Compare and contrast the following excerpts in terms of their employment of the different elements

and techniques of the novel: space/setting; narrative voice; focalisation; point of view; time;
character and characterization; style; imagery; etc.)

1) Jane Austen, Emma

Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition,
seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the
world with very little to distress or vex her.

She was the youngest of the two daughters of a most affectionate, indulgent father, and had, in
consequence of her sister’s marriage, been mistress of his house from a very early period. Her mother
had died too long ago for her to have more than an indistinct remembrance of her caresses, and her
place had been supplied by an excellent woman as governess, who had fallen little short of a mother in
affection.

Sixteen years had Miss Taylor been in Mr Woodhouse’s family, less as a governess than a friend, very
fond of both daughters, but particularly fond of Emma. Between them it was more the intimacy of
sisters. Even before Miss Taylor had ceased to hold the nominal office of governess, the mildness of her
temper had hardly allowed her to impose any restraint; and the shadow of authority being now long
passed away, they had been living together as friend and friend mutually attached, and Emma doing just
what she liked; highly esteeming Miss Taylor’s judgement, but directed chiefly by her own.

The real evils indeed of Emma’s situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a
disposition to think a little too well of herself; these were the disadvantages which threatened ally to
her many projects. The danger, however, was at present so unperceived, that they did not by any means
rank as misfortunes with her.

Sorrow came - a gentle sorrow - but not at all in the shape of any disagreeable consciousness. - Miss
Taylor married.

2. Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

My heart beat quick; this was the hour and moment of trial which would decide my hopes or realise my
fears. The servants were gone to a neighbouring fair. All was silent in and around the cottage; it was an
excellent opportunity; yet, when I proceeded to execute my plan, my limbs failed me, and I sunk to the
ground. Again I rose; and, exerting all the firmness of which I was master, removed the planks which I
had placed before my hovel to conceal my retreat. The fresh air revived me, and, with renewed
determination I approached the door of their cottage.

I knocked. ‘Who is there?’ said the old man - ‘Come in’.

I entered; ‘Pardon this intrusion,’ said I, ‘I am a traveller in want of a little rest; you would greatly oblige,
if you would allow me to remain a few minutes before the fire.’
In the two fragments from Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’ and Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’, there can be found
several concepts and techniques of the novel, which shows the differences between them and allows
the identification of the plot and themes each respective writer created for their literary work.

In terms of space/setting, the location and time greatly differs. While the events in ‘Emma’ take place in
rural England, given Austen’s preference for that particular geographical spot, ‘Frankenstein’ develops
its events through all out central Europe, told by its main character with the titular name, on a ship in
the Arctic wastes of the North. In the given excerpts, the setting is identified in the former by the
information regarding Emma’s living conditions and the people around her. She had a governess, Miss
Taylor, a position which was present in the country side where no suitable school existed nearby. In the
latter novel, the narrator, describing himself as a traveler, asks the old man for a minute inside his
cottage to warm up against the fire and for some lodgings. Victor Frankenstein had experiences through
all out Europe during the course of his life.

The novels are narrated in opposite ways. While Jane Austen utilizes the third person voice in her work,
Mary Shelley engages in a first person narration. The narrative voices therefore are distinct for each
novel. ‘Emma’ has an objective extradiegetic narrative style, using third person verbs to recount the
events of the story while ‘Frankenstein’ provides a more personal and intradiegetic narration. This
completely alters the focalization and point of view. In Austen’s novel, the narrator is omniscient,
focusing not only on the main character, but on other characters and events as well. In Shelley’s work,
the point of view is limited to the main character and all the experiences and events are related through
their perspective.

There are differences concerning the time aspect as well in both novels. In ‘Emma’, the principal events
are measured up to a period of the character’s life. Although quite the same in Shelley’s novel, Victor
Frankenstein however accounts a big portion of his life. The timespan shifts from the present to
flashbacks of the character’s past.

Both novels’ main characters share their name with the title of the respective literary work. That means
that they are the center of the events and the action is based on their choices and reactions. In the
excerpt from ‘Emma’, the narrator fully focuses on Emma’s life, her surroundings, how she feels and acts
because of it, and what the disadvantages to her relaxing and carefree existence are. On the other hand,
Victor Frankenstein is both character and narrator, accounting his own experiences through his personal
view point and drawing conclusions from them. Both characters are round, unpredictable and drive the
story forward, situating themselves in the center of the action.

The style employed by the two authors is quite similar, having the effect of both presenting events in
their raw form but also expressing itself on a deeper level, to evoke certain emotions out of the reader.
For example, in the fragment from ‘Emma’, Austen uses words like ‘evils’ and ‘sorrow’ to display the
highlights of the character. Meanwhile, the stream of thought in the ‘Frankenstein’ paragraph indicates
how the narration and the experiences of the character are intertwined and have the same value and
meaning. The imagery of the novels behave in the same way. In ‘Emma’, the narration is rather objective
and not much details are offered to add to the general imagery. However, because of the first person
narration in ‘Frankenstein’, the excerpt is beset with all kinds of descriptive details about the scene
(fresh air, silence, coldness) which come in aid to create familiarity within the reader.