🧪 Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson (Detailed Cheat Sheet)

📖 Overview

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Published: 1886 (Victorian era)
Genre: Gothic fiction, psychological horror, mystery
Setting: London, 19th century – foggy, dark, divided city mirroring the divided self.
Core Idea: Duality of human nature – good vs evil inside us all.

Dr. Henry Jekyll – A respected doctor and scientist, curious about separating good and evil in man. Creates potion that unleashes his darker self, Hyde.
Mr. Edward Hyde – Jekyll’s evil alter ego, violent, cruel, without conscience. Symbol of unchecked desire and sin.
Gabriel John Utterson – Jekyll’s lawyer and friend. Rational, loyal, represents law, reason, and morality.
Dr. Hastie Lanyon – Jekyll’s old friend and fellow scientist, more traditional. Dies after witnessing Jekyll’s transformation.
Mr. Enfield – Utterson’s cousin; first tells the story of Hyde trampling the girl.
Poole – Jekyll’s butler, loyal and caring, helps Utterson uncover the truth.

Mystery begins – Mr. Enfield tells Utterson about Hyde trampling a girl and paying compensation with Jekyll’s cheque. Strange connection between Jekyll and Hyde.
Utterson investigates – Worried by Jekyll’s will (leaving everything to Hyde), Utterson suspects blackmail.
Hyde’s cruelty – Hyde brutally murders Sir Danvers Carew, shocking London. Hyde disappears.
Jekyll withdraws – Jekyll seems better at first but later isolates himself. Lanyon becomes ill after a shocking event involving Jekyll.
The truth revealed – Utterson and Poole break into Jekyll’s lab and find Hyde dead by suicide.
Final confessions – In Lanyon’s and Jekyll’s letters, the truth comes out: Jekyll created a potion to separate his good and evil sides, but Hyde grew stronger, taking over until Jekyll lost control.

Duality of human nature – Every person has both good and evil within them.
Science vs religion/morality – Jekyll’s experiments challenge Victorian morality.
Repression & secrecy – Victorian society demanded respectability, forcing desires underground.
Good vs evil – Hyde represents unchecked evil; Jekyll represents the struggle to stay good.
Friendship & loyalty – Utterson and Poole remain loyal to Jekyll despite the horror.
Appearance vs reality – Respectable Jekyll hides his true darker self in Hyde.

Hyde – Pure evil, primal instincts, temptation.
Jekyll’s house – Front = respectable, lab at the back = secret, shameful side → symbol of duality.
Foggy London – Mystery, confusion, moral darkness.
Potion – Human desire to control nature, but also the danger of tampering with it.

Multiple narrators – Story told through Utterson, Enfield, Lanyon, and Jekyll’s confessions → adds suspense.
Epistolary elements – Letters, confessions, and documents reveal the truth gradually.
Gothic features – Horror, violence, mystery, dark settings.

Always link Jekyll’s fall to Victorian society’s obsession with respectability.
Compare science vs religion → Jekyll’s experiment = dangerous human pride.
Show how Stevenson uses setting (fog, streets, houses) to mirror themes.
Use key quotes like:
- “Man is not truly one, but truly two.”
- “I learned to recognise the thorough and primitive duality of man.”
- “I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life.”

The novella warns that repressing desires and denying the evil within only gives it more power — until it destroys us. 🩸