Bray, J. orcid.org/0000-0002-0151-4519 (2021) “Come brother Opie!”: Amelia Opie and the courtroom. Nineteenth-Century Literature, 76 (2). pp. 137-162. ISSN 0891-9356
Abstract
This essay examines how Amelia Opie’s lifelong fascination with the human drama of the courtroom is reflected in her fiction, specifically in her tales that revolve around trial scenes. Focusing on three examples in particular, “Henry Woodville” (1818), “The Robber” (1806), and “The Mysterious Stranger” (1813), it argues that Opie’s fictional courtrooms encourage an emotional engagement on the part of both characters and narrators, which in turn can be extended to that of the reader. In the case of “The Mysterious Stranger,” a character is on figurative trial throughout, with both narrator and reader frequently in the dark as to her motives. As a result, judgment is both hazardous and uncertain. Through a sympathetic representation of the passions and vicissitudes experienced by all those in the courtroom context, whether real or metaphorical, Opie’s fiction develops a model of readerly participation that adds a new, affective dimension to traditional accounts of the relationship between early-nineteenth-century literature and the law.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: | |
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 by The Regents of the University of California. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Nineteenth-Century Literature. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Amelia Opie; law and literature; courtroom fiction; nineteenth-century tales; reader participation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > School of English (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 05 Aug 2021 11:28 |
Last Modified: | 16 Nov 2021 12:42 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | University of California Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1525/ncl.2021.76.2.137 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:176658 |