Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (or The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) is a  novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, published in 1886. 

The names of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the two alter egos of the main character, have become shorthand for the exhibition of wildly contradictory behaviour, especially between private and public selves.


People tend to think of this novel as a pretty clear case of split personality. In one corner we have Dr. Jekyll, the upstanding MD. In the other corner, we have Mr. Hyde, his hairy and sociopathic double. Let the best man win.


Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was published in 1886 and was instrumental in launching the author, Robert Louis Stevenson, to literary fame. 

This novel was written as a "shilling shocker" (were short, graphic, and inexpensive books eagerly consumed by the masses).


This piece  has remained totally famous and totally respectable. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has been in continual publication for over 120 years.


An essential and completely current novel.