THE RED ROOM

The Red Room



The Red Room

The Red Room by H.G Wells is a pre-twentieth century story written as a gothic mystery. As we begin the story, the reader is immediately familiar with the gothic genre, and we as a reader are involved in the action from the outset. The first line gives us the impression to us that there is a mythical and haunted setting in the story. Descriptions such as a ,'very tangible ghost', interests the reader and keeps them involved. As we already know the genre of the story, throughout the story, we are preparing ourselves for the suspense.

H.G. Wells has voiced his beliefs and thoughts into the characters in his story; they both believe in science, rather than superstition. The main character and narrator in 'The Red room' is a young, confident and arrogant man who thinks that ghosts are just a myth.

There are few living characters in 'The Red Room', primarily on account of it being a short story. However, other characters from the past are mentioned, such as the 'young duke' or the 'timid wife'. These characters exist to tell the history of the fateful Red Room, and make the possibility of ghostly presences seem credible. The main details about the non-living characters are that they are dead, and that they are known to haunt the Red Room. This is typical of Gothic stories, as mysterious deaths often occur, such as in the 'Castle of Otranto', when the young prince dies a tragic, gruesome death. However, in traditional stories of this genre, the 'ghosts' may be more generally significant to the story. Each character establishes a sense of unease in the narrator and in turn, the reader.

As 'The Red Room' is told in the first person, the reader is able to emphasize with him, increasing the tension further. The reader seems to go on a journey to the Red Room along with the narrator, and his emotions make it all the more chilling. On entering the Red Room, the narrator becomes in a state of 'nervous tension', and this fear is expressed to the reader, implying that there is a presence, or a 'ghost', as is feared by the narrator, lurking in the shadows. As the main character becomes increasingly hysterical leading to the crisis point of the story, the reader is even surer that something frightening is going to happen.

This ...