Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, published in January 1886 by Longmans, Green and Co., is a horror story dealing with the scientist Dr Henry Jekyll and his fateful attempts to isolate man’s dual nature. His investigations lead to the invention of a fantastic drug. Testing the drug on himself, Jekyll is transformed into the villainous Edward Hyde in whose form the respectable doctor is able to enjoy the nefarious nocturnal pleasures of late-Victorian London. Initially, Jekyll is intoxicated by the opportunity, afforded by his metamorphosis into Hyde, to access with impunity the promiscuous and disreputable delights unavailable to his more respectable self – until Hyde’s transgressions take on a more sinister form, with the murder of the prominent social reformer, Sir Danvers…
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Citation: Evans, Dewi Llyr. "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 December 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=10099, accessed 21 November 2024.]
