THE USE OF DISTANCE IN JANE AUSTEN'S NOVELS
Abstract
This dissertation studies the use and effect of distance in Jane Austen's six major novels. In this study the term "distance" is defined as the spatial, emotional, intellectual, social and moral relationships between characters, reader, narrators, and implied author of the novels. Aesthetic distance within the novels is also discussed. The first chapter presents a survey of theoretical studies relating to distance in literature. The survey is organized into three major divisions: distance as an image in literature and in literary theory and criticism; distance as a structural device in literature; and distance in the study of reader-response. In the second chapter, physical distance is analyzed as a structural element in Austen's major novels. The physical separation of characters controls the plot in each of the novels as the characters and story in each move toward reunion and marriage. Each novel presents different types and degrees of separation, as well as various ways of handling and overcoming this separation and thus resolving the plot. The third chapter looks at the use of physical distance to make scenes visual and dramatic and to reveal characters' thoughts, feelings, and social relationships. It also discusses the control of the reader's emotional and intellectual distance from the characters and the action by the use of point of view and the representation of space in the novels. The fourth chapter begins with a brief discussion of the influence of the epistolary novel on Austen's writing, and then moves into an analysis of the effect of the many letters and references to letter-writing on various types of distance in Austen's major novels. In the last chapter, the absence and presence of aesthetic distance within the novels is studied. Despite the implied author's apparent familiarity with aesthetic principles, most characters in these novels do not respond to art aesthetically. Instead, their reactions to art reveal their emotional or intellectual distance from the owner or creator of the art. Fanny Price is a notable exception to this, as she demonstrates aesthetic responses to various types of art.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
British and Irish literature
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