Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)

A chilling novella about the duality of human nature that gave the English language a permanent metaphor for the battle between good and evil within every person.

Historical Significance:
Stevenson wrote the first draft in just three days during a feverish period in late September 1885 in Bournemouth, England. According to legend, his wife Fanny read the draft and criticized it, whereupon Stevenson burned the manuscript and rewrote it from scratch in another three days. The published version appeared on January 5, 1886.

The novella was an instant sensation, selling 40,000 copies in Britain in six months. In America, it sold over 250,000 copies, partly as a cheap pirated edition. The story tapped into Victorian anxieties about respectability, repression, and the fear that beneath every gentleman lurked a beast.

Stevenson, a Scottish author already famous for Treasure Island, claimed the central idea came to him in a dream — the "fine bogey tale" of a man who drinks a potion and transforms into his evil alter ego. The novella's power lies in its restraint: the actual transformation is barely described, forcing the reader's imagination to fill in the horror.

Cultural Impact:
"Jekyll and Hyde" is now a universal metaphor for split personality and moral duality, used in psychology, law, journalism, and everyday conversation in every English-speaking country. The story has been adapted into over 120 films and stage productions. It directly influenced Freud's theories of the id and ego, and remains one of the most powerful explorations of human psychology in all of fiction.

This public domain classic was originally published in 1886. Free to read and share.