A review by ed_moore
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror by Robert Louis Stevenson

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Stevenson’s ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ is a book that everyone recognises the story of without having read it. That meant that when there was nothing else in the book other than the character archetype of Jekyll and Hyde that was already familiar it failed to offer much. It is a classic gothic style, the titular characters serving as a physical representation of the moral good and moral evil in man, and serving this purpose they each are quite one-dimensional, not to mention the characters around Jekyll and Hyde such as the protagonist Utterson have no development whatsoever. As a concept ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ has a lot of merit and holds its legacy in popular culture for a reason, though beyond that the plot is mostly unengaging. I place blame on this because Utterson was very distant from the interesting elements of the story, in a traditional gothic fashion I suppose, the main events and points of interest being told in an epistolary format. Though this happens in the great gothic such as ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Dracula’, the just feel more intimate despite the epistolary format and in this case ‘‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ falls short.