The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson is popularly known for his famous works such as “Kidnapped”, “Treasure Island”, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and many others. Above mentioned three works are his most famous works. Today, we are going to review the last one. “The Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is a classic novelette which is full of suspense, psychological thriller case of two mentioned characters.

Commonly known as “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” falls in the category of Gothic horror. Gothic horror refers to loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. Well, maybe it is not considered horror in 21^st century but the time when this novelette was published it fell under the category of horror that’s why it is categorized as Gothic horror. Main themes of this story are good vs. evil and dual identity.

The story is set in London where a lawyer Mr. Utterson notices a dwarfish and devilish man named Mr. Hyde. Utterson remembers that his closest friend Dr. Henry Jekyll has named this Hyde as his successor in his will. Upon discussion with Dr. Henry Jekyll on the subject, Utterson finds Dr. Jekyll at ease. The story takes a good turn when Mr. Hyde murders flees the city after murdering a famous political celebrity. Police is unable to find him. 

Due to some substantial evidences, Mr. Utterson becomes suspicious that Dr. Jekyll is trying to forge for a murderer. After this incident Dr. Jekyll gets into seclusion and stops seeing anyone one not even his best friends. Upon Utterson’s inquiry via letter, Dr. Jekyll responds him that “he brought on himself a punishment and danger which he cannot name”.

Mr. Utterson receives a letter from deceased friend Dr. Lanyon which reads that it must not be opened till disappearance or death of Dr. Henry Jekyll. Likewise, after Hyde’s suicide, the lawyer receives another letter from Dr. Jekyll asking him to read the Dr. Lanyon’s letter first and then read Jekyll’s confession. These two letters contain the secrets of the whole story and last two chapters of the novel are based upon these letters. It is interesting to read those two chapters and disclose heart of the story before reader. I am not going to add any spoiler in my review and urge reader to read the novel themselves so that they may enjoy it fully.

The story is full of suspense. The reader never knows the reality of two characters until he has read more than two/third of the novelette. The last chapter of the novel is the most interesting one. Chapter is titled as “Full statement of Dr. Henry Jekyll. It discloses the suspense and secret of whole story but here I am not going to write about it. The potential reader will lose interest otherwise in the story.

Sometime the story sounds boring but with a little consistency a reader can enjoy a good read. Strange incidents happen which are told in third person. With every page readers’ curiosity arouses about where Mr. Hyde has disappeared and what has happened to Dr. Jekyll. Why such a lively person has become secluded in his house. Sometimes feelings of horror come over a reader and sometimes psychological thriller pushes reader to read more and more of it.