Literal and methaforical frames in Dicken’s little Dorrit

Abstract

This work presents a structural approach to Charles Dickens's Little Dorrit based on Erving Gofi&nan's theory of frames in Frame analysis: na essay on the organization of experience, which deals with the organization of social interaction. The aims here are, first, to demonstrate that the structural elements of the novel – structure, plot, characterization, point of view, space/time and action – are presented and developed within literal frames, which pertain to the surface levei of the narrative. Second, to analyse these structural elements according to their thematic function within metaphorical frames, which are inherent to the deep levei of the narrative. Third, to prove the existence of "breaks" in ali the frames formed by structural and thematic elements and that such breaks mirror the way the characters' action and interaction occur in the story, that is, how social interaction is organized within it. Fourth, to prove how the structure of the novel and its characters reveal the way Victorian society tried to control the individual within material and spiritual boundaries. The conclusions reached were enhanced through the symbolism the graphics employed in this work conveyed. This helped us to explain the relationship between characters/novel and individual/society.