Book Anatomy · Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: Prose style
17 lenses on prose style 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: H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H10 H11 H12 H13 H14 H15 H16 H17
H1. Readability score per chapter. Count
Flesch reading ease for the whole book is about 71 (higher is easier; 60 to 70 is plain English).
Reading ease per chapter, chapter by chapter
H2. Vocabulary range. Count
3,966 different words. On average 51 in every 100 words are new within a 500 word stretch. 2,224 words appear only once.
H3. Signature words: what this author uses far more than others. Count
lawyer, poole, hyde, cabinet, edward. See the full lens on the book page.
H4. Adverb and adjective rates. Count
About 12.61 words ending in 'ly' and 8.06 likely adjectives per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
'ly' words per 1,000, chapter by chapter
H5. Share of weak verbs such as "was" and "had". Count
'Was', 'were', 'had', 'is' and 'are' make up 3.8% of all words.
H6. Passive voice rate. Count
About 8.8% of sentences use a passive form such as 'was taken'. (rough estimate from word lists)
H7. Variety of sentence openings. Count
The five most common first words start 36% of sentences: i, the, utterson, it, and.
| First word | Sentences |
|---|---|
| i | 149 |
| the | 95 |
| utterson | 82 |
| it | 67 |
| and | 64 |
| he | 47 |
| but | 45 |
| hyde | 34 |
| this | 32 |
| jekyll | 31 |
H8. Rhythm: how much sentence length varies. Count
Sentence length varies by 0.79 of its mean on average (higher means a more varied rhythm).
Variation per chapter, chapter by chapter
H9. Similes and metaphors: how many, and of what kind. Both
40 likely similes ('like a', 'as ... as'): 1.56 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Ch 1, para 3: It chanced on one of these rambles that their way led them down a by-street in a busy quarter of London. The street was small and what is …
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 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 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 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 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 …
The book uses vivid similes and metaphors throughout, comparing Hyde to inhuman forces (Juggernaut, Satan, troglodytic creature) and Jekyll's predicament to stone-rolling and imprisonment. Metaphors of doors, veils, and transformation dominate.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 10
It wasn’t like a man; it was like some damned Juggernaut (Ch 1, para 8)
if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend (Ch 2, para 37)
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)
H10. Senses used: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Both
Share of sense words. sight 61%, sound 24%, touch 10%, taste 4%, smell 1%. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Sense | Words |
|---|---|
| sight | 191 |
| sound | 76 |
| touch | 33 |
| taste | 13 |
| smell | 2 |
Sight dominates (faces, expressions, physical appearance). Sound appears in dialogue and footsteps. Smell marks key moments (kernels at Hyde's death). Touch and taste are minimal; taste appears only in Utterson's gin drinking.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 4, Ch 8, Ch 9
by the crushed phial in the hand and the strong smell of kernels that hung upon the air, Utterson knew that he was looking on the body of a self-destroyer (Ch 8, para 73)
he seemed to swell—his face became suddenly black and the features seemed to melt and alter (Ch 9, para 31)
H11. Repetition, lists of three and other patterns. Both
29 lists of three in the pattern 'a, b and c': 1.13 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Lists of three appear in character descriptions (Utterson as 'cold, scanty and embarrassed'). Repetition of key phrases ('the door', 'the mystery') builds tension. Patterns of escalation mark Hyde's crimes and Jekyll's loss of control.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 10
You start a question, and it’s like starting a stone (Ch 1, para 14)
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)
H12. Old words that may trip modern readers. Count
Old forms that may trip a modern reader: whilst, ere.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| whilst | 1 |
| ere | 1 |
H13. Showing against telling, with examples. AI
The book shows rather than tells: Utterson witnesses Hyde's face and recoils in horror rather than being told he is evil. The handwriting comparison in chapter 5 shows suspicion through evidence. Jekyll's final confession tells what earlier chapters showed through action.
Chapters: Ch 2, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 10
God bless me, the man seems hardly human! Something troglodytic, shall we say? (Ch 2, para 37)
if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend (Ch 2, para 37)
there’s a rather singular resemblance; the two hands are in many points identical (Ch 5, para 33)
H14. How much description comes before action. Both
Description is woven into action rather than preceding it. Character descriptions emerge through encounters (Utterson's first meeting with Hyde in chapter 2). Settings are revealed as characters move through them.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 4
H15. Filter words such as "saw", "felt", "heard". Count
Filter words ('saw', 'felt', 'heard' and so on): 5.1 per 1,000 words.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| thought | 39 |
| seemed | 30 |
| saw | 24 |
| knew | 13 |
| heard | 12 |
| felt | 9 |
| watched | 2 |
| noticed | 1 |
| wondered | 1 |
H16. Shifts in tone. AI
Tone shifts from curious investigation (chapters 1 to 3) to horror and dread (chapters 4 to 8) to confessional despair (chapters 9 to 10). The shift accelerates after the murder, moving from mystery to certainty to doom.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 4, Ch 8, Ch 10
an expression of such abject terror and despair, as froze the very blood of the two gentlemen below (Ch 7, para 12)
Here then, as I lay down the pen and proceed to seal up my confession, I bring the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end. (Ch 10, para 28)
H17. How the comedy works. AI
Comedy is minimal and dark. Utterson's prudish habits (drinking gin alone to mortify his taste) provide dry humour. Enfield's description of Hyde as 'troglodytic' offers sardonic relief. The overall tone is too Gothic for sustained comedy.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2
God bless me, the man seems hardly human! Something troglodytic, shall we say? (Ch 2, para 37)
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