- Join over 1.2 million students every month
- Accelerate your learning by 29%
- Unlimited access for just £4.99 per month
Charles Dickens The Signalman. a) Based upon Massaud Moiss definition, we can affirm The Signalman, by Charles Dickens, belongs to the Gothic Fiction genre.
This essay hasn't yet been marked by one of our teachers
You can view all our essays on The Signalman that have been Marked by Teachers
The first 200 words of this essay...
Charles Dickens - "The Signalman".
a) Based upon Massaud Moisés' definition, we can affirm "The Signalman", by Charles Dickens, belongs to the Gothic Fiction genre. For it has most of the elements that belongs to Gothic writing, such as mystery and horror in the plot, the presence of the supernatural, and the absence of light in a gloomy setting, which elements will be analyzed below in combination with their relating passages.
For instance, just at the beginning of the story, when the narrator presents the signalman character, he is inside a tunnel, aparted from the outside world, isolated in a gloomy setting so that "his figure was foreshortened and shadowed".
Besides, the setting becomes more and more gloomy as the narrative proceeds and the narrator carry on the description of the signalman and his box, "Was it necessary for him when on duty, always to remain in that channel of damp air, and could he never rise into the sunshine from between those high stone walls?"
Therefore, the presence of the supernatural is vivid all along the narrative. In fact, it is the very theme of the story, although the investigative narrator kept rationalizationing that the
Found what you're looking for?
- Start learning 29% faster today
- Over 150,000 essays available
- Just £4.99 a month
