The Red Room and The Tell-Tale Heart are both gothic stories about men who at the beginning of story are very arrogant and sure of themselves, who find their views and their plans turned upside-down over the course of the story. In the Red Room, the main theme is that of the unknown lurking in the shadows and the things which you can and can’t see. The running theme in the Tell-Tale Heart is definitely madness. But both stories have the same themes of the supernatural, fear of the unknown and these themes are used to keep the tension and suspense running throughout the story. In these stories I think the settings are very familiar.
How does Henry James create suspense in the prologue and the first five chapters? The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, although defying multiple gothic conventions, remains one of the most suspenseful and sinister tales of the Victorian era. The novella’s ambiguous nature effectively creates a suspenseful atmosphere. Immediately established within the prologue and the first five chapters of the novella is James’ varied use of structural and literary techniques that create and sustain suspense. Henry James is able to initially generate suspense within his novella from the title.
Literature and Image: The Colors and Setting in The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe The process of delving into the black abyss is to me the keenest form of fascination. - Howard Phillips Lovecraft The Fall of the House of Usher is possibly the most famous tales of Edgar Allan Poe. First published in 1839 in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, is part of the set of tales of horror and gothic in which Poe is well known. The work possesses a set of characteristics typical of gothic literary genre: a haunted mansion, a landscape dark and a mysterious illness. These Gothic elements are easily identifiable, however, much of the work that inspires horror, lies in the color palette and the way the scene is presented to us.
Overtime, the novel has become synonymous with gothic literature. “Frankenstein revolutionized the genres of gothic literature … and horror stories” (Mazzeno). Frankenstein exemplifies powerful Gothic elements such as: environment and weather reflecting emotions, a sense of mystery and suspense, supernatural or otherwise inexplicable events, and an unreliable narrator. One of the most iconic and crucial elements of gothic writing in Frankenstein is the way in which Victor’s environment reflects the dark and lonely emotions he experiences throughout his tragic journey. The use of this literary technique first shows when Victor becomes enthralled in his attempt to create a living being.
He uses words like ‘grotesque’ to portray the gargoyles on the wall and uses ‘villainous’ to describe the ornaments that are around the living room. By describing the design of Wuthering Heights as scary and suspicious, Bronte makes the reader tense and unsettled. Mr. Lockwood’s remark stating that Heathcliff will, “Love and hate, equally undercover,” brings to light Heathcliff as a passionate lover but an equally passionate hater. Not only are his emotions zealous, Heathcliff will put on a façade to conceal his true passion. Lockwood is curious about Heathcliff, as well as the reader, questions about him are emerging, and Bronte used this to build up his mysterious character.
Although the setting of Frankenstein cannot be considered desolate and macabre the themes of the natural and supernatural are certainly prevalent. The origin of Frankenstein itself stems from a challenge from Byron to write a ‘ghost story’. Shelley took this challenge to mean the creation of a story which inspired fear in its reader. The appearance of the monster itself generates fear in the reader and fits into the gothic theme. “His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath” reveals Victor’s horror when he first sees his creation come to life.
This is done through a variety of techniques but the most effective is the visual imagery Bronte creates through the vivid descriptions of Heathcliff. References to Heathcliff such as “child of the storm” and the “imp of Satan” create allusions of deep horror and terror for the reader. From looking at the noun ‘storm’ to describe Heathcliff’s place of origin there is a strong sense that Bronte is using pathetic fallacy to both fore shadow the terror to occur at Wuthering Heights and also the destructive nature of Heathcliff. A storm is a destructive type of weather which has connotations of being cold and wet which is a trope of gothic literature used to display terrifying events. This is evident in Shelley’s Frankenstein where she uses the description of a “dreary night” when horrifying events are about to occur.
The expert use of profound imagery and description by Bierce in this work produces an elegant tale that tempts the reader’s mind to explore the emotionally charged imaginative effects that are part of our basic human nature and while the Civil War was at the very essence of some of his most acclaimed work, the reader and critic of his work would most probably ponder just how his personal experiences in the war affected him when reading his stories. The story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is divided into three sections that all trigger in the readers mind a sense of reality and veracity bringing into
In Gothic literature, the setting often plays an important role in the development of the plot and characters of the story. It is commonly characterized by having an atmosphere filled with suspense, terror, darkness and mystery. The setting is not only characterized by the physical location, but also by the social or psychological state of the characters. The personalities of the characters are usually strange or fearful, and this if reflected in the atmosphere of the story. One popular technique writers of Gothic fiction use to create such an atmosphere is to have story told through a madman or madwoman’s perspective.
In the beginning, the reader thinks the narrator cares for the old man and; therefore, the atmosphere is still light and trusting. / Soon, the reader sees a turn to an eerie and dark mood. / The madman sensed, after creeping in the old man’s room, that the man’s “hellish tattoo of the heart increased,” growing “louder and louder every instant” (page). / When the reader realizes the narrator’s insanity, the story’s fear heightens. / The killer, ambushed by excitement, announces: “And now a new anxiety seized me—the sound would be heard by a neighbor!