Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

This study guide will help you analyze the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. You can also find a summary of the text, as well as inspiration for interpreting it and putting it into perspective.

Presentation of the text

Title: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: Novella

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was a Scottish writer of novels, essays, poetry, and plays during the Victorian age. He suffered from poor health throughout his life, but despite this, he managed to publish a huge number of works as well as travel extensively. He spent the last few years of his life on the island of Samoa in Polynesia, where he died aged 44. He was very well-known during his lifetime, but his reputation suffered significantly after his death. Recent decades have seen a revival of interest in Stevenson’s work, and he is still a popular author.

He is best known for his children’s novel Treasure Island (1881), which is an adventure story about pirates and buried treasure, and for Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), a novella about monstrous and supernatural events.

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is one of the most famous “monster” stories ever written. However, most people know it through the common phrase “Jekyll and Hyde”, used to refer to a person who appears to be nice but who turns out to have an evil side.

Extract

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Symbols

The novella includes a number of symbols, which are used to transmit the story’s themes and messages. For example, Dr Jekyll’s house and laboratory are symbols of his dual personality. His house is large and displays his wealth, whereas his laboratory is dark and shabby. The two buildings are connected, but exactly how is not clear; this symbolizes how the connection between Jekyll and Hyde is not...