Examine the settings which the writers have chosen for their stories in "The Signalman", "The Man With The Twisted Lip" and "The Red Room"- Consider the effects that each writer has created and how they contribute to the atmosphere.
GCSE English Coursework - Comparing three Victorian mystery stories.
EXAMINE THE SETTINGS WHICH THE WRITERS HAVE CHOSEN FOR THEIR STORIES IN
"THE SIGNALMAN", "THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP" AND "THE RED ROOM."
CONSIDER THE EFFECTS THAT EACH WRITER HAS CREATED AND HOW THEY CONTRIBUTE
TO THE ATMOSPHERE.
In this piece of coursework, I will attempt to analyze, evaluate and compare three pieces of mysterious Victorian writings. The three stories and authors are, "The Signalman" written by Charles Dickens; "The Man with the Twisted Lip" written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; "The Red Room" written by H.G. Wells.
The First story in analysis, The Signalman, is narrated mainly by the actual signalman himself, and there is a very mysterious sense around the scene that is set. The main setting is in a train yard, where a man, who claims to have foreseen many accidents through ghosts, lives. His sightings of ghosts have been followed by real accidents in which there are fatalities. However the ghost strikes again and this is how readers are kept bounded to the story's mystery.
The second story; The Man with the Twisted Lip, is another story with not a lot of suspense. However, it contains a very severe twist in the tale. The mysterious writing succeeds in keeping viewers entertained. However in the end of the story, the whole tale is resolved. The story is about a man who disappears, and is found later on disguised, in a prison. All the time he is under reader's nose so the irony strikes them.
The red room is a very gothic piece of writing that contains a lot of suspense and melodramatic scenes. It is based around the supernatural and there are many surreal occurrences. The whole piece has many strange happenings, which creates plenty of suspense to keep the reader interested. There are involvements with ghosts, supernatural occurrences such as unnatural presence in the room, and there?is also that factor of the basic isolation of the room from the rest of the house. At the end of the story, there is, what seems to be, a summit of ghosts, who meet the narrator, to explain about the room. The narrator himself, reveals too what he thinks is wrong with the room.
In 'The Signalman', the main setting is situated near a train track, where a signalman lives. From the historical point of view, as this was written in 1865, this is the ideal setting. People used to be inquisitive about what a station or a signalman is like. The author took advantage of this mystery to write his own, creating his own beliefs and using the natural dark settings to fashion the suspense. There is also a tunnel nearby, which is always very dark and mysterious as "unexplored land". There was no knowing where this tunnel would lead to in those Victorian times.
'The Man with the Twisted Lip' was written in the year 1891, and this was the more mature part of the Victorian era. The settings are mixed in the book, but one very important place is the opium den. This really does reflect the actual life of some Victorian people, namely those who smoked opium.The Story was released just before the rampage of Jack the Ripper. Because the Ripper was never caught, the public thought few outwitted the intense mystery solving antics of Holmes; this helped also the readers to picture Holmes in reality. The public had a great deal of criticism of the police, who were at that time seen as incompetent of solving crimes. As the East of London was highly polluted and disease spread round workers' slums; a lot of rich people were prescribed opium to deal, to any extent, with effects of these diseases. As a result of this, many people smoked it and smog grew around the city which proved perfect for crime. So the story was just a reflection of crime and "scum-society" in the age of setting. It was reflected on what was presently happening in the city of London, and on what was happening as a result of that. The bar of gold reflects the smog-like London in that age. The only place where there was a sign of invention of setting was the actual opium den and the jail. These are not known to be true or real. However, both are accurate reflections of what the real places would have been like.
In 'The Red Room', which is the most recent story, the main setting is in a castle, which seems to be very old. So this story is set in the medieval castle; and the story in a more recent era. He did not want to relate it with Victorian era. He could therefore freely explore the ageless nature of fear. This is therefore a tale of fear and death, with association with hell, set in a invented setting of which there is no evidence of truth. He is elusive about the time or location in the story, to gain the freedom of writing in what era he pleases. However, nearly everything is drawn from his mind and he does not attempt to reflect society in any age; he tends to just mention that the castle is old without a date or clue to where it is set.
