Often regarded as the precursor to the novel, epistolary fiction began in the late 17th to early 18th century originating, according to fame, in France and Britain with Samuel Richardson’s “Pamela,” Fielding’s “An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews” as well as Charles Louis de Montesquieu’s “Lettres Persanes,”(enotes). Epistolary fiction is composed of various clandestine letters or epistles, chronicling the private intimacy or personal events of the correspondents. The structural benefits of the epistolary form are that it creates a fast-paced, moment-to-moment tale flooded with individual and sometimes multiple points of view that allow the reader to assess opinions on specific events and formulate their own truths or judgments (Bowers). In addition to these attributes, by writing in letters, the epistolary form deviates from previous attempts at substantial, heroic fiction in that the plot is richer, character development is centralised and it “…lends realism, complexity, and psychological subtlety…” to the story (enotes). Perhaps the greatest significance of the induction of epistolary fiction is that it posed as a venue for women to make their name in a man’s world of art. Fanny Burney’s “Evelina: or the History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World” exemplifies some of the reoccuring themes, including but not limited to, the “… Wrestle with sexual temptation and moral propriety…” (enotes) and “…woman’s exclusion from public matters and [the female character's mission] to transcend social barriers by making their own autonomous decisions,” (enotes). Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” deals more with Celie’s route to self discovery, independence and salvation from her past through feminist principles of acceptance and possession of one’s body as an object of beauty and sexual desire.
Throughout the novel there is an acutely conscious confusion on the part of Celie on regards to her self image and whether or not she has any right to her physical body. Because of this, she writes to God for the majority of “The Color Purple.”
Works Cited
- ”The Epistolary Novel – Introduction.” Literary Criticism (1400-1800). Ed. Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 59. Gale Cengage, 2001. eNotes.com. 2006. 11 Nov, 2009 <http://www.enotes.com/literary-criticism/
epistolary-novel> - Bowers, Toni. “Epistolary Fiction”. The Literary Encyclopedia. 24 July 2009.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=350, accessed 11 November 2009.] - Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. 7th . Orlando, FL: Harvest Books, Harcourt Inc., 1992. Print.
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