setting analysis Flashcards
what is the point for the streets of lonyon
London’s streets are mysterious and dangerous, symbolising hidden sins beneath respectability.
analyses the quote “a great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven”
techniques - pathetic fallacy, colour imagery, metaphor
- metaphor ‘pall’ (a cloth used to cover a coffin) immediately introduces a sense of death, mourning suggesting that the city is suffocating under symbolic death blanket
- grim oppressive environment where horror is ever present
- adjective ‘great’ intensifies scale of good, not isolated by widespread across the whole city
- colour choice particularly disturbing
- thick sickly suffocating
- verb ‘lowered’ slow and inevitable decent, creating a scene of foreshadows of the events in the novella
- not just covered in fog, actively sinking into the darkness and moral decay
- heaven usually symbol of purity and salvation is being corrupted
- even the divine cannot penetrate the cities horror and confusion
- Stevenson not only reflects physical appearances but also intertwines symbols of mural obstruction and chaos which mirror the worlds of Jekyll and Hyde
- environment becomes a metaphor for the blurred line between good and evil
analyses the quote “the street shone in contrast to its dingy neighbourhood”
techniques **contrast, juztaposition”
-contrast to highlight the fractured and chaotic nature of London’s streets
-verb “shone” conveys an image of brightness, order, and civility
- Light is immediately undermined by the surrounding “dingy” neighbourhood.
- “dingy” carries connotations of darkness, decay, and neglect, suggesting that filth and corruption lurk all around.
- deliberate juxtaposition between the clean, shining street and its grim surroundings symbolises the fragile and artificial nature of Victorian respectability
- isolated street is not a sign of genuine goodness, but a superficial attempt to mask the overwhelming squalor and moral chaos pressing in from all sides
- Stevenson suggests that civilisation is not deeply rooted but precarious, barely holding back the horror and decay that threatens to engulf the city
- just as Jekyll maintains a polished exterior while concealing Hyde’s darkness, the bright street is merely a thin veil hiding the city’s deeper corruption
analyses the quote “like a fire in a forest, the lamps glimmered”
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vivid simile here to portray London as a place of overwhelming chaos and horror
-Comparing the street lamps to “a fire in a forest” immediately suggests that the tiny points of light are swallowed up by vast darkness - a weak and fragile verb, implying that human attempts to impose order and civilisation are almost powerless against the wild, chaotic forces of the city
- image of a “forest” significant: forests in Gothic literature often symbolise untamed, primitive, and dangerous spaces
- strips away the veneer of Victorian progress and reveals the city as a place of primal terror and hidden savagery
- flickers weakly rather than fully illuminating the world, reinforcing the idea that horror and chaos dominate the setting
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natural imagery also suggests that evil is not an artificial construct but something deeply rooted and uncontrollable, growing wild like a dark forest around the fragile structures of society
-gothic wilderness where darkness engulfs reason, creating an atmosphere of fear, unpredictability, and inevitable moral collapse
what is the point for Jekylls house
The house mirrors Jekyll’s double life — respectable outside, corrupt and decaying within.
analyses the quote “ the door, which was equipped with neither bell nor knocker, was blistered and distained”
-Mr Enfield recounts the incident with Hyde at the mysterious door
-decay-based imagery to paint a picture of the door as neglected, damaged, and repulsive.
- words “blistered” and “distained” suggest not only physical deterioration but also moral corruption
- imagery mirrors the inner corruption of Dr Jekyll himself, who, through Hyde, indulges in immoral behaviour
- disfigurement of the door reflects the internal disfigurement of the soul, introducing the theme of moral duality
- sense of gothic horror, common in Victorian literature.
- absence of a bell or knocker implies secrecy and inaccessibility
- reinforces the isolation and concealment central to Jekyll’s transformation into Hyde.
- juxtaposition between the two entrances physically manifests the theme of duality — the respectable facade versus the hidden depravity
- elsewhere Stevenson presents Jekyll’s front door as “bright, open, and welcoming,” which directly contrasts with this rear door
- rear door becomes an architectural metaphor for the split in Jekyll’s identity: the man of science and honour versus the repressed, immoral figure of Hyde
analyses the quote “the hall, though it was how plunged in darkness, still retained a certain neatness”
analyses the quote “ the two hands are in many points identical”
what is the point for the laboratory
The lab is a place of chaos and horror, symbolising the dangers of unchecked ambition and loss of morality.
analyses the quote “the floor strewn with crates and littered with packing straw”
analyses the quote “the room was gaunt and silent”
analyses the quote “ the cabinet was very strong, the lock excellent”
