The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Stevenson is a classic Gothic novella exploring the duality of human nature. Through the intertwined lives of the sober, respectable Dr. Henry Jekyll and his dark alter-ego Mr. Hyde, the story examines themes of good vs evil, identity, repression, and the monstrous lurking within. The tale is narrated largely through reports and third-person perspective, with Utterson, a lawyer and friend, acting as the moral observer piecing together the mystery caused by Jekyll’s experiments. The translation by Fruttero & Lucentini is considered elegant and effective in bringing out the psychological tension, while maintaining Stevenson’s atmospheric setting of Victorian London and the moral ambiguities at the core.
Author:Robert Louis Stevenson translation of Carlo Fruttero & Franco Lucentini