Compare and contrast the ways in which Shaw and Dickens present irony through their narrative voice in 'The Devil's Disciple' and 'A Tale of Two Cities'.

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Sarah Duggan

Compare and contrast the ways in which Shaw and Dickens present irony through their narrative voice in ‘The Devil’s Disciple’ and ‘A Tale of Two Cities’.

The most obvious contrast between the two texts is the fact that ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ is a novel, while ‘The Devil’s Disciple’ is a play. This difference of genre makes the use of the narrative voice vary greatly, despite the fact that both authors are trying to convey opinions and create images through the narrator.

In its original form, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ was meant to be read in instalments. The use of the narrative voice is crucial for reminding the reading audience of what happened previously in the tale. The voice also sets the scene quickly, taking the reader to the specific setting for that instalment. This is particularly crucial in ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ because of the switches across the channel and within a country the separate characters backgrounds. While none of this deals explicitly with the irony in the narrative voice, it is crucial to realise that Dickens voice is employed in many jobs, not only least acting as a signpost to the reader to explain where in history and geography Dickens is taking the reader in a specific instalment. Shaw’s voice does not have such a multi faceted job, if the audience are watching the play rather than reading it. In the case of watching the play, the scene is set, the characters are played by actors and the narrative voice becomes redundant to the audience, if not the actors, because all the asides are being performed by the cast.

For the purpose of this essay, I will consider the reading audience of Shaw, as opposed to the viewing audience. I will do this because if the narrative voice becomes redundant to a viewing audience it would be very difficult to reveal the irony in ’The Devil’s Disciple’. This is not as unorthodox as it might seem, Shaw was expecting ‘The Devil’s Disciple’ to be read, not just to be watched. The evidence for this is the extensive notes Shaw includes as ‘scene setters’ and character expansions, in much the same way as Dickens employs his narrative voice. For example, before the first word is said by any character there are roughly six hundred words of description from Shaw about Mrs Dudgeon and her home. While there is an argument to suggest that Shaw included all these notes for the actors purposes, this can be discounted by looking at the descriptive passage on Mr Anderson in Act 1, where in his first entrance Shaw describes him as ‘a shrewd, genial, ready Presbyterian divine of about 50 with something of the authority of his profession in his bearing. But it is an altogether secular authority, sweetened by a conciliatory sensible manner not at all suggestive of a quite thorough going other worldliness’. This description could not possibly be acted to this extent; this draws me to the conclusion that Shaw was providing such details for readers of the play to give them a more rounded view of the characters.

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In the first instalment of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ Dickens uses his narrative voice to express satirical opinions on contemporary issues. Using the traditional role of the narrative voice he sets the scenes, creating the opposition between England and France. In doing this the voice uses sarcasm to express the distaste with some of France’s practices of the time: ‘She[France] entertained herself, besides, with such humane achievements as sentencing a youth to have his hands cut off, his tongue torn out with pincers and his body burned alive because he had not kneeled down’. In this way Dickens ...

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