Overview
he Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
by Robert Louis Stevenson How thin is the line between good and evil? Dr Jekyll has been experimenting with his identity. He has developed a drug which separates the two sides of his nature and allows him to occasionally abandon himself to his most corrupt inclinations as the monstrous MrHyde. But gradually he begins to find that the journey back to goodness becomes more and more difficult, and the risk that Mr Hyde will break free entirely from Dr Jekyll’s control puts all of London in grave peril. . |
About the author |
Robert Louis StevensonThe author was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1850. His family included engineers, scientists, a professor of philosophy, and a religious minister. We can see the scientific and religious sides of Stevenson's family reflected in both his life and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Stevenson was a sickly child (he had serious lung problems) who read a great deal about travel and adventure. A combination of his love of adventure and ill health led him to spend many years as a writer travelling the world in search of a climate that was healthier than Britain's. In 1890, he went to live in the remote Samoan Islands in the South Pacific. He died there in 1894 at the age of 44. |
Context |
Religion and science in the 19th centuryIn 1859, when Stevenson was nine years old, Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species. This book became famous for introducing the Theory of Evolution to the public. Many people saw it as an attack on religion, because the book made it impossible to believe that God created the world in seven days.
Darwin put forward the theory that all life, including humans, has evolved from moreprimitive forms. The book's release came at a time when many people saw science and a belief in religion and the supernatural as being at odds with each another. A lot felt they had to choose between the two. And many believed that science had become dangerous and was meddling in matters which only God had control over. This is what Jekyll does in the novel. For more context detailed context for AO3, click here. |