''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...
by Scottish author
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old friend
Dr. Henry Jekyll
Dr. Henry Jekyll, nicknamed in some copies of the story as Harry Jekyll, and his alternative personality, Mr. Edward Hyde, is the central character of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde''. In the story, ...
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
English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...
, and is considered to be a defining book of the gothic horror genre. The novella has also had a sizable 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.
Inspiration and writing
![Robert Louis Stevenson, 1885](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Robert_Louis_Stevenson%2C_1885.jpg)
Stevenson had long been intrigued by the idea of how human personalities can reflect the interplay of
good and evil
In religion, ethics, philosophy, and psychology "good and evil" is a very common dichotomy. In cultures with Manichaean and Abrahamic religious influence, evil is perceived as the dualistic antagonistic opposite of good, in which good shoul ...
. While still a teenager, he developed a script for a play about
William Brodie
William Brodie (28 September 1741 – 1 October 1788), often known by his title of Deacon Brodie, was a Scottish cabinet-maker, deacon of a trades guild, and Edinburgh city councillor, who maintained a secret life as a housebreaker, partly fo ...
, which he later reworked with the help of
W. E. Henley
William Ernest Henley (23 August 184911 July 1903) was an English poet, writer, critic and editor. Though he wrote several books of poetry, Henley is remembered most often for his 1875 poem " Invictus". A fixture in London literary circles, the ...
and which was produced for the first time in 1882. In early 1884, he wrote the short story "
Markheim
"Markheim" is a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, originally prepared for the ''Pall Mall Gazette'' in 1884, but published in 1885 in ''The Broken Shaft: Tales of Mid-Ocean'' as part of ''Unwin's Christmas Annual''. The story was later publi ...
", which he revised in 1884 for publication in a
Christmas annual. According to his essay "A Chapter on Dreams" (
''Scribner's'', Jan. 1888), he racked his brains for an idea for a story and had a dream, and upon waking had the
intuition
Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning. Different fields use the word "intuition" in very different ways, including but not limited to: direct access to unconscious knowledge; unconscious cognition; ...
for two or three scenes that would appear in the story ''Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde''. Biographer,
Graham Balfour
Sir Graham Balfour (2 December 1858 – 26 October 1929) was a noted educationalist, author and son of Surgeon General Thomas Graham Balfour. He lived near his cousin, Robert Louis Stevenson during the final years of Stevenson's life, and went o ...
, quoted Stevenson's wife,
Fanny Stevenson
Frances "Fanny" Matilda Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson (10 March 1840 – 18 February 1914) was an American magazine writer. She became a supporter and later the wife of Robert Louis Stevenson, and the mother of Isobel Osbourne, Samuel Lloyd ...
:
In the small hours of one morning, ..I was awakened by cries of horror from Louis. Thinking he had a nightmare, I awakened him. He said angrily: "Why did you wake me? I was dreaming a fine bogey tale." I had awakened him at the first transformation scene.
Lloyd Osbourne
Samuel Lloyd Osbourne (April 7, 1868 – May 22, 1947) was an American author and the stepson of the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, with whom he co-authored three books, including '' The Wrecker'', and provided input and ideas on oth ...
, Stevenson's stepson, wrote: "I don't believe that there was ever such a literary feat before as the writing of ''Dr. Jekyll''. I remember the first reading as though it were yesterday. Louis came downstairs in a fever; read nearly half the book aloud; and then, while we were still gasping, he was away again, and busy writing. I doubt if the first draft took so long as three days."
Inspiration may also have come from the writer's friendship with an Edinburgh-based French teacher,
Eugene Chantrelle
Eugene Marie Chantrelle (1834 in Nantes – 31 May 1878 in Edinburgh) was a French teacher who lived in Edinburgh and who was convicted for the murder of his wife, Elizabeth Dyer. He is claimed to be the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's ch ...
