Book Anatomy · Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: Setting and world
13 lenses on setting and world 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: I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 I6 I7 I8 I9 I10 I11 I12 I13
I1. Places named and how often each appears. Count
the door is the place named most, 31 times.
| Place | Mentions | Chapters |
|---|---|---|
| the door | 31 | 8 |
| the cabinet | 17 | 4 |
| London | 12 | 7 |
| the laboratory | 9 | 5 |
| Soho | 7 | 4 |
| the street | 5 | 2 |
| the window | 2 | 2 |
| the hall | 2 | 1 |
| the study | 1 | 1 |
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 door |
| 2 | the door |
| 3 | |
| 4 | the door |
| 5 | the laboratory |
| 6 | the door |
| 7 | the door |
| 8 | the cabinet |
| 9 | the door |
| 10 | Soho |
London locations dominate: Utterson's house, Jekyll's house and cabinet, Hyde's rooms in Soho, the street where Carew is murdered. Chapter 9 moves to Lanyon's house. The geography tightens as the mystery deepens, focusing on Jekyll's locked spaces.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 8, Ch 9
I3. Setting shown in blocks or woven into action? AI
Setting is woven into action. Locations emerge as characters move through them rather than being described in blocks. The door, the cabinet, and the window are revealed through encounters and investigation.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 7, Ch 8
I4. Weather and light used for mood. Both
Weather and light words: 1.56 per 1,000 words.
Weather and light words, chapter by chapter
Light and darkness carry mood: Jekyll appears at his window in failing light (chapter 7), suggesting his fading control. The cabinet is dark and locked. Weather is not heavily used; atmosphere comes from time of day and interior spaces.
Chapters: Ch 7, Ch 8
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)
I5. The social world: class, money, rules. AI
Class and money are central. Jekyll is wealthy and respectable; Hyde is poor and brutal. The will leaving a quarter million to Hyde shocks society. Utterson and Lanyon are professional gentlemen bound by codes of silence and discretion.
Chapters: Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5
This was the home of Henry Jekyll’s favourite; of a man who was heir to a quarter of a million sterling (Ch 4, para 11)
I6. Rules of the world (magic, science) and when each is shown. AI
Science is the rule of this world. Jekyll's chemical potion enables transformation, shown fully in chapter 9 and explained in chapter 10. Magic is absent; the book grounds itself in Victorian scientific possibility and limitation.
Chapters: Ch 9, Ch 10
he seemed to swell—his face became suddenly black and the features seemed to melt and alter (Ch 9, para 31)
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)
I7. Lore: dripped in or dumped? AI
Lore is dripped in gradually. The nature of Hyde's evil is suggested through reactions before being explained. Jekyll's scientific philosophy emerges in fragments (chapter 3, chapter 10) before his full confession reveals the experiment.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 10
if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is on that of your new friend (Ch 2, para 37)
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)
I8. Real history used, and how. AI
No real history is used. The book is set in contemporary Victorian London but invents all events and characters. It uses the period's scientific optimism and social codes as backdrop but creates a fictional case.
I9. Journeys: distance and time taken. Both
Journeys are short and local. Utterson walks London streets to find Hyde. Lanyon travels to Jekyll's house. The action spans months (chapters 1 to 8) then accelerates in the final night (chapter 8). Distance is measured in London blocks, not miles.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 4, Ch 8, Ch 9
I10. Objects that matter, where they appear. Both
the will is the object named most.
| Object | Mentions | Chapters |
|---|---|---|
| the will | 7 | 3 |
| the cheque | 6 | 2 |
| the letter | 5 | 3 |
| the drawer | 4 | 2 |
| the key | 4 | 3 |
| the cane | 1 | 1 |
| the phial | 1 | 1 |
| the potion | 1 | 1 |
The cane (given to Jekyll, used to murder Carew) links Jekyll to crime. The door marks the boundary between worlds. The phial of potion appears in chapters 9 to 10 as the agent of transformation. Letters and sealed envelopes carry revelation.
Chapters: Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10
he recognised it for one that he had himself presented many years before to Henry Jekyll (Ch 4, para 6)
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)
I11. Density of period detail. AI
Period detail is sparse but precise. Gas lamps, hansom cabs, and Victorian professional codes appear. The book avoids heavy historical detail, focusing instead on psychology and moral philosophy suited to its Gothic purpose.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 4
I12. Setting as an enemy. AI
Setting is not an enemy. London is neutral ground where the mystery unfolds. The locked cabinet and door become obstacles but not hostile forces. The real enemy is internal: Jekyll's divided nature.
I13. Indoors against outdoors. Both
Indoor words outnumber outdoor words 175 to 46. (rough estimate from word lists)
Indoor share %, chapter by chapter
Indoors dominates: Jekyll's house, the cabinet, Lanyon's study, Utterson's office. Outdoor scenes (the street, the window) are brief and heighten tension through exposure. The book's claustrophobia comes from locked interior spaces.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9
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)
Ask Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde a question about its craft (free beta)
Answers cite chapter and paragraph, and every quote is checked against the text. (3 free questions a day).
Weekly email: coming soon
One short email a week on new AI tools for authors. Sign up opens soon.