Study : The use of the Epigraph

( from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )

In Possession, an epigraph is used to head several chapters, particularly those early on in the book. Byatt uses it as a structural device, primarily for a substrative function, to outline the common themes which formulate in that particular chapter. Each epigraph serves to point the reader to important images or ideas that are going to be expanded upon throughout the chapter.This is manifest in chapter one, wherein the epigraph is used to introduce the book. As the first thing a reader will see, it serves to incorporate not only those themes primarily used in that chapter, but also themes frequented throughout the novel as a whole.