The city of Paris : a shape and a shaping force in selected nineteenth century British fiction

Author

Elizabeth Anne Hait

Date of Award

12-1985

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

English

Major Professor

Richard M. Kelly

Committee Members

Nancy M. Goslee, Mary P. Richards, Albert H. Wallace

Abstract

This study is an examination of selected British travel journals and novels of the nineteenth century, in which the writers of the journals or the characters of the novels sojourn in the city of Paris. These journals and novels constitute a body of literature which is associated with both travel literature and urban literature, for the writers and characters journey to the Continent with the city of Paris as their destination. Once arrived in Paris, they begin another journey within the city, which often has mental or spiritual, as well as physical, aspects. The impressions and exper iences of these British visitors are recorded in the travel journals, often quite imaginatively, and appear in the novels, shaped into a coherent story line.

In this study, these journeys within the city of Paris are traced from the arrival to the departure, and an analysis is made of the ways in which the different aspects of the journey are handled in the journals and in the fiction. Chapter I deals with the arrival, the first impressions of the city, the disembarkation from the traveling conveyance and location of lodgings, and the walks through the streets of Paris. In Chapter II the British visitor's reactions to the streets themselves as a stage upon which events take place are analyzed, as well as the landmarks that he visits. Chapter III focuses on his experiments and experiences with the French language, while Chapter IV shows him entering into the surface society of Paris. In Chapter V, the British visitor moves past the surface society and deeper into the city, into the inner rooms, where he comes face to face with one or two other people or himself and learns about himself as a result of this confrontation. Finally, Chapter VI deals with the departure from Paris and the return.to England, and with the effects of such a visit to Paris on the British traveler.

Recommended Citation

Hait, Elizabeth Anne, "The city of Paris : a shape and a shaping force in selected nineteenth century British fiction. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1985.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/12564