The Gothic Genre with a comparison of "The Red Room" by HG Wells (1986) and "The Signalman" by C Dickens (1866).

GCSE English Literature Coursework

The Gothic Genre

Some Victorian authors were into gothic stories and over a period of time the gothic genre became popular. A genre is a category or style of literacy and the gothic genre stories included the supernatural, mystery and horror. Readers began to enjoy this new range of writings that gave them a sense excitement as they read about the unknown. It also brought a kind of reality to them because they lived in large old mansions and castles with solid oak doors that creaked, they were lit by candles and oil lamps, so shadows flickered and allowed their imaginations to drift. The genre became a big hit in the Victorian time as the stories were not written in the future or in the past but in the present and that meant that the readers could relate to them, they could imagine themselves as part of the story or even the main character.

In the Victorian Era some books and literature were written to bring a sense of fear and excitement to the reader. Stories were meant to be scary with a purpose of frightening the readers, which then caused their adrenaline to be released. The horror or gothic genre became personal to the readers because the objects and items used by the authors; they were real objects that the people used and had in their homes at that time. The people liked these stories because they believed them; they were very superstitious and therefore believed in things they had only ever heard or read about. People today read these types of stories for entertainment and not to believe in them.

The population of Victorian England were very religious and superstitious, they believed in all sorts of additional beliefs; fate, the supernatural, ghosts and monsters. During this time there was a monumental amount of unexplained phenomenon. Writers produced a large volume of stories concerning the supernatural. Great discoveries were being made and it was believed that through science anything was possible this was shown in the short story called Frankenstein. In this story a mad scientist creates one body from limbs from different bodies and in this body he creates life. Some believed in the supernatural like witches and ghosts.

The Victorian people and people in general enjoy reading the gothic genre stories because it gives them a strange sense of fear together with an adrenaline rush. This feeling sold well with the Victorian Era. The author would slowly introduce what was going on and build on suspense and intrigue so the reader would have to carry on reading till the mystery was solved. The horror genre was very real to the Victorian readers because they were able to identify themselves with the stories as they lived in old mansions and castles with solid oak doors that creaked. Writing horror gets the reader intrigued and entices them; so they have to read on to find out what happens in the end.

Some Gothic stories that are still popular today are “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley published 1818 when she was 21yrs old. She wrote the first draft when she was 18yrs old after having a vivid nightmare. It is about a scientist who creates a man-monster. When the material was first published she didn't claim it as her own work. Another is “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1866. This is a story about Dr Jekyll who is a physician and fascinated by the idea of different personalities. He experiments and invents a drug that creates ...

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There are a few meanings of “Horror”. It can be an intense and profound fear, which is an emotion that is experienced in anticipation of pain or danger and can be accompanied with the desire to get away. It can also be a strong feeling of dislike.

"A horror text is one that contains a monster, whether it be supernatural, human, or a metaphor for psychological torment."

Anthony Fonseca and June Pulliam, Hooked on Horror.

The horror genre usually would include an element of fear together with a dose of suspense. The author would or could use a monster, ghost or just some kind of strange being to bring this about. It would be whatever his imagination could dream up.

Readers of the horror genre could respond with fear, which would cause their adrenaline to be pumped into the bloodstream; it can bring a sense of excitement to the unknown. Generally people like this feeling so they read more horror to get this feeling again.

“The Signalman" by Charles Dickens and "The Red Room" by H. G. Wells are both typical horror stories at they involve the supernatural and are both set in dark, gloomy places with the use of a lot of gothic description. They both try to keep the stories enticing using tension and suspense throughout the stories. Charles Dickens’ story is about a mysterious sighting of a ghost, and mysterious death of the signalman. H. G. Wells’ story describes the haunting of a person who does not believe in supernatural.

Bibliography

A comparison of “The Red Room” by HG Wells (1986)

and “The Signalman” by C Dickens (1866).

“The Signalman” is a short story, which builds on suspense and tension throughout the story, so there is an even spread of tension all over the. “The Signalman”, uses the main characters, which are the signalman and the narrator, who is also a visitor. It is set in and around the signal box in a railway cutting of a lonely country station. The detailed description of the setting allows the reader to visualise the village in their minds. The signal box is a small box situated in a “gloomy, depressing”, cut through used by trains.

