The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has captured the imaginations of readers ever since it was first published in 1886. It met with tremendous success and the words “Jekyll and Hyde” entered the English language as symbols of two conflicting sides of the same personality.

The plot is fast and exciting. It begins with the description of two friends who are both lawyers strolling through the streets of Victorian London. As they pass a strange-looking door in a quiet by-lane, one of them recounts a mystifying incident that he had witnessed there a few months ago. He describes how a young girl was brutally beaten up by a sinister character, who when confronted by the narrator and passers-by, meekly agrees to compensate the child. He returns with a check signed by a man known to the narrator – a respectable scientist called Dr Henry Jekyll. As the mystery unravels, what comes to light is a dark and terrifying account of the conflict between good and evil.

Modern-day readers would be quite familiar with the diabolic acts of schizophrenic criminals. Any number of best-sellers, films and television shows have featured them and today many of us are aware of terms like “split personality” or “dissociative identity disorder.” Yet more than a century ago, Robert Louis Stevenson's novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde was received by amazed readers who were presented with a bizarre and weird concept. The dual personalities whose qualities are diametrically opposite of each other create the basic premise of the story and the universal themes of “civilization,” “identity” and “repression” find brilliant expression in the book. Stevenson's gift for creating unforgettable characters is evident in this macabre tale as well and the reader is left with a sense of dread and foreboding.

The book can be read on various levels – a thrilling mystery, an allegory/fable, a commentary on Victorian morality, a doppelganger tale, science fiction or horror story. Whatever one chooses to classify it as, the book is a riveting and unforgettable experience for readers of all ages.