The Inventor f the Detective Story - Literature review Example

Trace the Influence of "The Frozen Deep" and the "Franklin" Controversy Wilkie Collins was one οf the most famous novelists οf his time. However, Collins reputation now rests on the novels The Frozen Deep, The Woman in White and The Moonstone. An expert in mystery, suspense and crime, he is often regarded as the inventor οf the detective story. Wilkies father William Collins RA became an associate member οf the Royal Academy in 1814 and a full member in 1820. He created more than two hundred pictures and was one οf the most famous artists οf his day with patrons among the wealthy and aristocracy. His mother Harriet Geddes also came from an artistic family and his aunt Margaret Carpenter was a well-known portrait painter. Educated for a few years at private schools in London, Wilkie Collins was thirteen years old when the family moved to Italy, and its here that he gained his real education. A close friend οf and a travelling companion to Charles Dickens, with whom he spent much time during the 1850s, Collins wrote regularly for Dickenss periodicals "Household Words" and "All the Year Round." The two men shared a keen interest in the theatre, as well as in Londons high life, and Dickens acted in two early melodramas that Wilkie Collins had written. One οf them was "The Frozen Deep." Collins never married and his private life remains the mixture οf the romantic and the raffish. During a long period οf his life he maintained two establishments. Living with his mother until the age οf thirty-two, Collins then left to set up home with a young woman, Caroline Graves, and her daughter Harriet by another man. Caroline was at different times known as his housekeeper and secretary. Remaining with her on and off for the rest οf his life, he also fathered three illegitimate children by Martha Rudd. There he was known as William Dawson, a barrister-at-law. Martha was known as Mrs. Dawson, and their three children also took that name. This scandalous arrangement led to Collins being ostracized by smart Victorian society. Plagued by gout from his thirties onwards, Collins was often in great pain, which he attempted to dull with increasing amounts οf opium. As his addiction to the drug grew he became more obsessed with the bizarre, heavily reflected in the gruesome characters οf his last books. He died in London, Marylebone in 1889. Wilkie Collins is considered to be a pioneer in the art οf the English detective novel and a master οf innovation, being one οf the most successful and gifted writers οf his generation. In some οf Wilkie Collinss novels the main idea was to trace the influence οf circumstances upon character. But in "The Moonstone" the author reversed the process. His object was to trace the influence οf character on circumstances. The author tried to reflect the reality, so he shaped the story in such a way that the reader could find there the most typical traits οf peoples characters, the descriptions οf their complicated inner world. Also the author put one οf the main philosophical problems - the relations between the world and a human being, his understanding οf life under various circumstances and his own influence on them. The world and a man are inseparably connected. The world constantly affects a human being changing him, and the man influences the world in his own way. Every person is active. And every activity alters the reality as well as it alters the person himself (as an integral part οf the world). So the author made an attempt to trace not only the influence οf some character upon the circumstances, but also the influence upon himself. In that story we can see how peoples lives, feelings and opinions were changing. There we can find different views on life that were expressed with the help οf the main characters οf the novel. That work οf Collins is rather sophisticated. There is philosophy, suspense and intrigue. There you can find a little bit οf history, various kinds οf characters and the authors emotions that were expressed with the help οf his picturesque and fascinating descriptions οf nature. Also Wilkie Collins put one more experiment in this book. He was the first in English literature who had declined to avail himself οf the novelists privilege οf supposing something that might have happened to the characters οf the novel. It was the characters οf the book themselves who were narrating the story, expressing their opinions, views on life etc. So Collins was an innovator in the way in which he had shaped the novel. As it was said before, the title οf the book is "The Moonstone." The author gave such a title to the novel in order to show that the story is mysterious and has a romantic dash. The name οf the novel has a deep sense. First οf all, it reflects the spirit οf the story itself, shows that there is something unusual and interesting at the same time. Also it says that the main idea οf the novel is not easy to find. To begin with, there is a superstition that the Moonstone has a bad influence on the person who it belongs to. Also the precious stone completely depends on the periods οf the waxing οf the Moon and affects people in different ways. But on top οf all, there is a prediction, which prophesies a certain misfortune to the owner οf such a gem. Οf course, all these things are strange and inexplicable. So its possible to draw a conclusion that such a title gives some mysteriousness to the novel. The novel begins with the stealing οf the Moonstone from the temple. The scene is set in the Indian shrine where the gem adorned the forehead οf the four-handed Indian god who typified the Moon. Οf all the deities worshipped in the temple, the Moon-god alone remained intact for a long time. Preserved by three Brahmins, the inviolate deity was removed at night to some other city οf India. But it was believed that the god οf the Moon had commanded three priests οf the shrine to look after the Yellow Diamond night and day to the end οf the generations οf men. But in the eighteenth century there was an emperor who committed sacrilege in many temples οf the worship οf Brahman. At his command, havoc and rapine were let loose, and the Moonstone was stolen. Time rolled on from one year to another, and the precious stone was passing through the hands οf different people. And as the novel says, once upon a time the gem reached Miss Rachel Verinder, one οf the main characters οf the story. The author says that the fantastic Indian legend laid a spell on him and had a very strong influence on the novel itself. The influence οf the superstition that the marvelous gem brings its vengeance on the person, who possesses it, has a clear reflection in the story. It brings a shade οf fatality and intricacy to the novel. With the help οf the legend Collins created the atmosphere οf the story, which was very strained and mysterious. On top οf that, the Moonstone is supposed to be one οf the main characters οf the story, though it wasnt a living being. It affected all the characters οf the novel and often caused many strange events, sometimes even inexplicable. The Yellow Diamond was the main thing that involved people into troubles, made them worry, destroyed their relations with one another and sometimes led to horrible consequences such as self-denial and self-degradation. So in general, the Moonstone really brought misfortune to the people in whose possession it was. It was like an obstacle in their ways, through which the author revealed their natures and minds. The personality οf Gabriel Betteredge is οf great importance in the novel. First οf all, with the help οf the character the author expressed some οf his opinions. And to add to this, Collins reflected the reality on the part οf one οf his characters, through his ideology (Betteredges ideology). Though there are various characters who expressed their points οf view and showed the reality in different ways, Betteredges understanding οf life remains one οf the most significant and explains the reasons for many things that happen in the story. As to the philosophy οf "Robinson Crusoe," its a very important part οf the story. It helps to create the atmosphere οf the novel and to describe the world from different points οf view. On top οf that, the philosophical extracts form the background οf the story, make the style οf the novel vivid and sophisticated, and bring eccentricity to it. Mr. Franklin Blake was the next main character οf the novel. Gabriel Betteredge had known him since he was in petticoats. They were very close friends. Mr. Blake came from a rich family and was a nephew οf Lady Verinder. In Franklins boyhood his father sent him to some institutions in Germany, which were considered to be the best establishments in Europe οf those days. Then Mr. Blake travelled a lot around the world. And each country he had visited laid its influence on him. As he grew and gained his education in such countries as Germany, France and Italy, he imbibed their culture. Gabriel Betteredge thought that the French, German and Italian sides οf Franklins character were uppermost, and the original English foundation sometimes showed through. Mr. Blake always was in a state οf contradiction with himself. He could be a busy man, and a lazy man; cloudy in the head and clear-minded; composed and hot-tempered; sometimes optimistic and sometimes pessimistic; strong and helpless. But he was always shrewd, brainy and sensible. As a person οf high culture he was polite, tolerant and responsible. Read More