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This last effect, gained through the comic or semi-comic characters of a tragic incident, is common in the novel as well as the drama.

In details of natural setting, weather has a prominent function. Its changing moods may be in ironical contrast with the human experiences they accompany, as in the bright sunlight at the death of Paul Dombey; or in harmony therewith, as in the wild storm that surrounds the death of Molly Cass. The love of nature developed by the modern romantic spirit appears in the frequent moonlight scenes of the sentimental school, and the fierce Byronic tempests of the Gothic romance of terror.

Detailed circumstantial settings may include all inanimate objects which have definite artistic relation to the incident. In the catastrophe of Silas Marner, the furniture given to Silas by Godfrey and the recovered gold upon the table have an important relation to the purpose and result of the visit itself. Animals are often significant items of background. The contrast between the domesticated and the wild animals of Robinson Crusoe is interesting.

69. Reality, Ideality, and Truth. — As already implied, the most general settings of all novels are necessarily real. Realism, in theory and in practise, has made much of fidelity to fact in details also. This realistic element may be largely for the sake of the subject-matter, or for the sake of verisimilitude; the first purpose often being scientific rather than artistic in spirit.

Idealization takes many forms-selection, recombination, typification, symbolism, etc. Probably no novel exists

without a great deal of idealization in the specific settings. Ideality is found in the description of the settings themselves, and in their relation to the action, as in the familiar pathetic fallacy.

Esthetic criticism, partly in consequence of the pressure of realism, has endeavored to distinguish carefully between fact and truth. Some critics find the highest degree of

truth in fidelity to the typical. Scott objected to the idea that he slavishly copied the individual buildings and landscapes which served him as models; there is scarcely any question that he is faithful to the essential qualities of their types. Another conception of artistic truth, even less obedient to the decree of the realist, is that of consistency. Critics have pointed out the remarkable consistency with which Swift uses both the gigantic and the pigmy scale in Gulliver, though the application belongs to the impossibilities of romance.

The novelist is unable to give all the data of any social, historical, or natural environment; but those he does give may correspond with the facts. In a description of the battle of Gettysburg, it may not be possible to follow the historical weather hour by hour, but it is possible to make the details given consistent with a Pennsylvania July.

Omission of essential data - though it may sometimes be difficult to agree on what is essential — will destroy the truth of the description, if not the impression of reality. If it was Booth Tarkington's purpose to give a general view of the life of a Hoosier village in The Gentleman from Indiana, the result is marred by the omission of the ecclesiastical life. Representation of the political life of the city of St. Paul would not be faithful if it omitted the Scandinavian element.

70. Vague and Exact Settings. There are few novels with a perfectly clear and continuous time perspective, and there is frequently dimness in the spatial perspective. Romance gains many characteristic effects from vagueness of setting. Realism inclines towards exact details; for the sake of illusion, for purposes of characterization, or as a result of the general habit of close observation and analysis. Too much detail in description as in narration (Section 31) may destroy the impression of reality.

Phrases such as 'one day,' 'a few weeks afterwards,' etc., are common in most novels. The reader knows neither the day of the week nor of the month on which Eppie is married, in Silas Marner; and the

dates of both proposals of Darcy, in Pride and Prejudice, though these are respectively climactic and catastrophic events, are left without identification in the calendar.

The architectural settings of Balzac and the landscapes of Scott are not infrequently so detailed that it is difficult to form a general picture. Great spatial exactness without confusion is found in The Gold-bug, and is characteristic of Poe's general method. The spot where the treasure is found is located with mathematical precision, by the aid of compass, quadrant, exact dimensions, three circles, and two triangles.

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In the time analysis of Master and Man, such details as "moments," an instant," "several seconds," are characteristic of the psychological intensity of the author, and of the experiences he is relating.

