Sewards Asylum

Story so far

Seward's Asylum is the large private institution directed by the twenty-nine-year-old physician John Seward. Seward lives and works there, keeping a phonographic diary while personally studying difficult patients.

In one room, Renfield catches flies, breeds spiders, feeds sparrows, and argues for a cat as the next step in absorbing life. The institution gives Seward unusual access to Renfield's changing behavior, though his scientific fascination sometimes draws him toward experiments as cold as the patient's arithmetic.

Appearance

A large private late-Victorian lunatic asylum under medical supervision, with patient rooms, keepers, barred confinement, and Seward's quarters and phonograph nearby; fuller architecture is not yet described.

Role

The asylum is Seward's workplace, home, and laboratory, containing Renfield while concentrating the doctor's most ambitious and morally uneasy observations.

Relationships