Syuzhet Map

In the text, the novel’s three-volume structure and corresponding divergent narrative focus are spatially realised. The shift from the Bishop’s Palace in the centre of Barchester – ‘Barchester Bishop’s’ (with the places associated with Mrs Proudie, the Bishop, Mr Proudie and Mr Slope), the Cathedral and its environs (the 'Close' and 'the Prebendal House') – to 'Plumstead' in Volume II ('The Grantlys') and 'Ullathorne' in Volume III (The Thornes and Mr Arabin) is figured in the graph. The spaces of Volume I dominate the bottom of the graph; Volumes II and III the top. The centripetal movement from centre to periphery also constitutes a move from the civic politics of the ‘public square’ to the private, more domestic politics of the ‘parlour’. The move outwards, then, can also be read as a move inwards. Connections between Barchester settings are characterised by 'jumps' and 'interrupts', the Plumstead ones by 'direct' and 'indirect'. Also, the vast swathes of 'metanarrative' spaces and, for a realist novel, the relatively  high occurrence of meta- and intratextual connections, register how the plot mechanisms are both highly controlled and unconcealed by the narrator.