, who was convicted and executed for the murder of his wife in May 1878. Chantrelle, who had appeared to lead a normal life in the city, poisoned his wife with opium. According to author Jeremy Hodges, 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".
As was customary, Mrs. Stevenson would read the draft and offer her criticisms in the margins. Robert Stevenson was confined to bed at the time from a
haemorrhage
Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vagi ...
. In her comments in the
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...
, she observed that in effect the story was really an
allegory
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...
, but Robert was writing it as a story. After a while, Robert called her back into the bedroom and pointed to a pile of ashes: he had burnt the manuscript in fear that he would try to salvage it, and thus forced himself to start again from nothing, writing an allegorical story as she had suggested. Scholars debate whether he really burnt his manuscript; there is no direct factual evidence for the burning, but it remains an integral part of the history of the novella.
Stevenson rewrote the story in three to six days. A number of later biographers have alleged that Stevenson was on drugs during the frantic re-write; for example, William Gray's revisionist history ''A Literary Life'' (2004) said he used
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
while other biographers said he used
ergot
Ergot ( ) or ergot fungi refers to a group of fungi of the genus ''Claviceps''.
The most prominent member of this group is ''Claviceps purpurea'' ("rye ergot fungus"). This fungus grows on rye and related plants, and produces alkaloids that ca ...
. However, the standard history, according to the accounts of his wife and son (and himself), says he was bed-ridden and sick while writing it. According to Osbourne, "The mere physical feat was tremendous and, instead of harming him, it roused and cheered him inexpressibly". He continued to refine the work for four to six weeks after the initial revision. The novella was written in the southern English seaside town of
Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
, where Stevenson had moved to benefit from its sea air and warmer climate.
The name Jekyll was borrowed from the Reverend
Walter Jekyll
Walter Jekyll (27 November 1849, Bramley, Surrey, England – 17 February 1929, Bower Hall, Riverside, Hanover, Jamaica), was an English clergyman who renounced his religion and became a planter in Jamaica, where he collected and published songs a ...
, a friend of Stevenson and younger brother of horticulturalist and landscape designer
Gertrude Jekyll
Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote ...
.
Plot
Gabriel John Utterson and his cousin Richard Enfield reach the door of a large house on their weekly walk. Enfield tells Utterson that months ago, he saw a sinister-looking man named Edward Hyde trample a young girl after accidentally bumping into her. Enfield forced Hyde to pay her family £100 to avoid a scandal. Hyde brought Enfield to this door and gave him a cheque signed by a reputable gentleman later revealed to be Doctor Henry Jekyll, Utterson's friend and client. Utterson fears Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll, as Jekyll recently changed his will to make Hyde the sole beneficiary. When Utterson tries to discuss Hyde with Jekyll, Jekyll tells Utterson he can get rid of Hyde when he wants and asks him to drop the matter.
One year later in October, a servant sees Hyde beat Sir Danvers Carew, another one of Utterson's clients, to death and leave behind half a broken cane. The police contact Utterson, who leads officers to Hyde's apartment. Hyde has vanished, but they find the other half of the broken cane. Utterson recognizes the cane as one he had given to Jekyll. Utterson visits Jekyll, who shows Utterson a note, allegedly written to Jekyll by Hyde, apologizing for the trouble that he has caused. However, Hyde's handwriting is similar to Jekyll's own, leading Utterson to conclude that Jekyll forged the note to protect Hyde.
For two months, Jekyll reverts to his former sociable manner but, in early January, he starts refusing visitors. Dr. Hastie Lanyon, a mutual friend of Jekyll and Utterson, dies of shock after receiving information relating to Jekyll. Before his death, Lanyon gives Utterson a letter to be opened after Jekyll's death or disappearance. In late February, during another walk with Enfield, Utterson starts a conversation with Jekyll at his laboratory window. Jekyll suddenly slams the window shut and disappears, shocking and concerning Utterson.
