The resemblance of interlocutory letters and stage dialogue

Ellen Moody

Note 14 to the author's "Partly Told In Letters: Trollope's Story-telling Art"

The resemblance of interlocutory letters and stage dialogue is discussed by just about everyone who has ever written about epistolary narrative or specific epistolary books. The novel which makes the most riveting use of antiphony is Les Liaison Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos (1782); for contrasted voices in opposition used centrally in Trollope, see The Belton Estate (1865) at key turning points in the action (2, 16-18, 21, 32).

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Last modified 6 October 2001