Stoker portrays the central character, as a very sceptical and intellectual person. This is obvious when the author writes "But, my dear Mrs.Witham, indeed you need not be concerned about me! A man who is reading for the Mathematical Tripos has too much to think of to be disturbed by any of these mysterious 'somethings,' and his work is of too exact and prosaic a kind to allow of his having any order in his mind for mysteries of any kind." The image of the protagonist has been depicted as a studious but sceptical person and this too is a very important concept of ghost stories. Most ghost stories have a sceptic who at the beginning is a scholar like person and someone who does not believe in ghosts, but finds himself having to believe as the story progresses. The protagonist tends to just call mysterious happenings as just strange concurrences and this can be substantiated when the Bible is the only book which, when thrown at the rat was on target and the protagonist says,” What an odd coincidence.” By writing this, Stoker gives his audience a indicator that the rat appearances haven’t changed the mind of the sceptic.
The author has used many sound effects in the story. For example, Stoker writes, “…and hark to the strange noises!” Sound effects are also typical components of a ghost story, which is used to build up tension. A further phrase that uses sound effects to build tension and foreshadow is, when the rats are peacefully squeaking, gnawing and scratching but then Stoker writes, “All at once he stopped, as on the previous night, being overcome by a sudden silence. There was not the faintest sound of gnaw, or scratch, or squeak. The silence was as of the grave. ” This silence was preceded by the appearance of the giant rat. The expression used to compare the silence to one as of a grave is another foreshadowing simile.
A great feature in a 19th century ghost story is foreboding and Stoker has used this very effectively. A good example of this is, when the protagonist has newly moved into a mysterious home, Stoker writes,” The thing that most struck him, however, was the rope of the great alarm bell on the roof, which hung down in a corner of the room on the right hand side of the fireplace.” This is foreshadowing, as his death is perpetrated on that very rope. This is a very interesting technique as it brings questions into the mind of the reader when they have finished reading the story. Another quote that also conveys this is, ‘As he handled it he could not help noticing how pliable it was, especially for so strong a rope and one not in use.” You could hang a man with it. “He thought to himself.’
The timing of when the rat appears is always after nightfall and before sunset as these were traditionally and, in some places even now considered to be the hours when the devil is working and evil events take place. This was an immensely important element in ghost stories of the 19th century. This can obviously be distinguished at the second appearance of the rat where Stoker mentions what time it was,” …he found it was close to midnight…” This is the classical time for a ghostly act to occur.
The lighting effects are another type of technique to build tension and one can see this being used from the following quotation,” ….Malcomson could not see at what part of the room the rat disappeared, for the green shade of his lamp left the upper part of the room in darkness and the fire had burned low.” Darkness is a sign of evil and this portrays horror, and also the colour is firelight is an emblem of danger and hazard.
There is a great sense of ambiguity shown in “The Judge’s House”. This is an absolute essential in every ghost story. There are many instances where this can be seen and one of them is “…then a very odd sensation…” These controversial words like “odd” really give the effect of inscrutability and vagueness. This can also be established by looking at the phrase,” Strangely, too, the departure of this rat was instantly followed by the renewal of the noise made by the general rat community.” Here the adverb “strangely” is used to expose the mood and mystery behind the appearance of the rat.
In The Judge’s House, the protagonist is thought to be mad by another character in the story and this can be seen in the following quotation when the doctor has to explain why he has come to talk to the protagonist,” She told me that she did not like the idea of your being in that house all by yourself, and that she thought you took too much strong tea. In fact, she wants me to advise you if possible to give up the tea and the very late hours. I was a keen student in my time, so I suppose I may take the liberty of a college man, and without offence, advise you not quite as a stranger." The suspicion of madness is typical in 19th century ghost stories and the folks in the 19th century were fascinated in witchcraft and madness, and so these types of stories became popular.
Alliteration is another typical method used in 19th century ghost stories. An example of this can be evidenced by the following phrase, “By this time the wind had become a gale and the gale a storm.” This gives and effect of suspense and it builds tension in the story. This quotation also has evidence of the weather being linked with the climax of the story. The weather plays an important part in ghost stories, as even now you see bad weather being related to malevolence and evil.
Every ghost story has a victim and The Judge’s House isn’t an exception. Usually the sceptic ended up being the victim in the 19th century ghost stories and this is the case in The Judges House. The protagonist sees his death in front of him but just before its gets to him, Stoker creates a glimmer of hope for him. This can be seen from the following phrase. “At the many rat-holes and in the chinks and crannies of the wainscot he saw the rats’ eyes and this aspect, that was purely physical, gave him a gleam of comfort.” This makes the reader think that he can overcome the evil in the story and creates a hook for them.
After looking at all the elements of a typical 19th century ghost story which Stoker has used in The Judge’s House, In my opinion this is a good example of a 19th century ghost story and is a real audacious, mysterious and inexplicable story.
