Erewhon: Setting and world
13 lenses on setting and world for Erewhon by Samuel Butler. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 I6 I7 I8 I9 I10 I11 I12 I13
I1. Places named and how often each appears. Count
the river is the place named most, 44 times.
| Place | Mentions | Chapters |
|---|---|---|
| the river | 44 | 8 |
| Erewhon | 31 | 15 |
| England | 19 | 12 |
| the Musical Banks | 13 | 5 |
| the saddle | 9 | 4 |
| the mountains | 7 | 5 |
| the Colleges of Unreason | 7 | 5 |
| the wool-shed | 6 | 3 |
| the prison | 5 | 3 |
| the capital | 4 | 3 |
I2. Setting by chapter, as a map. Both
The place named most in each chapter. A rough setting map. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Chapter | Place named most |
|---|---|
| 1 | the river |
| 2 | the wool-shed |
| 3 | the river |
| 4 | the river |
| 5 | the river |
| 6 | the mountains |
| 7 | the river |
| 8 | Erewhon |
| 9 | England |
| 10 | England |
| 11 | the capital |
| 12 | the prison |
| 13 | the prison |
| 14 |
Chapters 1 to 5 map the journey from England through mountains to Erewhon's border. Chapters 6 to 21 are set in Erewhon's capital and surrounding regions. Chapters 22 to 27 remain in the capital but shift to intellectual space. Chapters 28 to 29 escape and return to England.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 6, Ch 9, Ch 21, Ch 28, Ch 29
when I left home it was with the intention of going to some new colony, and either finding, or even perhaps purchasing, waste crown land suitable for cattle or sheep farming (Ch 1, para 1)
There was an easy pass in the mountains directly opposite to me, through which I caught a glimpse of an immeasurable extent of blue and distant plains (Ch 4, para 8)
Erewhon is the name of the country upon which I was now entering (Ch 5, para 23)
I3. Setting shown in blocks or woven into action? AI
Setting is woven into action in early chapters: the narrator discovers landscape while moving through it. Later chapters block setting into summaries of Erewhonian customs and beliefs before returning to action in chapters 28 to 29.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 10, Ch 15, Ch 28
Never shall I forget the utter loneliness of the prospect—only the little far-away homestead giving sign of human handiwork (Ch 1, para 10)
There was an easy pass in the mountains directly opposite to me, through which I caught a glimpse of an immeasurable extent of blue and distant plains (Ch 4, para 8)
It was such an expanse as was revealed to Moses when he stood upon the summit of Mount Sinai (Ch 6, para 2)
I4. Weather and light used for mood. Both
Weather and light words: 1.6 per 1,000 words.
Weather and light words, chapter by chapter
Light and darkness mark psychological states: darkness in the mountain pass signals terror; daylight in Erewhon brings false security. Weather is minimal; mood relies on light imagery and the narrator's emotional state rather than storms.
Chapters: Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 21
It is a dreadful feeling that of being cut off from all one’s kind (Ch 4, para 15)
on a sudden I remembered the noise which Chowbok had made in the wool-shed. Yes; it was that (Ch 4, para 21)
I said my prayers, a duty which I had too often neglected, and in a little time fell into a really refreshing sleep (Ch 4, para 22)
I5. The social world: class, money, rules. AI
Class and money structure Erewhonian society: the narrator is received by wealthy merchant Nosnibor, observes trials of the poor, and learns that poverty is criminalised. Musical Banks satirise the gap between professed and actual values. Money drives the narrator's original quest.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 9, Ch 11, Ch 15, Ch 29
when I left home it was with the intention of going to some new colony, and either finding, or even perhaps purchasing, waste crown land suitable for cattle or sheep farming (Ch 1, para 1)
I have a very genuine dislike for all unhandsome dealings in money matters, though none can have a greater regard for money than I have, if it be got fairly. (Ch 9, para 1)
You would consort with the basest criminals, and yet deem simple embezzlement a bar to friendly intercourse. (Ch 9, para 8)
I6. Rules of the world (magic, science) and when each is shown. AI
Erewhon operates by inverted moral logic, not magic or science: illness is crime, crime is disease, machines are conscious. These rules are shown gradually through observation and explanation rather than stated upfront, creating mystery.
Chapters: Ch 8, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 18, Ch 23
illness of any sort was considered in Erewhon to be highly criminal and immoral (Ch 8, para 9)
The student for the profession of straightener is required to set apart certain seasons for the practice of each vice in turn, as a religious duty. (Ch 10, para 23)
they believe that it is of their own free act and deed in a previous state that they come to be born into this world at all. (Ch 18, para 1)
I7. Lore: dripped in or dumped? AI
Lore is dripped in through conversation and observation in chapters 8 to 20, then dumped in chapters 23 to 27 as the narrator presents translated texts and historical accounts. The balance shifts from mystery to exposition as the narrator learns.
