As most of the class has
already pointed out, Volumes II and III were definitely more exciting with the
addition of new voices. I enjoyed
learning more about Geraldine since I had only received an exaggerated description
of her character through Desmond’s eyes.
Although I found myself enjoying the later volumes more than the first I
missed the conflict in Lady Susan and
Austen’s use of the epistolary form.
In Austen’s epistolary novel she uses a multitude of characters in order
to paint a fuller picture of Lady Susan.
The reader sees Lady Susan’s deceit through her letters to Mrs. Johnson
and Mrs. Vernon’s letters to her mother in which she does her best to uncover
Lady Susan’s plots. In Desmond I am not sure Smith uses the
epistolary form to her advantage.
Other classmates have already expressed their frustration at the
characters always needing to be separated for this plot to succeed. Austen had most of her characters
living in the same house and managed to use the epistolary form in a very exciting
way. I really wanted the
characters in Desmond to not be so
forthcoming with what they write to one another. The reader does not have to work to uncover the plot along
with the characters, which is precisely the experience I had while reading Lady Susan, but rather these characters
write extremely lengthy letters in which they their souls. Geraldine’s very first letter in Volume
II is just a flood of emotions.
She’s fearful for her brother and Desmond and overwhelmed by her own
woes. Instead of finding out a
character’s true nature from their actions related to the reader by other
characters, in Desmond, the
characters are very upfront with their feelings in their letters.
I think this post is interesting in light of one of the questions we asked during class last week: do we prefer Austen to Smith because the former is simply a more skilled, polished writer? Most of the things you mentioned, Madeline, strike me as hallmarks of a talented author. We get a “fuller picture” of Lady Susan than of the characters in Desmond; Austen uses the “epistolary form in very exciting way;” in Lady Susan, the reader finds out “a character’s true nature from their actions.” These comments all point to the difference between the showing vs. telling techniques used in writing, and they suggest a clear preference for showing. While Austen gives us enough information to keep us from getting confused, she employs nuance and a lot of subtext to give the reader the responsibility of inferring that, for example, Mrs. Vernon might not be the passive, benign character we think she is upon first glance. Meanwhile, Smith’s novel displays a much more straightforward, emotive style, which is, interestingly, less appealing to us (many people expressed boredom or frustration with that particular novel). As readers, we like to be challenged. While less skilled writers may be able to write a convincing, coherent story, it takes talent and finesse to write something with which readers can actively engage. From our blog posts and our discussions in class, it seems that Austen, rather than Smith, wins this round.
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