71. Natural, Social, and Socialized Settings. In painting, there are scenes in which both foreground and background are entirely lacking in human figures. All the natural backgrounds of the novel are necessarily socialized to some extent, by association with human characters and actions. The tendency of the novel is to extend the human significance of environment far beyond this point of mere necessity. Landscape is interpreted in relation to social labor, art, history, or individual experience. Objects large or small are often partially personified, as are the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, the wooden midshipman and the railroad train in Dombey and Son. Animals and supernatural beings are given a more immediate human interest than is characteristic of painting and sculpture. The same tendency appears in the treatment of supernatural places and objects. The inferno of Quevedo's Sueños is even more human than that of the Divine Comedy; the Holy Grail of Morte d'Arthur is the goal of a human, not an angelic search.

Psychological use of the time-sense has just been noted. Its social significance in the novel is indicated by the frequent reference to the cclesiastical and secular calendars. It is not an accident, from the

artistic standpoint, that Paul Dombey dies on Sunday, Kielland's poor waif Elsie on Christmas Eve; or that Eppie comes to Silas on New Year's Eve. In Pride and Prejudice the sense of time is distinctly social rather than individual. The endeavor of Robinson Crusoe to keep the world's calendar during his exile is one of the many effects of a strong social sense in Defoe and his period.

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72. Author and Dramatis Personæ. In the third-person novel the more elaborate settings are commonly given by the author. The generalized views of social environment in Silas Marner belong entirely to George Eliot - no character in the novel could originate them. In the novel of dramatic form such descriptions are either eliminated; or become artificial, unless justified by the situation of the characters.

Robinson Crusoe's itemized account of his island environment is perhaps justified by the nature and situation of the man. Jane Austen shows her keen dramatic sense by omitting description of the surroundings in which Darcy becomes engaged to Elizabeth - "There was too much to be thought, and felt, and said, for attention to other objects."

The pathetic fallacy may have a dramatic value and truth. It is probable that a Carker (Dombey and Son) fleeing from human vengeance may feel that nature also is his enemy; that a youthful lover, like the hero of Pepita Jiménez, may feel that Nature in her springtide mood sympathizes with his own erotic passion. But when Thomas Hardy gives his personal impression that nature is ironically hostile to man's moral ideals, he lyricizes. One learns something about Thomas Hardy, but, very possibly, not much of nature or even of the characters of the novel.

Except in pure romance, the allegorical, symbolical, and supernatural interpretation of environment is usually more or less dramatized, as in Mrs. Radcliffe, Scott, Hawthorne, and Turgenieff. Often such interpretation is a sign of partially morbid condition in the character. The river and boat of Paul Dombey's imagination, and Silas Marner's association of Eppie's hair with his lost gold are fragmentary examples. The allegorical element in Robinson Crusoe, whether an afterthought or not, is explained only in the Third Part.

73. Distribution. In completely developed scenes, the settings usually appear in distinct masses, in part; but their full value is generally realized only by bringing together the points scattered through many chapters.

Many important points in the setting of Paul Dombey's death (Chapter XVI) are given before and after the event itself. From Chapter XV one learns that it occurred on a bright Sunday; from Chapter XIV that it was after the 17th of June: one must get the general picture of the neighborhood, the house, and the room, from several chapters.

The settings at the principal turning-points of the plot are naturally of special interest. At the beginning, in particular, time and place are often given separate paragraphs. This method of opening a novel may indicate the general realistic emphasis on milieu, as in Balzac.

Several points regarding the initial, climactic, and catastrophic settings of Silas Marner and Pride and Prejudice have already been given. A few others may be added, to show the contrast between the two works.

SILAS MARNER. Initial. -The first two chapters are devoted largely to settings; the development being from the more general to the more specific. The particular place setting which is to be used in climax and catastrophe - the weaver's cottage is introduced very early. Lantern Yard and the Red House are also to appear in later scenes. The emphasis on general social circumstances is greater than in Pride and Prejudice, and is characteristic of the wider social philosophy of George Eliot. The very slight mention of the state of war is probably dramatic the international struggle being less significant to the people of Raveloe than their own local affairs.

Climactic. This New Year's Eve is highly individualized in the minds of Silas, Godfrey, and Molly, even apart from the specific incident of the climax. The treatment of landscape and the weather is almost symbolical. The interior of the cottage is not only described in considerable detail, but it has permanent meaning in the lives of Silas, Eppie, Godfrey, Dunstan, Mrs. Winthrop, Aaron, Macey - it is a unifying setting.

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