The aim of this essay on Margaret Cavendish’s novel "The Contract" is to approach the text from a new perspective and to attempt a close reading of the narrative strategies in the novel and the way the mode of narration mirrors society’s wish to capture and determine social relations.
Research has already shown that "The Contract" is “the earliest extended critique in English prose fiction of the marriage market from a woman’s standpoint” (Donovan 59). Attention has been drawn to the political references and allusions made in "The Contract", and to the gender issues that are being raised in the novel.
Concerning the former, Victoria Kahn has reminded us that romances were used politically during the reign of Charles I and the Protectorate (527) and has emphasized the analogy between the marriage contract and “the hierarchical, inequitable political relations of sovereign and subject” (527). This analogy is especially valid in the contemporary context of the engagement controversy (1649-1652), “when parliament sought to secure alliance to the new government of Cromwell after the execution of Charles I” and a statement of engagement had to be signed by all male citizens (535). According to her, "The Contract" raises questions about the validity (529), the different sorts of contracts, and the motivation of people to sign contracts (526). Kahn has shown that The Contract is a comment on “contemporary debates about political obligation”, a comment that argues for a form of political obligation “that is based on love rather than on filial obligation” (529), and which ironically makes the royalist Cavendish “draw[] near to the parliamentarians’ theory of an original and revocable contract between the people and their ruler” (530).
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Narrative strategies and structures in The Contract
a. Part one: presentation of the characters and of the ‘problem’
b. Part two: Quest for a solution
c. Part three: Arrival in the city and masque
d. Part four: The anagnorisis
e. Part five: Quest for a solution to the new problem
f. Part six: The dénouement
III. Conclusion: social conditionality and self-made determination and their relation to love in The Contract
Research Objectives and Themes
This essay explores Margaret Cavendish’s novel The Contract through a close reading of its narrative strategies, examining how the mode of narration reflects a society preoccupied with capturing and fixing social relations through conditional and causal logic. It investigates the tension between the characters' attempts to control their world through rigid contracts and the unpredictable, resistive power of love.
- Analysis of the heterodiegetic omniscient narrator's shifting role.
- Examination of narrative structures, including causal clauses and frequent use of "if-clauses."
- Evaluation of the novel as a "forerunner of the female bildungsroman."
- Critique of the opposition between artificial social contracts and natural, uncontrollable love.
Excerpt from the Book
a. Part one: presentation of the characters and of the ‘problem’
The narrator is very present in the first part of the novel. He introduces the reader to the problem of the novel and gives biographical information on the characters. In the very first passage of the first page of the novel already, the key words for the plot are mentioned: nobility and wealth, marriage, youth-age, death, marrying again, virtue, succession. This prepares the reader for what is to come.
Interestingly, the narrator does not introduce the characters by their names. Their names do not play an important role, in fact, the reader is only told at one point in the story that the protagonist’s name is Deletia. The identifying characteristic instead is a social one (gentleman; Duke, viceroy) and age (old gentleman, young Lady). The dichotomy of old and young is important for the whole novel. It is also presented as an absolute category, not a relative one: For instance, Deletia’s uncle is not presented in relative terms as ‘older’ but in absolute terms as ‘old’. Moreover, youth seems to be presented as a humane category whereas age seems to be dehumanizing: When Deletia talks about the Duke, she refers to him as “person”. Only one sentence later, however, when she speaks about the viceroy, she says that she likes him as much as she can like “a thing” that time has worn out (19).
Summary of Chapters
I. Introduction: Presents the essay’s aim to analyze narrative strategies in Cavendish's novel and their relation to social determinism.
II. Narrative strategies and structures in The Contract: Examines the narrator's changing role and linguistic techniques throughout the novel’s six distinct structural parts.
a. Part one: presentation of the characters and of the ‘problem’: Focuses on the narrator’s use of causal language to establish a deterministic world view.
b. Part two: Quest for a solution: Analyzes the transition to the use of conditional "if-clauses" as characters attempt to weigh decisions.
c. Part three: Arrival in the city and masque: Discusses the shift toward temporal adverbs and a staccato style that implies narrator reliability.
d. Part four: The anagnorisis: Investigates the use of the conjunction "but" to reflect the antagonistic shift after identities are revealed.
e. Part five: Quest for a solution to the new problem: Explores the return of conditional clauses and the shift to a highly dialogical, play-like structure.
f. Part six: The dénouement: Analyzes the final narrative strategy changes and the use of "but" to create a sense of surprise in the resolution.
III. Conclusion: social conditionality and self-made determination and their relation to love in The Contract: Concludes that the novel portrays love as a force that undermines the artificial and rigid social contracts people attempt to impose.
Keywords
Margaret Cavendish, The Contract, narrative strategy, close reading, social determinism, causality, love, marriage market, early modern literature, bildungsroman, conditional clauses, gender agency, rhetoric, literary analysis, social relations
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research paper?
The paper provides a close reading of Margaret Cavendish’s The Contract, focusing specifically on how its shifting narrative strategies and structures reflect the society's desire to control and define social relations.
What are the central themes of the novel discussed?
The central themes include the conflict between rigid social structures (contracts, bonds) and the unpredictable power of love, as well as the societal dichotomy of youth versus age.
What is the main research objective of this work?
The objective is to analyze how the narrator’s mode of narration mirrors the characters' attempts to fix their social world through causal and conditional logic.
Which scientific method is applied in this analysis?
The author employs a close reading technique and a structural narrative analysis, dividing the novel into its six constituent parts to evaluate the evolving linguistic and stylistic choices.
What does the main body of the text cover?
It covers a detailed breakdown of the narrator's changing techniques, such as the use of causal clauses, conditional "if-clauses," temporal markers, and dialogue, across the six distinct stages of the novel's plot.
Which keywords characterize this academic work?
Key terms include Cavendish, The Contract, narrative strategy, causality, social determinism, and love, reflecting the intersection of political, gender, and structural literary analysis.
How does the narrator's use of language evolve throughout the book?
The narrator shifts from a monological, cause-and-effect driven voice in the beginning to a more dialogical, play-like style in the later sections, effectively changing how the reader receives the information.
Why does the author argue that contracts in the novel are ultimately ineffective?
The author argues that love functions as an uncontrollable, natural entity that repeatedly invalidates the artificial social and legal agreements the characters attempt to use to predict and control their futures.
What role does the "anagnorisis" play in the narrative structure?
The anagnorisis (recognition) marks a shift in narrative strategy where the use of the conjunction "but" increases, signaling the conflict and antagonism between the protagonists after their true identities are revealed.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Anonym (Autor:in), 2014, A Close Reading of Margaret Cavendish’s "The Contract" and an Analysis of its Narrative Strategies and Structures, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/336373