Chapters: Ch 8, Ch 10, Ch 15, Ch 23, Ch 25
illness of any sort was considered in Erewhon to be highly criminal and immoral (Ch 8, para 9)
all mercantile transactions were accompanied with music, so that they were called Musical Banks (Ch 15, para 2)
From the book of their mythology about the unborn I made the extracts which will form the following chapter. (Ch 18, para 13)
I8. Real history used, and how. AI
Butler references the lost ten tribes of Israel and Moses on Mount Sinai, grounding Erewhon in biblical geography. The machine argument echoes Darwin's evolution. No direct historical events are used, but the satire targets Victorian England's actual values.
Chapters: Ch 6, Ch 19, Ch 23
Was it possible that they might be the lost ten tribes of Israel, of whom I had heard both my grandfather and my father make mention (Ch 6, para 12)
we are drawn through life backwards; or again, that we go onwards into the future as into a dark corridor. (Ch 19, para 1)
Assume for the sake of argument that conscious beings have existed for some twenty million years: see what strides machines have made in the last thousand! (Ch 23, para 5)
I9. Journeys: distance and time taken. Both
The journey from England to Erewhon spans chapters 1 to 6 over weeks of travel. The narrator spends months in Erewhon from chapters 7 to 28. Return to England in chapter 29 is swift. Distance is vast but time is compressed in summary.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 4, Ch 6, Ch 28, Ch 29
when I left home it was with the intention of going to some new colony, and either finding, or even perhaps purchasing, waste crown land suitable for cattle or sheep farming (Ch 1, para 1)
There was an easy pass in the mountains directly opposite to me, through which I caught a glimpse of an immeasurable extent of blue and distant plains (Ch 4, para 8)
Erewhon is the name of the country upon which I was now entering (Ch 5, para 23)
I10. Objects that matter, where they appear. Both
machines is the object named most.
| Object | Mentions | Chapters |
|---|---|---|
| machines | 81 | 9 |
| watch | 26 | 14 |
| balloon | 26 | 2 |
| statues | 22 | 5 |
| raft | 7 | 1 |
| birth formula | 3 | 2 |
| steam engines | 2 | 2 |
The watch appears in chapters 7 and 28 as contraband, symbolising technology's threat. Broken machines in chapter 7 show Erewhon's past. The hot air balloon in chapter 28 enables escape. Musical Bank notes in chapter 15 represent worthless respectability.
Chapters: Ch 7, Ch 15, Ch 28
There were fragments of steam engines, all broken and rusted; among them I saw a cylinder and piston, a broken fly-wheel (Ch 7, para 11)
I made signs to him that he had better take my watch and put it with the others (Ch 7, para 12)
all mercantile transactions were accompanied with music, so that they were called Musical Banks (Ch 15, para 2)
I11. Density of period detail. AI
Period detail is dense in Erewhonian customs: birth formulae, straighteners, Musical Banks, Colleges of Unreason. English detail is sparse. The narrator provides enough Erewhonian terminology to create immersion without overwhelming the reader.
Chapters: Ch 8, Ch 10, Ch 15, Ch 18, Ch 21
illness of any sort was considered in Erewhon to be highly criminal and immoral (Ch 8, para 9)
These men practise much as medical men in England, and receive a quasi-surreptitious fee on every visit. (Ch 10, para 5)
The student for the profession of straightener is required to set apart certain seasons for the practice of each vice in turn, as a religious duty. (Ch 10, para 23)
I12. Setting as an enemy. AI
Mountains are the primary enemy: they isolate the narrator, terrify him with mysterious sounds, and trap him in Erewhon. The society itself becomes an enemy through its laws and customs that threaten his freedom and moral integrity.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 21, Ch 28
Never shall I forget the utter loneliness of the prospect—only the little far-away homestead giving sign of human handiwork (Ch 1, para 10)
It is a dreadful feeling that of being cut off from all one’s kind (Ch 4, para 15)
on a sudden I remembered the noise which Chowbok had made in the wool-shed. Yes; it was that (Ch 4, para 21)
I13. Indoors against outdoors. Both
Outdoor words outnumber indoor words 165 to 123. (rough estimate from word lists)
Indoor share %, chapter by chapter
Outdoors dominates chapters 1 to 6: mountains, rivers, and open country. Indoors dominates chapters 7 to 27: prisons, houses, colleges, banks. The shift from outdoor freedom to indoor confinement mirrors the narrator's loss of agency.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 21, Ch 28
Never shall I forget the utter loneliness of the prospect—only the little far-away homestead giving sign of human handiwork (Ch 1, para 10)
It was such an expanse as was revealed to Moses when he stood upon the summit of Mount Sinai (Ch 6, para 2)
The magistrate then made me another speech, whereon I was taken to a building hard by, which I soon discovered to be the common prison of the town (Ch 7, para 13)
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