It IS utterly false that you need alignment to tell a grail story or Jekyll/Hyde. They were written without alignment.
Good and evil could not be more explicitly real and tangible concepts in those stories. What more are you looking for? Stevenson to actually write the line "Mr. Hyde possessed the Chaotic Evil alignment"? What do you think alignment
is, that it's so bad, and why do you think that's what it is when it can be so many other things?
If you don't think a character's alignment doesn't impact or derive from their personality, I honestly don't know what to say.
A person's political affiliation might impact or derive from their personality, but "He's a Libertarian" is not a full description of a personality and is hopefully not intended as such.
Religion might impact or derive from their personality, but "She's a Catholic" is not a full description of a personality and is hopefully not intended as such.
Local culture might impact or derive from their personality, but "He's a New Yorker" is not a full description of a personality and is hopefully not intended as such.
And yes, D&D alignment might impact or derive from their personality, but "She's Lawful Neutral" is, you guessed it, not a full description of a personality and is hopefully not intended as such.
All these things are influenced by personality, but none of them is
"shorthand for a personality", which was the term you originally used. Please don't play bait-and-switch with your assertions. And I don't know you very well, so maybe you're just as down on political affiliations and religions and local cultures as you are on alignments. But I'm going to guess you're not.