Dear Brisofli,
First of all, thank you for an interesting question. Several
structural elements in the plot and in the setting of "Moonstone"
could reflect upon a well-conducted mystery plot.
"Moonstone" is considered the first English detective novel, and is
“at some point on the line of development between the
nineteenth-century novel of sensation and the twentieth-century
classical detective story” (Cawelti, 1976).
First of all, some elements may be culturally related (which means,
they exist in Collins' imagery, but not in the world of mystery
authors or story-tellers from other cultures. This, by the way, could
be a good part of your lesson plan: giving the students a mystery plot
from another culture and identifying the common and the uncommon among
the two plots).
Nevertheless, while some mysterious elements are correlated to the
author's and the reader's culture, others are probably universal.
Usually, these elements are present:
(1) Foreign, mystical powers (Indian diamonds, and Indians, in this
case).
(2) The mystification of everyday objects (diamonds), but usually
those that are also rare in some way.
(3) Violent, unexplained, events.
(4) Usage of deeply rooted cultural symbolism
(5) The setting is usually the one where it would be unusual to find a
mystery, i.e., the ordinary. We would expect these plots not to take
place among the rich, the better-educated, the less-superstitious.
However, part of the "recipe" is actually to describe the settings
among the bourgeoisie, the rich, the rational people. In other words,
your "cast" is those who may be actually less likely, statistically,
to be victims of such crimes, and especially those who belong to the
upper classes.
(6) Almost unnecessary to add - a crime is involved. Not only, as we
see in Collins' book, is a murder the initial crime, although in the
"Moonstone" case, murders and a suicide (of the maid) are a
by-product, so to say, of the crime itself - the robbery of the
diamond.
Structural Elements
===================
There are also some pure structural elements, one could notice in a
mystery:
(1) First and foremost, the mystery novel is a single plot, with
mystery and the way leading to its solution, with sub-plots which have
usually only one aim - to distract the reader and diffuse his or her
attention. Wells (1913) writes, "For ingenuity of construction, blind
leads, bafflings, and sustained interest "The Moonstone" stands high
in the catalogue of the mysteries of fiction; and the reader was
penetrating to a degree who fastened upon Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite the
theft."
(2) The sub-plots and their construction must be done in such a way,
that would the reader from the solution, yet keep him alert. Wells has
a wonderful example in her 16th chapter to the diversion of the
readers' suspicions to the Indians:
<http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/ToMX16.htm>.
(3) Usually, the story is short, because of the need to keep the
reader interested. When the form is of a series (which was popular at
Collins era, the 19th century and Collins book itself was published
serially in Dickens' weekly "All the Year Round", beginning in January
1868 and ending in August; see
http://www.ejmd.mcmail.com/moonnote.htm); or a full novel, the
interest "may or may not be broken before the dénouement and
solution." (see: Wells, 1913). Collins uses different narratives as a
trick to keep the readers interested - new "hints" are discovered as
we read the story.
(4) This brings us to another usual part of the mystery novel formula,
as used by Collins, but also by many modern - and old - mystery
writers. The narrator is not always - and is almost always not - the
one who knows what happens. Wells (1913) writes that "The Teller of
the Detective Story is an important factor in its technique. Many a
good plot is spoiled because it is narrated by the wrong person."
(ibid). In the "Moonstone", the reader "sneaks" into the narratives of
different "diary writers" and their points of view on the events. The
plot moves on, every time from the perspective of another character.
(5) The plantation of "hints" or "coincidences" is another part of the
formula. However, too many coincidences would cause the author to lose
confidence of the readers.
References and Further Reading
===============================
Collins, Wilkie (1868) The Moonstone
ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext94/mston10.zip
WELLS CAROLYN (1913) The Technique of the Mystery Story
http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/ToMX01.htm and further chapters.
The Mystery Guide http://mysteryguide.com/bkCollinsMoonstone.html
Howard Haycraft (ed) (1983) The Art of the Mystery Story Times Press,
London; also see http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/grtdtecs.htm
Cawelti, John. Adventure, Mystery, and romance: Formula Stories as Art
and Popular Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1976.
Lillian Nayder (1887) Wilkie Collins. Twayne's English authors series.
New York: Twayne .
Andrew Gasson Wilkie Collins: An Illustrated Guide. New York: Oxford,
1998.
http://lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/Collins.html Wilkie Collins
Appreciation Page
My search strategy was to search for construction/structure of mystery
novel, after reading Collins (of course), Cavelti and Haycraft.
I hope that answered your question. If you need any further
clarifications on the answer, please let me know. I'd be pleased to
clarify my answer before you rate it. |
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