The Impact of London on the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde The setting of a story creates the atmosphere from which a story grows and progresses. Locale, public setting, and other attributes to a good setting allow the story to be personal to the reader. A great setting influences the story. In the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, historic 19th Century London is the backdrop for the fascinating Robert Louis Stevenson tale. True to it’s historic value, London thrives in the novel as the scene of conflict as well as resolution in the case of Mr Hyde and Dr Jekyll. Throughout the novel, London permeates itself into the overall direction of the story. London’s thriving success, as found in the massive population boom due to the Industrial
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The novel is introduced to a new struggle on going in the novel. Sir Danvers Carew is a member of the parliament for the British government. In terms of class structure he is above the high-working class and prominent business men, as he is likened to a congressman in modern America. A political figure in this time period is a high honor. However, to the low class maid servant watching from her window, the man is “an aged and beautiful gentleman with white hair, drawing near along the lane…”. She sees no class structure in the handsome man. Upon the preluding to a terrible act of terror, Stevenson paints a picture of a particular alleyway of London with “a fog rolled over the city in the small hours, the early part of the night was cloudless, and the lane, which the maid’s window over looked, was brilliantly lit by the full moon” (Stevenson 47). It is clear through his imagery and from what can be assumed from the social class the maid servant comes from, that it is a rather dark in nature alley, though in this moment it is bright by the moonlight. The class struggle is certainly up front in the mind of the narrator as the impending event is described as “a crime of singular ferocity and rendered all the more notable by the high position of the victim” (Stevenson 47). Mr. Hyde, who the maid servant reveals she “was surprised to …show more content…
In the case of the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, it was imperative to define the social classes in a manner that would not only be a focal point to the plot development of the novel, but also a way for the reader to connect the story to a particular place and moment in history to see the story in a more comprehensive way. The portrayal of the class structure evaded certain abnormalities and stayed true to the nature of London in the 19th century. London, during this period, was a city of giants and a city of laymen and the poorest of poor. The incredible story of Mr Hyde and the resolute manhunt for him playing itself out in the pages, is only reinforced by the social class structure and the importance it plays. The aesthetic of 19th Century London, the rough winters and foggy nights, mixed with the often gloomy mystique and exquisite homes, create for an environment in which any story can play itself out with innumerable twists. The social struggle on going in the story is maintained by the aura of a historic city in the most uncertain times. For in the words of Charles Dickens in his commentary of the city of London, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of
The novel is introduced to a new struggle on going in the novel. Sir Danvers Carew is a member of the parliament for the British government. In terms of class structure he is above the high-working class and prominent business men, as he is likened to a congressman in modern America. A political figure in this time period is a high honor. However, to the low class maid servant watching from her window, the man is “an aged and beautiful gentleman with white hair, drawing near along the lane…”. She sees no class structure in the handsome man. Upon the preluding to a terrible act of terror, Stevenson paints a picture of a particular alleyway of London with “a fog rolled over the city in the small hours, the early part of the night was cloudless, and the lane, which the maid’s window over looked, was brilliantly lit by the full moon” (Stevenson 47). It is clear through his imagery and from what can be assumed from the social class the maid servant comes from, that it is a rather dark in nature alley, though in this moment it is bright by the moonlight. The class struggle is certainly up front in the mind of the narrator as the impending event is described as “a crime of singular ferocity and rendered all the more notable by the high position of the victim” (Stevenson 47). Mr. Hyde, who the maid servant reveals she “was surprised to …show more content…
In the case of the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, it was imperative to define the social classes in a manner that would not only be a focal point to the plot development of the novel, but also a way for the reader to connect the story to a particular place and moment in history to see the story in a more comprehensive way. The portrayal of the class structure evaded certain abnormalities and stayed true to the nature of London in the 19th century. London, during this period, was a city of giants and a city of laymen and the poorest of poor. The incredible story of Mr Hyde and the resolute manhunt for him playing itself out in the pages, is only reinforced by the social class structure and the importance it plays. The aesthetic of 19th Century London, the rough winters and foggy nights, mixed with the often gloomy mystique and exquisite homes, create for an environment in which any story can play itself out with innumerable twists. The social struggle on going in the story is maintained by the aura of a historic city in the most uncertain times. For in the words of Charles Dickens in his commentary of the city of London, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of