examined syllable by syllable. It is well to acquire the power to outline the entire structure in a well-proportioned manner, with any given scale- to review the same novel, for example, in ten minutes or two hours. Thorough examination of the structure consecutively gives, of course, every point in every topic of study based on the actual text of the novel; but it is often convenient to have some special topic in mind, such as characters, settings, or subject-matter. 26. Sequence. In any series we may notice the mere sequence, as in the numerical series 1, 2, 3, etc.; or the deeper relative functions of the members of the series, as, that 2 is to 4 as 4 is to 8, etc. In the study of a novel, these two interests are certainly not entirely distinct; but for purposes of analysis they may be noticed separately, to some extent. A novel may be considered as a series of masses composed of points. These two terms do not need absolute definition, if their relative values are kept in mind. When a considerable number of points referred to the same interest or "topic" are grouped together, the rhetorical term in mass may be used; when points are scattered, the correlative term, in solution. Novels and novelists differ greatly in their use of these two methods, but in general it may be said: most of the chief matters of interest are found to some extent both in mass and in solution; the most important, as characterization, dialogue, action, tend to be treated in mass; the less important, as figures of speech, generalization, asides to the reader, etc., in solution. The "points" of any one interest taken consecutively throughout the composition or a portion of it may be called a line. An analysis of paragraphs 1 and 7 of Chapter II, Silas Marner, noting some principal points of interest, without special attention to any one interest, may serve as an example. PARAGRAPH I. Plot. Generalized situation, social and psychological, of hero. Settings. Place - contrast of new and old; time. detail of morning. Characterization. Generalization of hero as a type. Subject-matter. Exile, memory, religious and ecclesiastical life. Genetic Criticism. Compare treatment of religious life in Scenes of Clerical Life and Adam Bede. PARAGRAPH 7. Dramatic Form. "We-form"; quotation of popular opinion. 27. The Principal Masses. Masses may be classified or arranged according to their form and function somewhat as follows: I. Those determined by external structure (already noticed in Chapter I). The chapter, or in closer analysis, the paragraph, are the most convenient units for the examination of a novel from any point of view. The sequence of dramatic and non-dramatic form is of large significance. 2. Like any other literary composition, the novel should show a more or less distinct "beginning, middle, and end." 3. Rhetorical form determines masses of description, narration, lyricism, etc. 4. As fiction, the novel may show masses of primary and secondary illusion, and some masses in which the illusion is dropped. 5. What may be called by distinction "novelistic function" determines masses of characterization, setting, generalization, etc. 6. The specifically narrative masses include movements, episodes, events, incidents, scenes, — and situations. 7. Some masses may be distinct units of subject-matter. 28. Sequence of Dramatic and Non-dramatic Masses.For the typical novel the most important sequence of these forms is alternation of dialogic and non-dialogic masses. Its importance has been already suggested (Section 13), and the analysis may be made at that point in the study if desired. From its very nature, dialogue is usually found distinctly in mass; and in a well-constructed novel it is fairly evenly distributed. The greatest practical difficulties of the analysis are the distinction between primary and secondary dramatic form (see Sections 3 and 13), especially in the epistolary novel; and the frequent intricate mixture of dramatic and non-dramatic form. Some interesting points appear in this somewhat rough outline of the comparatively simple structure of Silas Marner. The numbers are for lines. I. Non-dramatic form (semi-dramatic, 40), 325; 2. Mixed form, 70; 3. Non-dramatic (semi-dramatic, 20, 30), 425; 4. Mainly DUOLOGUE, 250; 5. Mainly non-dramatic, 600; 6. Mainly CONVERSATION, 600; 7. Non-dramatic, 75; 8. Dramatic, 50; 9. Non-dramatic, 100; 10. Mainly DUOLOGUE, 200; II. Non-dramatic, 150; 12. Mainly dramatic, 125; 13. Non-dramatic (some semi-dramatic), 275; 14. Mainly dramatic, 700; 15. Mixed, mainly non-dramatic (Conclusion), 100. In a novel of letters, the epistolary sequence and the dialogic may be analyzed separately, or in combination. Omitting a few details, the epistolary sequence of Evelina is as follows: (A = Evelina; B = Mr. Villars; C = Lady Howard; D van; E = Sir John Belmont. The numbers are for letters.) 