The atmosphere of tension in “ The Red Room” is sustained throughout the story by the author. On page 206 he creates tension by intriguing us “ this night of all nights” this already gives us a certain sense of anticipation. We see the young man walking to “The Red Room” on page 208, as he does so the author describes the surroundings and the noises that he hears amidst the shadows. “The echoes ran up and down the spiral staircase” this personifies the echoes by giving it the human attribute of running this gives the effect of movement and possibility of following him. As the plot unfolds we see the young man in “ The Red Room” lighting candles so that “every inch of the room was lit”, suddenly the “candles go out, from candle to candle”. By adding this to the story I feel the author has affectively created both tension and anxiety towards the plot. This tension climaxes towards the end on page 212/213 where we see the young man struggling to escape from “The Red Room”; in his efforts he knocks himself unconscious, to exemplify the “sensation of falling” he uses language such as “ lasted an age” which gives the effect of a long struggle. However the ending to “The Red Room” is an anti-climax where we find out that that it is haunted by “black fear”.
In “The Old Nurses Story” the author, Elizabeth Gaskell creates tension by using mystery “ but those I never went through as long as I stayed in the house, so I can’t tell you what lay beyond” this creates a vast sense anticipation and intrigue into finding out what lays beyond. The drawing room is described as “cheerful looking” this contrasts to the house which is made out to be ominous” I should be lost in that wilderness of a house”. The use of syntax is common in “The Old Nurses Story” “my flesh began to creep” conversely it is infrequently used in “The Red Room”. Elizabeth Gaskell also uses ‘pathetic fallacy’ to describe certain aspects of the story “hung heavy and black over the white earth, as if the night had never fully gone away”. There are mini climaxes throughout “look, Hester! Look! There is my poor little girl out in the snow!” to help this there is use of onomatopoeia “beating and battering to get in”
The similarities of these stories are that they are both written in the first person, as I have previously stated this gives the effect of being there when the story is being told, they also use typical gothic settings e.g. corridors and stairways to make their stories more intriguing to the reader. Each author also uses the senses to help build tension and emotion to thicken the plot. This results in the story being more realistic and easier to relate to.
We see many differences when analysing both stories. “The Red Room” is told in the present tense and uses a short time scale whereas “The Old Nurses Story” is told in the past tense and the stories duration is months. “The Red Room” ends in daylight in comparison “The Old Nurses Story” climaxes at night. H.G. Wells creates a clearer picture of the old woman by using descriptive words such as “decaying” and “pale”. In contrast Elizabeth Gaskell keeps her description of Miss Furnivall brief “she was thin and tall”.
I prefer the writing style of Elizabeth Gaskell because she uses a more substantial plot; the characters are more understandable and easier to relate to because a persona is used and their identities are stronger than those in “The Red Room”. I also prefer “The Old Nurses Story” because it is more of an effective ghost story again because of identity, the ghost in this story is a person, and we find out background information that makes it easier to understand “I hear terrible screams – I hear my father’s voice”. “Black Fear” has none of this and therefore I feel the story has an anti-climax because of it.
“The Red Room” is shorter and directly because of this there is little description and background into the plot, it is feasible to say that it is based on a myth and personally I find that this does not have enough effect to really intrigue readers and give a vast sense of tension. “The Old Nurses Story” is linguistic and the detailing is easy to understand therefore making the story easier and more interesting to read. Again the use of language helps to build tension by using adjectives such as “desolate” giving us an intriguing and mysterious sense of anticipation into what will happen next and how the story will climax.
