“I CANNOT WANT A MUSE, WHO WRITE TO YOU”: THE MULTIPLICITY OF RHETORICAL STYLES IN BEHN’S THE UNFORTUNATE BRIDE: OR, THE BLIND LADY A BEAUTY. A NOVEL
“I CANNOT WANT A MUSE, WHO WRITE TO YOU”: THE MULTIPLICITY OF RHETORICAL STYLES IN BEHN’S THE UNFORTUNATE BRIDE: OR, THE BLIND LADY A BEAUTY. A NOVEL

Summary/Abstract: This paper demonstrates that The Unfortunate Bride: or, The Blind Lady a Beauty. A Novel (1698) reflects a shift from the romance tradition towards the more ‘realistic’ genre of the novel, tracing this change through the work’s stylistic features. Classical rhetoric theory will be applied for the identification of rhetorical styles, in order to achieve a detailed analysis on the linguistic level. It starts from the premise proposed by Michael McKeon that the novel developed in a dialectical relationship with the romance genre, arising from a profound epistemological crisis that occurred towards the end of the 17th century. These observations are presented as an example of the gradual metamorphosis toward the rise of the new genre, while the contemporary scientific context, which Rose Zimbardo (1998) has termed “Zero Point”, will also be considered as a point of departure. First, the textual elements that contribute to the sublime style of the writing and enhance the complexity of the narrative will be cited and catalogued. Next, a rhetorical underpinning will be offered for Ian Watt's influential concept of “formal realism”, which is identifiable in the text.

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