In early March, Jekyll's butler, Mr. Poole, visits Utterson and says Jekyll has secluded himself in his laboratory for weeks. Utterson and Poole break into the laboratory, where they find Hyde's body wearing Jekyll's clothes, apparently having killed himself. They find a letter from Jekyll to Utterson. Utterson reads Lanyon's letter, then Jekyll's. Lanyon's letter reveals his deterioration resulted from the shock of seeing Hyde drink a serum that turned him into Jekyll. Jekyll's letter explains he had indulged in unstated vices and feared discovery. He found a way to transform himself and thereby indulge his vices without fear of detection. Jekyll's transformed body, Hyde, was evil, self-indulgent, and uncaring to anyone but himself. Initially, Jekyll controlled the transformations with the serum, but one night in August, he became Hyde involuntarily in his sleep.
Jekyll resolved to cease becoming Hyde. Despite this, one night he had a moment of weakness and drank the serum. Hyde, his desires having been caged for so long, killed Carew. Horrified, Jekyll tried more adamantly to stop the transformations. Then, in early January, he transformed involuntarily while awake. Far from his laboratory and hunted by the police as a murderer, Hyde needed help to avoid capture. He wrote to Lanyon in Jekyll's hand, asking his friend to bring chemicals from his laboratory. In Lanyon's presence, Hyde mixed the chemicals, drank the serum, and transformed into Jekyll. The shock of the sight instigated Lanyon's deterioration and death. Meanwhile, Jekyll's involuntary transformations increased in frequency and required ever larger doses of the serum to reverse. It was one of these transformations that caused Jekyll to slam his window shut on Enfield and Utterson.
Eventually, one of the chemicals used in the serum ran low, and subsequent batches prepared from new stocks failed to work. Jekyll speculated that one of the original ingredients must have had some unknown impurity that made it work. Realizing that he would stay transformed as Hyde, Jekyll wrote out a full account of the events and locked himself in his laboratory with the intent to keep Hyde imprisoned and, as Poole and Utterson smashed down the door to the laboratory, committed suicide by poison.
Characters
Gabriel John Utterson
Gabriel John Utterson, a lawyer and close loyal friend of Jekyll and Lanyon for many years, is the
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
of the story. Utterson is measured and at all times emotionless bachelor – who nonetheless seems believable, trustworthy, tolerant of the faults of others, and indeed genuinely likeable. However, Utterson is not immune to guilt, as, while he is quick to investigate and judge the faults of others even for the benefit of his friends, Stevenson states that "he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done". Whatever these "ill things" may be, he does not partake in gossip or other views of the upper class out of respect for his fellow man. Often the last remaining friend of the downfallen, he finds an interest in others' downfalls, which creates a spark of interest not only in Jekyll but also regarding Hyde. He concludes that human downfall results from indulging oneself in topics of interest. As a result of this line of reasoning, he lives life as a recluse and "dampens his taste for the finer items of life". Utterson concludes that Jekyll lives life as he wishes by enjoying his occupation.
Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Edward Hyde
Dr. Jekyll is a "large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty with something of a slyish cast", who sometimes feels he is battling between the good and evil within himself, leading to the struggle between his dual personalities of Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. He has spent a great part of his life trying to repress evil urges that were not fitting for a man of his stature. He creates a serum, or potion, in an attempt to separate this hidden evil from his personality. In doing so, Jekyll transformed into the smaller, younger, cruel, remorseless, and evil Hyde. Jekyll has many friends and an amiable personality, but as Hyde, he becomes mysterious and violent. As time goes by, Hyde grows in power. After taking the potion repeatedly, he no longer relies upon it to unleash his inner demon, i.e., his
alter ego
An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...
. Eventually, Hyde grows so strong that Jekyll becomes reliant on the potion to remain conscious throughout the book.
