Title: The Concept of Suspense and Mystery with Some References to Dickens's Novels: A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations
Abstract: Throughout his distinctive use of mystery and suspense techniques, Dickens asserts himself to be an original writer. This technique might have worked for 19 th century people with nothing better than to read, but it doesn't look suitable for a 20 th century person. Dickens's originality lies in his distinctive use of these techniques, which attract even a 20 th century person. He divides his story into episodes and this little scheme might work for television serials in which the viewer has a whole week between episodes to think about possible out-comes. Dickens also allows his characters to be general, and uses the theme of doubles. In this way, Dickens paves the way for detective fiction. He seeks to penetrate the mystery of appearances. Accordingly, Dickens reveals hidden truths about the universe throughout his characters and also reveals at the same time moral and spiritual conditions. The research attempts to study Dickens's use of mystery and suspense in his two novels A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations, since both novels show a distinctive use of these techniques. 1.0 Foreword The term suspense is used to express a feeling of uncertainty and anxiety about the outcome of certain actions, most often referring to audience's perceptions in a dramatic work 1 . The term mystery is used to designate a work of prose fiction in which the element of mystery or terror plays a controlling part. According to the famous Greek philosopher, Aristotle in his book Poetics, suspense is an important building block of drama 2 . In his book Aspects of the novel, E.M. Forster states that: This element of surprise or mystery – the detective element as it is sometimes rather emptily called – is of great importance in a plot. It occurs through a suspension of the time-sequence; a mystery is a pocket in time, and it occurs crudely … Mystery is essential to a plot, and cannot be appreciated without intelligence 3
Publication Year: 2009
Publication Date: 2009-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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