Both stories are in the first person which has made them more immediate and believable. I believe that a gothic story is more effective from the subjective as it becomes easier to relate to and so the character’s feelings are more likely to be mirrored into the reader’s mind. In ‘The Old Nurse’s Tale’ , because the story is being told in Hester’s point of view, some points, especially during times of danger, are exaggerated, thus adding to the sense of danger, foreboding and fear. This is shown in; “It was a bitter cold; so cold that the air almost took the skin of my face as I ran”. This use of poetic writing indicates that the coldness was exaggerated due to the story being told in Hester’s point of view. The use of a metaphor enhances the exaggeration of the coldness. In ‘The Red Room’, as it is written in the first person, we are able to follow the narrator’s thoughts throughout the story and understand his perception of the situation.
The setting of a gothic story is an important factor in order to create tension and convey fear. ‘The Red Room’ has a traditional setting for a ghost story. The setting is in a castle (Lorraine Castle). The thought of there being a ghost in there makes it far from homely and the setting effectively gives the story fear factor and unease. As the narrator moves into the corridor where the ‘Red Room’ is situated H.G Wells has used the setting to create an unnatural feel because the first thing noted about the corridor is the moonlight streaming through the window, which is very unusual because everything else is described as dark and black, but this is described as silvery and light. The black corners, recesses and alcoves increase our fear because we become aware that many mysterious things could be easily unnoticed and lurking within them. The setting of ‘The Old Nurse’s Tale’, in some respects, is similar to that of ‘The Red Room’. ‘The Old Nurse’s Tale’, like ‘The Red Room’, is set in a large establishment, a Manor House. The house, like most gothic stories, is very isolated and desolate, which creates a scary and eerie atmosphere. It is described as ‘overshadowed’ by the ‘gnarled thorn-trees, and old oaks, all white and peeled with age’, which adds to the daunting ambience. Throughout the story Elizabeth Gaskell tends not to use the setting as an important factor in order to convey fear and reverts more to other factors. In my opinion H.G Wells has successfully created a more gothic and supernatural feel through the use of the setting than Elizabeth Gaskell. I feel this is because H.G Wells has used a lot more description on setting than Elizabeth Gaskell and has carried the gothic setting on all the way throughout the story apart from the end where he has used the daylight-normality setting to mirror the rational ending.
Another important factor in building up tension and conveying fear is the mystery of the story. This is effective as it keeps the reader in the dark about what is going on, and consequently more tense. In ‘The Old Nurse’s Tale’ and ‘The Red Room’ there are many unanswered questions. In ‘The Old Nurse’s Tale’ the first one to be introduced is why there are so few people left at the house? These being the two women with “watchful eyes” yet silent, and the other stern, “cold and grey”. The second major question is how the organ is played even though it is battered and broken? Who plays it? And why is it played in relation to the violent weather and winter months? The author also poses a question of why Miss Maude Furnivall’s picture is hidden away, and why servants appear so fearful when it is mentioned. The reader questions why Miss Rosamond was led to the fells and by what supernatural being.
In ‘The Red Room’ we become curious as to why there are repeated warnings from the two withered characters and what is the supernatural force that has left the confident male narrator in a state of panic. This device of unanswered questions is one of the most important methods of instilling fear, tension and suspense. With this sense of mystery we are constantly left shrouded in fear and suspense of what is to happen next, and why.
The stories emphasise the importance of passion versus reason through the dangerous and unsettling situations that occur because of the conflict between these two instincts. ‘The Red Room’ demonstrates how these two incompatible impulses can increase tension and make perfectly rational occurrences seem supernatural.
‘The Old Nurse’s Tale’ expresses the vitality of reason and shows how these, through the action of Grace Furnivall, which were based on emotions of passion, resulted in the death of her sister and niece.
The use of language can considerably increase the tension and convey fear. Elizabeth Gaskell has used some particularly effective similes in her writing to multiply the fear, for example, the organ ‘wailed and triumphed just like a living creature’. This simile is vivid because it gives us an image that the organ was heard above everything else and blocked out the wild weather just like the howls of an animal. ‘The Old Nurse’s Tale’ also contains some effective alliteration, for example; ‘green gloom’ which, as alliteration is a great help to memory, will help us, as a reader, to continue to sense the eerie atmosphere. Effective metaphors have also been used by Elizabeth Gaskell, for example, ‘my flesh began to creep a little’. This metaphor clearly shows the unease of the narrator concerning the unsettling situation and consequently adds to the fear of the reader. The author of ‘The Old Nurse’s Tale’ also uses some extremely effective pathetic fallacy. Pathetic fallacy, which is the attribution of human characteristics to nature or to inanimate objects, builds up tension successfully as the cold weather mirrors the looming theme of death when the narrator states that it was 'deadly cold', giving an overtone of death. The extensive use of exclamation marks that Elizabeth Gaskell has used increases the tension as it helps to emphasise the severity of the situation and the danger in which the characters are in. Elizabeth Gaskell also warns us of what is to come throughout the story, increasing the tension with the tell-tale signs that she subtly drops into the story where ‘great, large flakes’ of snow lay’ soft, thick and deep’, where the bad weather signals a bad occurrence that is to follow, like any typical gothic tale.
‘The Red Room’, like the ‘Old Nurse’s Tale’, consists of some very effective uses of language in order to build up tension and convey fear. The story contains some very effective alliteration to create an intimidating atmosphere, for example, ‘I heard the sound of a stick and a shambling step’. This example of alliteration in ‘The Red Room’ is soft and threatening and helps to create unease in the atmosphere. The descriptions of the withered characters that H.G Wells has described are very effective for creating a slightly chilling and disturbing atmosphere, for example, ‘decaying yellow teeth’ and the man’s eyes were ‘small, bright and inflamed’. Metaphors are also used regularly and liberally: ‘my candle was a little tongue of light in its vastness, that failed to pierce the opposite end of the room, and left an ocean of mystery and suggestion beyond its island of light’ and ‘the flames were still dancing between the glowing coals, and splashing red reflections upon the furniture’. These metaphors help create an image in the reader’s mind that is often more graphic than just an adjective and so this technique increases fear.
There are many effective techniques used to build up tension and convey fear. In my opinion the most effective device is the technique of unanswered questions as with this sense of mystery we are constantly left shrouded by fear and suspense of what is to happen next, any why. I also think an effective method of instilling fear, tension and suspense are traditional themes such as the gothic settings, the use of light and dark, and the overtones of death, all typically gothic. There are many similarities in the two stories, for example; they are both written in the subjective, they are both set in desolate surroundings and both contain many overtones of death. There are also many differences in the two stories; they use different journeys to build up tension, and ‘The Old nurse’s Tale’ ends supernaturally and the ‘Red Room’ ends rationally.
Some parts of each story I did not like, for example, in the ‘Red Room’ the old withered servants appear very old and extremely exaggerated beyond the point of seriousness, and I did not like the long-winded irrelevant points in ‘The Old Nurse’s Tale’. Overall I think the most effective story for instilling fear, tension and suspense is ‘The Old Nurse’s Tale’ as it was more easily understandable and it left a more effective ending as it left the supernatural occurrences left unexplained whereas the ‘Red Room’ provided a rational explanation for the events. I also found the story more interesting and I found the supernatural events more intense. I also found that ‘The Old Nurse’s Tale’ was generally more gothic than ‘The Red Room’ as ‘The Red Room’ was not gothic at the end of the story.
