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Setting in
‘Jekyll and Hyde’
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Characterisation
Setting
A Key Incident
Narrative Technique (Legal Case, Letters)
Symbolism
Atmosphere
Dialogue
Imagery
etc.
Higher/Int 2 Essay Questions
Settings have both a literal and a
metaphorical meaning.
 Time: Late Victorian – 19th Century
 Place: London, Soho, streets (poorly lit),
buildings (Hyde’s house, Jekyll’s
laboratory).
 Setting reflects the underlying themes of
the novel (duality of man, mystery)
 Pay particular attention to Stevenson’s use
of pathetic fallacy.
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Setting – the backdrop of the novel.
Stevenson viewed London with a degree of
contempt.
 Disliked the duality of its inhabitants (Edinburgh
also an influence)
 Two classes – Dr Jekyll / Mr Hyde. – Lawyers and
Doctors Vs Maid/ Policeman – how are they
portrayed?
 Arguably, Stevenson is making a clear comment on
human nature here in that, regardless of class, we
all have inherent good and evil held within.
 Jekyll’s addiction to his ‘potion’ surely suggests that
even those with reputation can be corrupted.
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London
Key Quotation –
The Carew Murder Case
Mr Utterson taking the officer to Hyde’s house. (p52)
 ‘A great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven, but
the wind was continually charging and routing these
embattled vapours’
 Darkness enveloped London
 Pall – a dark cloud but also the cloth placed over a coffin.
 Sinister atmosphere suggesting a deal of ominousness.
 Mention of ‘Heaven’ suggests the divine yet through
Stevenson’s word choice there is a sense of struggle and
conflict permeating the text.
 Warlike/ aggressive imagery
 Use of Pathetic Fallacy – reflects mood.
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Pathetic Fallacy
Attribution of human emotions to inanimate objects or nature
(weather).
 Different to personification in that it is more allusive.
Personification involves more general human qualities.
 Pathetic fallacy is used throughout J and H. London is made to
appear twofold, commingled out of good and evil.
 ‘black winter morning’ – the morning is foul in temperament,
reflecting the darker side of man and the novel’s main concern.
 Page 53 - ‘reinvasion of darkness’ – furious internal struggle
within the novel’s very setting. Again, this reflects central
concerns. It also aids atmosphere and reflects the characters of
the novel.
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Stevenson manipulates setting to his
own ends – playing on the Gothic
tradition.
mystery,
darkness,
oppressive
ness, fear,
and doom
‘here it would be dark like the back end of
evening; and there would be the glow of a rich,
lurid brown, like the light of some strange
conflagration; and here, for a moment, the fog
would be quite broken up, and a haggard shaft of
daylight would glance in between the swirling
wreaths.’ (page 52)
 Lurid – vividly shocking to give an unpleasantly
harsh effect.
 Conflagration – an extensive and most destructive
fire.
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Here, weather seems oppressive.
 Struggle between dark and light.
 Haggard - dark is winning - perhaps.
 Both quotations, through the choice of verbs,
suggest rapid movement and struggle. Reflective
of what lies within.
 Choice of ‘Wreaths’ extends the funeral imagery.
 Use of fog throughout novel as a motif almost
seems claustrophobic and aids sense of sinister
unease. Mysterious and oppressive atmosphere
developed – aids tension.
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‘The dismal quarter of Soho…’
 ‘mournful reinvasion of darkness’ – use
of personification.
 ‘Like a district of some city in a
nightmare’ – link to Stevenson.
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Soho
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‘As the cab drew up before the address
indicated, the fog lifted a little and showed
him a dingy street, a gin palace, a low French
eating house, a shop for the retail of penny
numbers and two penny salads, many
ragged children huddled in doorways, and
many women of many different nationalities
passing out, key in hand, to have a morning
glass.’ (page 53)
Soho
Fog reflects mystery and the unknown. Lifts as
they near their goal.
 Alcoholism and addiction
 Cheap and of poor quality – penny numbers.
 Comment on sensationalised literature of the time
– link to maid at start of chapter – ‘romantically
given’.
 Comment on class – issues/problems of the
working class.
 Through his protagonist, Henry Jekyll, Stevenson
suggests that all of us have, regardless of class, the
ability to succumb to vice. Hyde is at home here;
Jekyll has a part of himself that is as such too.
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Symbolism of the door – page 18
The embattled city; London as an extended metaphor for
the struggle within Jekyll – The Carew Murder Case page 52
Use of fog as a symbol for mystery and secrecy p52-53 –
foreshadowing Utterson’s dilemma concerning the letter
page 61.
Pathetic fallacy used, increasing tension as we near the
climax – page 38
Jekyll’s laboratory – page 58
Contrast between Soho and more respectable parts of the
city– p 23/53 and p17/29.
Quotes you should know for
setting
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Choose a novel in which setting helps to
develop your understanding of character
and/or theme.
Show how the writer’s use of this aids your
understanding of the central concerns of the
text.
You could mention:
Use of weather
 London/ Soho
 The Door and the symbolism held
within.
 Any other ideas
 REMEMBER:
–EVALUATION
- ANALYSIS THAT IS CLOSE TO THE
TEXT AND IN DETAIL.
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Timed essay on setting in J and H
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Must learn quotes, be familiar with intro
and synopsis.
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Also, think (write) potential topic
sentences for the quotes you will
probably use. Also ensure that you know
the context.
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It is possible to revise for this (despite
what you may think!) by learning
statements, contexts, quotes and the
analysis.
Essay
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Symbolism of the door – page 18
The embattled city; London as an extended metaphor for
the struggle within Jekyll – The Carew Murder Case page 52
Use of fog as a symbol for mystery and secrecy p52-53 –
foreshadowing Utterson’s dilemma concerning the letter
page 61.
Pathetic fallacy used, increasing tension as we near the
climax – page 38
Jekyll’s laboratory – page 58
Contrast between Soho and more respectable parts of the
city– p 23/53 and p17/29.
Quotes you should know for
setting
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Move away from the formulaic ‘The metaphor
of “citadel’…
Instead, try to show more skill with language:
The dingy streets of Soho are compared
directly with the metaphorical ‘citadel’ that is
Cavendish Square…
How to improve your
mark…
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Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘The Strange Case of Mr
Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ is a novel… BORING
Instead:
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“Set amongst the sinister and unsettling streets of
Victorian London, Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘The
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’
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“A profound study of man’s inherent duality, Robert
Louis Stevenson’s ‘TSCODJAMH’ is set amongst the
ominously foggy streets of Victorian London. “
The opening of your essay
These should be throughout your
writing, possibly even in your topic
sentences:
It is this part of the novel which best…
 If symbolism is seen as a key
technique in Gothic literature, then it
is the symbol of the door which is
most prominent in the novel…
 This is central/ fundamental to our
understanding/ important/
imperative/ vital/ critical to, etc.
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Your evaluative comments
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‘black winter morning’ – the morning is foul in temperament, reflecting
the darker side of man and the novel’s main concern.
‘…reinvasion of darkness’ – furious internal struggle within the novel’s
very setting. Reflects central concerns; aids atmosphere and reflects the
characters of the novel.
Jekyll’s home described at the beginning of the novel -“certain
sinister block of building.”
When Utterson returns home after visiting Jekyll - “read a menace in
the flickering of the firelight on the polished cabinets.”
The moon is described as “lying on her back as though the wind had
tilted her.”
Hyde describes the sky as having "constellations [that] looked down
upon me.“
Mr Utterson taking the officer to Hyde’s house. –”A great chocolatecoloured pall lowered over heaven, but the wind was continually
charging and routing these embattled vapours.”
Pathetic Fallacy