Genre Essays

Hamlet is arguably one of the greatest plays of all time and it is said that Hamlet is performed around the world every 5-10 minutes. Initially, Hamlet comes across as a typical revenge play of the Elizabethan times but when looked at in more detail Hamlet is a unique play even though it was part […]

There is no doubt that Hamlet is both a political and personal tragedy but there is room for argument as to which sort of play it primarily is. It is a play based on universal emotions and a play that anybody can relate to. The title of the play in the first printed editions was […]

Williams Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’- written in the early 17th century – still carries as profound a message in modern times as it did when it was originally written. It tells of a young Danish prince- hamlet- who is struggling to come to terms with his father’s sudden tragic death. The sense of anomie Shakespeare weaves into […]

‘The Woman in Black’ is written in the style of a classic ghost story. There must always be a purpose for the ghost to haunt, atmosphere, a haunted house and a sceptic who does not believe in ghosts. The woman in black has a serious underlying purpose. The novel starts with a scene so normal, […]

In the 1800s, belief in spirits and the supernatural was common. This increased the appeal and triumph of gothic tales because they were seen as believable. The period experienced a boost in spiritualism as many individuals lost their faith in Christianity since the Church could not rationalize the presence of ghosts. As a result, people […]

The tradition of the mystery story begins with Gothic writing, around 1810. From the Gothic story sub-categories were then created through a progression of stories. These further categories were ghost story, horror and detective. Each different category has some common key features which help to distinguish them and some other, now well known, stereotypical characteristics. […]

Both stories, ‘The Red Room’ and the second one, exemplify gothic horror elements. However, ‘The Red Room’ is more representative of the conventional gothic horror model. The story incorporates various gothic elements throughout its narrative. One such element is the presence of a pursued protagonist. The protagonist in ‘The Red Room’ adheres to stereotypical traits […]

The stories are set in slightly different eras – ‘the signalman’ is set in the Victorian era, written by Charles Dickens, whilst ‘the Darkness out there’ is set a more recent 20th century, and written by Penelope Lively. Although both stories are set in different times, both of the script writers build up tension using […]

In this essay, I will compare and contrast the presentation of the supernatural in three 19th-century short stories: “Napoleon and the Spectre” by Charlotte Bronte, “An Arrest” by Ambrose Bierce, and “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by author Conan Doyle. These stories were written during the Victorian era, a time when people were fascinated […]

‘The Red Room’ by HG Wells and ‘Farthing House’ by Susan Hill explore themes of fear and the supernatural. ‘The Red Room’ was written in pre twentieth Century, when there were no televisions, so books and newspapers were the most common forms of entertainment. ‘The Red Room’ involves a young, sceptical twenty-eight year old man […]

The forces involved in story one is fear of entering the red room and the darkness in the room. Also the candles and haunting’s in the story are the forces which make the story effective. The ‘grotesque custodians’ also bring strangeness to this story. The forces involved in story two are the possessions of evil […]

Ghost stories have fear in them, twists to the story, they have strange characters. Ghost stories are generally set in haunted houses or castles or derelict places. A ghost story is Gloomy and tells the reader of sounds and dingy colours. Sounds that make you scared and make your arm hairs stand up, howls of […]

Story telling was a very popular form of entertainment in the nineteenth centaury since there wasn’t the technology for televisions, radios and cinemas etc. like there is today, so people had to look for different sorts of entertainment. This entertainment came in the form of story telling and became very popular in the nineteenth centaury. […]

Throughout generations, ghost stories have captivated and continue to captivate people. While some believe these stories to be true, others see them as playful attempts to frighten. Nevertheless, ghost stories have consistently been a popular theme in numerous books over time. When crafting a ghost story, certain conventions are typically followed, including the incorporation of […]

`The Red Room’ by HG Wells and `Farthing House’ by Susan Hill are two ghost stories exploiting the cultural, social and historical aspects of the gothic ghost story genre. Cleverly, both writers create tension, to generate a sense of thrill and frission that engages the reader emotionally. Coleridge called this the `willing suspension of our […]

In this essay I will be comparing the two gothic horror stories, The Red Room and The Landlady. H. G. Wells wrote the Red Room in 1896 and Roald Dahl wrote The Landlady in 1960. The Red Room is about a man who goes to an old Victorian castle to go into the red room. […]

‘The Red Room’, authored by the pen of H G Wells, is a detailed account of an encounter that occurred between an individual, and a force, of which no explanation lies in the understanding of man. The author, one who is greatly renowned for his commendable writings, uses the title, in collaboration with the setting, […]

Chapter 1 Notes The impulse to move is the raw material that cultures shapes into evocative sequences of physical activity that we call DANCE -So intensely personal is dance, so closely linked to cultural identity. -Some people disagree abou the meaning and value of dance that is results in confusion, anger, and violence. Cambodia- -The […]

Hamlet’s Sanity Is Hamlet insane? That is the question. Literary scholars have debated this question for more than 400 years. Throughout the play “Hamlet,” by William Shakespeare, there are questions of whether Hamlet is sane or not. In general there two types of theories about him, one is that he suffers from some sort of […]

Do not merely summarize the plot. It is safe to say that many of Shakespeare’s plays have some sort of madness intertwined in the plot which plays an important role in the story. In the play, Hamlet, the madness as a whole and within the main character himself, Hamlet, plays a vital role. At the […]

Liminality is the condition when one has overstretched an individual limits. In the book, Wuthering Heights the author uses imagery, allegory and symbolism to bring about the theme of liminality. The characters have also been used to enhance the same theme in the book. Heathcliff, a character in the book, signifies liminality in that the […]

Hamlet is scared because he does not know what happens after you die. He is not afraid to die, but he will not kill himself because he is afraid that he will go to hell. In act 3 scene 3, Hamlet shows his belief in the bible by not killing his father while he is […]