The Story's Setting

The setting to Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is Victorian London in the 1880s. The graphic novel has many atmospheric drawings that give you a flavour of the world that Jekyll, and Hyde, found themselves in. We’ve pulled together a couple of websites that have great photos and other background material from that era to set the stage for the story.

Victorian London in Pictures:

• 10 pictures of London at the turn of the 19th century
• 39 pictures of Victorian London

But it’s widely believed that it was Edinburgh’s landscape, not London’s, that inspired Stevenson to write this gruesome tale.

Old Edinburgh in Pictures: 

To see your own town like you never have seen it before, you can visit the Capital Collections site, and browse through their free archive, a substantial selection of images that give you a sense of the cultural and social history of old Edinburgh
 

Capitol Collections Archives: 

• 439 Edinburgh Old and New Town pictures
• 55 Edinburgh Landmarks
• 40 Panoramas of Edinburgh
• 51 Edinburgh Street Scenes
• 37 Edinburgh Castle Pictures
• 17 Newington and the Grange Pictures
• 30 Thomas Begbie Photos
  
  
  

Victorian Britain:

If you want to know more about the Victorian period, take a look at SchoolHistory.co.uk. They have a collection of resources and links for Victorians and Victorian Britain. And The National Archives - Learning Curve also have a Victorian Britain resource.

It might be worth discussing why you think that Stevenson decided on London, rather than Edinburgh, for the setting of his story. What arguments can you find for the suggestion that it is really Victorian Edinburgh that isnpired Stevenson? What arguments against? Do you think the story would have been better if the setting was Edinburgh instead of London? Does it matter?