the epistolary novel informs notions of the self, specifically in regard to Samuel Richardson’s Pamela. To do so, it is imperative to evaluate the forms’ impact on the story it tells. The notions of immediacy and intimacy inherent in the letter form are emphasized here. Locke’s theory of the blank self can be used to explain the creation of Pamela. Finally, Rousseau’s ideas about the creation of the self through reading explore the novel’s potential to develop the self of both the reader and the letter writer, the novel’s subject. The epistolary novel is a work written as a series of documents, commonly letters. Although the form dates back to ancient Roman times, the epistolary novel form enjoyed…
has become one of the most popular and enduring gothic novels. This blood-sucking vampire is now an iconic symbol of horror, whose fame stretches far beyond the covers of the novel. Written at the precipice of the turn of the century, the novel touches upon anxieties of a society that was changing at an uncomfortably rapid place. Stoker used this unlikely horror story to convey the apprehension of the Victorians, which includes anxieties over the existence of the supernatural, prominence of the…
Composers reflect and challenge the values and attitudes of their context, and so, through a comparative study, responders gain an enhanced understanding of human society from two periods of time. Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice (1813), written during the patriarchal Regency Era, emphasises the importance of marriage to her society whereas Weldon’s epistolary novel Letters to Alice (1984) suggests how the importance of marriage, especially for women, has decreased over time. However, both…
The Perks of Being a Wallflower… A Challenged Book The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a challenged book about a teenage boy named Charlie who overcomes his struggles to survive throughout High School. Charlie is not like other boys and girls. He talks to people, listens to music and studies for school like no other ordinary teenager would ever do. He comes across making new friends and tells his story of all the chaos and unusual things happening during his young life. While…
From the beginning to the end of a novel, a character can go through countless changes; both physical and emotional. However, these transformations are what contribute to improvements in society, growth as an individual, and often times, the strengthening of relationships with others. Through experiencing the good and bad of life, one’s true self and beliefs are revealed. This emergence of inner values and understandings can lead to having a better outlook on life and finding oneself. In her…
It is often very easy too see both similarities and differences between novels and the movies produced in their illustration. This holds true when looking at Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, which was originally published in 1897, and the movie created after it in 1992. We will look at how these similarities and differences exist along the theme of sex and the desires and temptations the role they play in both the novel and the movie. Sex and desire is present in both the settings, but the…
Although the story is still told through a narrative, it remains one narrative throughout the novel and that is of Watson. The Sign of Four is written in a form of a detective story which consist of a detective and his companion who works alongside one another to solve a case. Within the novel, Doyle introduces suspense and build tensions leading to the each clue that adds up to the conclusion. Sherlock Holme’s method includes observation, reaching the conclusion and providing an explanation as…
In Frankenstein, Nature and science have brought a significant impact onto the characters. The progression of science combined with nature leads to a debacle. With this, there are various effects and roles shown through nature and science. Mary Shelley expresses her message about this. In her times, she was part of the transition from the Enlightenment to the Romanticist age and this led her to composing a story with nature and science competing against each other. From the struggles between the…
Salinger’s The Catcher In The Rye, and that novel is one among many controversial novels that Charlie mentions reading. The protagonists of both novels experience the angst of adolescence and the feelings of being outsiders. Moreover, both novels portray the thoughts and feelings of teenage boys with realistic candor. As a result of this realism, The Perks Of Being a Wallflower has shared a similarity with the earlier novel in having become a target of people who wish to ban the novel because of…
Temporal Complexity in the Letter-Novel. Altman argues how what she calls “narrative time” creates a form of temporal complexity in the epistolary writing…