Mr. Utterson, the lawyer, is perplexed and disturbed. His close friend of many years, the well-respected Dr. Henry Jekyll, has fallen into the company of one Edward Hyde - a man who, by all accounts, is cruel, unfeeling, and seemingly pure evil. Fearing for his friend's life, Utterson tries to persuade Jekyll to rid himself of his new companion. Although Jekyll swears he can and will, Utterson continues to hear reports of the doctor's closeness to Hyde. When Hyde murders a Member of Parliament, Utterson decides the situation is critical. Jekyll's relationship with Hyde must be stopped. Utterson, however, does not realize the full extent of that relationship, and the desperate lengths to which Jekyll must go to sever it. It is only after the doctor disappears that the truth of his experiments - and the dangers of a man trying to release his own dark nature - are revealed. Variously described as mystery, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and social critique, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde remains as relevant an examination of the human heart as when it was first published over a century ago. |