The Adventure of the Speckled Band, The Stolen Bacillus and Napoleon and the Spectre

Tension and Suspense in The Adventure of the Speckled Band The Stolen Bacillus and Napoleon and the Spectre

All the above mentioned narratives contain suspense and tension

throughout and they all belong to the "short story" genre. This is

significant as in short stories the form doesn't allow the opportunity

to write long descriptions or to create a strong relationship between

the reader and the characters, so instead he or she needs to pack the

tale with almost immediate tension to grip the reader from the outset.

I also think the time in which all the stories were written is

significant, as each of the different stories includes a contemporary

fear that would definately have provoked tension and suspense from a

reader in a Victorian society.

In Victorian England the country and society was beginning to be

transformed due to the Industrial Revolution. There was still an

obvious hierarchical class and patriarchal structure. Women, for

example, were still treated as inferior. In "The Adventure of the

Speckled Band," and "The Stolen Bacillus" this is evident as the women

in those stories are presented as either the damsels in distress (the

Stoner twins,) or the silly interfering wife (Minie the

Bacteriologist's wife.) In Victorian times short stories also became

popular and were published regularly in magazines and newspapers. Most

of the them, like the three I am discussing in this essay; were

thrilling due to the recent fascination people had which was scaring

themselves senseless for entertainment.

In "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," (A.O.T.S.B) "The Stolen

Bacillus," (T.S.B) and "Napoleon and the Spectre" (N.A.T.S) the

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...s up tension. Then, for a massively long build up, the

end (although dramatic) seems quite short and fact. Bronte, in N.A.T.S

however does something quite different. This is because she does not

have a slow beginning, to create tension she simply shocks and

surprises from the start with the Spectre appearing in the third

paragraph. I don't think this works as well as the other two short

stories as there is no slow introduction to the world of the story so

the reader has less time to really get involved.

In conclusion I think that all the stories and authors use different

and similar techniques of building tension and creating suspense. They

are all typical to the mystery genre and the time they were written

and are all successful however I feel the story with the most tension

and suspense in it is A.O.T.S.B by Doyle.