Suspense And Tension In Gothic Literature

In the two forms of gothic literature, traditional and contemporary, the prominent aspect of both involves building a sense of suspense and tension. In the traditional gothic story ‘the Signalman,’ author, Charles Dickens effectively utilises an unfamiliar setting, supernatural themes, and insanity. On the other hand, in the contemporary gothic literature piece ‘Lamb to the Slaughter,’ author Roald Dahl provides us with some antithetical techniques to the traditional gothic piece, utilising a familiar setting, subversion and insanity. Although both sub-genres of gothic literature presents different techniques they both effectually create a sense of anxiety in the atmosphere and through the methods used by both authors Charles Dickens

This is evident in his description of the room with the extensive sentence “steps to the cellar, the light switch, the hand inside the cabinet.” The use of the nouns such as “cellar,” “light switch” and “cabinet” all portray aspects of a familiar setting, building tension as it allows the reader to easily imagine the atmosphere surrounding the story. Furthermore, this long syntactical structure used to describe the room juxtaposes with the short sentences in the story, evidently visible in the short sentence “so I’ve killed him” later on in the story, this sudden change from a long, descriptive sentence to a short, unexpected one builds suspense in the story as the reader is not expecting this quick death of Patrick. Also, this coupled with the evident description of the room allows the reader to visualise the individual details of his death, creating suspense as the clear scene of this murder invokes a sense of morbid curiosity in the reader. Additionally, the text “violence of the crash, the noise, the small table overturning” prominently employs a familiar setting to create suspense. The oxymoron utilised between the terms “Violence of the crash” and “small table” heightens the tension and suspense in the story as the “small table” paints an image of the

In the beginning of the story, Mary Maloney is described as “wonderful translucent quality, the mouth was soft, and the eyes with their new placid look seemed larger and darker than before.” Adjectives such as “translucent,” “soft” and “placid” connote aspects of a domestic, harmless individual as represent traits that are conspicuous in stereotypical, loving housewives. These submissive traits portrayed by Mary juxtaposes with her thoughts after murdering her husband with the short sentence “So I’ve killed him.” The noun “so” conveys her ability to briskly accept the death of her beloved husband instantaneously and without a sense of remorse, creating suspense as her unexpected personality change from a docile housewife to a quick-thinking killer, creating suspense as it illuminates the morbid aspects of reality; how even the most pristine and innocent individuals can murder without a sense of guilt, unlike the cliches our society makes us believe in. Additionally, the use of a third person narrative perspective in the story depicts her as a demented individual. This portrayal is evident after the homicide occurred when the narrator states that “It was extraordinary, now, how clear her mind became all of a sudden.” The adjective ‘sudden’ connotes her quick and unexpected change in