Richard Enfield
Richard Enfield is Utterson's cousin and is a well-known "man about town". He first sees Hyde at about three in the morning in an episode that is well documented as Hyde is running over a little girl. He is the person who mentions to Utterson the actual personality of Jekyll's friend, Hyde. Enfield witnessed Hyde recklessly running over a little girl in the street and the group of witnesses, with the girl's parents and other residents, force Hyde into writing a cheque for the girl's family. Enfield discovers that Jekyll signed the cheque, which is genuine. He says that Hyde is disgusting-looking but finds himself stumped when asked to describe the man.
Dr. Hastie Lanyon
A longtime friend of Jekyll, Hastie Lanyon disagrees with Jekyll's "scientific" concepts, which Lanyon describes as "...too fanciful". He is the first person to discover Hyde's true identity (Hyde transforms himself back into Jekyll in Lanyon's presence). Lanyon helps Utterson solve the case when he describes the letter given to him by Jekyll and his thoughts and reactions to the transformation. After he witnesses the transformation process (and subsequently hears Jekyll's private confession, made to him alone), Lanyon becomes shocked into critical illness and, later, death.
Mr. Poole
Poole is Jekyll's butler who has been employed by him for many years. Poole serves Jekyll faithfully and attempts to be loyal to his master, but the growing reclusiveness of and changes in his master cause him growing concern. Finally fearing that his master has been murdered and that his murderer, Mr. Hyde, is residing in Jekyll's chambers, Poole is driven into going to Utterson and joining forces with him to uncover the truth. He chops down the door towards Jekyll's lab in five strong swipes to aid Utterson in the climax.
Inspector Newcomen
Utterson joins this
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
inspector after the murder of Sir Danvers Carew. They explore Hyde's loft in
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
and discover evidence of his depraved life.
Sir Danvers Carew, MP
A kind, 70-year-old Member of Parliament. The maid claims that Hyde, in a murderous rage, killed Carew in the streets of London on the night of 18 October. At the time of his death, Carew is carrying on his person a letter addressed to Utterson, and the broken half of one of Jekyll's walking sticks is found on his body.
Maid
A
maid
A maid, or housemaid or maidservant, is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids ...
, whose employerpresumably JekyllHyde had once visited, is the only person who has witnessed the murder of Sir Danvers Carew. She saw Hyde murder Carew with Jekyll's cane and his feet. Having fainted after seeing what happened, she then wakes up and rushes to the police, thus initiating the murder case of Sir Danvers Carew.
Analysis of themes
Literary genre
A literary genre is a category of literature. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or length (especially for fiction). They generally move from more abstract, encompassing classes, which are then further sub-divided i ...
s that critics have applied as a framework for interpreting the novel include religious allegory,
fable
Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mo ...
,
detective story
Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...
,
sensation fiction,
doppelgänger
A doppelgänger (), a compound noun formed by combining the two nouns (double) and (walker or goer) (), doppelgaenger or doppelganger is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person.
In fiction and mythology, a doppelg ...
literature, Scottish
devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...
tales, and
Gothic novel
Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...
.
Dualities
The novella is frequently interpreted as an examination of the duality of human nature, usually expressed as an inner struggle between good and evil, with variations such as human versus animal,
civility
Civility comes from the word ''civis'', which in Latin means " citizen". Merriam Webster defines civility as civilized conduct (especially: courtesy or politeness) or a polite act or expression. Historically, civility also meant training in the hu ...
versus
barbarism sometimes substituted, the main point being that of an essential inner struggle between the one and other, and that the failure to accept this tension results in evil, or barbarity, or animal violence, being projected onto others.
[Sanford, John A. ''Evil The Shadow Side of Reality''. Crossroad (1981)] In
Freudian
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...
theory, the thoughts and desires banished to the
unconscious
Unconscious may refer to:
Physiology
* Unconsciousness, the lack of consciousness or responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli
Psychology
* Unconscious mind, the mind operating well outside the attention of the conscious mind a ...
mind motivate the behaviour of the
conscious
Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...
mind. Banishing
evil
Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...
to the unconscious mind in an attempt to achieve perfect
goodness can result in the development of a Mr. Hyde-type aspect to one's
character
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
.
