Nineteenth century writers such as Charlotte Bront and Ambrose Bierce engage and sustain the interest of their readers throughout their stories. This is achieved through their use of literary techniques, their use of language which creates tension and

Compare how nineteenth Century writer’s engage and sustain the interest of their readers throughout their short stories.

In your response you should consider and analyse:

The literary techniques used by the writers;
How the writers use language to create tension and suspense;
The impact of the writing on a nineteenth century audience and a twenty-first century audience.

Nineteenth century writers such as Charlotte Brontë and Ambrose Bierce engage and sustain the interest of their readers throughout their stories. This is achieved through their use of literary techniques, their use of language which creates tension and suspense and the impact their writing has on the nineteenth and twenty-first century audiences. The stories ‘An Arrest’ and ‘Napoleon and the Spectre’ have several aspects in common. Both Bierce and Brontë use a range of literary techniques in their short stories, ‘Napoleon and the Spectre’ and ‘An Arrest’, which engage the reader. These features would have engaged the nineteenth century audience because gothic literature was very popular at that time. From the outset, the reader is engaged through the titles of the stories, which both create tension.

Brontë creates suspense within the story, ‘Napoleon and the Spectre’ through her use of light and dark imagery. Throughout the story, she uses darkness on create a mysterious atmosphere. At the start of the story, Brontë creates a mysterious mood through the deprivation of light. Napoleon’s chevalier is seen departing from his room, ‘taking up his candlestick’. The absence of light creates a mysterious mood as we do not know what was happening and cannot see anything. This helps to build tension as we are uncertain about the future and what will happen to Napoleon. ‘The light of the three wax tapers’ creates a more relaxed mood, as we are able to “see” what is happening in story and the suspense and mystery that was created ceases to exist. However tension is one again created by the use of light imagery one the room, ‘was suddenly darkened’. This builds tension and suspense once more through the use of imagery. The contrast between the light imagery used and the presence and absence of light repeatedly, creates a very tense and suspicious atmosphere, where the reader is uncertain about the future. This is typical of the gothic literature that was popular during the nineteenth century, and Charlotte Brontë also used this feature in her work.

Similarly, Bierce uses the light and dark imagery to create a mysterious atmosphere and tense mood throughout his short story. In his story, ‘An Arrest’, Bierce portrays the ghost of Burton Duff as a positive character. He writes, ‘The moon sailed into a patch of unclouded sky’. The use of light conveys the difference between light and dark and establishes that there are good characters in the story and the contrast between good and evil, in which Duff is a good character and Brower, is an evil character. This moon ‘sailing’ is also a metaphor which builds suspense and creates ...

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Brontë creates a mysterious atmosphere from the setting of the story. This is created from the start of the story, ‘Well as I was saying, the emperor got into bed’. From the outset, Brontë draws in the reader, as we feel as though we are listening into the story. It also establishes the setting which is typical of nineteenth century gothic literature. The fact that the story takes place at night also creates an unsettled atmosphere, as night time is full of uncertainties about the future and what is out there.

Bierce also employs the use of setting to build suspense and create tension, for example, ‘Walking out into the night’. This story takes place at night time which is typical of ghost stories. The darkness creates a very unsettled and mysterious atmosphere, where we are uncertain about what is out there and what is going to happen to Orrin Brower. Most of the story takes place within a forest where nobody seems to be even there and the town was seen to be ‘deserted’. The fact that there seems to be no life in the town creates a sinister mood, and Brower appears to be a ruthless character if no one wants to be near him.

Brontë also uses ghostly imagery to build suspense and sustain the interest of her readers. ‘The haunted closet’ indicates that a ghost may be present in it and tension is therefore created as we are uncertain about whether it is really there and ghosts are frightening. The ghost is seen having a ‘tongue protruded between the teeth’. This is very grotesque imagery and the use of animalistic description creates a very sinister atmosphere and tone which sustains the interest of her readers. Ghosts are also typical characters in gothic literature during the nineteenth century.

Similarly, Bierce uses ghostly imagery to engage and sustain the interest of the reader. The reader never finds out anything about the ghost and this absence of his side of the story creates a sense of mystery and uncertainty about the character. Bierce describes the sceptre as, ‘as white as death’. This simile builds tension by inciting fear from the reader.

In ‘Napoleon and the Spectre’, Brontë builds suspense and creates tension through the characterisation of Napoleon. She tells us how Napoleon is feeling throughout the story, ‘half ashamed of himself’, but she does not tell us any of the Spectre’s thoughts or feelings. This creates a sense of mystery surrounding the character and a tense atmosphere is also created through this technique because we are uncertain about his character.

Bierce also employs this technique in his short story, ‘An Arrest’. In contrast with Napoleon and the Spectre, we do not even hear the ghost of Burton Duff speak: ‘the visible embodiment of Law lift an arm and point significantly towards and beyond him’. This adds to the mystery of the character that we know so little about and also creates tension. This technique also helps us learn more about the character of Brower, as at the start of the story he is a tough character who is not afraid of anything or anyone, ‘having murdered his brother-in-law’. This is the first line of the story and from the matter of fact tone that is used the reader realises that Brower is a cold character and from the outset a sinister mood is created. However, we realise further on in the story that Brower does have some human qualities. Bierce writes, ‘hardly daring to breathe’, ‘only one did Brower venture a turn of the head’ and ‘Brower nearly suffocated by the activity of his own heart’. All these emotions that Brower feels make us realise that he too gets scared, he can be vulnerable and can sometimes in a position of weakness. Brower is referred to on several occasions throughout the story as, ‘the hunted man’. This also, conveys that Brower is a weak character compared to the ghost of Burton Duff and the ghost has a position of power and control over him. The contrast between the ghost of Burton Duff and Orrin Brower, once again makes us realise the difference between good and evil.

Brontë sustains the interest of her readers by using vocabulary which is linked to Napoleon being under the control of supernatural forces. This is also a typical technique employed by authors of gothic literature during the nineteenth century. Napoleon ‘felt compelled... which almost chocked him obey’. The use of imperatives creates suspense and tension and builds up a sense of mystery as to where Napoleon s going which draws in the reader and sustains their interest, making them want to read on through the story.

Bierce also employs the technique of using vocabulary which is linked to Brower being under the control of the ghost and being hunted to sustain the interest of his readers. Brower is under the complete control of the ghost of Burton Duff, who has enough authority over him to make him do what he wants without even speaking: ‘the visible embodiment of Law lift an arm and point significantly towards and beyond him. He understood’. The use of long, exaggerated syntax followed by short syntax conveys to the reader how strong this supernatural force must be, if a cold calculating character such as Brower does not even need to be forced or told to go back to the jail, he just understands. This makes the ghost of Burton Duff seem to be a more powerful character and the interest of the reader is sustained. The fact that Brower is often referred to being a ‘Hunted man’ and in danger of being caught builds suspense and engages the reader. Bierce writes a ‘Pack of bloodhounds would soon be on his track’, which portrays Brower as a ruthless, brave character. The bloodhounds are symbolic of the fact that he is the prey and the savage that is being chased.

In conclusion I believe that nineteenth century writers such as Bierce and Bronte engage and sustain the interest of their readers in a similar manner. Both of the stories I have looked at, follow the typical features gothic literature includes and this is done effectively. These features include the use of vocabulary choice, the imagery of light versus darkness, the characterisation of Brower and Napoleon and the setting. The interests of Brontë and Bierce’s readers are sustained through the literary techniques they use, the language they use to create tension and suspense and the impact of the writing on nineteenth and twenty-first century audiences.

Clare McKeogh GCSE Prose Coursework Ms Begley