Signs of the Narrated and the Presentation of Speech: A Narratological Analysis of Oscar Wilde’s The Nightingale and the Rose

This research focuses on the narratological analysis of the narrated signs and the modes of speech presentation in Oscar Wilde’s The Nightingale and the Rose. The study examines the story using Gerald Prince and Mick Short’s models, narrated signs and modes of speech presentation. The researchers investigated the models, underscored the strengths and weaknesses, explored justifications for possible outcomes, and responded to the queries on how both models could be postulated, compared and contrasted. The research revealed how the modes of speech presentation impact the various signs of the narrated (events, characters and Spatio-temporal setting). The researchers assumed that through the colossal utilisation of Direct Speech (DS) and Narrative Report of Speech Act (NRSA), the author had given complete control to the narrator. He purposely distant the narrator from the characters while presenting the story from the perspective of the third person omniscient extra-diegetic narrator. The research, likewise, highlighted the dominance of DS, NRSA, the rarity of Indirect Speech (IS), its variants in the text, and suggested forms distinct from the narrated signs: diegetic and storyteller-impacted. The enormous use of the modes of speech presentation has altogether influenced the narrative structure of the story.