In his book titled Graphs, Maps, and Trees: Abstract Models for a Literary History, Franco Moretti discusses the importance of narrative spaces, and in particular, he stresses that our understanding of characters’ relationships to their environment can alter the way that we think about a text. In creating literary maps, we can “find […] occurrences […]
Following its release, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl established itself as a literary and cultural phenomenon. The 2012 novel revolves around the crumbling marriage of Nick and Amy and the dark secrets of their marital life, domestic home, and individual identities that are exposed when Amy goes missing. It centers upon the mystery and investigation of […]
As argued in my previous blog post, Lady Audley’s Secret (or the sensation genre in general) relies not only upon explicitly “sensational” plot devices and narrative intrigue to entice its contemporary Victorian reader. In fact, Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s development and characterization of Lady Audley, subjected to the desertion of her first husband and the ills of […]
What really makes sensation fiction “sensational”? According to Patrick Brantlinger, who poses the same question in his essay titled “What is ‘Sensational’ About the ‘Sensation Novel’?,” the sensation novel comprises “violent and thrilling action, astonishing circumstances, stereotypic heroes, heroines, and villains” and contemporary interest in “bigamy, adultery, and the problem of divorce law” found in […]