1. Exchange, B and C, 7 ; exchange, A, B, C, D, E, 15; 4. 5; 6. A to B (3, B to A), 22. = Miss Mir 2. A to B (3, B to A), 19; 3. Mixed A to B (2, B to A), 15; 5. A to D, 29. Beginning, Middle, and End. — In scarcely any analysis in this chapter will more differences of opinion arise than just at this point. Even when the author marks an "introduction" or "introductory chapter," and a “conclusion," or "concluding chapter," these are not always satisfactory divisions. Prologues, dramatic prefaces, epilogues, must also be considered (see Section II). Ordinarily the first chapter or a small group of chapters may be considered as the beginning; the last chapter, or last few chapters, as the end. The beginning usually includes definite masses of initial setting, characterization, situation, and action. Foreshortened narrative giving a summary of the preceding part of the story is specially common. There may be distinct introduction or foreshadowing of theme. Frequently there are masses of initial motivation; of dialogue or specific incident followed by more general exposition or narrative, or vice versa. The "end" of a novel includes the catastrophe of the plot; frequently a presentation of the chief characters in a situation giving the effect of permanence and finality. In some novels there is considerable suggestion of future "movement." If there is an epilogue, a notable interval of time often precedes it. In Silas Marner, study the relative values, as a "beginning," of Chapter I, Chapters I and II, and these with the first three paragraphs of Chapter III added; in Pride and Prejudice, Chapter I and Chapters I to III. In the beginning of a novel there are two points of special importance: the introduction of the composition, at which point we leave life for literature, and the introduction of the illusion, at which point we leave actuality for fiction. These two points may of course coincide, but this is by no means an invariable rule. The entrance to the illusion may be abrupt or by gradual transition. If there are distinct primary and secondary illusions, as in the imaginary manuscript type of fiction, the exact point of introduction to each may be noted. In the conclusion, the two corresponding points are to be examined. The novel is not so likely as the romance or the short story to begin or close with a distinct effect, producing an impression which dominates the entire work.1 EXAMPLES OF INITIAL POINTS BEFORE COMPLETE ILLUSION. Generalization: Anna Karénina; Pride and Prejudice. Place Setting (so far as we know entirely or largely real): Père Goriot; Eugénie Grandet; House of the Seven Gables; I Promessi Sposi. Place and Time Settings: La Débâcle; Silas Marner. INITIAL POINTS OF ILLUSION. For the imaginary manuscript, see Section 20. General situation, characterization, or early history of hero or heroine: Robinson Crusoe; Don Quixote; Vathek; Soll und Haben. Secondary Characters: Frankenstein; Tom Jones; Pendennis; Sense and Sensibility. Specific Incident: Pendennis (slightly generalized); Doña Perfecta; Wilhelm Meister; Ivanhoe; (the last three with qualities of "scene"). CONCLUDING POINTS. Closing with point distinctly in the illusion. (For conclusion with the title, see Section 5.) Return to imaginary manuscript: Scott's Tales of My Landlord. Specific Situation: Robinson Crusoe; Soll und Haben; I Promessi Sposi; Anna Karénina; Silas Marner (dialogic point); Scarlet Letter (impressionistic effect); Ivanhoe. Closing with point not entirely in the illusion. Pepita Jiménez (motto evidently selected by author in propria persona); Don Quixote (purpose of work). 30. Movement and Situation. A mass of event, large or small, may be considered a movement, though the term is somewhat more applicable to the larger masses. Movements in the direct line of general plot-development may 1 Poe writes of the "preconceived effect" of the entire composition: “If his very initial sentence tend not to the outbringing of this effect, then [the writer] has failed in his first step." ("Hawthorne's 'Tales." ") |