1st person VS 3rd person narrative?

Question

In my literature class we have to compare "Jane Eyre" to "Pride and Prejudice" Bronte uses the 1st person narrative while Austen uses the 3rd person. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? PLs gimme some ideas I'm a biochem major who knows zilch about these kinds of things...

Answer 1

The merits of first person narration are that first of all, the reader inevitably identifies with the narrator. He is able to "get inside" the head of the character and thus experience what the character experiences. Also, it is a limited point of view because you can only "know" what the narrator knows. In Austen, you only later, in retrospect, discover certain things that happened, but then again, nothing important can really take place without the narrator/protagonist being somehow involved. A third person narrator is a "know-it-all" narrator that "chooses" to relate to the reader whatever he feels is important at the moment. He can let everything out or keep certain things a secret. It's a more commonly used style of narration (and it sometimes uses a focalizer - a character that "sees" the events, unlike the narrator, who is the "voice" of the plot and "tells" of the events).
Hope it helps.

Answer 2

The disadvantage of first person narrative is that you can only read the narrator's thoughts. That kind of limits you in terms of explaining a scene and defining your characters. In other words - if the book is narrated by Sue, she cant suddenly say "Bob was sitting there thinking about getting general cho's chicken for dinner" because she isnt inside Bob's head and cannot know those things. A common practice today is to switch back and forth - either writing in first person for both the protagonist or antagonist in different chapters that more or less overlap (each showing their different perspective) or writing third person for both ( write that way) or first for one and third for the other (James Patterson often writes that way) . Hope that explains to a biochem major. Pax - C

Answer 3

1st person narrative can be good when you want to tell a story in a diary style format. The disadvantage of 1st person narrative is that you can't get into the mind of any other character except the narrator. You can only see the world through the narrator's eyes and not from the broad perspective that 3rd person narrative permits.