Edwin Drood
UNIVERSITY OF PHILOSPHY AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
GOTHIC NOVEL AND THRILLER
THE IDEA OF THE DOUBLE IN LITERATURE: JOHN JASPER IN ''THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD'' BY CHARLES DICKENS
Student: Tanja Kurilić
Professor: dr.sc. Sintija Čuljat
Rijeka, 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Introduction 2. The idea of The Double in literature 3. John Jasper in The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens 4. Is Jasper guilty or not? 5. Conclusion 6. Works cited
1. INTRODUCTION
One of the most famous Dickens's novels, The Mystery of Edwin Drood offers a lot of themes which could be discussed. One of them which is probably the most interesting is the doubleness of character John Jasper. It is probably the most interesting because John Jasper is one of the main characters. Although according to the title of the novel readers expect Edwin to be the main character, the story focuses on Jasper who is at the beginning presented as positive, Edwin's uncle who supports him and helps him. Towards the end of the novel readers have reasons to believe that Jasper himself is Edwin Drood's murderer. The novel has remained unfinished so no one will ever find out who was supposed to be a murderer. This fact makes the story more interesting and keeps readers' interest. John Jasper reveals himself as a very complex character who joins two different and in a way opposite characters. There is the impression that he embodies at least two completely different persons each of whom is complex enough to be discussed. There are also some suggestions by the critics that Jasper could be the description of the author's person – Charles Dickens himself. Different suggestions will be presented and discussed further in this work.
The aim of this work is to describe the phenomenon of the double in literature using the example of John Jasper. At the beginning there is a short explanation of this phenomenon and then follows the description of John Jasper's character and the double
GOTHIC NOVEL AND THRILLER
THE IDEA OF THE DOUBLE IN LITERATURE: JOHN JASPER IN ''THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD'' BY CHARLES DICKENS
Student: Tanja Kurilić
Professor: dr.sc. Sintija Čuljat
Rijeka, 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Introduction 2. The idea of The Double in literature 3. John Jasper in The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens 4. Is Jasper guilty or not? 5. Conclusion 6. Works cited
1. INTRODUCTION
One of the most famous Dickens's novels, The Mystery of Edwin Drood offers a lot of themes which could be discussed. One of them which is probably the most interesting is the doubleness of character John Jasper. It is probably the most interesting because John Jasper is one of the main characters. Although according to the title of the novel readers expect Edwin to be the main character, the story focuses on Jasper who is at the beginning presented as positive, Edwin's uncle who supports him and helps him. Towards the end of the novel readers have reasons to believe that Jasper himself is Edwin Drood's murderer. The novel has remained unfinished so no one will ever find out who was supposed to be a murderer. This fact makes the story more interesting and keeps readers' interest. John Jasper reveals himself as a very complex character who joins two different and in a way opposite characters. There is the impression that he embodies at least two completely different persons each of whom is complex enough to be discussed. There are also some suggestions by the critics that Jasper could be the description of the author's person – Charles Dickens himself. Different suggestions will be presented and discussed further in this work.
The aim of this work is to describe the phenomenon of the double in literature using the example of John Jasper. At the beginning there is a short explanation of this phenomenon and then follows the description of John Jasper's character and the double