What Is The Concept Of Dualism In The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

The late eighteen hundreds was a time of abundant scientific discoveries, medical advances, and drug outbreaks (Wolf). Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson united all three happenings into a single novel. Stevenson grasped the fear of the Victorian people and the unfamiliar concepts and findings of scientific advances to create the novel as a horror (Wolf). Robert Louis Stevenson was one of the first authors to truly explore and inquire in the concept of the duality of man and how it affects us and our society Wolf. Stevenson’s mystery evolving into science fiction novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, fully elaborated on the deep dark side a person could conceal: “Poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is that of [Mr. Hyde] your new friend” (Stevenson 30). Wishing to rid the world of evil is a complex concept which in the end has shown to miscarry (Wolf).

Stevenson is most known for his many loved novels such as Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, A Child’s Garden of Verses, and Kidnapped (Life-Robert). The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written in English, around the year 1884 and published shortly after in 1886 (Wolf 22). In the first six months, the story sold over forty thousand copies in England (“Robert”). Concerning the popularity of Stevenson’s fiction, "Explanation of: 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ' by Robert Louis Stevenson" informs that when the books were imported to America, many people became disturbed. The American people claimed that the book had blasphemous topics. Besides the controversy that Stevenson’s novel stirred up, today Stevenson is one of the most known and translated authors of our time