Mystery in Charlotte Brontes Napoleon and the Spectre and Charles Dick

Mystery in Charlotte Bronte's "Napoleon and the Spectre" and Charles Dickens' "Signalman" The two stories that I have been studying are 'Napoleon and the Spectre' and the 'Signalman' written by Charlotte Bronte and Charles Dickens respectively. Both the stories are set in the nineteenth century, a period of time when the country was experiencing rapid change. Bronte's story 'Napoleon and the Spectre' is a story about the Emperor of France who at that time was a leading figure in society, a symbol and trademark of France's important position in the world. Napoleon was a gallant and valiant soldier and he supposedly murdered General Pichegru. In the story Napoleon comes in to contact with a strange supernatural creature who entices him and takes him on a deeply strange tour of the streets of Paris. Napoleon allows himself to be taken on this tour partly due to his courageousness and the fact that the ghost exerts a power over him, encouraging him on with enticing remarks such as, 'Follow me Napoleon and though shall seek more.' With Bronte's story being on one side of the spectrum Dickens is on the other as it tells a completely different type of story. It is once again set in roughly the same period of time when the civilized world was in the middle of a period of great change as the country was gripped in the Industrial Revolution. The Revolution saw the beginning of the steam railway, the introduction of telegraphs and the availability of electricity, all this was the catalyst for the class divide to become more exaggerated, with the poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer. It was also the period in which people were still generally strict Christians and Catholics, sceptical to anything n... ...r particularly interested in what the eventual outcome of the story will be. I feel it doesn't meet the necessary criteria to be a good short story, it is not entertaining nor exciting, but more a social/historical commentary of that time. Dickens saw it as his role to write about the plight of the poor and under privileged and wanted to encourage people to think about social inequalities. Where 'Signalman' has its short comings, Bronte's 'Napoleon and the Spectre' meets the criteria perfectly, it is short, has the necessary excitement and action to have an impact on the reader, which is what the aim of a short story should be. Bronte sensationalises a public figure and portrays him as a 'bad' man, consequently it could be said that this story also carries a moral in that we should be accountable for our actions no matter what our position in life may be.