In Which I Explore the Function of Chapter Titles

          Last week, I started reading Stardust, and I immediately noticed the especially long chapter titles. Following my interest, I decided to read all of the chapter titles before starting the body of the story. We saw chapter titles in Wood Beyond the World as well. In both novels, these titles have to be considered for their possible meaning and potential influence over the reader's interaction with the chapter. Clearly, most of Gaiman's titles (and Morris's titles) are summaries of the coming events, which makes each chapter feel more like a self-contained story. For example, the title of chapter 1 is "In Which We Learn of the Village of Wall, and of the Curious Thing That Occurs There Every Nine Years." We already have a story, or at least a plot. What caught my eye at first was the word "curious." My response is "Okay. I'm supposed to interpret what's to come as 'curious.' Why? And why should I listen?" For several reasons, I would have regarded the events as curious without this title, but it's important nonetheless. Other examples are "Manhood" in the second chapter's title (What is the chapter going to say is manhood?) and "Many of Them Still Alive" in chapter three (What the heck does this mean? It's certainly intriguing, but why should I care?). One of my favorites is chapter nine: "Which Deals Chiefly With the Events at Diggory's Dyke." Nothing too exciting. But the word "Chiefly" has a couple of implications: (1) it suggests that there's a hierarchy of importance in the events that are about to narrated and (2) it subtly points to what it doesn't say (what exactly are the "non-chief" events, and could we miss something if we overlook them in order to emphasize the events at Diggory's Dyke?). Lastly, there's the prologue, which is titled "In Which Several Endings May Be Discerned." I haven't read this far, but I am interested to see how this plays out. Will there be any closure? Is "Endings" a purposefully misguiding term? Or will everything indeed wrap up smoothly? Why "several"? Does this refer to endings for several characters, or are we going to be left without closure and, therefore, have to fill in the gap for ourselves? I am eager to see just how much these chapter titles influence my reading. Of course, now that I'm so aware of them, I will probably resist them all, but hey, it's what we do.