The Narrative Silence in The Mayor of Casterbridge
One of the most conspicuous narrative blanks or “silences” in the corpus of Thomas Hardy’s works is found in The Mayor of Casterbridge: a span of 18 years, following the notoriously dramatic episode of Michael Henchard’s wife-sale. Interestingly, this remarkable silence makes some other problematics...
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| Τόπος έκδοσης: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom, |
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| Κύριος συγγραφέας: | |
| Μορφή: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Γλώσσα: | Anglais |
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FATHOM
2013
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| Θέματα: | |
| Διαθέσιμο Online: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:fathom_463 |
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openedition |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:fathom_463 https://doi.org/10.4000/fathom.463 urn:doi:10.4000/fathom.463 en https://journals.openedition.org/fathom/463 2013-09-28T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/gaht All rights reserved The Narrative Silence in The Mayor of Casterbridge FATHOM Association française sur les études sur Thomas Hardy info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2270-6798 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom Nagatomi, Tomomi roman silence secret narration illégitimité double prostitution subversion novel silence secret narration illegitimacy double prostitution subversion One of the most conspicuous narrative blanks or “silences” in the corpus of Thomas Hardy’s works is found in The Mayor of Casterbridge: a span of 18 years, following the notoriously dramatic episode of Michael Henchard’s wife-sale. Interestingly, this remarkable silence makes some other problematics of narrative silence unnoticeable. Particular attention should be paid to the silence concerning Elizabeth-Jane, Farfrae and Lucetta. Indeed, they are crucially important in that Elizabeth-Jane and Farfrae finally take the place of Henchard as central figures, and that Lucetta is forcibly introduced into the text as Elizabeth-Jane’s theatrical double. However, the narrator seems, rather strangely, to be only interested in their external behaviour and reserved about their inner motives and feelings.My purpose in this paper is to elucidate the ulterior meaning of this narrative silence by focusing on Elizabeth-Jane’s illegitimacy. With all due allowance for Hardy’s strong inclination to deviate from the accepted mores of Victorian society, to bring an illegitimate, socially non-existent child, to the very centre of the community would be beyond the pale in the period in which he was writing. It can be proved that the narrative blank, being inextricably intertwined with the text’s subversive desire of decentralisation, operates wily to cover (in both senses of the word) Elizabeth-Jane’s complicatedly displaced illegal origin. L’un des silences les plus notables de l’œuvre de Hardy apparaît dans The Mayor of Casterbridge, dans ces dix-huit années qui suivent l’épisode dramatique où Michael Henchard vend sa femme à un inconnu. Ce silence est d’autant plus remarquable qu’il vient en vérité occulter d’autres problématiques narratives. Il est ainsi important de s’arrêter sur les silences qui concernent plus spécifiquement Elizabeth-Jane, Farfrae et Lucetta. Leur valeur est cruciale dans la mesure où Elizabeth-Jane et Farfrae finissent par prendre la place centrale qu’occupait Henchard dans le récit, et où Lucetta surgit dans le texte comme le double théâtral d’Elizabeth-Jane. Curieusement, il semble pourtant que le narrateur ne s’intéresse qu’à leur comportement extérieur, ne dévoilant qu’à peine leurs sentiments ou motivations personnels.Cet article cherche à comprendre le sens de ces silence narratifs en s’arrêtant sur la question de l’illégitimité d’Elizabeth-Jane. Si l’on sait combien Hardy tend à se départir du décorum de la société victorienne dans ses œuvres, la présence au centre même de la communauté d’une enfant illégitime, privée d’existence sociale, semble inacceptable pour la période où écrivait l’auteur. On montrera que le blanc narratif, en ce qu’il est intimement lié à l’élan subversif de décentralisation du texte, opère de manière subtile afin de couvrir et recouvrir la question de l’illégitimité d’Elizabeth-Jane. |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
roman silence secret narration illégitimité double prostitution subversion novel silence secret narration illegitimacy double prostitution subversion |
| spellingShingle |
roman silence secret narration illégitimité double prostitution subversion novel silence secret narration illegitimacy double prostitution subversion Nagatomi, Tomomi The Narrative Silence in The Mayor of Casterbridge |
| description |
One of the most conspicuous narrative blanks or “silences” in the corpus of Thomas Hardy’s works is found in The Mayor of Casterbridge: a span of 18 years, following the notoriously dramatic episode of Michael Henchard’s wife-sale. Interestingly, this remarkable silence makes some other problematics of narrative silence unnoticeable. Particular attention should be paid to the silence concerning Elizabeth-Jane, Farfrae and Lucetta. Indeed, they are crucially important in that Elizabeth-Jane and Farfrae finally take the place of Henchard as central figures, and that Lucetta is forcibly introduced into the text as Elizabeth-Jane’s theatrical double. However, the narrator seems, rather strangely, to be only interested in their external behaviour and reserved about their inner motives and feelings.My purpose in this paper is to elucidate the ulterior meaning of this narrative silence by focusing on Elizabeth-Jane’s illegitimacy. With all due allowance for Hardy’s strong inclination to deviate from the accepted mores of Victorian society, to bring an illegitimate, socially non-existent child, to the very centre of the community would be beyond the pale in the period in which he was writing. It can be proved that the narrative blank, being inextricably intertwined with the text’s subversive desire of decentralisation, operates wily to cover (in both senses of the word) Elizabeth-Jane’s complicatedly displaced illegal origin. |
| author |
Nagatomi, Tomomi |
| author_facet |
Nagatomi, Tomomi |
| author_sort |
Nagatomi, Tomomi |
| title |
The Narrative Silence in The Mayor of Casterbridge |
| title_short |
The Narrative Silence in The Mayor of Casterbridge |
| title_full |
The Narrative Silence in The Mayor of Casterbridge |
| title_fullStr |
The Narrative Silence in The Mayor of Casterbridge |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Narrative Silence in The Mayor of Casterbridge |
| title_sort |
narrative silence in the mayor of casterbridge |
| publisher |
FATHOM |
| publishDate |
2013 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/fathom.463 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/fathom/463 |
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