Abstract
It is through the look that we can understand the “typical” nature of characters, the look that invades the private world of individuals. Therefore the ever-pervading gaze that penetrates both buildings and people is essential to understand - “typical characters in typical circumstances”. If one looks at one of the famous paintings by Edward Hopper, called the ‘Nighthawks’, one realises the importance of the look to understand the typical. In the paintings of Hopper, the window vanishes, it seems all the characters present in the picture are a little away from stepping out of it. Therefore to know the typical and dive into an aesthetic criticism of it, demands to know one’s impression as it is. Therefore as one writes about typical characters in typical circumstances, about may not be the right word but towards. As one goes on to identify those typical characters, one has to look similarly. One has to know the typical by looking at them, by the minute precision of their gaze. In my paper, I look at the typicality of certain characters in the realist novels by looking at Engels’ correspondence to Margaret Harkness’ and delve into the question of the mirror that is offered to us in the realist novels which is capable of both lying and telling. At times it is only with the told lies that we can conjure our reality. Then, is the typical always real? And if it is real, then does it have to be true?
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Realist, Real, Gaze, Reality, Typical, Typicality
