Comparing The Red Room by H.G. Wells, The Signalman by Charles Dickens and The Man with the Twisted Lip by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
In this piece of coursework I will analyse and compare three pre- 20th
century short stories. The stories are called, The Red Room written by
H.G. Wells, The Signalman written by Charles Dickens and The Man with
the Twisted Lip written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The story of The Red Room by H.G.Wells was written in 1896 when gothic
Horror stories were in fashion. As a short story H.G.Wells has to set
the scene, introduce the characters and keep the reader interested in
a short space of time. He does this by creating tension and a vivid
setting.
The opening is in a medieval castle, later called "Lorraine Castle"
which is described as "ghostly". This is just like an example of a
typical gothic derelict castle. This mention of the supernatural is
linked in with the main theme of the story. The deformed characters,
strange settings, ominous warnings and the story being told in first
person means that atmosphere and tension are quickly developed.
The story starts with the narrator talking to an old man, with a
"withered arm" There is also an elderly woman in the room who keeps
"staring hard into the fire" as if she is transfixed. The third
character is "more bent, more wrinkled, more aged" and appears to be
more mysterious than the others. With all of the characters having
deformities it gives the idea that the old people are sinister and
that they are hiding something from the narrator. For example the man
with the withered arm repeats himself on many occasions, saying," It's
your own choosing". Which makes the reader wonder whether they are
they trying to warn him about something. All the characters have a
ghostly appearance about them, giving the impression that they are not
human. This makes the narrator very uncomfortable about being around
them. Once again this mention of supernatural beings adds to the
mystery and tension of the story.
A Comparison of 'The Bar of Gold' by Conan Doyle and 'The Red Room' by H.G. Wells
The time and way people are brought up in society makes a huge difference on how they will climb up the social scale in life. In the classic novel House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton and Call it Sleep, by Henry Roth the main characters experience totally different upbringings into society. While Lily Bart is brought up into a high class society, David is born into an immigrant family in a part of the city, which has similar people as his own country. The two characters in the novels both have different and some similar views on how to climb up on the social scale. Although they would give different advice to each other on how to climb the social scale, and have different views on life, one thing that would be common would be to have money.
Life is not always fair. There is no real explanation for this. In almost all constitutions people are created equal but very rarely are all of them treated this way. But before the French revolution happened very few people even had these rights. Then when WW II came around the Jewish people were targeted by the Nazis. They were stripped of all their rights and basically became slaves to the Nazis party. The Nazis tried to rid Europe of the Jewish people and if they had their way eventually the whole world would be free of this religious group. The character that people show through times of adversity can define them individually and as an entire group. In “Night” Eli Wiesel faces life and death everyday in the Nazis concentration camp. While in “A tale of two cities” by Charles Dickens, Carton saves Darnay’s life twice once during a trial and another at the guillotine even though Carton resents Darnay shows mans true potential.
The aim of this essay is to explore the way in which the two authors
This essay will examine both "The Speckled Band" by Conan Doyle and "Visitors" by Brian Moon and will look at how each one conforms to or diverges from the conventions of the detective story and also how each story is representative of the century it was written in by how it presents the woman, the hero and the villain.
Damrosch, David, et al., ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Vol. B. Compact ed. New York: Longman - Addison Wesley Longman, 2000. p. 2256
Comparing The Red Room by H.G. Wells and The Darkness Out There by Penelope Lively
Atmosphere and Tension in The Speckled Band by Air Arthur Conan Doyle and Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl
The Red Room by HG Wells, The Black Cottage By Wilkie Collins, and Sikes and Nancy By Charles Dickens
Tension and Suspense in The Red Room by H.G. Wells In H.G Wells’ The Red Room tension and suspense are created through the characters, the plot and the setting. The setting is typical of Gothic and Victorian ghost stories. In these times there was no electricity so use of candles for light created an eerie atmosphere. They had no modern technology like televisions for entertainment so they used books and story telling.
suffered her entire life and what she did; she did for love of one man
Damrosch, David, et al., ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Vol. B. Compact ed. New York: Longman - Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.
Damrosch, David, et al., ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Vol. B. Compact ed. New York: Longman - Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.
Hobsbaum, Philip. A Reader’s Guide to Charles Dickens. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1972.
Damrosch, David, et al., ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Vol. B. Compact ed. New York: Longman - Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.