Which of the following writers employ ‘Free Indirect Discourse’ as a literary technique and allows for variation between the character’s and the narrator’s values, letting us choose one character over the other?

Correct option is A

Explanation:
Jane Austen is widely recognized for her use of Free Indirect Discourse (FID), a narrative technique that blends the third-person narration with the thoughts and speech of characters. This technique allows readers to access a character’s inner thoughts without explicitly stating them, creating a subtle irony where the narrator’s perspective overlaps with that of the character.

Austen’s novels, particularly Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Sense and Sensibility, showcase this technique, making readers question whether they are receiving an objective narration or the character’s subjective thoughts. This method adds depth and complexity to her storytelling, especially in shaping characters like Elizabeth Bennet and Emma Woodhouse, whose misconceptions and personal growth are revealed through FID.

Information Booster:
Free Indirect Discourse

• A narrative style that blends direct discourse (character’s speech or thoughts) and indirect discourse (narrator’s commentary).
  Example: Instead of writing, "Elizabeth thought Mr. Darcy was arrogant," Austen writes, "Mr. Darcy was certainly the most disagreeable man in the world." This sentence is not directly stated by Elizabeth, yet it reflects her inner thoughts, making the reader align with her perspective.
  
  

Jane Austen’s Mastery of FID:

• Allows readers to see events through the character’s eyes but with narrative distance.
  
• Creates dramatic irony, where the reader perceives flaws in a character’s judgment before the character realizes them.
  
• Helps in character development, as seen in Emma—where the protagonist’s evolving perspective is subtly conveyed without explicit narration.
  

Impact on Literature:

• Paved the way for later novelists like Henry James, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce, who further experimented with narrative voice and consciousness.
  
• Often used in realist fiction to bridge the gap between the narrator’s omniscience and the character’s limited perception.
  

Additional Knowledge:

Mary Shelley:
Frankenstein employs a framed narrative structure. The novel is largely told through letters and first-person narration, focusing on Victor Frankenstein’s perspective.

George Eliot:
While Eliot used psychological depth in her novels (Middlemarch, The Mill on the Floss), her narration was more omniscient. She often directly intervened in the story with her own philosophical insights.

Virginia Woolf:
Woolf is famous for stream-of-consciousness narration (To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Dalloway). Stream-of-consciousness presents a character’s unfiltered thoughts, often fragmented, rather than subtly blending them into third-person narration.