The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

By Robert Louis Stevenson

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is an 1886 Gothic horror novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and a murderous criminal named Edward Hyde.

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is one of the most famous pieces of English literature, and is considered to be a defining book of the gothic horror genre. The novella has also had a sizeable impact on popular culture, with the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" being used in vernacular to refer to people with an outwardly good but sometimes shockingly evil nature

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the classic novella of split personality. Stevenson wrote it in just a few days while sick and bedridden, and famously burned the first draft after his wife suggested it should be written as an allegory and not as a story. He re-wrote it in three to six days, and after a few weeks of editing and revision he published what would become one of his most famous and best-selling works.The story follows a London lawyer as he investigates the relationship between a brilliant scientist and a misshapen misanthrope. As the link between the two becomes clearer, Jekyll and Hyde develops into an allegory on the nature of good and evil. Stevenson had long been intrigued by the idea of how human personalities can reflect the interplay of good and evil. While still a teenager, he developed a script for a play about William Brodie, a Scottish cabinet-maker, deacon of a trades guild, and Edinburgh city councillor, who maintained a secret life as a burglar in order to fund his mistresses and gambling addiction, which Stevenson later reworked with the help of W. E. Henley and which was produced for the first time in 1882.

Inspiration may also have come from the writer's friendship with an Edinburgh-based French teacher, Eug ne Chantrelle, who was convicted and executed for the murder of his wife in May 1878. 6] Chantrelle, who had appeared to lead a normal life in the city, poisoned his wife with opium. According to author Jeremy Hodges, 7] Stevenson was present throughout the trial and as "the evidence unfolded he found himself, like Dr Jekyll, 'aghast before the acts of Edward Hyde'." Moreover, it was believed that the teacher had committed other murders both in France and Britain by poisoning his victims at supper parties with a "favourite dish of toasted cheese and opium".

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GTD7SPXP
• ISBN13: 9791043138942
• Release Date: March 2026
• Publisher: Les Prairies Numeriques
• Length: 92 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

"If he be Mr. Hyde," he had thought, "I shall be Mr. Seek."

This is a novella by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, first published in 1886. So, it may read a tad dated. Atty. Mr. Utterson is worried, as the keeper of Dr. Henry Jekyll's will. The will leaves everything to Edward Hyde in case of Henry's death or disappearance. Mr. Utterson meets the hideous Hyde once and does not trust him. Well, it looks like Henry's Will will have to be executed as the housekeeper; Mr. Pool thinks Hyde hid Henry's body. Once again, I saw Spencer Tracy before I read the book, so I was anticipating a different type of story. I read "Treasure Island," so I am familiar with Stevenson's writing style, but I did not realize that this story was more of a mystery that draws the conclusion and revelation in the end. The explanation of man and his dual personality is excellent, and I suspect he draws on personal experience.