New York Wonderland

Historical Document

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde display a split personality disorder in the novella. While Dr. Jekyll creates a potion that turns himself in Mr. Hyde so he can both remain a respected doctor and fulfill his vices without being identified, he loses the ability to control the transformation between the two. Ultimately Hydes personality sticks and Jekyll can no longer transform himself back, in which case he decides to commit suicide. It has been reported that the author of this novella, Robert Stevenson, was suffering from an intense fever while writing this novella, fevers can often illicit hallucinations. Also while writing this, Stevenson kept in contact with a woman in a mental institution who was suffering from split personality disorder. Many people believe it was not a fever induced story but that Stevenson was on drugs while writing the novella, however his wife and son claim it was fever and nightmare which gave the inspiration.