Point of View

The story is narrated from two points of views. One narrator is Esther Summerson who describes her experiences in first person as if in a diary. She engages analysis and reflection. The other point of view is conveyed in the present tense in the third person.

The point of view is the same as the audience, with performances similar to stage performances. Unrealistic, expressionist, and allegorical expressions resemble theatrical forms. The reader is part of the third person narrator looking as an outsider which allows for distancing from the action while remaining uninvolved. There is little explanatory information that is not more narrative. Rather than describing expression Dickens uses action.

Esther appears to be objective but her position as depicting events in the first person leads to the inability to maintain objectivity. She assumes the position of a reader. The first person narration cannot be reliable...