This is the disturbing tale of the dual personality of Dr. Jekyll, a physician. A generous and philanthropic man, he is preoccupied with the problems of good and evil and with the possibility of separating them into distinct personalities. He develops a drug that transforms him into the demonic Mr. Hyde, in whose person he exhausts all the latent evil in his nature. He also creates an antidote that will restore him to his respectable existence as Dr. Jekyll. Gradually, however, the unmitigated evil of his darker self predominates until finally he performs an atrocious murder. His saner self determines to curtail these alternations of personality, but he discovers that he is losing control over his transformations and that he slips with increasing frequency into the world of evil. Finally, unable to procure one of the ingredients for the mixture of redemption, and on the verge of being discovered, he commits suicide. Stark, skillfully woven, this fascinating novel explores the curious turnings of human character through the strange case of Dr. Jekyll, a kindly scientist who by night takes on his stunted, evil self, Mr. Hyde. Anticipating modern psychology, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a brilliantly original study of man's dual nature as well as an immortal tale of suspense and terror. Written before Freud's naming of the ego and the id, Robert Louis Stevenson's enduring classic demonstrates a remarkable understanding of the personality's inner conflict and remains the irresistibly terrifying stuff of our worst nightmares. This tale of the mild-mannered Dr. Jekyll and the drug that unleashed his evil, inner persona – the loathsome, twisted Mr. Hyde – has lost none of its ability to shock. Its realistic police-style narrative chillingly relates Dr. Jekyll's desperation as Hyde gains control of his soul – and gives voice to our own fears of the violence and evil within us.
"A fable that lies nearer to poetry than to ordinary prose fiction.-Vladimir Nabokov"
Vladimir Nabokov
"In its dramatization of the dark side of human nature, Stevenson's novel anticipates Sigmund Freud's study of the primitive forces of the mind that dwell in what he termed the unconscious and the id."
Masterpieces of World Literature
"The theme of human duality…is nowhere presented with more force and originality than in Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde…Based upon the dual personalities of a single man representing beauty and beast, the story reveals Stevenson's understanding of human nature and his mastery of English prose."
