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Abstract

This dissertation, entitled '"I will permit the reader to picture me": addressing the reader in Charlotte Brontë's fiction', examines to what purpose Brontë includes direct addresses from the narrator to the reader in Shirley (1849), Villette (1853), and The Professor (1857). It proposes scope for a second-sphere of realism to be considered, as an extension to the concept of Victorian realism, in which this relationship between the narrator and the implied reader is self-consciously and explicitly realised through addresses such as 'dear reader'.

It will address several questions in order to establish why Brontë gives so much attention to the relationship between the narrator and implied reader: where and how does the narrator address the implied reader? Does this relationship present an issue when it comes to reliable and unreliable voices in the fictional autobiography? How might this relationship affect the representations of gender within fiction?

The methodology for this study is grounded in the field of narratology, specifically looking at recent critical work on Victorian narrative voices by theorists such as Garrett Stewart. It builds upon the work on narrators to look at the impact narrative style may have on the reading experience garnered by the implied reader.

The second-sphere of realism will be considered as an intrinsic part of Brontë's use of the novel form and something which insists upon the importance of written exchanges in literature and reading. It is a sphere which affects genre, narrative voice, and structure.

Course: English and Creative Writing - BA (Hons) - C1611

Date Deposited: 2020-02-10

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13537.html