The opening sections of these novels differ greatly because of a number of factors about the story and the books production in general.
The start of the Lady in the Lake uses very simple lexis 'I went past him through an arcade' and also chatty language is used. ' You might say I'm from Lieutenant M'Gee ' This shows that this is an informal text. This conincides with the attitudes to formality in the era that the book is set (1940's) The lexis is also foreign which gives us the nationality of the character and the intial setting of the story ' The sidewalk in front of it'. The Woman in White differs from this by having much more complex and archeic lexis 'The quiet twilight was still trembling on the topmost ridges of the heath'. This gives us the setting which in this case is Victorian England, a time when formaility and social class were very important. This contrasts with the much more informal Lady in the Lake.
Phonological features are present in the Lady in the Lake 'Cream of the crop'. This shows that the text has been crafted and therefore to entertain readers. The Woman in White has a lot more phonological features, some however flow in a single sentance which makes it seem almost poetic ' seemed to be sinking in unison, languidly and more languidly, with the sinking sun'. This text has definately been much more finely crafted which paints a fine mental picture of the sceneary and of the feelings and emotions of the idividual in this section.
Graphology is greatly different in these texts too. Lady in the Lake uses very short quick sentances at the beginning. 'Personal'. In the first scence protagonist Philip Marlowe is in The Gillerlain Company. A very rich business, being short and to the point is very important in business and this is being reflected here. In contrast The Woman in White has much longer and elaborate sentances. ' The evening, as I remember, was still and cloudy....' The first scence is this where the protagonist Walter Hartright is making a long journey home and has the time to tell us every single detail of his wellbeing and surrounds. This gives us much more greater access to his thoughts and shows again that the book has been finely crafted.
Grammar also ranges greatly in the first sections of these books. The Lady in the Lakes grammar is much more accessable and easy to understand as the terms used and order of the words are conventional to as we would see them today ' I lit a cigarette and dragged a smoking stand beside the chair'. The Woman in White however is much more archeic. The syntax and order of the lexis is very old fashioned and seems odd to out style of talking today. ' Events which I have yet to make relate make it neccassary to mention'.
In conclusion we see that both texts differ mainly because of the times in history where they are set. Attitudes towards formality and language itself had changed from the 1860's to the 1940's and this is refelected well when comparisons are made between the opening texts of these books.
Ciarán Leeman
Word Count = 540