Narrative Frame And Narrator Reliability By Mr. Stoddart

Before We Begin: A Note on Textual Analysis and Irony Irony involves an incongruity or discordance between elements that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions. In literature (and art), to produce work that is ironic means you have produced something of the highest order – something that can have multiple meanings, even opposite meanings, and can hold them meaningfully and simultaneously within a single form.

Vocabulary novel – strikingly new, unusual, or different Novels evolved in the 18 th Century from earlier forms of writing.

Novel - A fictional prose narrative of considerable length, typically having a plot that is unfolded by the actions, speech, and thoughts of the characters.

The first work considered to be a novel is probably Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Defoe established a form for the novel genre by putting together a plot around a central character and conflict.

Studying a novel involves looking at the novel from several different points of view, for several different reasons. Universe Author Text Audience Universe Mary Shelley Frankenstein 19 th C. Readers

Frankenstein was published in the 19 th Century. Its content shows markings of many other sorts of stories that came before it – novels, epic stories, gothic fiction, romance. It employs a mix of previous writing styles and devices. An awareness of its relationship to literary history is necessary to understand classic literature like Frankenstein.

Narrative Frame From what narrative perspective is Frankenstein told? Who are the narrators?

Style – Point of View First Person LimitedOmniscient Third Person

Style – Point of View First person narration – This is a major, minor, or “silent” character who tells the story. (“Silent” means they play no role in the action of the story, but are present in it.) I saw them there, crouched behind the boxes, and shouted to my team to fire at will!

Style – Point of View Limited narration – The narrator’s knowledge is limited to the direct knowledge of the narrator/character. This is the point of view that is most like “real life”, and provides an immediacy to the action.

Robinson Crusoe was written from the first-person limited point of view. This allowed Defoe to create an immediacy of action to Crusoe’s struggles on the island, and to build tension by limiting the reader’s knowledge to that of Crusoe himself.

Narrative Voice First-person narrators have their own voices, each with its own unique qualities. This means the story is told through the screen of their unique personalities, to the extent the author is willing or able to make that a stylistic choice. Crafting narrators with strong voices, whose personalities impact upon the stories they tell, developed over time (e.g. Poe’s psychopathic/sociopathic narrators).

Who are the narrators in Frankenstein? Robert Walton Viktor Frankenstein The Monster (Elizabeth Lavenza and Alphonse Frankenstein write letters; the Monster meets a family that tells a story)

Frame Narrative Frame narrative – A narrative technique in which an introductory story (or frame) is established to set the stage for another narrative or set of narratives, i.e. stories within stories. The relationships between the stories in a frame narrative can be direct or indirect. That is, the frame can be very important to the story, or simply provide a “backdrop”.

Examples of Frame Narratives One Thousand and One Nights by Scheherezade (Arabian) The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer (English) Shakespeare often employs the “play within a play” method, wherein the play being performed has some relationship to the play in which it appears.

Frankenstein’s Frame What is the narrative frame in Frankenstein?

Unreliable Narrators An unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility has been compromised. Some narrators are very unreliable; others are only somewhat unreliable. E.g.  Falsehood. (Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd)  Delusion. (Henry James, The Turn of the Screw)  Drugs. (Stephen King, “Survivor Type”)  Others - Scheherezade, Chaucer, Shakespeare

Unreliable Narrators First-person narrators should ALWAYS be viewed skeptically, as potentially unreliable in some way. Because narrators are also characters, they should be considered to be variously flat or round. Character/narrators’ personality traits need to be considered as a possible aspect of the narration.

Because the narratives in Frankenstein are nested inside one another, the impact of just one of the narratives being unreliable might have a huge impact on the other narrators – and thus on the entire novel. The narrative is unreliable because of the filtering effect of the other narrators on each piece of the narration.

Narrators in Frankenstein: Robert Walton Viktor Frankenstein The Monster With a partner, argue which of the narrators is the least reliable, why you think so, and the degree to which you think he can be trusted. Also, consider the implications on the narrative if your narrator is unreliable.

Complications – Dreams, Audiences, Epistles Universe Author Text Audience Universe Mary Shelley Frankenstein 19 th C. Readers

Complications Dream Sequences Audience Considerations Epistolary Theory

Dream Sequences Have you ever tried to tell someone else about your dream? First-person recounts of dream sequences add an additional layer of unreliable narration. What dreams are in Frankenstein? Is the account of the dream reliable? What questions does the possibility of an unreliable narrator suggest about the dreams?

Audience Considerations Throughout the novel, there are many intended audiences. Who are the (fictional) intended audiences for each of the layers of the narration? How might those audiences impact on the way the story is told, or the details that are provided?

Epistolary Theory There is a minor branch of study called Epistolary theory. An awareness of the theory enriches the reading of letters. (Its application to fictional letters is something that can be debated in each work.) To what extent do you think this theory is applicable to the letters in Frankenstein?

Author Awareness: Mary Shelley at the base of the frame narrative Universe Author Text Audience Universe Mary Shelley Frankenstein 19 th C. Readers

Mary Shelley Ultimately, the author IS at the base of the frame narrative, i.e. she is the story-teller providing the “outside layer”. She must be considered when discussing complications of the text. Historical – Understanding who she was, what she knew/believed, what she knew/read, etc. Contextual – Understanding the circumstances around the writing of the novel, the literary world of the day, etc.

…A Final Proposal: The Text is a Monster The Monster is an ironic creation. The Monster is a creation of Frankenstein’s mind. Using unexplored techniques, Frankenstein uses body parts of former people to produce something new. None of the parts are original, but the ultimate “creation” is original. Frankenstein is a creation of Mary Shelley’s mind. Using unexplored techniques, Shelley uses elements of former novels and types of previous fiction, to produce something new. None of the parts are original, but the ultimate “creation” is original. Frankenstein is an ironic creation.