(previously SVEC)
Theatre and the novel
from Behn to Fielding
ANNE F. WIDMAYER
Vf
VOLTAIRE FOUNDATION
•
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
[email protected] www.voltaire.ox.ac.uk
Theatre and the novel, from Behn to Fielding
ANNE F. WIDMAYER
Ever since Ian Watt’s The Rise of the novel (1957), many critics have argued that a
constitutive element of the early ‘novel’ is its embrace of realism. Anne F. Widmayer
contends, however, that Restoration and early eighteenth-century prose narratives
employ techniques that distance the reading audience from an illusion of reality;
irony, hypocrisy, and characters who are knowingly acting for an audience are
privileged, highlighting the artificial and false in fictional works.
Focusing on the works of four celebrated playwright-novelists, Widmayer explores
how the increased interiority of their prose characters is ridiculed by the use of
techniques drawn from the theatre to throw into doubt the novel’s ability to portray an
unmediated ‘reality’. Aphra Behn’s dramatic techniques question the reliability of
female narrators, while Delarivier Manley undermines the impact of women’s
passionate anger by suggesting the self-consciousness of their performances. In his
later drama, William Congreve subverts the character of the apparently objective
critic that is recurrent in his prose work, whilst Henry Fielding uses the figure of the
satirical writer in his rehearsal plays to mock the novelist’s aspiration to control the
way a reader reads the text. Through analysing how these writers satirize the reading
public’s desire for clear distinctions between truth and illusion, Anne F. Widmayer
also highlights the equally fluid boundaries between prose fiction and drama.
Introduction
1. Aphra Behn’s dramatic techniques in prose: credibility and female power
i. Behn’s and Southerne’s Oroonokos: individuals and groups
ii. Parallels between the narrator and Oroonoko
iii. Echoes of Rover I
2. Performed emotion in Delarivier Manley’s works: actors and voyeurs
i. Discovering emotion in Manley’s plays
ii. Scenes in Manley’s prose
iii. Validating female emotion in Memoirs of Europe and The Power of love
3. Hybrid dramatic-narrative techniques: William Congreve’s Incognita and The
Old batchelor
i. Staging lovers in Dryden’s Assignation and Congreve’s
Incognita
ii. Scarron’s influence upon Incognita
iii. Heartwell as satirical commentator in The Old batchelor
4. Abandoning control over ‘reality’: author-characters in Henry Fielding’s plays
i. The satirist satirized in Fielding’s author-character plays
ii. Author-characters as Fielding’s theatrical avatars
5. Self-conscious anti-realism: readers as actor-authors in Henry Fielding’s
prose
i. Fielding’s self-ironizing author-characters
ii. Novel characters who comment metatheatrically
6. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Anne F. Widmayer is a professor of English and Women’s Studies in the
University of Wisconsin Colleges. She has published performance studies of
Renaissance, Restoration, eighteenth-century, and contemporary drama. Her
most recent research interests are antitheatricalism in harlequinades and the
ironic portrayal of gender in British and French performance practices.
Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment, July 2015
ISBN 978-0-7294-1165-3, xii+264 pages, £60 / €90 / $95
VOLTAIRE
• UNIVERSITY
www.voltaire.ox.ac.uk
FOUNDATION
OF OXFORD
VOLTAIRE FOUNDATION
ORDER FORM
Voir au verso pour les commandes en France.
Please send the completed form to: Administrator, Voltaire Foundation, 99 Banbury Road,
Oxford OX2 6JX, UK (fax +44 (0) 1865 284610). Payment can be made by credit card
(complete details below) or cheque (made payable to the ‘Voltaire Foundation Ltd’; sterling
cheques must be drawn on a British bank, dollar cheques on an American bank, or euro
cheques).
Please complete this form in BLOCK CAPITALS.
Name ____________________________________________________________________
Delivery address____________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Tel __________________________________ Email _____________________________
Please tick the box if you wish to subscribe to the FREE Voltaire Foundation email bulletin. 
Qty
Author, Title, ISBN, Price
Sub-total
Theatre and the novel, from Behn to Fielding
Anne F. Widmayer
ISBN
978-0-7294-1165-3
£60/ €90 (before tax) / $95
Postage and packing
UK: £2.75/book, plus 50p for each extra book
Europe (except France): £3/book up to 5 books, then £2/book
Rest of world: £8/book up to 5 books, then £5/book
TOTAL
Prices can be subject to change. Euro and dollar prices subject to exchange rate fluctuations.
CREDIT CARD PAYMENT
Visa / MasterCard / Amex / Switch / Delta Delete as appropriate.
Number___________________________________ _______________________________
Expiry date ________________________________
Security code ______________________________ (series of 3 or 4 figures displayed on the
reverse of the card)
Please give details of your replacement card if the expiry date is less than one month from
today’s date.
Please enter your credit card account address if it differs from the delivery address.
____________________________________________________________________________
Signature _______________________________________ Date _______________________
Vf
• UNIVERSITY
www.voltaire.ox.ac.uk
VOLTAIRE FOUNDATION
OF OXFORD
VOLTAIRE FOUNDATION
BULLETIN DE COMMANDE (pour la France)
See overleaf for orders outside France.
Prière d’envoyer ce bulletin aux Amateurs de Livres (62, avenue de Suffren, 75015 Paris, France;
Fax +33 (0) 1 45 66 50 70; [email protected]), accompagné de votre paiement par l’un des moyens
suivants:
(a) chèque libellé à l’ordre de ‘Aux Amateurs de Livres International’
(b) carte de crédit (voir ci-dessous).
Prière de compléter ce bulletin en MAJUSCULES.
Nom et prénom ____________________________________________________________
Adresse de livraison ________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Tél _________________________________
E-mail ____________________________
Prière de cocher la case si vous voulez recevoir le bulletin électronique (gratuit) de la Voltaire
Foundation.

Qté
Auteur, Titre, ISBN, Prix
Total partiel
Theatre and the novel, from Behn to Fielding
Anne F. Widmayer
ISBN
978-0-7294-1165-3
€90 (hors taxe)
Frais de port
France: €8 / livre
TOTAL
Les prix peuvent subir des augmentations. Les prix en euro et en dollar sont hors taxe et
peuvent changer selon le taux de change.
PAIEMENT PAR CARTE DE CRÉDIT
Visa / MasterCard / Carte Bleue Rayer les mentions inutiles.
Numéro___________________________________ _______________________________
Date d’expiration ___________________________
Cryptogramme visuel _____ (la série unique de trois ou quatre chiffres, imprimée sur la plupart
des cartes de crédit)
Prière d’utiliser votre nouvelle carte de crédit si la date d’expiration est dans moins d’un mois.
Si l’adresse de facturation de votre carte de crédit ne correspond pas à l’adresse de livraison
ci-dessus, prière d’indiquer l’adresse de facturation.
____________________________________________________________________________
Signature _______________________________________ Date _______________________
Vf
• UNIVERSITY
www.voltaire.ox.ac.uk
VOLTAIRE FOUNDATION
OF OXFORD