Article #5: Summary about “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

 Summary about “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”

“The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” is a novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson. It tells us about the story of Gabriel John Utterson, a lawyer who is a good friend of Henry Jekyll, a well-known, respected doctor. The story revolves around the mystery of the strange relationship between Dr. Jekyll and Edward Hyde, a wicked, violent and merciless man, known for his crimes. Utterson is worried because Jekyll’s will says that if he dies or “disappears”, all of his possessions are to pass to Mr. Hyde, so Utterson believes Hyde is blackmailing and even planning to kill Jekyll. He tells Jekyll his worries, but he ignores them because “he can get rid of Hyde whenever he wants”.

Some time later, a man named Sir Danvers Carew is murdered by none other than Edward Hyde, and Utterson identifies the murder weapon as a cane he had gifted to Dr. Jekyll some time ago. He goes to ask a very sick-looking and distressed Jekyll about Hyde’s whereabouts, and Jekyll tells Hyde is gone forever.

Everything goes fine for a few months until Jekyll confines himself to his house, allowing no one to visit him, and Hastie Lanyon, another good friend of Dr. Jekyll, gets very ill and can’t even bear to listen the name of his now former friend Dr. Jekyll. A few weeks later Lanyon dies and leaves a letter to Utterson only to be read after Dr. Jekyll’s death or “disappearance”. Utterson gets intrigued, but slowly gives up because Jekyll refuses to see him.

One night, Jekyll’s butler visits Utterson to tell him he believes Hyde killed Jekyll and is now pretending to be him, but when they enter the room, they only find Hyde’s body along with “Henry Jekyll’s confession”. After reading Lanyon’s letter and the confession, we find out Jekyll and Hyde were always the same person, Hyde being some kind of facade Jekyll used to let out all of the dark emotions he had been repressing for his whole life. 

This story represents the duality of man, showing that no one is purely good; evil will always be lurking around.