Prose Narrative Criticism
Prose Narrative Criticism:
“Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and “Greasy Lake”
Studies in Literature
Kathleen Lohr
August 25, 2012
Prose Narrative Criticism While reading any composition of literature, the reader must address how they will connect with the text. To do this, the reader considers different forms of literary criticism. There are an abundance of approaches to literary criticism. For the purposes of looking at “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson and “Greasy Lake” by T.C. Boyle, the narratological approach will be used here. The narratological critical approach to assessing literature expects that the audience reads to “understand how events are constructed and through what point of view” (Purdue University, 2005). This type of critical approach also “considers the narrator not as a person, but as a window through which we see a constructed reality” (Purdue University, 2005). In reading “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, the reader notes that the narrator remains anonymous, although he frequently refers to himself in the third person. This type of narration lends itself to the “window” theory of the narratological approach meaning that the reader watches what unfolds without the feel that there is an obvious narrator. However, while the novella does follow Uttersons point of view, it fails to clearly define that Utterson is the one telling the story. In “Greasy Lake”, while the story teller or narrator refers to himself in the first person, the reader is never given a name. Approaching this short story in this manner creates the same effect that “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” created, with one exception. The reader seems to be watching events as they occur, rather than having to be retold of events via a specific narrator. However, at points within “Greasy Lake” the reader is privy to the inner thoughts and senses in the first person narrative, which argues that the narrator is indeed
“Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and “Greasy Lake”
Studies in Literature
Kathleen Lohr
August 25, 2012
Prose Narrative Criticism While reading any composition of literature, the reader must address how they will connect with the text. To do this, the reader considers different forms of literary criticism. There are an abundance of approaches to literary criticism. For the purposes of looking at “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson and “Greasy Lake” by T.C. Boyle, the narratological approach will be used here. The narratological critical approach to assessing literature expects that the audience reads to “understand how events are constructed and through what point of view” (Purdue University, 2005). This type of critical approach also “considers the narrator not as a person, but as a window through which we see a constructed reality” (Purdue University, 2005). In reading “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, the reader notes that the narrator remains anonymous, although he frequently refers to himself in the third person. This type of narration lends itself to the “window” theory of the narratological approach meaning that the reader watches what unfolds without the feel that there is an obvious narrator. However, while the novella does follow Uttersons point of view, it fails to clearly define that Utterson is the one telling the story. In “Greasy Lake”, while the story teller or narrator refers to himself in the first person, the reader is never given a name. Approaching this short story in this manner creates the same effect that “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” created, with one exception. The reader seems to be watching events as they occur, rather than having to be retold of events via a specific narrator. However, at points within “Greasy Lake” the reader is privy to the inner thoughts and senses in the first person narrative, which argues that the narrator is indeed
Cited: Boyle, T. (1981). Greasy Lake . Penguin Group. Purdue University. (2005). Critical Approaches to Literature: A Brief Overview. Retrieved from Literature Resources: http://www.cla.purdue.edu/blackmon/engl360k/critical.html Stevenson, R. L. (1886). Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Longmans, Green and Co. Utley, S. (2001, April 23). Auteurs.net-Le Meilleur du web litteraire. Retrieved from All about T. C. Boyle Resource Center: www.tcboyle.com Wikipedia. (2012, August 28). 1980 's. Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980s Wikipedia. (2012, August 30). Victorian Era. Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_era