Pre 1914 Prose Task, A essay about 5 victorian stories and the role of mystery in them.

Essay by liamamiesHigh School, 11th gradeB, March 2003

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Pre-1914 Prose Task

All five Victorian writers use mystery in there story's, but the word mystery does not just mean one thing. The mystery in these story's are either a whodunit or a superstitious type of mystery. A whodunit is where the people in the story or the reader try and work out what the mystery is, and a superstitious mystery is where it can not be explained.

"Napoleon and The Spectre" by Charlotte Bronte is a traditional ghost story where Napoleon is woken by a ghost. It is a suppositious mystery as the reader does not know if the ghost actually exists. "The Red Room" by H.G Wells is also a superstitious mystery. It is a superstitious mystery because the reader does not know if the happenings in "The Red Room" are a result of paranoia, or of a supernatural cause.

"The Adventure of the Speckled Band" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is different to "Napoleon and The Spectre" and "The Red Room".

As it is a whodunit story. It is a whodunit story because the lead character Sherlock Holmes, is trying to solve the mystery of if the woman was killed or died of natural causes.

In the five stories there are two types of main characters. There's the victim of the mystery and there is the solver of the mystery. The victim is usually some one who is effected in a negative way by the mystery. Also many of the victims are outsiders and loners. The solver of the mystery is usually someone like Sherlock Holmes who solves the mystery.

In "The Adventure of the Speckled Band", the main character is Sherlock Holmes. He is the solver of the mystery. He is presented as a man who has a great eye for detail.