The Signalman by Charles Dickens, The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

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The Signalman by Charles Dickens, The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

People have written short stories for hundreds of years; however it

was not until the 19th century that they really became popular. Short

stories were the ideal form for writers who wanted to earn some

immediate money and reach a wide audience. As more people were given

the chance of receiving basic education, literacy rates improved and

more were able to enjoy reading. As the technology improved printing

became cheaper meaning that more people could afford to buy and read

cheap magazines. This was in the days before television or radio when

reading aloud was a much more popular form of entertainment.

I have chosen to look at three short stories which were written in the

Victorian age by different authors. They are “The Signalman” by

Charles Dickens, “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Sir Arthur

Conan Doyle and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

The story “The Signalman” takes place in an isolated railway cutting,

where a traveller meets and befriends a lonely signalman who has a

strange tale to tell. He is being haunted by a mysterious figure that

lurks in the mouth of a rail tunnel, warning him of impending tragedy.

He has appeared twice before and on both occasions the signalman

witnessed terrible accidents; a train crash and a young bride falling

from a speeding carriage. The signalman fears that the figure will

return and some other tragedy will occur.

Charles Dickens wrote this tale after being involved in a train wreck

in which he narrowly escaped injury. The accident haunted him for the

rest of his life.

“The Yellow Wa...

... middle of paper ...

... next? What will happen to her? The woman in “The Yellow Wallpaper”

is very untypical of the normal subject in a psychological thriller.

She at first seems to be a perfectly normal woman not really ill at

all, but gradually we see her mind deteriorate and she slowly turns

into a creature resembling a wild animal, prowling around her bedroom.

“The Signalman” bears some similarities to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s

story in that there is a definite ending when the signalman is killed.

There is a difference however in that the reader is then left with a

question in their mind, which is similar to “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Is

the narrator of the story a normal person or is he possibly the ghost?

This is the typical ending of a mystery story; leaving the reader with

a quandary to ponder over after they have finished reading, making

them want to read it all over again.

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