Riassunto esame Letteratura inglese, prof. Bendelli, libro consigliato La Veglia di Joyce, Bendelli

These two worlds influenced her literally production and especially her personal novel’s experimentation.

uncertainty, fragmentation and the so­called “dislocation”:

Her life was in fact characterized by these

aspects of her life influenced her writing technique, which is in fact fragmented, and her novels, which deal

with all kinds of ambiguity expression, such as material and psychological instability, land’s dispossession and

deception.

As regards her Irish origins, she always recognized her “Anglo­Irish Ascendancy” and for all her life she

dwelled in her family house Bowen’s Court, which became the symbol of her personal identity and her works.

As regards instead the literary London, she lived in London during the 1920s: during these years the English

avant­garde novel was born and developed and Elizabeth Bowen herself contributed to its diffusion publishing

six novels between 1927 and 1938.

Works Last September”:

“The this novel was published in 1929 and it is considered Elizabeth Bowen’s Irish

• manifesto.

It tells the story of an Irish country house during the war. fragments of

Her favourite writing technique is already clear in this novel, as it is composed of

apparently random conversation.

Heat of the Day”:

“The this novel was published in 1948 and it interrupted her 10 years of silence due

• to the Second World War.

mixture of genres and themes,

It is characterized by a such as the spy story, the psychological

thriller, the identity and communication problems, the deads influence on the livings and the

relationship between past and present. st

The story takes place in London and starts on 1 September 1942 and ends almost two years later:

the main character is Stella Rodney, who has a relationship with Robert Kelway. However, their

relationship is troubled by an English spy, who is convinced that Robert is a spy: Harrison, using his

abilities, manages in neutralizing him.

ambiguous feeling,

This novel is dominated by an which is expressed by the narrative techniques

narrator omniscient many personalities

too: the is and represents and the author uses the so called

writing”,

“blitz a nervous and vigorous language.

Bend back”:

“The this essay was published in 1950 and it is very important because the author

• past:

explains her view of the she saw the past, the imagination and the memory (ricordo) as a

refuge, which has a comforting power.

Moreover, in this essay she explains the main tendencies of the other authors towards the past:

Some authors recover their authentic past and their childhood: their expression is reinforced

− by the evocative power of literature;

Some authors use the power of the literature to create a past that they hadn’t lived: it isn’t a

− personal past.

World of Love” Little Girls” Trout”

“A (1955), “The (1964) and “Eva deal with the following themes:

• alienation, dislocation, search for consolation in memory and in imagination, obsession with time and

overlapping between reality and imagination. World of Love”

However, it’s necessary to distinguish between “A and the other two novels. It is, in

transition work

fact, a between the previous production and the following one: the previous

production was characterized by a happy connection between her history representation, social

awareness and literary style; after the war, Elizabeth started to feel that her writing was unsuitable for

the expression of her feelings and her last two novels express a sense of uneasiness.

The story of “A World of Love” takes place in an Irish country house during the postwar and the family

who lives in this house is the main character of the story (Fred and Lilia Danby have two daughters,

Jane and Maud, and Lilia’s cousin, Antonia, is the house’s owner, but she lives in London). The most

important point of the story is the recovery of a pack of letter in the attic written by Guy, the beloved

Antonia’s cousin, who died in war and was Lilia’s fiancé. The story is focused on this question: “Who

are these letters aimed to?”. The story describes the effects of these letters on the village’s

inhabitants, who are totally influenced by them. gloomy reality,

As regards the atmosphere, the story is set in a dominated by the deceased (defunti),

by their unknown presence and their love which isn’t understandable: the main character is in fact Guy,

a deceased who survives thanks to his letters’ effects on the other characters.

The first sentence of this novel sets the reference to another novel: it contains the title of previous

novel "The heat of the day", but it isn’t a mere quotation, but it is a metaphor for the passionate search

for "world of love" and expresses the heat of desire, love and passion.

Just thinking about Jane, whose desires are literally turned on from the letters of Guy and whose

language is strongly characterized by elements of "heat". However, her desire can’t be satisfied: the

combustion”,

letters of Guy generate in Jane the so­called “internal which means that every her

desire is vulnerable to the mysterious and unpredictable effects mysterious of Guy’s letters, which are

able undermine her identity and her actions.

