him to try to find out who the criminal is, and at the end finding guilty the person that he suspected the least.

This book has mainly three characters. The first one is Mr. Utterson, a lawyer who is a good friend; he is intelligent, and persistent. A person with selected and few friends, "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" as described on page five, paragraph one. This character is a loyal friend, who is not going to judge his friend Dr. Jekyll, until he can be able to find out the reasons why he is protecting a criminal (Mr. Hyde). It is the curiosity, and the desire of look after his friends what brings Mr. Utterson to solve this mystery.

Dr. Jekyll is a rich lonely person, he only has a couple friends as described on page twelve "After a little rambling talk, the lawyer led up to the subject which so disagreeably preoccupied his mind. `I suppose, Lanyon' said he, `you and I must be the two oldest friends that Henry Jekyll has?' `I wish the friends were younger', chuckled Dr. Lanyon . `But I suppose we are. And what of that? I see little of him now" .His name is very well known, and often printed (page 8). He is a gentleman, and people trusted him. This character represents good values such ad honor. He is the protagonist and antagonist at the same time. He has the ability to become someone else with bad feelings, someone representing repressed feelings. He decides to name this new person Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll is having an internal fight, he is trying to conquer, and totally destroy Mr. Hyde. Robert Louis Stevenson is representing the good feelings of human beings in Dr. Jekyll character.

Mr. Hyde is "A man with a kind of black, sneering, coolness" (page 8). This character represents the anger, and irrational part of human beings. Mr. Utterson had been looking forward to meet Mr. Hyde, and when he finally meets him, he assumes that MR. Hyde is a bad person, because of his appearance, "Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, an he spoke with a husky, whispering and somewhat broken voice; all these were points against him, but not all of these together could explain the hitherto unknown disgust , loathing and fear with which Mr. Utterson regarded him" ( page 16) Also this fragment is an example of a false analogy used by Stevenson, contrary to "The portrait of Dorian Gray" where Oscar Wild is describing a really good looking person doing evil.

Finally, this book let us analyze the difference of good from evil. For example warm, and comfortable places becoming places where few people go, "at the door of this, which wore a great air of wealth and comfort, though it was now plunged in darkness" (page 16). This book also mentions the rupture of friendships because of a man who let anger domain him, "`Jekyll is ill too,' observed Utterson. `Have you seen him?' But Lanyon's face changed, and he held up a trembling hand. `I wish to see or hear no more of Doctor Jekyll,' he said in a loud, unsteady voice. `I am quite done with that person; and I beg that you will spare me any allusion o one whom I regard as dead'" (page 32)