Thomas Hardy's The Three Strangers, in contrast to many similar mystery stories by writers like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Louis Stevenson uses a rural setting.

Authors Avatar

02/05/2007        --        Will Forbes

English Coursework Prose Text Analysis

Thomas Hardy’s The Three Strangers, in contrast to many similar mystery stories by writers like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Louis Stevenson uses a rural setting.  This emphasises the isolation of a house “five miles from a county-town” and the “loneliness” associated with the house, a good setting for suspense, enabling a heightened sense of drama.  The “undefended” house that “was exposed to the elements on all sides” shows a vulnerability to the people inside the house as well as the house itself being susceptible.  This “forlorn dwelling” also has a timelessness associated with it, as no one is endeavouring or has ever attempted to protect it in any way.  Hardy gives a specific date to the night when these events took place, suggesting that it was true, and therefore the realism makes the story more chilling.

The approach of the “full moon” suggests that strange happenings are likely to take place, as in many mystery stories, and the reader starts to think that a strange event will ensue, and the darkness increases tension, as visibility is greatly reduced, making the characters more defenceless.  The suspense is accentuated by the time it takes the “human figure” to reach the cottage, as when he arrives, questions about this strange character will be answered.  Hardy uses further delaying tactics by placing this character under the outhouse, and then telling the reader about the perilous weather that also furthers tension, as everyone becomes exposed. Finally when the reader thinks that he will knock on the door he “pauses,” again increasing the suspense as the reader just wants to know what his purpose is.  When this man is inside the house, no direct answers to questions are given, and he retires in solitude to a corner, where one is unlikely to find out any more about him.

Another knock at the door creates an intrigue, as on such a night, two random knocks on such a lonely door in these dreadful conditions are very peculiar.  This stranger spoke freely, and readily “ensconced himself”.  However he did not answer as to what his profession was, like the other stranger, and after being asked a second time, he began to speak at first in a type of riddle, and then by singing of what his job was.  This again builds up suspense, as he makes a secret out of something so trivial.  The first stranger’s hands “instinctively sought the shade” after relating his job, which makes also makes the reader inquisitive, as he too is trying to hide his occupation from the others, and this triggers tension and suspense, as one wonders why.  The people who are at the house for the celebrations formulate their own idea of what the second stranger does before he says what he does, and the possibility that they are wrong also increases the suspense.

The third knock is even more surprising, and when the third stranger begins “trembling” whilst looking at the “officer of justice” one finds his behaviour very peculiar.  His swift departure without any justification boosts the suspense, as one knows not why he behaved with such “odd conduct,” and as soon as the “distant sound of a gun reverberated through the air,” they presumed the third stranger to have been the criminal.  Rather than pursuing him immediately, they talk about chasing him, and this delay increases the suspense, as hope of catching the criminal seems to further escape them each time another word is spoken.  When they finally “poured out of the door” the focus is taken away from the pursuit to the baby, and then to the empty room, once again increasing suspense, as the calm atmosphere at a frenzied point in the story makes one wants to know what will happen to the pursued third stranger.  The uncourageous behaviour taken by the first and second strangers is puzzling, and the reader again is surprised, and yet does not find out much more about these characters increasing the suspense through lack of knowledge of them.

Join now!

After another delaying tactic by Hardy, increasing the suspense, the “band” of pursuers finally “drew up” to the third stranger, and the indecision as to how they confront the stranger again amplifies the suspense, as the reader is desperate to know what the outcome will be.  It seems unusual that the man is “enlightened” by his arrest and by wilfully returning with the “able-bodied” guests without question, the reader immediately thinks that something is amiss, and again the suspense is increased by the delay, as one has to wait to find out.  On their return to the house, they find ...

This is a preview of the whole essay