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In this essay I will explore and explain how the atmosphere of tension and suspense is built up in short stories in the Victorian period. I will show how various techniques build the overall effect. I will do this by comparing and contrasting three short stories, "The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, "The Adventure of The Speckled Band" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and "The Red Room" by H. G. Wells. These stories are similar in many ways and all consist of mysterious irrational plots. The Victorians were concerned with the idea of rationality, science over religion, and this is reflected in these stories

To begin with I will look at the characters in the stories.
Characters can help reflect the atmosphere of a story, an example of this is the old people in "The Red Room". They are very strange, say very little and are nameless. They represent the irrational.
There are examples of irrational characters in the other stories. In "The Adventure of The Speckled Band" the irrational character is called Dr. Roylott, a mysterious person who you know little of. After coming back from India he allows animals he has brought back with him roam freely around his house. This is particularly relevant to the Victorian era as India was part of the English empire and was seen as a wild, uncivilised place, to reflect Dr, Roylott’s character.
The irrational character in "The Tell Tale Heart" is actually the narrator, who once again has no name. This character becomes insane and is obsessed with his guest’s “vulture eye”. In the end he murders his guest and places him under the floor boards. The character is haunted by the beat of his victim’s heart and he is forced to confess his crime. The way the text has been written also reflects the character as he repeats words and puts some in capital.

In these stories there seems to always be a character that represents the rational and logical, in contrast to the irrational.
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