Style and Content of The Red Room and The Judge's House

Style and Content of The Red Room and The Judge's House

Using reference to style and content I will explain how and why these

two short stories are typical 19th century stories. The two short

stories that we have read, ' The Red Room' by H.G. Wells and 'The

Judges House' by Bram Stoker, are heavily concerned with the

supernatural world, with people in the Victorian era preoccupied with

ghosts.

When Darwin wrote his book 'The Origin of Species' this hugely

questioned Christian beliefs. People were no longer sure of religion,

and became very superstitious, with Ghost stories became very popular.

They had always thought god came first; now science was starting to

take over. In the 19th century people were unsure about what was real

in the world. The Victorians did not know what to believe about in

their world and spirituality. The Victorians liked supernatural

stories and short stories were very popular as most people were

working so these stories could be read easily and quickly. There were

a lot of supernatural stories around this time, and we saw the rise in

prominence of the gothic story.

A gothic story is a type of romantic fiction that predominated in

English Literature in the last third of the 18th century and the first

two decades of the 19th century. The setting for this type of story

was usually a ruined Gothic castle or abbey. The Gothic novel, or

Gothic romance, emphasized mystery and horror and was filled with

ghost-haunted rooms, underground passages and secret stairways. You

don't tend to see this type of story anymore and the popularity that

they enjoyed decades ago seems to be waning.

With the two stories, ...

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...t that both writers did very well

in creating and sustaining tension, among other things. One of the

first things that came to mind was this the title. The title "The Red

Room" immediately attracts the reader's attention; it is symbolic but

leaves unanswered questions. "What is the red room?" "Why is it red?"

We associate red with fear and danger. Is this room dangerous?

Overall, the title raises so much curiosity that it has an

overwhelming effect, wanting us to read on and find answers to our

questions. O, and we did read on and yes we did find all the answers

to our questions.

All of these factors explain why both of the stories are typical 19th

century short stories. 19th Century stories generally all had morals

to them, and the morals of these stories is listen to people's advice,

and be afraid, very afraid!