Figures de l’aventurière dans The Eustace Diamonds, d’Anthony Trollope (1873) : le refoulement d’un retour

However emphatically Trollope denied the fact himself, it is striking that the characterization of the key character of The Eustace Diamonds, Lizzie Eustace, conjures up Thackeray’s fictional creature, Becky Sharp, the heroine of Vanity Fair, who appeared on the literary scene some twenty-five years...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Jacqueline Fromonot
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée 2010-06-01
Series:Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/cve/3075
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832581329912332288
author Jacqueline Fromonot
author_facet Jacqueline Fromonot
author_sort Jacqueline Fromonot
collection DOAJ
description However emphatically Trollope denied the fact himself, it is striking that the characterization of the key character of The Eustace Diamonds, Lizzie Eustace, conjures up Thackeray’s fictional creature, Becky Sharp, the heroine of Vanity Fair, who appeared on the literary scene some twenty-five years before. This study first undertakes to assess the influence of the Thackerayan paradigm on Trollope’s creation. The two novelists indeed portray female adventurers — manipulative, immoral social climbers and materialistic, merciless predators, as is made particularly obvious with Lizzie’s intention to keep her husband’s inheritance, the eponymous jewels.Secondly, the resurgence of a former model in Trollope appears through the aesthetic treatment of the heroine, which relies on semantic fields that already pervade Thackeray’s novel — the animalization of the two deceitful characters and the theatricality of their behaviour. And yet, contrary to Thackeray, Trollope abstains from building a fascinating character for the reader, as evidenced by the scarcer use of images and the narrator’s bluntly calling the adventuress a “liar”, which amounts to depriving her of any potential aura.This strategy of constant disqualification allows for the emergence of a clear-cut ethical position, which seems absent from Vanity Fair. In Trollope, all kinds of narrative and stylistic strategies tend to deflate the adventuress and to stigmatize a conduct unambiguously presented as shameful. Consequently Lizzie Eustace becomes a counter-model used for didactic purposes, namely moral edification. It appears therefore that whereas the Horatian satire prevails in Thackeray, the Trollopian persona’s embittered tone recalls the Juvenalian satire aimed at the fallen world it lives in.
format Article
id doaj-art-c7e66bdf873442b18d8e55229955334c
institution Kabale University
issn 0220-5610
2271-6149
language English
publishDate 2010-06-01
publisher Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée
record_format Article
series Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
spelling doaj-art-c7e66bdf873442b18d8e55229955334c2025-01-30T10:20:40ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492010-06-017126527410.4000/cve.3075Figures de l’aventurière dans The Eustace Diamonds, d’Anthony Trollope (1873) : le refoulement d’un retourJacqueline FromonotHowever emphatically Trollope denied the fact himself, it is striking that the characterization of the key character of The Eustace Diamonds, Lizzie Eustace, conjures up Thackeray’s fictional creature, Becky Sharp, the heroine of Vanity Fair, who appeared on the literary scene some twenty-five years before. This study first undertakes to assess the influence of the Thackerayan paradigm on Trollope’s creation. The two novelists indeed portray female adventurers — manipulative, immoral social climbers and materialistic, merciless predators, as is made particularly obvious with Lizzie’s intention to keep her husband’s inheritance, the eponymous jewels.Secondly, the resurgence of a former model in Trollope appears through the aesthetic treatment of the heroine, which relies on semantic fields that already pervade Thackeray’s novel — the animalization of the two deceitful characters and the theatricality of their behaviour. And yet, contrary to Thackeray, Trollope abstains from building a fascinating character for the reader, as evidenced by the scarcer use of images and the narrator’s bluntly calling the adventuress a “liar”, which amounts to depriving her of any potential aura.This strategy of constant disqualification allows for the emergence of a clear-cut ethical position, which seems absent from Vanity Fair. In Trollope, all kinds of narrative and stylistic strategies tend to deflate the adventuress and to stigmatize a conduct unambiguously presented as shameful. Consequently Lizzie Eustace becomes a counter-model used for didactic purposes, namely moral edification. It appears therefore that whereas the Horatian satire prevails in Thackeray, the Trollopian persona’s embittered tone recalls the Juvenalian satire aimed at the fallen world it lives in.https://journals.openedition.org/cve/3075
spellingShingle Jacqueline Fromonot
Figures de l’aventurière dans The Eustace Diamonds, d’Anthony Trollope (1873) : le refoulement d’un retour
Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
title Figures de l’aventurière dans The Eustace Diamonds, d’Anthony Trollope (1873) : le refoulement d’un retour
title_full Figures de l’aventurière dans The Eustace Diamonds, d’Anthony Trollope (1873) : le refoulement d’un retour
title_fullStr Figures de l’aventurière dans The Eustace Diamonds, d’Anthony Trollope (1873) : le refoulement d’un retour
title_full_unstemmed Figures de l’aventurière dans The Eustace Diamonds, d’Anthony Trollope (1873) : le refoulement d’un retour
title_short Figures de l’aventurière dans The Eustace Diamonds, d’Anthony Trollope (1873) : le refoulement d’un retour
title_sort figures de l aventuriere dans the eustace diamonds d anthony trollope 1873 le refoulement d un retour
url https://journals.openedition.org/cve/3075
work_keys_str_mv AT jacquelinefromonot figuresdelaventurieredanstheeustacediamondsdanthonytrollope1873lerefoulementdunretour