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Alain De Botton's Essays In Love

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Through his skillful use of structural and stylistic features, Alain de Botton presents a memorable tale of love. Consider this statement with close reference to Essays in Love. Alain de Botton is able to present a memorable tale of love through his skillful use of structural and stylistic features in his novel Essays in Love. The narrative aspect of the novel is particularly ordinary, offering nothing memorable at all, but through de Botton’s ability to use literary techniques and skillfully weave abstract concepts into the text, a unique story was created. The narcissistic protagonist of the story remains unnamed but over the course of the novel the reader is subjected to his intricate, innermost thoughts before, during and after his average …show more content…

Images, diagrams and mathematical workings are incorporated potentially as a form of relief to soften the complex concepts. They serve to show that words can cease to be able to sufficiently explain something, so visual aid is necessary. An example of this is Chloe’s inability to explain herself and the narrator’s difficulty when attempting to describe why he found Chloe so beautiful. This shows the rawness of the human character as when one is in love they acquire aspects of another. Chloe states in her final letter that she wishes she could draw a picture of how she felt as words were not her forte, so the narrator has obtained this trait. The Intertextuality is used by de Botton to enhance the novel’s meaning and create depth by including parts of other texts. By creating many levels within the novel the many parts within a relationship is symbolised. Though Intertextuality is often done in a way that prevents plagiarism, when there is a risk de Botton cites his sources, again reflecting the factual aspect of this fictional text. Rhetorical questions are frequently asked for literary effect and, as aforementioned, to relate to the reader. Many do not have answers and simply provoke thought. Some are impossible to answer although they seem obvious, like the narrators perception of Chloe as he believes he knows her completely but he is clouded. At the end of the novel the narrator asks these questions when he tries to conclude why Chloe treated him in such a way in an attempt of

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