Gender Aspects of Free Indirect Discourse in E. Wharton’s novel The Glimpses of the Moon

Abstract

The article deals with gender aspects of free indirect discourse functioning in the novels by E.Wharton, an early 20th century American writer. The novel under consideration is The Glimpses of the Moon. The phenomena of free indirect discourse and gender are touched upon. Some definitions of the above mentioned notions are given and explained. Typical features of male and female discourse are mentioned. The author considers specific lexical and syntactic features of free indirect discourse. A brief outline of E.Wharton’s literary work in general and the novel under study is given. Difference between the inner and uttered speech of the main chatacters is investigated. The evolution of the characters’ inner world and outlook is shown through the analysis of free indirect discourse. Samples of free indirect discourse are analysed from the point of view of gender characteristics. The author comes to the conclusion, that gender speech differences are typical of free indirect discourse as well as direct speech of literary characters.