Fanny Hill Literary Elements

Fanny Hill Literary Elements

Genre

Sentimental erotica, a novel

Setting and Context

The place of events is London, the middle of the 19th century.

Narrator and Point of View

It is first-person narration; Fanny Hill is the narrator.

Tone and Mood

The tone and mood combines notes of excessive expression of feelings of tenderness and sadness.

Protagonist and Antagonist

The protagonist is Fanny Hill, and the antagonists probably are the “circumstances” and society.

Major Conflict

The main conflict is in consideration of satisfying both emotional and physical needs of a person, mostly of a woman.

Climax

The climax comes when Fanny finally is reunited with her first and true love.

Foreshadowing

The narrator’s youth and state of being unsophisticated foreshadows a lot of troubles for her, as there are many “harpies” looking for such young girls to use their lack of experience for personal benefit.

Understatement

Emotions and feelings of men in particular are understated.

Allusions

The novel alludes to London and its streets; also there are allusions to Greek and Roman mythology.

Imagery

The images of physical acts of love are depicted extremely vivid and is all the specific details.

Paradox

The paradox is the “happy end” of the novel, as it is a rare case when a prostitute gets a fortune from her client. Also the very fact that after all her experience and adventures Fanny finds her first love and lives with him happily growing up their children.

Parallelism

The narrator’s draws parallels between her life and the lives of three other girls who work in Mrs. Cole’s brothel.

Metonymy and Synecdoche

N/A

Personification

N/A

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