The recognition of various acquaintances The recognition scene and the serialized novel (Dumas, Balzac, Hugo)

This article explores the recognition scene in the work of Dumas, Balzac, and Hugo, and shows how it fundamentally structures the fictional population. Using graphs representing character interactions, it demonstrates that recognition scenes only take place in these novels once the characters serving as intermediaries between the two key protagonists of the recognition scene have themselves been encountered.