In "The Signalman", the key location is a train yard, where Charles Dickens accentuates aspects of the place of supernatural occurrence. Since the story is meant for horror and mystery, this setting suits its tale well. In this yard, there is a rail track, a tunnel and a hut, which is towards the centre, which is very isolated from the rest of the known world, not many people see this hut and so it seems it is situated in the middle of nowhere. The hut is referred to as a "box" which suggests it is quite small as well. The hut makes the atmosphere seem as if the hut belongs to supernatural being, and as it is at the bottom of the eerie cliff, it can be described as a house of death
The place of the hut is described as a "deep trench". This suggests again a deep, isolated area, described in effect of a war, where fighting takes place; a muddy hole where no-one wants to be.
There is also evidence of the path being unkempt as a "rough zigzag descending path" which was "unusually precipitate" and the clammy stones became "oozier and wetter" as the descent increased. This shows how unusual the path is, that seems to be very damp and seems as if no-one ever goes down there. Because of the increasing dampness, it can ...
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The place of the hut is described as a "deep trench". This suggests again a deep, isolated area, described in effect of a war, where fighting takes place; a muddy hole where no-one wants to be.
There is also evidence of the path being unkempt as a "rough zigzag descending path" which was "unusually precipitate" and the clammy stones became "oozier and wetter" as the descent increased. This shows how unusual the path is, that seems to be very damp and seems as if no-one ever goes down there. Because of the increasing dampness, it can be associated with a type of descent to hell; a very unclean and rough path. It seems to be unhealthy and very dangerous, and can lead to falling. It implies an image of leaving the real world behind to descend to a more dangerous one.
There is also a description of the setting being "Solitary and Dismal" and this shows in another way, how this world is isolated from the "real world" It is an ideal location for supernatural creatures.
There is a "dripping wet wall of jagged stone" that tries to "exclude all view except a small strip of sky". It seems that the whole area is deep under natural ground, and wants to shut out all light. Furthermore, it is very dark because of this, and very unearthly. The sky outside is red, which implies a sunset; this is happening and still, there is a lack of light in the main scene. This maximizes the impression of absence of light, and that eerie touch that is very common among the Victorian stories.
Among these descriptions, is one of touch, where there is a physical feeling of the ground described. It states "a vague vibration" the "earth and air" changing into a "violent pulsation" and that "vapour" rose to his height. This suggests, again a very dangerous area with vibrations that are caused similarly by a giant barbarous creature vapour also suggests creature like description.
There is a very vivid description described of the tunnel and area. It is written to be "a great dungeon" with a "gloomy red light" and "a gloomier entrance to a black tunnel which is massive" in which there is a "barbarous, depressing air". These phrases themselves suggest a great sense of a menacing and describe an unearthly, almost evil, place. The red light is usually a sign of warning, that something is happening and to look out. So there is a dangerous sense to the whole situation on hand. The pitch dark tunnel arouses foreboding and suspicion into whether there are supernatural beings. The architecture of the tunnel is depressing; there is a mysterious aura around the tunnel. There is no knowing where it may lead you, and the barbarous air pushes this feeling to it rim. The dungeon like setting and the damp air and lack of light create an atmosphere only suitable for very detestable events. The dampness is very unnatural and unnerving considering the atmosphere outside the setting. It creates a menacing ominous setting.
There is a paragraph near this one describing the absence of sunlight which never "finds its way to the spot" and the "earthly deadly smell" as well as a "chill" which feels as he has "left the natural world" All of this suggests a dangerous hellish image of the area, a forbidding singular atmosphere to the whole place.
The story settings and atmosphere creates many expectations and fears into what will happen. The reader expects death to come, and fear for their narrator's life and health. There is curiosity into why the setting is so much deadly and dangerous, and feels the irony in leaving the natural world behind. The truth is that as the ghosts appear, he has quite obviously left the natural world. The build up to the climax is very frightening, there is a sense of fore boarding and lack of knowing what ill happen.
