AS and A Level: Robert Louis Stevenson
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With particular reference to the construction of Mr Hyde, discuss how portrayal of the character places the novella into the Gothic Horror genre.
Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde fits into this mould of a Gothic Horror story perfectly, and this is largely down to the construction and portrayal of the character of Mr Edward Hyde; the evil half of Dr Jekyll's personality. Stevenson introduces the theme of their being two sides to everybody's personality with his opening description of Mr Utterson. Stevenson begins by creating a negative impression of the lawyer, that he is "of a rugged countenance" and that he is "never lighted by a smile".
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With close reference to the setting of 'Psycho' and 'Edward Scissor hands' discuss how the directors use elements of the Gothic tradition.
The background behind her is not clearly visible and is set to a Gothic shadow view. As she continues to drive away further from her home the weather changes to heavy rain, the whole atmosphere draws in on her and the frantic music that plays adjacent to the fantastic camera shots results in a penetrative impact upon the viewer. As she continues driving it comes to attention that there is no other traffic visible. Solitarily driving down the highway Hitchcock takes a shot that shows what Marion would see from behind the windscreen.
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Examine how a sense of mystery, terror and suspense is created and maintained in 'The Old Nurse's Story' By Elizabeth Gaskell. You should consider specifically, how successful the story is as a piece of Gothic fiction.
The Gothic Novel usually had a strong moral attached, designed to make the reader think and learn valuable lessons. Beneath the melancholy atmosphere of the Gothic tradition lurked psychological subtext, aiming to provoke terror in the reader's mind. This usually examined the subconscious and unconscious mind and its impulses and dealt with socially taboo subjects, including incest, murder, rape and diabolism. In this way, terror and mystery were slowly built up in the reader's mind. Gothic Novels were relatively long in size and slow in pace, hence the reason why they appears so outdated today.
- Word count: 2730
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Victorian Villains in Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
In the second extract, (Great Expectations) the atmosphere is rather different as it is outside and not inside. It is located in a marsh country, close to a river and twenty miles of the sea, Charles describes the afternoon as raw this would mean that it would cold and damp. It is then described as a bleak place overgrown with nettles. The land beyond the churchyard is dark and flat but intersected with a few mounds. The wind is described as rushing from the sea, which would mean it is speeding up.
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