Theatre and the novel, from Behn to Fielding

Ever since Ian Wattâs The Rise of the novel (1957), many critics have argued that a constitutive element of the early ânovelâ is its embrace of realism. Anne F. Widmayer contends, however, that Restoration and early eighteenth-century prose narratives employ techniques that distance the reading audience from an illusion of reality; irony, hypocrisy, and characters who are knowingly acting for an audience are privileged, highlighting the artificial and false in fictional works. Focusing on the works of four celebrated playwright-novelists, Widmayer explores how the increased interiority of their prose characters is ridiculed by the use of techniques drawn from the theatre to throw into doubt the novelâs ability to portray an unmediated ârealityâ. Aphra Behnâs dramatic techniques question the reliability of female narrators, while Delarivier Manley undermines the impact of womenâs passionate anger by suggesting the self-consciousness of their performances. In his later drama, William Congreve subverts the character of the apparently objective critic that is recurrent in his prose work, whilst Henry Fielding uses the figure of the satirical writer in his rehearsal plays to mock the novelistâs aspiration to control the way a reader reads the text. Through analysing how these writers satirize the reading publicâs desire for clear distinctions between truth and illusion, Anne F. Widmayer also highlights the equally fluid boundaries between prose fiction and drama. Introduction 1. Aphra Behnâs dramatic techniques in prose: credibility and female power i. Behnâs and Southerneâs Oroonokos: individuals and groups ii. Parallels between the narrator and Oroonoko iii. Echoes of Rover I 2. Performed emotion in Delarivier Manleyâs works: actors and voyeurs i. Discovering emotion in Manleyâs plays ii. Scenes in Manleyâs prose iii. Validating female emotion in Memoirs of Europe and The Power of love 3. Hybrid dramatic-narrative techniques: William Congreveâs Incognita and The Old batchelor i. Staging lovers in Drydenâs Assignation and Congreveâs Incognita ii. Scarronâs influence upon Incognita iii. Heartwell as satirical commentator in The Old batchelor 4. Abandoning control over ârealityâ: author-characters in Henry Fieldingâs plays i. The satirist satirized in Fieldingâs author-character plays ii. Author-characters as Fieldingâs theatrical avatars 5. Self-conscious anti-realism: readers as actor-authors in Henry Fieldingâs prose i. Fieldingâs self-ironizing author-characters ii. Novel characters who comment metatheatrically 6. Conclusion Bibliography Index