However in the story of “Red Room” there is no build up of suspense. We immediately have tension because of the spooky atmosphere. “The Red Room” is set inside the old Lorraine Castle, which is dark and isolated and the main characters in this story are three grumpy old people, two are men and the other is a woman. The old woman has “pale eyes”, which keep staring in the fire; she also rocks her head from “side to side”. One of the old men has a withered arm, wrinkled and has “red eyes”. The other is even more “aged” and “decaying yellow teeth”. The narrator is a very self-assured hero of twenty-eight who visits the castle.

The central character in “The signalman” is the signalman; he is a lonely, solitary figure, yet educated, “a dark shallow man” and “he had been well educated, and perhaps educated above the station”. The station where he works is also described as lonely, “His post was in a solitary and dismal a place”. The visitor, who is the narrator, is easier going because he is on holiday. In “The Signalman” it seems that the focus is on the signalman and his experiences are witnessed by the narrator while in “The Red Room”, they actually happen to the narrator, making his experiences the focus of the story.

The visitor to the “Red Room” is confident in that haunted things like ghosts just do not exist and “will relieve you from the task of entertaining” him. He only believes in what he can touch and see, "it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me." The appearance and dialogue of the old people make the scene appear morbid and the old woman who keeps repeating herself, “this night of all nights” makes the atmosphere more ghostly and makes the reader think that something just has to happen. The visitor would like to spend the night in the room that he has been told is haunted and he is brave and has enough courage to go into the room on the “night of all nights” this was said because it was the anniversary of the death of the lords wife.

Both stories are written in the first person and we are given the thoughts and feelings of the narrators who are reluctant to believe in the supernatural. Using the first person as the narrative makes the readers see through the narrators' eyes therefore making the stories more believable and frightening.

It is in “The Signalman” that the supernatural is introduced early because the visitor briefly believes that the signalman is a spirit, “The monstrous thought came into my mind as I perused the fixed ice and the saturnine face, that this was a spirit, not a man.” The signalman adds to the atmosphere by being strange and mysterious. It is the signalman that sees a “spectre”, standing under the “danger light” in a strange way, waving. The “spectre” is trying to warn the signalman about something.

In the Signalman, although the scenery and the dialogue have a sinister air throughout the story, it is not until the very end of the story that the narrator is convinced about the supernatural by the sudden, yet foretold death of the signalman. When you look at “The Red Room” there is no spectre or ghost. The suspense is built on the fear of one man standing alone in a room as the light goes out. In the Red Room it is not until towards the end of the story that we see the effects of the supernatural, although the old people’s speech and looks are spooky. In the Signalman the visitor does not know whether the signalman’s problems are supernatural or just mental. The visitor suggests to take the signalman to the “wisest medical practitioner”, but on the other hand he has to resist the “slow touch of a frozen finger” tracing out his spine and later a disagreeable shudder.

In the Red Room the tension builds up to the point as the visitor enters and settles himself in the red room. Tension is developed by the descriptions the author uses for the scenery, ‘The long drafty subterranean passage,’ ‘The vivid black shadow or silvery illumination,’ and the unexpected ‘bronze group’ that stood on the landing. Once the narrator had brightly lit the red room with candles, he tried to convince himself that nothing supernatural could happen, although by now he was in a state of ‘considerable nervous tension’. As the scene develops with each of the candles going out he first thinks it is a draught or he absent-mindedly blew them out, but as each of the candles are extinguished the terror of the coming darkness takes a hold on him. In the Red Room once the daylight comes and the narrator comes too we are left wondering by the dialogue whether there was really something supernatural in the room or whether he was overcome by ‘black fear.’

I have read both “The Red Room” and “The Signalman” and found “The Red Room” easier to read and understand. By comparison I found “The Signalman” slightly complicated to understand and really follow what was going on. In “The Red Room” Wells uses detailed language in a way that makes the storyline flow and is able to keep the reader well informed. Whereas the language that Dickens used did not flow as I couldn’t fully understand what was happening. I thought “The signalman” was boring compared to “The Red Room” because the suspense and tension in the signalman took time to build up and was a little non existence as in “The Red Room” there is suspense immediately. The pace of both stories is determined by the amount of tension in the story, therefore “The Signalman” is slow in pace and “The Red Room” has a fast pace where every thing happens at once in the red room where the candles go out this builds the tension and the fear factor.

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