In "The man with the twisted lip" there seems to b a great deal of reflection on social images in the late Victorian era. The first setting is at the home of the narrator; Watson. This is a comfortable setting which Victorian readers can actually relate to. There is a change of scene after this. The main street of the "bar of gold" is described as a "vile alley lurking" near the "London Bridge" This suggests that the street is a dark, almost evil alleyway hiding behind the wharves. It creates a sense of illegal operation or just dangerous area cut off from the rest of the earthly world. It feels like an intimidating setting, which feels like it is alive in some respects. It makes the reader believe the road is a sinister lane where there are many strange happenings which many are not aware of. The actual "bar of gold" is situated between a "slop shop" and a "gin and tonic shop". This demonstrates that the situation of the bar is not very civilized in terms of placement too. On one side, there is a place people get drunk and on the other where they get obese. The use of slop shop makes the shop sound like a disgusting shop for the destitute.
The actual opium den has " a steep flight of steps leading to a black hole like a cave" This is again like a ascent into unknown territory, which is mysterious, and it is as if you do not know what the other side looks like. The steps are "worn hollow by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet" This gives the sense of a somewhat dangerous place, with many drunken people. It seems only the low-class and low esteem people go there. It created the feeling of a squalid and depressing place. It is not a place a civilized many like someone reading the book would want to explore. The word "den" created the impression that the opium den is a very secretive and forbidden building. You can also see how dark and eerie the night and place is as Watson holds up a flickering oil lamp. This can also show there is some wind present. It shows the presence of danger and a Gothic convention used. It also raises suspicions that death will occur when it goes out, as it will be dark and Ghostlike. Shadows created by the lamp are very eerie. When Watson opens the door, there is a description of a "long, low room, thick and heavy with the brown opium smoke" the actual infrastructure is called a "wooden berth like the forecastle of a emigrant ship" These descriptions demonstrate how much opium is smoked. There is a lot and the whole of the building lies in a very eerie haze. The long low room shows signs that there is no escape. It is almost a different world; a world of "drugs and booze". The wooden berths show how low-class the building is and how it is unkempt.
Nobody seems to care about anything apart from smoking opium all night. There is a lot of "gloom" present and Watson talks about it often. He mentions that Through the gloom you can "just make out bodies lying in strange fantastic poses" The whole room is so full of opium smoke that it can cause drowsiness too, so there is a great image of danger. As the room is "thick and heavy with smoke", danger lurks about and it can get to ones brain. There is so much, that it creates a Gloom.
Also there are little "red circles of smoke" seen "out of the black shadows" The red circles again impose danger and a, more realistically, a lot of smoking going on even at night. There are black shadows too, meaning light is being lightly reflected, so you can catch a glimpse. The whole situation is very unearthly, with many strange beings. There is a lot of "mumbling" which suggests madness about the creatures lurking there. There is "burning charcoal" there too, suggesting a lot of heat being generated. Even though the smoke can cause a lot of heat there is even more! It is also a sign of danger. These people here are out of their minds and they are being trusted with charcoal! The bodies present are like those on an emigrant ship, as described before. It is scary and threatening. The voices are sinister. They create a sense of losing bearings. It is a nightmarish image, where no-one wants to be.
There is a description of a Sallow Malay Attendant" which creates a sinister and alien aura. Maybe he smokes opium too. He seems to be from another world, as a courier.
Watson also describes the drug as "vile, stupefying fumes" so the whole air of the place can cause drowsiness and they are evil in a way. These fumes can cause any man to become mentally insane for a short period. It is a very dangerous place.
There are many effects of the story to a person reading it. The first is the atmosphere of danger created by the shadows, which is very bona fide to the then 19th century readers. The reader is discomforted and unnerved by the gloomy and "evil" setting. The descent to hell, where there is evil and supernatural brings a fear of danger and a very vivid imaginative image to the readers mind.
The whole threat of violence imposed by the story brings the expectance of death and murder. The scene also raises questions to the reader's minds, for example "why has Watson come here?" The environment envelops the reader in itself; it is as if the reader is dragged into the shadows.
'The Red Room' is a Gothic story. It is based upon the supernatural and is more a death and horror tale rather than mystery as the other stories have been made out to be. It is a typical Victorian horror and Ghost story. There is a sinister attitude by the people living in the castle, it is full of hidden depth and there is a gloomy lack of light and many shadows.
