Point of View in English Literature

In literary works point of view means the perspective through which the writers’ presents his characters and events. It indicates the relationship between the narrator and the narrative. There are many variations and combinations of point of view.

In omniscient, the narrator of the piece narrator of the story, comments on the characters, and situations and direct our responses and reactions to the development of plot and character. The technique adopted here is that of third person. The Omniscient mode enables the writer to present the inner thoughts and feelings of his characters, as in his movement from character to character and event to event he has free access to their motivations, thoughts and feelings. Examples: Jane Austin’s “Pride and Prejudice”.

In autobiographical method, the narrative technique is that of the first person. In this method, the author or writer identifies himself with one of the characters. He must himself see or hear almost everything that happens. In this method, the relationship between the narrator and the story is legitimate. But we get the perspective of the narrator character only and we do not penetrate into the hearts and thoughts of the other characters’ as we do in Omniscient. Example: Rudyard Kipling’s “The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes”.

There is another point of view of a single character that the author uses as the central character of participant in the action. The story is narrated in the third person, the central character is followed throughout the action and the reader is restricted to the field of vision and range of knowledge of the character alone. This method is called the Central intelligence. Example: Arthur Conan Doel’s “Sherlock Homes”.