1. POSSESSION A Romance

2. CHAPTER I SETTING PLACE: London Library TIME: one day in September 1986 at 11.15 CHARACTERS: Roland Mitchell and James Blackadder QUOTATION: the chapter starts with an epigraphic quotation; Randolph Henry Ash from The Garden of Proserpina, 1861; in the chapter they are also quoted Ash’s letters which Roland stole. FUNCTION: to introduce storyline Roland is reading Vico’s Principi di Scienza Nuova and he finds two drafts of a letter which R.H. Ash sent to an unknown lady. Roland takes the drafts without telling to his boss.

3. CHAPTER II SETTING PLACE: Roland’s House TIME: during the evening CHARACTERS: Roland and Val QUOTATION: the quotation refers to Ragnarök, a poem in twelve books written by Ash. FUNCTION: to describe Roland, his house and the relationship between Roland and Val.

4. The chapter begins with a quotation from Ash ‘s work and continues with narration, a comment written by Roland and a letter of Ash and narration again. CHAPTER III SETTING 1 PLACE : Bloomsbury ‘s library TIME: June 4 CHARACTER: Roland SETTING 2 TIME: Morning CHARACTERS: Ash, Christabel, Miss LaMotte and Miss Glover SETTING 3 PLACE:Crabb’s breakfast PLACE: British Museum Blackadder, Fergus,Paola and Cropper CHARACTERS : the function is to introduce the relationships between characters and the possible connection between Ash and Christabell La Motte. FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER

5. CHAPTER IV The chapter is made up by a quotation of Christabel, narration, pages from Blanche’s Journal of our home –self and narration again. SETTING 1 PLACE: Lincoln university CHARACTERS: Roland and Moud PLACE: Womens’ Centre SETTING 2 CHARACTERS: Roland and Moud SETTING 3 SETTING 4PLACE:Moud’ s house TIME: Night CHARACTERS: Roland and Moud TIME: Breakfast CHARACTERS: Miss Glover, Miss LaMotte,Mr Robinson FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER the function is to introduce a new character, Maud, creating more suspense with Blanche's journal and tell about the progress of Roland’s research

6. CHAPTER V The chapter is made up by a quotation of Ash, narration, letters written by Ash and Christabell and narration again. SETTING 1 PLACE: Seal Court ( Christabel’s grave) TIME: Morning CHARACTERS: Moud and Roland SETTING 2 PLACE:Bailey’s house CHARACTERS: Moud,Roland, George and Joan SETTING 3PLACE: Christabel ‘s bedroom CHARACTERS: Moud, Roland,Ash and Christabel. TIME: night FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER to create suspense and curiosity around the presumed relationship between Ash and Christabel with the discovery of their corrispondence.

7. CHAPTER VI The chapter is made up by narration, a letter written by R. H. Ash (only letter written to a child by him), narration again, autobiographical sketches by Mortimer Cropper and narration again. SETTING 1 PLACE: Mrs Wapshott's bathroom (outskirts of Preston) TIME: 3 o'clock a.m. CHARACTERS: Mortimer Cropper, Mrs Wapshott SETTING 2 PLACE: Everblest House, Tresure Cabinet(New Mexico) TIME: His early life (Autobiographical sketches) CHARACTERS: Cropper, Priscilla Cropper SETTING 3 PLACE: Barret's Hotel (Piccadilly) CHARACTER: Cropper

8. CHAPTER VI SETTING 4 PLACE: "Cavern which shelters the source of the Sorgue" TIME: a June day in 1848 (Extract from "The Great Ventriloquist") CHARACTERS: the poet and his new bride FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER to introduce a new character: Mortimer Cropper. The writer describes his physical aspect, his personality, his thoughts and his way of acting. His autobiographical sketches are an important element for the reader to better understand his personality. Thanks to the letter written by Ash the reader can also understand a farther feature of his personality.

9. CHAPTER VII The chapter is organized into narration, pages from Ellen Ash's diary and narration again. SETTING 1 PLACE: "Ash factory" TIME: morning CHARACTERS: Beatrice Nest, professor Bengtsson (he ruled the English Department of Prince Albert College), Roland Michell SETTING 2 PLACE: Putney basement CHARACTERS: Roland, Val, Euan MacIntyre FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER to introduce two new characters, Beatrice Nest and Euan MacIntyre. Both will play an important role in the story. Moreover further information about Ash's wife is provided thanks to some pages from her diary.

