Point of View

In Ourika by Claire de Duras, the Introduction written by Jean DeJean and Margaret Waller was written in third person, but John Fowles wrote the Foreword in first person. Duras also wrote Ourika, including her Introduction, in first person. This point of view is limited and reliable which can be seen quite obviously the fact that Ourika, the narrator, is privy only to the inner workings of her own mind; though she conjectures about others' thoughts and feelings, she can only speak with authority upon her own thoughts and emotions. This point of view is important since the novel serves as Ourika's autobiography in which she examines the sorrow that led to her illness.

The story is told mostly through the use of exposition with some conversations being described or paraphrased. There are very few instances of actual quoted dialogue between the characters in the novel...