The opening is in a medieval castle, later called "Lorraine Castle". This is just like an example of a typical gothic derelict castle. This helps encase the reader in a sense of isolation in the vastness that dwells in a castle. In it live people who have neglected it and made it very mysterious and intimidating.
The story starts with the narrator talking to who seems like an old man with a "withered arm" This suggests he has been living there for a long time. The elderly woman in the room keeps "staring into the fire" and never stares elsewhere. She seems to be paralyzed or fascinated by the fire, as if not to look at the man. This again makes the old people seem sinister; as if they are hiding something. The third person, an old man, is "more bent, more wrinkled and more aged" this man has "shades" on his eyes, however when he looks up suddenly the narrator sees "eyes, small, bright and inflamed" they are also described as "red". The man seems to be another life-form, perhaps a spiritual being. All of the aging people have a sense of ghostly presence in them. It is all very sinister. They are all like 'the dead' and they seem to give the impression that they are not normally human. As the oldest man walks in, there is a "sound of a stick and a shambling step on the flags in the passage outside" This emphasizes the age of the old man again and points out through the use of the word flags, that the floor is indeed quite antique. The narrator feels "uncomfortable sitting with these "people" and doesn't akin to their unfriendliness to each other. The narrator himself describes them as being from an "older age then ours" and describes the furniture in the room as "ghostly" Just before he leaves, the three elderly people are all "close together", "dark against the firelight". This creates an uncanny appearance of the three old people making them look even more unnatural. The women kept saying "this night of all nights" as if it is a deadly night. It seems she is hiding something about the night
Now, as the man leaves, there is a very long way to the door of the 'Red Room'. The name of the room itself suggests death, and danger. Red is a colour of with these properties. The room itself sounds as if it is very deadly and dangerous.
The passage is described as "long, draughty, subterranean" and "chilly and dusty" making the "shadows cower and quiver" It is demonstrated here how there is a long way to the actual room, and it is cold and dusty - as if no-one has been there for a long time. It seems haunted and the shadows quaking and quivering create an eerie aura about the place.. The narrator describes the shadows as "sweeping up after me" and "fled before me into the darkness" the shadows are ghostlike, and supernatural. They seem to be flying after and away from him. It is an mysterious description.
The room is very distant from the rest of the house. It is isolated, as if it is there for no-one to enter. There are "spiral staircases" and the room is very labyrinthine from the rest of the house. There is more of a threat of danger the further he goes. There are passages leading to unknown places. It is easy to get lost.
"Moonlight coming in by the great window" which is picked out in "black shadow", this shows it is night, and that the room is going to be very murky. The moonlight is the only source of light in the dark room. There are 'shadowy corners" every where, that light can not penetrate. There is a "pallid silence" about the room, which is rather eerie; it can mean something can happen very suddenly. It is uncanny. The narrator is jumpy and is frightened by a 'Ganymede and Eagle' statue which is illuminated by the light; a resemblance of a person is the result.
The 'Red Room' itself is in a "Shadowy Corner" again very isolated from the rest of the house. It is so shadowy, one cannot see through the darkness to the horrors within. It is menacing and sinister. Inside the room, there are shadowy window bays, which again show the lack of light. Without light, the narrator cannot see anything and there is that factor of danger. There is a "germinating darkness" which gives the feeling of the darkness growing to an extent that the whole room is in it and nothing can be seen. The narrator's candle is just a "tongue of light" so the whole room is dark even with the candle. There are two "big mirrors" in the room, and mirrors are often associated with passages to other worlds. It could be a type of supernatural object.
Even though the narrator lights many candles, the light does no go everywhere. There is a "remoter darkness" and "perfect stillness" which is uncanny. There is still darkness, as if a wave of gloom is setting on the floor and in the room. The narrator is afraid of a "lurking, living thing" that comes easily in "silence and solitude". He is afraid of any supernatural beings and finds the silence and darkness very unnerving. There are somber "red and blacks" in the room, red being the colour of death and black the colour of blindness. The two mixed together produce a suspicion of terror arising. There is an alcove in the room, so there is a place behind the alcove where there is darkness. Also the alcove could be a gateway to another world. It is far-fetched but can be expected in this castle.
When the candles are extinguishing, the shadows are described as "crept in upon me, first a step gain on the side of me" He is describing the shadows as creatures "creeping upon him" the source may be supernatural.