In Christian theology, Satan's fall from Heaven is due to his refusal to accept that he is a created being (that he has a dual nature) and is not God.
This idea is suggested when Hyde says to Lanyon, shortly before drinking the famous potion: "your sight shall be blasted by a prodigy to stagger the unbelief of Satan." This is because, in Christianity, pride (to consider oneself as without sin or without evil) is a sin, as it is the precursor to evil itself.
In his discussion of the novel,
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...
argues that the "good versus evil" view of the novel is misleading, as Jekyll himself is not, by Victorian standards, a morally good person in some cases.
Public vs. private
The work is commonly associated today with the Victorian concern over the public and private division, the individual's sense of playing a part and the
class division
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...
of London.
[Saposnik, Irving S. "The Anatomy of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900 11.4, Nineteenth Century (1971): pp. 715–731.] In this respect, the novella has also been noted as "one of the best guidebooks of the Victorian era" because of its piercing description of the fundamental dichotomy of the 19th century "outward respectability and inward lust", as this period had a tendency for social hypocrisy.
[''Nightmare: Birth of Victorian Horror'' (TV series) "Jekyll and Hyde...." (1996)]
Scottish nationalism vs. union with Britain
Another common interpretation sees the novella's duality as representative of Scotland and the Scottish character. In this reading, the duality represents the national and linguistic dualities inherent in Scotland's relationship with the wider Britain and the English language, respectively, and also the repressive effects of the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...
on the Scottish character.
[The Beast Within]
The Guardian, 13 December 2008 A further parallel is also drawn with the city of Edinburgh itself, Stevenson's birthplace, which consists of two distinct parts: the old medieval section historically inhabited by the city's poor, where the dark crowded slums were rife with all types of crime, and the modern Georgian area of wide spacious streets representing respectability.
Addiction
Some scholars have argued that addiction or
substance abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...
is a central theme in the novella. Stevenson's depiction of Mr. Hyde is reminiscent of descriptions of substance abuse in the nineteenth century. Daniel L. Wright describes Dr. Jekyll as "not so much a man of conflicted personality as a man suffering from the ravages of addiction". Patricia Comitini argues that the central duality in the novella is in fact not Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but rather Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde and Utterson, where Utterson represents the rational, unaddicted, ideal Victorian subject devoid of forbidden desires, and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde constitutes his opposite.
Reception
Publication
The book was initially sold as a paperback for one shilling in the U.K. and for one penny in the U.S. These books were called "shilling shockers" or
penny dreadful
Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typically referred to ...
s.
The American publisher issued the book on 5 January 1886, four days before the first appearance of the U.K. edition issued by Longmans; Scribner's published 3,000 copies, only 1,250 of them bound in cloth. Initially, stores did not stock it until a review appeared in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' on 25 January 1886 giving it a favourable reception. Within the next six months, close to 40 thousand copies were sold. As Stevenson's biographer
Graham Balfour
Sir Graham Balfour (2 December 1858 – 26 October 1929) was a noted educationalist, author and son of Surgeon General Thomas Graham Balfour. He lived near his cousin, Robert Louis Stevenson during the final years of Stevenson's life, and went o ...
wrote in 1901, the book's success was probably due rather to the "moral instincts of the public" than to any conscious perception of the merits of its art. It was read by those who never read fiction and quoted in pulpit sermons and in religious papers. By 1901, it was estimated to have sold over 250,000 copies in the United States.
Stage version
Although the book had initially been published as a "shilling shocker", it was an immediate success and one of Stevenson's best-selling works. Stage adaptations began in Boston and London and soon moved all across England and then towards his home country of Scotland.
The first stage adaptation followed the story's initial publication in 1886.