10. CHAPTER VIII The chapter is made up by narration and letters. SETTING 1 PLACE: Bailey's library TIME: before breakfast was over CHARACTERS: Roland, Maud, Joan Bailey SETTING 2 PLACE: Bailey's library TIME: Supper's time CHARACTERS: Roland, Maud, Joan Bailey SETTING 3 PLACE: Maud's flat TIME: night CHARACTER: Maud

11. SETTING 4 PLACE: Seal Court TIME: the next day (breakfast, afternoon, supper's time) CHARACTERS: Maud, Roland, the Baileys CHAPTER VIII FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER to involve the reader in the progress of the research and to show him/her the new discoveries and hypothesis about the mistery.

12. CHAPTER IX This chapter is made up by a story, the title of which is The Threshold, written by Christabel LaMotte. SETTING PLACE: a heath TIME: one day CHARACTERS: the old woman, the Child, three beautiful ladies FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER to help the reader create an idea of Christabel's style of writing.

13. CHAPTER X Chapter X is a very long chapter because it deals with the letters written between Ash and LaMotte; as a matter of fact the title of the chapter is The Correspondence. CHARACTERS: Christabel LaMotte and R. Ash FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER makes clearer the situation to the reader: he can follow the development of the relationship between the two Victorian poets as well as make his own conjectures. The letters reveal important elements for the progress of the plot.

14. CHAPTER XI Chapter XI consists of Ash’s Swammerdam. Swammerdam was a Dutch expert in natural history. He dedicated his activity mainly to the study of insects’ anatomy and biology. Thanks to the letters of the previous chapter, the reader knows that it was written by Ash

15. Chapter XII starts with a quotation from a Christabel's work and after that starts the narration. Going on reading the reader comes across two letters written by Ash to his wife Ellen. Before and after some pages taken from Ellen's diary there is narration; after that there is a letter written by Blanche Glover to Ash and again narration until the end of the chapter. CHAPTER XII SETTING 1 - NARRATION PLACE: the house called Bethany, in Richmond, and a bar near the church TIME: a sunny day in April CHARACTERS: Maud, Roland In this part of narration there is a flashback in which the reader comes to know a piece of information about what Roland and Maud did in January. SETTING 2 - LETTERS 1. PLACE: Robin Hood's bay 2. TIME: 15th June

16. SETTING 3 - NARRATION PLACE: The bar near the church in Richmond TIME: a sunny day in April CHARACTERS: Maud, Roland SETTING 4 - NARRATION (conversation between Val and Maud - argument between Roland and Val) PLACE: Roland's flat CHARACTERS: Maud, Roland and Val SETTING 5 - NARRATION PLACE: British Library TIME: the day after the conversation between Val and Maud CHARACTERS: Maud, Beatrice Nest CHAPTER XII

17. SETTING 6 - ELLEN'S DIARY PLACE: her house TIME: 4th June 1859 6th June 7th June 9th June 10th June 12th June June July CHARACTERS: The speaking voice is Ellen and in the pages of her diary she tells the reader about other characters like her husband, Patience, the Master, Bertha, Herbert Baulk.

18. SETTING 7 - NARRATION PLACE: British Library TIME: the day after the conversation between Val and Maud CHARACTERS: Maud, Beatrice Nest SETTING 8 - NARRATION PLACE: Blackadder's office TIME: After the conversation with Beatrice CHARACTERS: Maud, Fergus Wolff CHAPTER XII

19. SETTING 9 - NARRATION PLACE: Oodles, the vegetarian restaurant at the end of Museum Street TIME: two days later CHARACTERS: Roland, Maud FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER The chapter has the function of explaining a part of the mistery of the book, but, at the same time, it keeps the attention of the reader alert and creates suspance.

