'A Beautiful Fiend'

The importance of physical appearance as one of the §narratological techniques of characterization tends §to be overlooked in literary criticism.However, this §method of indirect representation of the characters §was widely employed by the novelists of the 19th §century and played a significant role in helping the §readers at the very beginning of the novel to §interpret tentatively the protagonists, to make §initial predictions about their fate or to speculate §about their hidden qualities. Maria Dorn analyzes §the way physical appearance was used to characterize §the protagonists in the Victorian sensational §novels. Her thesis is that in this genre the way a §character looks is essential for interpretation and §is meant by the novelist to be an encoded clue to §his/her inner personality. Playing upon §physiognomic commonplaces as well as on more §subtle mythological and cultural associations, §sensational novels frequently used physicality of §the characters to express the inexpressible and to §create a strongly visual sensation. Maria looks at §the wide range of novels written by the three titans §of the sensationalists: Wilkie Collins, Mary §Elizabeth Braddon and Mrs. Wood.