Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde\Der seltsame Fall des Dr. Jekyll und Mr. Hyde, englische Ausgabe
Die meisterhafte Kriminalerzählung "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde" des Schotten Robert Louis Stevenson ist
weltberühmt. Unzählige Verfilmungen zeugen von der ungebrochenen
Faszination, die von dieser unheimlichen Variante des
Doppelgängermotivs ausgeht. Seit Jugendtagen weiß der
Wissenschaftler Dr. Jekyll um die Spaltung seiner Persönlichkeit:
Gut und Böse ringen in ihm. Mit Hilfe eines geheimnisvollen
Elixiers setzt er schließlich die dunkle Seite seines Ichs frei,
doch der mysteriöse Mr. Hyde wird immer mächtiger und droht das
Gute zu verschlingen ...
This "Norton Critical Edition" of Stevenson's
enduringly popular and chilling tale is based on the 1886 First
British Edition, the only edition set directly from Stevenson's
manuscript and for which he read proofs. The text has been
rigorously annotated for student readers and is accompanied by a
textual appendix.
"Backgrounds and Contexts" includes a wealth of materials
on the tale's publication history as well as its relevance to
Victorian culture. Twelve of Stevenson's letters from the years
1885-87 are excerpted, along with his essay "A Chapter on
Dreams," in which he comments on the plot's origin. Ten
contemporary responses - including those by Julia Wedgwood, Gerard
Manley Hopkins, and Henry James - illustrate Strange Case of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde's initial reception. Stevenson's 1885
tale "Markheim," a precursor to Jekyll and Hyde and a
window onto the Victorian sensation market, is reprinted in its
entirety in this Norton Critical Edition. Karl Miller, Jenni
Calder, and Judith Halberstam discuss literary genres central to
Jekyll and Hyde. Four scientific essays - including one by Stephen
Jay Gould--elucidate Victorian conceptions of atavism,
multiple-personality disorder, narcotics addiction, and sexual
aberration. Judith R. Walkowitz and Walter Houghton consider the
implications of Victorian moral conformity and political disunity
for society at large.
"Performance Adaptations" addresses - -in writings by C.
Alex Pinkston, Jr., Charles King, and Scott Allen Nollen--the many
ways in which Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has been
dramatized over more than a century and explores its status as a
perpetually effective vehicle for changing psychological and social
concerns. A checklist of major performance adaptions is provided,
along with a sampler of publicity photos.
"Criticism" includes essays by G. K. Chesterton, Vladimir
Nabokov, Peter K. Garrett, Patrick Brantlinger, and Katherine
Linehan that center on the tale's major themes of morality,
allegory, and self-alienation.
A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.
Robert Louis Stevenson, geboren 1850 in Edinburgh, schrieb unter anderem Reiseerzählungen, Abenteuerromane und Lyrik. Stevenson starb im Alter von 44 Jahren auf der Südseeinsel Samoa.
