SOURCE: Monk, Leland. “The Novel as Prison: Scott's The Heart of Midlothian.” Novel 27 (1994): 287-303.

In the following essay, Monk argues that rather than its brief attention to the actual prison mentioned in its title, the novel's more significant engagement with the theme of imprisonment is its mechanism for discipline. Drawing from the ideas of Michel Foucault, Monk argues that the novel itself acts as a disciplinary structure more effective than a physical prison by compelling the reader's self-regulation.

“The heart of Midlothian” is the almost affectionate nickname given to Edinburgh's Tolbooth prison by the functionaries of the law in Walter Scott's novel with that title. But the setting and subject matter of Scott's tale seem to have very little to do with the place or meaning of incarceration. After the early and dramatic storming of the Tolbooth during the Porteous riot, the narrative gives scant attention to the...