THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR.

HYDE
(1886)

PLOT
-John Utterson was a respectable London lawyer and friend to the brilliant scientist Dr. Henry
Jekyll.
-Every week Utterson used to take a walk with his cousin, Richard En eld.
-One day, during one of their weekly walk, En eld told his cousin that some days ago he had seen
a mysterious man, named Edward Hyde, assaulting a youg girl. En eld forced Hyde to
compensate her family. Then, the sinister man gave to the lawyer a cheque signed by the Doctor
Henry Jekyll, Utterson's friend and client.
-After listening to En eld’s story, Utterson began to investigate into the life of his friend Jekyll, who
was showing a very odd behavior lately. Utterson thought that Mr. Hyde was blackmailing his
close friend.
-Meanwhile, in London several murders were happing. In one of them, a witness recognized Mr.
Hyde as the murder.
-As Utterson investigated further into the life of Dr. Jekyll, he discovered a story so horri c: his
friend had created a potion able to release his evil side, Mr. Hyde. These two beings (the good
and the evil) were in a perpetual struggle: when the evil side achieved domination, Jekyll took the
guise of Mr. Hyde and committed criminal acts.
-At the end, Jekyll had two choices: he might choose a life of crime or, on the other hand, he must
eliminate Hyde by killing him.
-Jekyll’s suicide is the nal and only choice.

Setting
The story takes place in London in the 1870s. Most scenes of the novel take place at night. The
most important event happened in darkness and fog.

The theme of the double

The theme of the double dominates this novel. Stevenson considered evil to be a real presence in
human nature, which is in a perpetual struggle with the good side of human beings.

In this novel, the theme of the double is depicted in two di erent ways:
-In the gure of Dr. Jekyll: Henry Jekyll was on the surface a respectable man, but when his evil
side gained the upper hand, he took the guise of Mr. Hyde and committed criminal acts. Althought
the good and the evil parts of each individual were always ghting each other, the only way out
seemed to be suicide. Indeed, Jekyll, in order to de nitely eliminate Mr. Hyde, committed suicide.
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-In the city of London: During the Victorian Age, London had a ‘double’ nature and re ecting the
hypocrisy of Victorian society: the respectable side of the city (represented by the middle class)
which was in contrast with poverty and slums.

Similarities with the novel « Picture of Dorian Gray »: in both novels the theme of the double is
evident. In Wilde's work, the protagonist Dorian Gray, is characterized by the presence of his
double, that is his portrait. Another aspect in common is linked to the fact that at the end of the
book Dorian has two choices: live a life dedicated to youth, beauty and corruption or interrupt this
curse, destroying the painting. Since both Dorian and the painting belong to the the same thing,
the only way out is suicide. In fact, by destroying the picture, Dorian also kills himself.

Source of the novel

The novel had its origin in a dream: Stevenson wrote down in his diary that he had dreamed of a
man in a laboratory who had swallowed a drug and turned into a di erent being. It was the Gothic
aspect of this story that excited him.
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