Book Anatomy · Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: Pace
16 lenses on pace for Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. 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: D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 D10 D11 D12 D13 D14 D15 D16
D1. Chapter length in words, as a chart. Count
10 chapters, median 2,409 words. See the full lens on the book page.
D2. Mean sentence length per chapter. Count
Mean 20.2 words. See the full lens on the book page.
D3. Paragraph length per chapter. Count
Paragraphs average 76 words.
Mean paragraph words, chapter by chapter
D4. Scene against summary: how much is shown live? AI
Chapters 1 to 8 show live scenes with dialogue and action; chapters 9 to 10 shift to documents and confession. About 60% shown live, 40% summarised or reported.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 7
D5. Action against reflection, per chapter. AI
Early chapters (1 to 4) balance action and reflection. Mid chapters (5 to 7) grow reflective as mystery deepens. Chapters 9 to 10 are pure reflection and confession with no action.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6
D6. Tension score per chapter (1 to 5) as a curve. AI
Peak 5 of 5, mean 4.2. See the full lens on the book page.
D7. Emotional arc of the whole book, matched to the six shapes. Count
Riches to rags (fall). See the full lens on the book page.
D8. Chapter endings: cliffhanger, question, reveal or quiet close. AI
8 of 10 chapters end on a hook. See the full lens on the book page.
D9. Chapter openings: in scene, in summary, or after a time jump. AI
Chapter 1 opens in scene. Chapters 2 to 8 open in scene or with brief summary. Chapter 9 opens with a date marker. Chapter 10 opens with Jekyll's voice in summary.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6
10_th December_, 18 (Ch 9, para 2)
D10. Do chapters and sentences get shorter near the climax? Count
In the last fifth, chapters run at 2.45 times the length of earlier ones, and sentences at 1.64 times. So the end does not speed up by these measures.
D11. Dialogue density against pace. Count
Link between dialogue share and chapter length: -0.61 (1 is a perfect match, 0 none). Between dialogue share and tension: -0.56.
Dialogue % per chapter, chapter by chapter
D12. Time jumps and how they are signalled. Both
6 time jump phrases in the narration, such as 'next morning' or 'years later'.
| Where | Phrase |
|---|---|
| c1p8 | next day |
| c4p1 | a year later |
| c4p3 | next morning |
| c6p11 | next day |
| c10p13 | next day |
| c10p20 | next day |
Time jump phrases, chapter by chapter
Ch 1, para 8: “Well, it was this way,” returned Mr. Enfield: “I was coming home from some place at the end of the world, about three o’clock of a black winter …
Ch 4, para 1: Nearly a year later, in the month of October, 18—, London was startled by a crime of singular ferocity and rendered all the more notable by the high …
Ch 4, para 3: This was brought to the lawyer the next morning, before he was out of bed; and he had no sooner seen it and been told the circumstances, than …
Ch 6, para 11: As soon as he got home, Utterson sat down and wrote to Jekyll, complaining of his exclusion from the house, and asking the cause of this unhappy break …
Ch 10, para 13: Some two months before the murder of Sir Danvers, I had been out for one of my adventures, had returned at a late hour, and woke the next …
Ch 10, para 20: The next day, came the news that the murder had not been overlooked, that the guilt of Hyde was patent to the world, and that the victim was …
Time jumps signalled by summary passages and date markers. Chapter 6 summarises weeks passing. Chapter 9 begins with a date. Chapter 10 uses Jekyll's confession to cover months.
Chapters: Ch 6, Ch 9, Ch 10
10_th December_, 18 (Ch 9, para 2)
D13. Info dump spots: long runs with no action or speech. Both
1 stretches of 900 words or more with no speech at all. These are where description, summary or backstory pile up.
| Starts at | Words | Paragraphs |
|---|---|---|
| c9p33 | 7141 | 29 |
Chapter 10 is a long info dump of Jekyll's scientific discovery and moral decline with no action or speech, explaining the entire experiment and his loss of control.
Chapters: Ch 10
that man is not truly one, but truly two. I say two, because the state of my own knowledge does not pass beyond that point. (Ch 10, para 1)
I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil (Ch 10, para 4)
The veil of self-indulgence was rent from head to foot. I saw my life as a whole: I followed it up from the days of childhood (Ch 10, para 19)
D14. Reading time per chapter. Count
About 1.7 hours to read at 250 words a minute. The longest chapter takes 27.8 minutes.
Minutes per chapter, chapter by chapter
D15. Micro tension in quiet scenes. AI
Quiet scenes gain tension through Utterson's growing dread and suspicion. Chapter 3 has tension in Jekyll's refusal to explain. Chapter 7 ends with terror at the window.
Chapters: Ch 3, Ch 6, Ch 7
I do not care to hear more,” said he. “This is a matter I thought we had agreed to drop (Ch 3, para 7)
taking the air with an infinite sadness of mien, like some disconsolate prisoner (Ch 7, para 6)
an expression of such abject terror and despair, as froze the very blood of the two gentlemen below (Ch 7, para 12)
D16. Section breaks per chapter. Count
0 section breaks marked in the text, in 0 of 10 chapters.
Ask Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde a question about its craft (free beta)
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