Date of Graduation
1995
Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
The focus of this study is a narratological reading emphasizing the narrator/narratee relationships in three highly mediated, nineteenth century, English Gothic novels: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1817); Charles Robert Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer (1820); and, J. Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla (1872). A narratological reading depicts how the form of these novels illuminates their content to demonstrate that these Gothic stories do have redeeming literary merits and are not just popular fiction. The introduction discusses Gerald Prince's theory of narrator/narratee relationships which he explicates in his article "The Introduction to the Study of the Narratee" (Poetique 1973). Next, the introduction explains the functions that these narrator/narratee relationships serve to help the reader better understand the texts of Frankenstein, Melmoth, and Carmilla. These three functions are: to create narrative distance between the authors and their supernatural and controversial subject matter and between this material and the reader; to characterize the narrators and also to characterize the narratees to whom the narrators' tales are addressed; and, to emphasize, underscore, or contradict the major and minor themes portrayed in each of these novels. The second, third, and fourth chapters of this study apply Prince's theory of the narrator/narratee relationships to these three highly mediated Gothic novels. Instead of detracting from other interpretations, as critics of narratology suggest, a narratological reading actually illuminates more innovative readings of these novels such as a psychological, new-historical, or feminist interpretation. The conclusion reiterates the overall benefits of a narratological reading of Frankenstein, Melmoth, and Carmilla for the academic community in general. On a theoretical level, this study explicates that if the reader or critic applies the appropriate critical theory to a particular literary work, this will provide additional insights into this literary work and also give new dimensions to the critical theory. On a pragmatic level, this type of reading is a good pedagogical technique for teaching highly mediated Gothic novels because it gives the teacher a formula for instructing students regarding how to read these complicated works. To qualify this approach, a narratological reading is not the end-all interpretation of mediated Gothic fiction. However, this type of reading is a good initial approach for better understanding Frankenstein, Melmoth, and Carmilla as well as all other highly mediated Gothic novels.
Recommended Citation
Zwickel, Marion Carol, "A narratological reading emphasizing the narrator/narratee relationships in Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", Charles Robert Maturin's "Melmoth the Wanderer", and J. Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla"." (1995). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 10127.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/10127