The novel features many characters of varying emotional ranges. They have experienced a lot before and during the events of the novel. One character who has a rather important anecdote is Cornelia in Chapter IX. Cornelia is a nun and caretaker for Julia, but she is also born from a father who was once in possession of a great fortune. When her father had his great fortune, Cornelia fell in love with a young man from a much poorer family. Her father forbid the marriage, but Marquis Marinelli caught wind of Cornelia and asked for her hand in marriage. Her options were to either wed the marquis or to take up the veil. Cornelia chose to take the veil and enter the nunnery.
Cornelia's story continues to examine her own time at her nunnery and the significant events that shape her experience as well as her own self from that point forward. She mentions how the "tranquility of the monastery" and "devotional exercises" soothed her in her time of emotional turmoil. Cornelia also talks about her "excess of grief," and her "youthful intercourse" with her suitor. This is in direct contrast to Julia's hot tempered and impatient disposition. Readers are given a portrait of a Cornelia who has expressed a very wide range of emotions. Radcliffe is presenting readers a very dynamic world where even supporting characters such as Cornelia are given multiple layers for the reader to examine.
The nun is not the only character to recount an anecdote that is important to the story. The marquis, beginning on page 52, recounts the truth about the castle of Mazzini. He tells the story to Ferdinand that when he first inherited the castle the marquis father had Henry della Campo watched and imprisoned in the southern part of the castle. Henry passed away in the southern part of the castle, but after his death that part of the castle was always haunted.
Such an anecdote not only provides us with an emotional look at the marquis and Ferdinand, an explanation to some of the actions by several characters, such as the marquis, and sets the stage for the rest of the book. The main reason the anecdote is placed where it is in the book seems to be to provide readers with necessary background information. Readers learn why the marquis stays away from the castle as much as he can and why the rest of the characters do not know the full contents of the castle. The novel would read as a much different novel.
A Sicilian Romance depends on several anecdotes throughout the course of the novel to help support its plot and the emotions of the characters. What if the novel did not have those explanations? What if other famous novels and movies did not explain important exposition that was one of several backbones of the novel? What if a novel such as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone did not have Hagrid, in the link below, informing Harry about how his parents died? Harry would go onto Hogwarts and everyone would know his name, but not how he died. The novel would have to focus on a completely different Harry, both emotionally and literally. He may have spent the majority of the novel confused and shut away from potential friends. Maybe he would never have met Ron or Hermione. The story also may have resonated differently with others. It could have been a completely different experience.
Many elements of character development as well as world building in novels are sometimes left unattended to. We as readers may be asking ourselves too many questions throughout the novel. "What is this doing here?" "How does she know about that?" Ann Radcliffe manages to answer many of our questions and prevent further confusion by assigning informative anecdotes to certain characters throughout her novel. She also uses them as a tool for readers to understand and compare the emotional complexes of the different characters. I think the short bits of exposition are an important and useful tool in any literary sense. It helps create a mature and streamlined process.
A Sicilian Romance depends on several anecdotes throughout the course of the novel to help support its plot and the emotions of the characters. What if the novel did not have those explanations? What if other famous novels and movies did not explain important exposition that was one of several backbones of the novel? What if a novel such as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone did not have Hagrid, in the link below, informing Harry about how his parents died? Harry would go onto Hogwarts and everyone would know his name, but not how he died. The novel would have to focus on a completely different Harry, both emotionally and literally. He may have spent the majority of the novel confused and shut away from potential friends. Maybe he would never have met Ron or Hermione. The story also may have resonated differently with others. It could have been a completely different experience.
Discussion Questions
What other characters have important anecdotes throughout A Sicilian Romance? Do these short stories affect just the characters who are telling them or do they affect the characters around them?
Does a character's anecdote provide more necessary background information for the story or their state of mind?
No comments:
Post a Comment