Articulating Bodies: The Narrative Form of Disability and Illness in Victorian Fiction

• Published in: Victorian Studies Vol. 63; no. 2; pp. 310 - 312
• Main Author: Prizel, Natalie
• Format: Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: Bloomington Indiana University Press 01.01.2021
• Subjects: 19th century; Art galleries & museums; Dickens, Charles (1812-1870); Disability; Disorders; Empathy; Fiction; Hugo, Victor (1802-1885); Illnesses; Novels; Perceptions; Plot (Narrative); Religion; Scars; Victorian period

Esther has experienced both impairment and the socially disabling effects of her marked face, marked in ways that are embodied, social, and functional in terms of plot (since the scarring effaces Esther's resemblance to her mother). The narratological concept of focalization does double-duty as...