Richard Mansfield
Richard Mansfield (24 May 1857 – 30 August 1907) was an English actor-manager best known for his performances in Shakespeare plays, Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and the play '' Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde''.
Life and career
Mansfield was born ...
bought the rights from Stevenson and worked with Boston author
Thomas Russell Sullivan to write a script. The resulting play added to the cast of characters and some elements of romance to the plot. The addition of female characters to the originally male-centred plot continued in later adaptations of the story. The first performance of the play took place in the Boston Museum in May 1887. The lighting effects and makeup for Jekyll's transformation into Hyde created horrified reactions from the audience, and the play was so successful that production followed in London. After a successful 10 weeks in London in 1888, Mansfield was forced to close down production. The hysteria surrounding the
Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...
serial murders led even those who only played murderers on stage to be considered suspects. When Mansfield was mentioned in London newspapers as a possible suspect for the crimes, he shut down production.
Adaptations
There have been numerous adaptations of the novella, including over 120 stage and film versions alone.
There have also been many audio recordings of the novella, with some of the more famous readers including
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the Fourth Doctor, fourth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Wh ...
,
Roger Rees
Roger Rees (5 May 1944 – 10 July 2015) was a Welsh actor and director, widely known for his stage work. He won an Olivier Award and a Tony Award for his performance as the lead in ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby''. He also rece ...
,
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...
,
Anthony Quayle
Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was a British actor and theatre director. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film '' Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969 ...
,
Martin Jarvis,
Tim Pigott-Smith
Timothy Peter Pigott-Smith, (13 May 1946 – 7 April 2017) was an English film and television actor and author. He was best known for his leading role as Ronald Merrick in the television drama series '' The Jewel in the Crown'', for which he wo ...
,
John Hurt
Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...
,
Ian Holm
Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert (12 September 1931 – 19 June 2020) was an English actor who was knighted in 1998 for his contributions to theatre and film. Beginning his career on the British stage as a standout member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, ...
,
Gene Lockhart
Edwin Eugene Lockhart (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957)["Gene Lockhart"](_blank)
''The ...
,
Richard Armitage,
John Sessions
John Marshall (11 January 1953 – 2 November 2020), better known by the stage name John Sessions, was a British actor and comedian. He was known for comedy improvisation in television shows such as ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', as a panellist o ...
,
Alan Howard Alan Howard may refer to:
* Alan Howard (actor) (1937–2015), English actor
* Alan Howard (cricketer) (1909–1993), English cricketer
* Alan Howard (engineer) (1905–1966), American engineer
* Alan Howard (hedge fund manager) (born 1963), hedge f ...
,
Rory Kinnear
Rory Michael Kinnear (born 17 February 1978) is an English actor and playwright who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. In 2014, he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of William S ...
and
Richard E. Grant.
A 1990 musical based on the story was created by
Frank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn (born November 29, 1958) is an American composer of both musicals and popular songs. His musical ''Jekyll & Hyde'' ran for four years on Broadway. He also wrote the #1 International hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" for Whitne ...
,
Steve Cuden, and
Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse OBE (; 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films ''Do ...
.
There have also been several video games based on the story.
Illustrated versions
S. G. Hulme Beaman illustrated a 1930s edition, and in 1948
Mervyn Peake
Mervyn Laurence Peake (9 July 1911 – 17 November 1968) was an English writer, artist, poet, and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the '' Gormenghast'' books. The four works were part of what Peake conceived ...
provided the newly founded Folio Society with memorable illustrations for the story.
See also
*
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
''The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner: Written by Himself: With a detail of curious traditionary facts and other evidence by the editor'' is a novel by the Scottish author James Hogg, published anonymously in 1824.
The p ...
by
James Hogg
James Hogg (1770 – 21 November 1835) was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading. He was a friend of many ...
, one possible source of inspiration
* The
Hulk
The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk' ...
, a fictional superhero whose creation was inspired by a combination of ''
Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...
'' and ''
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde''.
