Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde: Overview (AQA GCSE English Literature)

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: Overview

As part of Paper 1, Section B you will study one 19th-century novel and write one essay-length answer to one set question in your paper. The question will feature an excerpt from your studied text. However, it is a closed-book exam, so you will not be able to refer to a copy of the text during the exam. This page contains some helpful information and links to more detailed revision note pages that will enable you to aim for the highest grade. This page includes:

• Who was Robert Louis Stevenson?

• Jekyll and Hyde summary

• A brief overview of what is required in the exam

• Jekyll and Hyde characters

• Jekyll and Hyde context

• Jekyll and Hyde themes

• Jekyll and Hyde quotes

• Top tips for the highest grade

Who was Robert Louis Stevenson?

Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He was born on 13th November, 1850 in Edinburgh and having been plagued by respiratory illnesses for most of his life, he died at the age of 44 on 3rd December 1894. He is best known for novels such as Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Kidnapped.

During Stevenson’s life, Edinburgh was a city clearly split into two distinct parts: the New Town, where Stevenson lived, with its wide streets and impressive buildings, and the more decrepit Old Town, with its twisting passageways and crumbling buildings, where poverty and crime were commonplace. Although the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (also known as just ‘Jekyll and Hyde’) is set in London, many critics believe Stevenson was referencing his home city of Edinburgh when he wrote it. Stevenson was also raised in a devoutly Christian household and the influence of religion on his writing is evident in Jekyll and Hyde. Indeed, during the Victorian period in which he wrote, there was significant anxiety about the pursuit of scientific knowledge and Stevenson explores these issues through the themes of good versus evil and science versus religion throughout his novella. For more on the ideas explored by Stevenson in the novel, please see our Jekyll and Hyde: Themes page.

Jekyll and Hyde summary

Stevenson wrote Jekyll and Hyde in 1886. It is composed of 10 chapters and is set in mid-19th-century London and is a mix of gothic, science fiction and detective story. Stevenson firmly situates Jekyll and Hyde within the 19th-century gothic genre of literature and the novella employs many of its conventional features to create a disturbing and sinister atmosphere throughout. 

The narrative of the novella is largely fragmented and follows the character of Gabriel John Utterson, a lawyer and friend of Dr Henry Jekyll, who becomes increasingly concerned by his friend’s erratic behaviour and by his connection to the mysterious Mr Hyde. After the death of Sir Danvers Carew, Utterson becomes compelled to discover the mysterious connection between the two seemingly separate characters to discover the hideous truth that Jekyll and Hyde are in fact the same person. For a more detailed summary, please see the Jekyll and Hyde: Plot Summary page.

How is Jekyll and Hyde assessed in the exam?

• Your GCSE Paper 1 requires you to answer two questions in 1hr 45min. That means you have approximately 52 minutes to plan, write and check your Jekyll and Hyde essay

• Paper 1 is worth 64 marks and accounts for 40% of your overall GCSE grade

• The Jekyll and Hyde essay is worth 30 marks in total

• Section B of Paper 1 contains the Jekyll and Hyde question and you are required to answer the one available question on the novella

• Your question will also include a printed extract of about 35 lines from the novella

• It is a closed-book exam, which means you will not have access to a copy of the text (other than the printed extract) in your exam

• You will be asked a question that asks you to analyse and write in detail about an aspect of Jekyll and Hyde

• Your answer will need to address both the extract from the novella that you will be given, and the novella as a whole

For a much more detailed guide on answering the Jekyll and Hyde question, please see our revision notes on How to Answer the 19th-Century Novel Essay Question.

Jekyll and Hyde characters

Understanding that characters are frequently used symbolically to represent ideas is crucial, as you must consider the variety of techniques that Stevenson uses to establish the characters in Jekyll and Hyde.

The characters you should focus on when revising Jekyll and Hyde are:

• Dr Henry Jekyll

• Mr Edward Hyde

• Mr Gabriel John Utterson

• Dr Hastie Lanyon

There are also other minor characters in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde who contribute to the narrative in important ways and therefore it is important to understand their roles as well. This means you should also consider Mr Enfield, Sir Danvers Carew and Mr Poole.

It is important to consider things such as: how characters are established and presented; what their physical appearance or actions reveal about them; their relationship with other characters and how far they conform to or subvert stereotypes. For more details on how Stevenson uses his characters in Jekyll and Hyde, please see the Jekyll and Hyde: Characters revision notes page.

Jekyll and Hyde context

There are a maximum of six marks available in the 19th-century novel question for context. It is important that you understand what context means as examiners understand context not as historical information, or biographical facts about a writer, but as the ideas and perspectives explored by a writer through their text. Therefore, for the context of Jekyll and Hyde you should not write about random, irrelevant information about London in the 1880s, or biographical information about Stevenson, but ideas about:

• Duality

• Good and Evil

• Secrecy and Reputation

• Science and Religion

As many of these concepts are universal, your individual perspectives on them are valid and will be rewarded in the exam. For a detailed breakdown of the contextual topics listed above, see the Jekyll and Hyde Context page.

Jekyll and Hyde themes

Understanding the themes that Stevenson explores in Jekyll and Hyde is one of the best approaches you can take when revising the novella. The main themes explored by Stevenson in Jekyll and Hyde are:

• Duality

• Good and Evil

• Secrecy and Reputation

• Science and Religion

Of course, Stevenson explores many other themes in Jekyll and Hyde besides the ones listed above, and you are encouraged to explore these as well. Detailed breakdowns of each of the above themes can be found on our Jekyll and Hyde Themes page.

Jekyll and Hyde quotes

You should be able to use textual references, including quotations, according to the assessment criteria. This means that summarising, paraphrasing, citing individual phrases, and referencing  narrative plot points are all acceptable ways to show that you understand the novella. It's crucial to keep in mind that you can demonstrate your understanding of the text in two equally acceptable ways: through reference to it as well as via direct quotations.

In order to select references successfully, it is extremely important that you know the novella itself well so that you can accurately recall the order of events in the plot in order to make appropriate connections. This detailed chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the plot will help you to revise the chronology of Jekyll and Hyde.

It may also be helpful to revise some quotations from the novella that can potentially be useful for your exam. For an analysis of some of these quotations, see our Jekyll and Hyde: Key Quotations page.

Top tips for the highest grade

Please see our revision pages on the modern texts exam for guides on:

• Structuring your Jekyll and Hyde essay

• Jekyll and Hyde methods and techniques

• How to include context in a Jekyll and Hyde essay

• Understanding the Jekyll and Hyde mark scheme

• 19th-century novel model answer