Abstract
The end of a narrative, which has long been recognized as a problem for literary structure, poses a problem for readers as well. In the absence of conventional methods for examining this dimension of literary experience, this essay approaches Thomas Hardy’s late lyrics as a gloss on the aesthetic and affective consequences of coming to the end of a novel. Hardy’s intricate accounts of directing one-sided attention toward insensible objects of desire, I argue, attune us to the pathos of thinking about fictional persons that continue to dwell in our minds but exist nowhere in the actual world.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 399-408 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Victorian Studies |
Volume | 59 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2017 |
Bibliographical note
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