20. CHAPTER XIII The chapter begins with a quotation from Ash ‘s work and continues with narration, Ash’s letter to Ellen and narration again. SETTING 1PLACE: The Cliff (Scarborough) TIME: Dinner Characters: Roland and Moud SETTING 2PLACE: Flamborough TIME: Morning Characters: Roland and Moud SETTING 3 PLACE: Port of Whitby Characters: Roland and Moud

21. SETTING 4 PLACE: Jewelry store Characters: Roland and Moud FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER The function of the chapter is to make the reader aware about what Roland and Maud want to do and about the relation between Moud and Christabel

22. CHAPTER XIV The chapter begins with a quotation from Ash ‘s work and continues with Ash’s letter to Ellen and narration again.. Boggle Hole. SETTING 1 PLACE: CHARACTERS:Roland and Moud FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER To make a parallelism between what Christabel and Ash had done and what Maud and Roland do.

23. CHAPTER XV The chapter is made up by a quotation of Ash and narration. SETTING 1 PLACE:Railway carriege CHARACTERS: Ash and Christabel SETTING 2 PLACE: The Cliff (dining- room) CHARACTERS: Ash and Christabel TIME: Morning TIME: Afternoon SETTING 3 PLACE: the cliff ( bedroom) TIME: Night CHARACTERS: Ash and Christabel FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER to inform the reader about the development of the relationship between Christabel and Ash.

24. CHAPTER XVI FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER to introduce a Christabel’s poem to put her personality into a better focus through her writings the chapter is made up by Christabel ‘s work : the Fairy Melusine. CHARACTERS:Fairy Melusine is described with suspance and terror, everybody is afraid of her and she is half snake and half human and the cavalier, the narrator describes initially his behaviours subsequently the reader come to know his name: Raimondino and how he does in front of a misterious woman, he is abducted by her : she is the Fairy Melusina.

25. CHAPTER XVII The chapter is made up by a comment of Blackadder and narration SETTING 1 CHARACTERS: Blackadder and Paola PLACE: Blackadder’s study SETTING 2 PLACE: Val’s house CHARACTERS: Val and Fergus SETTING 3PLACE: L’Escargot Characters: Cropper and Hildebrand Ash TIME: About 12 o’clock

26. SETTING 4PLACE:street of Soho CHARACTERS: Fergus and Cropper THE FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER to make the point of the situation and to inform the reader about Cropper’s and Fergus’s intentions.

27. CHAPTER XVIII The chapter begins with a quotation from Christabel’ s work,continues with narration, a letter of Blanche and narration again. SETTING 1PLACE: Women's study resources centre CHARACTERS: Moud,Roland and Leonora SETTING 2PLACE:Moud’s house CHARACTERS:Moud and Leonora SETTING 3PLACE: Shop of Lincoln TIME: Night TIME:Morning CHARACTERS:Moud and Leonora

28. CHAPTER XIX The chapter starts with a quotation from The City of Is by LaMotte, then follows the narration, after that Sabines’ diary and finally a page of scraps of poetry. SETTING 1 - NARRATION PLACE: cabin on the Prince of Brittany TIME: night CHARACTERS: Roland and Maud SETTING 2 - NARRATION PLACE: Nantes TIME: breakfast time CHARACTERS: Roland, Maud, Ariane Le Minier SETTING 3 - NARRATION PLACE: Finistere TIME: the following day CHARACTERS: Roland, Maud, Ariane Le Minier

29. SETTING 4PLACE:Sir George’s house CHARACTERS: Moud, Leonora and Sir George to provide information and possible reason for Blanche’s suicide. THE FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER

30. CHAPTER XX The chapter is introduced by a LaMotte’s work, then starts the narration,after that there is a letter,narration, a quotation from The Great Ventriloquist, narration again, a quotation from The Shadowy Portal and finally narration again. SETTING 1- NARRATION PLACE: City church CHARACTER: Cropper SETTING 2 - LETTER written by Christabel LaMotte to Mrs Cropper CHARACTERS: Christabel, Mrs Leer SETTING 3 - The Great Ventriloquist PLACE: spiritual seance CHARACTERS: Ash, Mrs Lees

31. CHAPTER XXI Quotation from ASH’s Mummy Possest

32. CHAPTER XXII SETTING PLACE: the characters are at the horse races in Newmarket TIME: we can suppose that the scene takes place in the late afternoon or evening because the characters speak about dinner that they have to eat. CHARACTERS: Val and her new boyfriend Euan MacIntyre who is a member of a syndicate; Toby Byng is introduced to Val by Euan, Toby is one of the partners.

