Voicing the self: Narration, perspective and identity in Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s ‘Prince Ramji Rowdedow’ (1874)

This article considers Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s use of the short story form and authorial, character and narrative voice in her theatrical tale ‘Prince Ramji Rowdedow’ (1874). As context for this article prevailing Victorian approaches to narrative voice will be considered, alongside Braddon’s acting and playwright careers, emphasizing her knowledge of how the voice is utilized on and offstage. The thesis of this article is that although the voice can be fragmented, it is a vital and powerful element of identity construction for both fictional characters and real people. However, Braddon’s deliberate exposé of the highly constructed nature of the theatre demonstrates that a person’s identity is socially rather than individually constructed.