Item Details

abstract

This project uses corpus stylistics to examine discursive patterns that interact with surface-level character cliches (represented through physical appearance or role in the plot) that Victorian critics discuss in published reviews. More specifically, this project examines how syntactic repetition in sensation author Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s bigamy novels uncovers insight into characters’ perceptions of each other, capturing a new depth of characterization despite critics’ complaints of banality. To explore these inquiries, chapter one compares collocates (words that correlate in any order), concordances (words that repeat in the same order), and n-grams (frequently repeated phrases) related to body language in Braddon’s most famous bigamy novels (Lady Audley’s Secret and Aurora Floyd), arguing that the bigamists’ beauty controls male characters’ reactions and subsequent characterizations. Chapter two studies the same linguistic features in Braddon’s full bigamy corpus, now concluding that the cliches do not, on their own, offer a full picture of characterization; instead, they become conduits for understanding the reflexive reactions that connect characters across cliches. These findings indicate that Braddon’s later novels subtly respond to complaints of repetition, even if the cliches remain prominent on the surface. Finally, chapter three discusses a pedagogical rationale for incorporating corpus stylistics into the classroom.

subject

Bigamy

Corpus Stylistics

Linguistics

Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Sensation Fiction

contributor

Waxman, Meara Leiah (author)

Jenkins, Melissa (committee chair)

Holdridge, Jefferson (committee member)

Lancaster, Zak (committee member)

date

2021-06-03T08:35:52Z (accessioned)

2021 (issued)

degree

English (discipline)

2026-06-01 (liftdate)

embargo

2026-06-01 (terms)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/98781 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

title

Braddon's Body of Bigamy: A Corpus Stylistics Analysis

type

Thesis