A Comparative Study On The Narrative Authority Between Emma And The Millstone From The Perspective Of Feminist Narratology

Emma is a novel published in 1815 written by the famous British female writer Jane Austen(1775-1817),and The Millstone is a novel published in 1965 written by the contemporary British female writer Margaret Drabble(1939-).The two works have similarities in the themes of gender relations and marriage but differences in narrative strategies used to construct narrative authority due to the novelists’ different social backgrounds and personal experiences.Scholars have carried out extensive research on the two novels from the feminist thoughts,writing techniques,characters of images,and themes.However,few scholars have compared the two novels to discuss their differences in constructing narrative authority by using narrative strategies.Guided by feminist narratology,this thesis makes a comparison from speech representation,narrative focalization,and narrative voice to analyze the construction of narrative authority in the two novels,and tries to reveal the reasons behind their differences.The thesis consists of three parts: introduction,main body,and conclusion.The introduction concerns the two female writers and two works,comparability between the two works,and literature review.Besides,the thesis statement,theoretical framework,and thesis structure are included.The main body is divided into three chapters.The first chapter analyzes the differences between the two female writers in constructing narrative authority in the way of speech representation.By using free indirect discourse and direct discourse,Austen realizes the narrator’s intervention in the characters’ thoughts and indirectly expresses the speech about the social gender ideology,thus showing covertness in constructing narrative authority.Using free direct discourse and narrative report of speech act,Drabble writes female experience and confirms female subjectivity,thus showing the characteristics of overtness in constructing narrative authority.The second chapter compares the differences between the two female writers in constructing narrative authority on the level of narrative focalization.By using zero focalization and the fixed internal focalization,Austen reaches a compromise with the narrative tradition of the patriarchal society and deconstructs the male authority.It shows her restraint in the construction of narrative authority.By using the fixed internal focalization and the first person external focalization,Drabble not only stresses the female subjectivity but also forms the narrator’s reexamination of the relationship between genders.It reflects her subversion in the construction of narrative authority.The third chapter compares the two female writers’ differences in constructing narrative authority on the narrative voice level.Combining the covert authorial voice and the overt personal voice,Austen reconciles the contradiction between social authority and female narrative authority.Drabble’s use of personal voice not only establishes women’s discursive authority but also narrows the narrative distance.Her practice in narrative voice is influenced by the modern literary trend and the appeal of constructing narrative authority.The third part is the conclusion of this thesis.By presenting the different narrative strategies of constructing narrative authority in Emma and The Millstone,this thesis summarizes their characteristics and tries to reveal the reasons behind their differences.So,the research has certain academic value.Simultaneously,by exposing the influence of different social environments on the creation of female writers,the thesis has the practical significance of appealing to society to give equal attention to women and advocate gender equality.