A Study Of The Affective Narration In Villette

Villette is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Charlotte Bront?,a famous British female writer in the 19 th century.The story,based on the author’s personal experiences of studying and living in Brussels,tells the female growth of Lucy Snowe.Academics have mostly studied Villette from the feminist perspective,but the perspective of emotional narrative in this novel has not received sufficient attention.Based on Patrick Hogan’s Affective Narrative theory,this thesis focuses on Lucy’s three stages of emotional acquisition and argues that the novel’s “three-stage”emotional narrative structure is the main narrative power to promote the thematic expression of female growth.Patrick Hogan points out that the novel is structured around the breaking and restoration of “normalcy”.The story begins with the protagonist’s “normalcy” which is unstable and potentially dangerous.Later,the unexpectedly breaking of the“normalcy” thus makes the protagonist embark on a long journey of growth in the pursuit of his goal,and eventually the “normalcy” will be restored and the initial instability will be eliminated.On the basis of the surface plot structure triggered by the breaking of “normalcy”,Hogan proposes a deep emotional narrative structure which begins from the “emotion trigger” into the “journey of quest” and then to the“achievement of the goal”.Based on this affective narrative structure,the thesis analyzes the acquisition process of the heroine’s kinship,friendship and love in the novel as well as the growth of the heroine in the acquisition process of these three emotions.In addition,with the help of this affective narrative structure,the thesis sees through the study of female emotion writing that has been neglected by previous feminist studies.Chapter one analyzes Lucy’s mental process from her leaving of home,to her seeking for ways of making a living alone,and then to her unexpected regaining of kinship after the achievement of the independence.Chapter two takes Lucy’s fruitless crush as the entry point and analyzes the process of her emotions for John Graham Bretton from the budding of secret love to the returning of friendship with each other.Chapter three analyzes the process of Lucy and Mr.Paul Emanuel’s mutual love and dependence despite the obstacles they have experienced.With the help of the theory of affective narrative,we are deeply impressed by Charlotte’s writing of emotion which has transcended its era.At a time when the narrative of 19 th century novels had not yet penetrated into deep emotional writing,Charlotte portrayed the characters’ emotions with her unique writing of delicacy,organized the narrative structure with the emotional writing,and expressed her unique ideas of feminist thinking at the same time.This grasp of both sensibility and emotions in the novel has transcended time and aroused the resonance of later readers,and all of which should be regarded as important reasons for its final becoming of a classic.