Two Stories from the Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories (Essay Sample)

Outline
THESIS: The use of tone, setting, place, and symbolism in the short stories by Elizabeth Gaskell and Henry James are efficient in creating a gothic theme.
Gothicism uses horror and romanticism to convey a specific message.
The romance between Mrs. Furnivall and her husband.
Hester’s description of Mr. Furnivall.
The development of the gothic theme: the death of Mr. Furnivall.
Mrs. Furnivall moves to the Manor house because of her husband’s death.
The Manor House is the center of ghostly visitations.
The plot development: Perdita and Arthur’s romance.
The birth of their child.
Perdita’s death and warning about her clothes.
Perdita’s revenge on Viola.
Large buildings and castles create a gothic image.
The Manor house.
The little ghost is haunting the Manor House.
Arthurs Boston House.
Sad, scary and harsh tones are used to evoke feeling of fear.
The harsh and scary tone of the workers.
The dialogue between Perdita and Arthur.
Castles and houses as a symbol of fear and horror.
The long and dark passages of the Manor House.
The horrors of Boston House.
Literary Analysis
The Old Nurse Story was written by Elizabeth Gaskell in 1852. The protagonist in this story is a young nurse Hester who is trying to protect Rosamond and Mrs. Furnivall from a child ghost. The Romance of Certain Old Clothes is a short story written by Henry James in 1868. Gaskell and Henry use a variety of stylistic devices to develop the gothic theme of the story. These literary elements include tone, place, and setting. For example, Gaskell uses a sad and scary tone to depict fear in Hester, and James applies a harsh tone to create a gothic motif. Setting and place influence the theme of these stories because of the mental images they present. An example is a big Manor house with dark passages that scared Rosamond and Hester. This paper discusses the use of tone, setting, place, and symbolism in the short stories by Elizabeth Gaskell and Henry James as efficient in developing a gothic theme.
Gothicism is a mode of literature that uses horror and romanticism to convey a specific message. Gaskell uses romance to develop the plot and theme of her story. The romance is between Mrs. Furnivall and her husband. The author describes Mr. Furnivall as a gentleman despite the fact that he has a poor background. Hester provides the description of Mrs. Furnivall’s husband and the feelings she had about him. She denotes that “her husband was a fine gentleman and clever” (Cox and Robert 2). Through this passage, a reader learns that Mr. Furnivall was a good person. Otherwise, Hester could not describe him as a gentleman. Despite being a decent man, Mr. Furnivall dies.
It is evident that the death of Mrs. Furnivall’s husband enabled Gaskell to develop the plot of the story leading to the gothic theme. It is her husband’s death that made her go to the Manor House that is the center of the gothic events in the story (Cox and Robert 11). James uses the concept of romance to depict the relationship between Viola, Perdita, and Mr. Arthur Lloyd.
The romance between Perdita and Arthur enabled the author to develop the gothic theme. Arthur married Perdita, and together they had a child. The reason for her death is the complications arising from her second pregnancy (Cox and Robert 86). Before she died, she asks Arthur to keep her clothes for her daughter. Viola ignores the wish of Perdita. Hence the ghostly visitations begin. The ghosts were images of Perdita out to revenge on Viola for using her clothes. Therefore, James is successful in using romance to develop the gothic theme. The use of place and settings also determines the efficiency of shaping a gothic story.
James and Gaskell use big buildings and castles to create horror and a gothic theme. Gothic events normally happen in large and mysterious areas. For instance, Hester describes the Manor House of the Furnivall’s as, “a grand and stately house, with many trees around it” (Cox and Roberts 11). She was not comfortable in this house because she considered it mysterious, and few people lived in it. The Manor House had many small passages. These passages were dark and gloomy. The very nature of these passages made Rosamond and Hester fear. The nature of people living in the Manor House contributed to Hester’s fright. The immediate family of Mrs. Furnivall left the house fifty years ago because of the ghost that was haunting it.
A little ghost was haunting the Manor House and scaring Hester. She explains that she used to hear a piano playing, and there was no one to do that. In such a way, the suspicions of the existence of ghosts in the house arose. In the short story by Henry James, the house of Arthur Lloyd was the setting for the gothic events. James describes him as “a young, energetic man, who is full of pounds” (Cox and Robert 84). This description of Mr. Lloyd foreshadows the kind of life that he lived including the size and quality of his house. It is the house of Mr. Lloyd that his late wife Perdita haunts and kills Viola. The size and location of the house arouse feelings of horror. The location of the house is far from a civilized world because of the poor roads. The ghostly visitations of Perdita to Viola occurred in the house. To express the impacts of these ghostly visitations, Gaskell and James use different tones.
Gaskell uses a sad and scary tone to depict the feelings of fear that Hester and Rosamond got because of the ghostly...