*
Louis Vivet
Louis Vivet (also Louis Vivé or Vive) (born February 12, 1863, in Paris, France) was one of the first mental health patients to be diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, colloquially known as "multiple rsplit personalities." Within one y ...
, a mental patient diagnosed with
dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states.
The di ...
. His case caught Frederic W. H. Myers's attention, who wrote to Stevenson after the story was published. Stevenson was polite in his response, but rejected the interpretation that Dr Jekyll was suffering from DID.
* British singer
Example
Example may refer to:
* '' exempli gratia'' (e.g.), usually read out in English as "for example"
* .example, reserved as a domain name that may not be installed as a top-level domain of the Internet
** example.com, example.net, example.org, ex ...
directly references Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in his song "Skies Don't Lie". The song lyrics, referring to the duality of human character, read "don't discriminate Jekyll or Hyde, everybody's different at night".
* The band
Riverside references Mr. Hyde in their song "Parasomnia", from the album "
Rapid Eye Movement"
*
Satanik
''Satanik'' is an Italian noir comic book created in December 1964 by Max Bunker (writer) and Magnus (artist), also the authors of the popular series '' Kriminal'' and '' Alan Ford''.
Synopsis
Satanik is Marny Bannister, a skilled female chemis ...
, an Italian noir comic book created in December 1964: Marny Bannister, a female chemistry scientist whose face is marked by an
angioma
Angiomas are benign tumors derived from cells of the vascular or lymphatic vessel walls (endothelium) or derived from cells of the tissues surrounding these vessels.
Angiomas are a frequent occurrence as patients age, but they might be an indicat ...
, develops a drug that transforms her into a fascinating woman. The drug has an unexpected side effect, making her a criminal mastermind.
*
Five Finger Death Punch
Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Ivan Moody, rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory, lead gui ...
, a heavy metal band, has written a song by the name of
Jekyll and Hyde
''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic 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 ...
in their sixth album
Got Your Six
''Got Your Six'' is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch. It was released on September 4, 2015, by Prospect Park. ''Got Your Six'' sold 119,000 units to debut at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200. The 11 ...
.
*
Ice Nine Kills
Ice Nine Kills (sometimes stylized in all capital letters or abbreviated to INK, and formerly known as Ice Nine) is an American heavy metal band from Boston, Massachusetts, who are signed to Fearless Records. Best known for its horror-inspir ...
, a metalcore band has written a song by the name o
Me, Myself & Hyde The song is from their fourth album
Every Trick in the Book
''Every Trick in the Book'' is the fourth album by the American heavy metal band Ice Nine Kills, released on December 4, 2015 by Fearless Records. It is the band's first release through Fearless Records and their fourth overall. Each track on th ...
.
*
Monster High
Monster High is an American multimedia-supported fashion doll franchise created by toy designer Garrett Sander and launched by Mattel in 2010. Aimed at children aged 7 to 14, the franchise features characters inspired by monster movies, sci-fi ...
, a fashion doll franchise, has two iterations of the son of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The first iteration being a boy named Jackson Jekyll who appears in the animated web series and animated films, and the second being Mr. Komos, who appears in the 2022 film, ''
Monster High: The Movie''.
References
Further reading
* Katherine B. Linehan, ed. (2003). ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde''. Norton Critical Edition, W. W. Norton & Co. Text, annotations, contextual essays, and criticism.
External links
*
''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde''https://archive.org/details/strangecaseofdr00stevuoft] from
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
. Many antiquarian illustrated editions.
*
"The Beast Within" Freudian fable, sexual morality tale, gay allegory – the novella has inspired as many interpretations as it has film adaptations. By James Campbell, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 13 December 2008
1950 ''Theatre Guild on the Air'' radio adaptationat
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Short stories by Robert Louis Stevenson
1886 British novels
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British Gothic novels
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Human experimentation in fiction
Novels adapted into comics
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