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AQA GCSE English Literature - How does Stevenson use setting to create suspense in the extract?
How does Stevenson use setting to create suspense in the extract?
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How does Stevenson use setting to create suspense in the extract?How does Stevenson use setting to create suspense in the novel as a whole?
The descriptions of the sinister and unsettling streets of London, which include many gothic
and horror elements to draw the reader in, creating a setting full of suspense and mystery as
though we are waiting for a climax and result to all this built up tension. The night is
described as being “wild” and “cold” which seems to suggest that the night is unusual much
like the strange behaviour of Jekyll and mystery of Hyde that Utterson is currently facing.
Another factor that builds into this abnormality is the metaphor of the moon that is
described as “lying on her back as though the wind had tilted her” which creates a sense of
uneasiness in the reader because the poetic description of nature does not fit into the
suspicions and fear that Poole and Utterson have surrounding Jekyll. The image of the moon
being tilted on its side also seems supernatural and odd which prompts the feeling of fear
due to the alarming setting and the suspense being built up.
The “deserted” streets that Utterson had never seen “so unusually bare of passengers” are
reminiscing of Enfield's description in Chapter 1 before we meet Hyde, and read a
description of deserted streets, where a solitary Enfield too remarks on how he almost
“longed to see a police man” much like Utterson longs to see a “solitary creature” before we
reach the climax of the chapter where the girl is brutally trampled on. The clear link
between these two suspenseful descriptions plants an idea in the readers mind that we
once again may read about one of Hyde’s brutal actions or this once again may just be a
build up to a big finale. The metaphor “crushing anticipation of calamity” emphasises
Utterson’s fearful sense of the cities landscape which now seems to have turned on him, as
Hyde stalks London as these areas creating fear, uncertainty and suspense as we await an
outcome.
The streets being described as “unusually bare of passengers” is also very odd because in
Victorian England the population was extremely large and streets would have rarely been
deserted, so this solitary, suspenseful build up where even Utterson feels “anticipation”, is
cleverly crafted by Stevenson to also built into the theme of secrecy and scare the reader
because we learn that now even Utterson a clearly introverted character is afraid and
worried for the outcome of his foreboding journey.
At the beginning of the novel, Stevenson soaks the pages with imagery where the
respectable façade of Jekyll’s street (and Victorian society) is presented. The surroundings
are described in an extremely still and calm way as they are described as being “freshly
painted” and having “general cleanliness” which puts the reader in a safe position as the
area seems homy and calm, yet they do not expect the same area to be completely
transformed into a deserted and scary place at night, where the city transforms into a
metaphor of evil being committed under the cloak of darkness. We see this during Enfield’s
and Utterson’s walk where we see Stevenson’s creation of suspense in a very similar way as
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