Literary Analysis

The theme of literary analysis is explored through the character of Madeleine Hanna and her academic and personal engagement with the marriage plot. On an academic level, Madeleine is taught by her professor that marriage plots cannot function in novels set in contemporary society whereas Madeleine’s life (and, therefore, the novel itself) shows how the literary devices of this traditional plot are still relevant to twentieth century life.

When Madeleine first begins studying Victorian literature at Brown, Professor Saunders makes the argument that the marriage plot can only be found in novels from the past. He argues that “In the days when success in life had depended on marriage, and marriage had depended on money, novelists had had a subject to write about… Sexual equality, good for women, had been bad for the novel. What would it matter whom Emma married if she could...