The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson, first published 1886

A London lawyer investigates the relationship between a brilliant scientist and a misshapen misanthrope.

Length: 10 chapters
Reading time: About 1 hr 47 min
Words: 25,556

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About the book

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the classic novella of split personality. Stevenson wrote it in just a few days while sick and bedridden, and famously burned the first draft after his wife suggested it should be written as an allegory and not as a story. He re-wrote it in three to six days, and after a few weeks of editing and revision he published what would become one of his most famous and best-selling works.

The story follows a London lawyer as he investigates the relationship between a brilliant scientist and a misshapen misanthrope. As the link between the two becomes clearer, Jekyll and Hyde develops into an allegory on the nature of good and evil.

On these lists

GCSE set texts Gothic and ghostly Victorian novels

This edition

Text from Standard Ebooks, who proofread and typeset it and dedicate their edition to the public domain. Robert Louis Stevenson died more than 70 years ago, so the work is out of copyright in the UK.