The Trial of Théophé in History of a Modern Greek Woman
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Themes
Abbé Prévost, History of a Modern Greek Woman, Theophé, narrative device, judicial structure, reader perception, Manon Lescaut, 18th century French literature, literary analysis, narrative ambiguity
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Abstract
Analysis of the narrative device and judicial structure in Abbé Prévost's novel, History of a Modern Greek Woman, and its impact on the reader's perception of the character Théophé.
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[...] Bénichou, P. (1977). The Time of the Prophets: Doctrine of the Romantic Age. Paris : Gallimard. [...]
[...] This gesture of erasure is a deception. By choosing the order, the moment of publication, and contextualizing (notably when he evokes their meeting), he exerts a real influence on the reception of the narrative. The trial, thus, is latent but structuring. Each letter becomes a piece of evidence. And as the narrative advances, the question of Théophé's guilt, or rather, the responsibility of her choices, as one might say, is posed with insistence. She sells her body, she flees, she even lies sometimes. [...]
[...] The specificity of The Story of a Modern Greek Woman, it may be to make this dynamic more explicit. The reader is directly addressed. Théophé writes, the narrator transmits, the reader decides. This triptych sets up a fiction of objectivity, which is in fact a fiction of doubt. But then . can we even judge? Does the novel not open up a reflection on the impossibility of judging a woman fairly in a world structured by male domination? Reading becomes critical and even almost political. [...]
[...] What this device ultimately reveals is perhaps Prévost's acute awareness of the uncertainty of passions and the impotence of narrative to resolve them. As Paul Bénichou writes in The Time of the Prophets : « Literature of the 18th century does not seek truth, but the moving place where it eludes" (Bénichou p. 212). A remark that accurately illuminates the unease, or the intelligence of unease, that arises from reading the trial of Théophé." Bibliography Prévost, A.-F. (1972). History of a Modern Greek (R. Mauzi, Ed.). [...]
[...] But then, what does this trial of Théophé reveal about the nature of the narrative itself? Is it a simple narrative device or a deeper symptom of a moral or political unease at the heart of the work? And to what extent does the narrator, by presenting himself as neutral, not guide the reader's judgment in a subtle but decisive way? It is therefore in the light of these tensions that one can be led to pose the following problem: in what way does the trial of Théophé, as it is staged by the narrative device of the novel, not only influence the way we perceive the character, but more deeply influence the meaning of the narrative and the reading experience itself? [...]