Conclusion
All of the three stories appear different in context, but their techniques of creating horrific scenes and irregular happenings are the similar in some ways. Their settings however are all very different. For instance, Signalman is set in a train yard, The Man with the Twisted Lip is set mainly in an opium den and the Red Room is set in a medieval castle and room. These are all very different.
In the actual stories, there is a type of descent to hell in The Signalman, where the narrator climbs down a path leading to a very unearthly place. This is shown in the Man with the Twisted Lip where he actually ascends to a place which you could call unearthly with many unearthly beings living there. There is a type of descent or ascent to a very hellish and unearthly place. In the Red Room, there is more of a type of descending of stairs to an isolated room, where it is not hellish, but is very eerie, and you can feel the presence of something unnatural somewhere. It is a type of room that can send a chill down ones spine, but not frighten or create an aura of unearthly terrorism like the other stories try so hard to do.
Most of the temperature expressions and descriptions in the film reflect cold environments. In 'The signalman', it is a dark cold night, and this creates the whole hellish place aura. This helps the image of a dark night along, and adds to the whole prospect of a descent to hell. In 'The Man with the Twisted Lip', there seems to be a ascent to the hot room; it is full of smoke and opium. The actual room is very dense because of the amount of smoke and in this way it can also be hellish, as an image of hell can refer to the undergrounds where hell if often set, where there is a lot of heat. In 'The Red Room', there is a breeze in the room, which extinguishes all of the candles in the room. This creates a feeling that there is a supernatural being present in the house. The supernatural being is creating the coldness that puts out the candles.
There is an association with the colour red in all three stories. In 'The Signalman' and 'The Red Room', there are red lights shown to signal danger and death. They are shown in the Signalman through a red light that is glowing in the dark, and is shown in Red Room by the name itself, that suggests a death that happened there. However these meanings of red lights are conveyed differently in the Man with the Twisted Lip, where there are red lights of the end of the spiffs. These convey, because of the gloom, a type of hellish image and are a discomforting and sinister scene.
Light is very limited in all three of the stories too. In 'The Signalman' there is a complete absence of light at the bottom of the stairs, except for a small strip of red sunset. This makes the scene eerie, and the tunnel, which is pitch black, also displays some of this. In 'The Man with the Twisted Lip', there is an absence of light but instead, an inclusion of gloom and smoke, where you can't see properly. This creates an eerie aura of another world again. In 'The Red Room', there is also an absence of light, and candles are needed to create any light.
Senses are described in the stories too - In 'The Signalman', there is the image of of a dark eerie black tunnel. There is also precipitate on the steps leading down to the actual ground and a very damp atmosphere. In 'The Man with the Twisted Lip', there is a spot where smoke is used, so it is very gloomy and very difficult to see, bodies can be made out, and sounds like those of unearthly hellish nightmares are made of people talking. There is a small oil lamp there too, which seems to be flickering, indicating a danger of evil things to happen. There is a precipitate path leading down into the abyss and a black gap. These are very similar and help create the aura of a very unearthly grounding.
However, in 'The Red Room', there is a castle where it is set, sounds of ancient people and their objects. The inhabitants of the house create the suspicion of dead people. There is a monstrous shadow that is mentioned to create supernatural feelings. The candles keep going out and there is therefore a lack of light.
Finally, the setting of the stories all differ in their own ways. 'The Signalman' is very isolated beneath all of those stairs, with absence of light and a hellish image. It is thought of as unknown territory, where no-one seems to go.
'The Man with the Twisted Lip' is in a very dangerous environment, in an isolated and deadly dark alley in between two shops creating aura of low-society. It is in a forbidden club or society that is secret where people go to smoke in a hellish environment.
'The Red Room' is set in a medieval castle with a room which is labyrinthine from the rest of the house not to mention isolated. It is dark and supernaturally sinister.
So in a way all three stories are very similar, but have their differences. The main story with differences to the other two is Red Room, which is gothic can supernatural. However, the other two stories reflect Victorian society and the fears that were present then; there seems to be a similarity where both locations are set at night too. They are both written to design fears in what can happen in original Victorian society in that day.
By Sarvinder Saini 10.05
