Do Victorian ghost stories follow a formula? Explore the techniques Victorian writers use to make their ghost stories effective. How effective are they and why?

The first 200 words of this essay...

Do Victorian ghost stories follow a formula? Explore the techniques Victorian writers use to make their ghost stories effective. How effective are they and why?

This essay will try and find a formula, after reading a selection of stories and focusing on these to discover the formula. The stories were 'The Ostler' by Wilkie Collins (1855), 'The Red Room' by H.G.Wells (1896),'The Signalman' by Charles Dickens (1866). To try and prove there is a Victorian structure or formula to the stories, they need to be analysed. This essay will analyse how effective the openings of the stories and will discuss the techniques of the various authors to create an effective ghost story. By way of using a modus operandi- also called a formula. The stories are very alike, so this leads us to believe a structure does exist. At the time of the stories publications, it was the Victorian era of Britain. Queen Victoria was on the throne and it was a time of new advances in technology and new inventions, also a time of British expansion across the globe. The stories are therefore slightly influenced by this background to when they were written. This essay will analyse, Victorian