33. CHAPTER XXIII SETTING PLACE: Baie des Trépassés in Brittany (France) ; Nantes CHARACTERS: Maud; Roland; R.H. Ash; Christabel LaMotte; Leonora; J. Blackadder; M. Cropper. FUNCTION: in the first part of the chapter it is showed the relationship between Maud and Roland which is growing. They are discussing about the future of Christabel’s child. The second part of the chapter sees other three characters Leonora, Blackadder and Cropper that are also in the hotel.

34. CHAPTER XXIV SETTING PLACE: they are in Lincoln TIME: October CHARACTERS: Maud; Val and her boyfriend Euan; Roland QUOTATION: at the beginning of the chapter it is mentioned a passage of Freud. FUNCTION: the reader comes to know that the letters belong to Maud.

35. CHAPTER XXV SETTING PLACE: Ash’s house TIME: November 25 th 1889 CHARACTERS: Ellen (Ash’ wife), Christabel LaMotte, R.H. Ash, Blanche QUOTATIONS: it is quoted Ellen Ash’s Journal which dates back November 25 th 1889. There is also another quotation which belongs to M. Cropper, The Great Ventriloquist. Finally there is also a letter written by Christabel LaMotte which is addressed to Ash. FUNCTION: the reader can understand the relationship between Ash and his wife and later he/she can also understand Ellen’s reactions.

36. CHAPTER XXVI CHARACTER: Roland QUOTATIONS: an extract taken from Ash’s The Garden of Proserpina FUNCTION the chapter explains what happens to Roland. He gets job offers from the University of Hong Kong, the University of Amsterdam and the University of Barcelona. He also gets a letter from his boss, Blackhadder.

37. CHAPTER XXVII SETTING PLACE: Beatrice Nest’s house CHARACTERS: Cropper; Roland; Maud; Leonora; Blackadder; Nest; Val; Euan and Beatrice. QUOTATIONS: also chapter twenty-seven starts with a quotation which is taken from Ash’ poem. FUNCTION the chapter makes clear who the letters belong to

38. CHAPTER XXVIII SETTING PLACE: Hodershall TIME: October 15 th, 1 a.m. CHARACTERS: Roland Michell; Maud Bailey; Beatrice Nest; James Blacjadder; Leonora Stern; Mortimer Cropper; Hildebrand Ash. QUOTATION: Letter of Christabel LaMotte addressed to Ash. FUNCTION: let the reader know how the story and the relationship between Ash and LaMotte finished.

39. SETTING 4 - SABINE’S DIARY PLACE: begun at the Manoir de Kernemet TIME: 13th October 1859, 14th October, Sunday, Friday, Tuersday, Saturday, Friday, 28th October, Friday, 1st November (+ late at night), 2nd November, November, Christmas’s night 1859, 31 December, late January, February, April, Tuersday, 30th April, 1st May, 8th May, 9th May, 10th May. CHARACTERS: Sabine, Christabel, Sabine’s father, Gode GODE’S STORY CHARACTERS: a sailor, the miller’s daughter, the smith’s daughter (Jeanne) FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER The function of the chapter is to show the reader what happened to Christabel LaMotte when she was pregnant and after she had had the baby, from the point of view of Sabine, her cousin.

40. SETTING 4 - NARRATION PLACE: London Library CHARACTER: Cropper SETTING 5 - NARRATION CHARACTERS: Blackadder SETTING 6 - The Shadowy Portal PLACE: spiritual seance, Miss Judge’s house CHARACTERS: Mrs Lees, Miss Judge, Ash, Miss Neve, Miss LaMotte, Mrs Furry SETTING 7 - NARRATION PLACE: “Events in Dept” CHARACTERS: Blackadder, Leonora Stern, Shushila Patel FUNCTION OF THE CHAPTER to make some points clear, thanks to the reading of quotations from The Great Ventriloquist and from The Shadowy Portal.

41. POSTSCRIPT 1868 SETTING PLACE: in a meadow TIME: on a hot May day CHARACTERS: R.H. Ash and May (Maia Thomasine Bailey) There is a dialog between the two people. FUNCTION: the reader comes to know how Ash met his daughter and their short conversation.