The poetic novel

Elizabeth Bowen looks for an own and personal language able to express her interior poetic world: she decides

state of mind’s

to writes novels, which are generically called “poetic novels”, but which would be better called “

novels”.

Elizabeth Bowen, in fact, wants to express her aesthetic experience, but the novel was unsuited to this aim:

synthesis between language and poetic content

she solves this problem realizing a (“the object of the novel

is the non­poetic statement of a poetic truth” – quotation of “Notes on Writing a Novel”).

static idea of narration:

The term “statement” is connected to a the narration, in fact, doesn’t presents an

it stops on a situation, analysis it and

action which happens in a precise space and at a definite time, but

examines in depth atmospheres, feelings and states of mind.

This narrative technique is similar to Joyce’s epiphany and Virginia Woolf’s “moments of being”. However,

Elizabeth Bowen distances herself from them, because she doesn’t speak about a “temporary” compactness,

but about a situation which is expanded.

“A World of Love” is a meaningful example of this technique, as the entire novel is based on the expansion of a

single epiphany.

Bowen’s court

Bowen’s Court is a very important place for Elizabeth Bowen’s identity and production: it is the place where the

woman takes refuge in, where she writes and defends herself from the war destruction.

The main character of her first work “The Last September”, Lois, embodies this need and thanks to her,

Elizabeth Bowen takes refuge in her Big House and in art: both Lois and Elizabeth abstract from the Irish war

of Independence (1919­21) in order to avoid its terrible consequences. Moreover, at the end of the story the Big

House is destroyed, but Luis is absent: critics read her absence in two different ways:

as an escape from the mournful condition of the Anglo­Irish Ascendancy / as a premonition of a future

­ characterized by a continuous vagabond without a house;

as a rejection to the condemnation to a definitive destiny.

­ CHAPTER 6­ G(E)RMS OF IRELAND

castle of Otranto: a gothic story”

The first example of gothic novel is represented by “The (Walpole): this

genre was very popular until the mid­nineteenth century, when it became a minor genre; however, during the

mid­twentieth century many novels were defined gothic novels. This phenomenon regarded the Irish literature

too and especially some authors, such as Trevor, Banville and McCabe.

The main features of the gothic novel are:

Villain: it is a key character, as it embodies the evil;

­ Setting in the countryside: gothic novels are usually set in the countryside, in remote areas of

­ Europe or in exotic places. Space and time aren’t well­defined and it allows the author to play with

superstitions, ghosts and apparitions;

Gloomy and threatening atmosphere;

­ Sense of mystery: it is expressed in all its magic, supernatural and occult manifestations. Many gothic

­ novels are populated by angels, demons, vampires and ghosts.

This genre developed during the centuries and the first example of innovation of this genre is represented by

“Frankenstein”, a gothic novel written by Mary Shelly, who introduced a new character, the scientist and his

creations: he is a sort of Faust, who challenges the boundaries (limiti) of the human being; the villain is

characterized by a personality split into two parts, the good part and the evil one; the scientist’s laboratory

replaces the gothic castle, but it is characterized by the same gloomy atmosphere. Moreover, the characters

are more complex and less predictable: this complexity reflects a confusion towards the absolute morale

values and a growing awareness of the depth and complexity of the human psyche.

The contemporary gothic novel goes through another important phase:

interiorization: anything which surrounded the villain in the classic gothic novel is interiorized in the

­ character’s mind. Consequently, the supernatural and mysterious elements are reduced and are

replaced by more real scenarios;

“Big House” or lunatic asylum (manicomio): the gothic castle is replaced by a Big House (Elizabeth

­ Bowen) or a lunatic asylum ( McCabe: “The butcher boy”);

the double: in the classic gothic novel the good aspect and the evil one were represented respectively

­ by the hero and the villain; in the contemporary gothic novel they’re part of a single character: this fact

creates a sense of ambiguity, as the reader isn’t able to distinguish the positive aspect and the

negative one.

The gothic novel was and is especially appreciated by the Irish writers: this genre allowed and allows in fact

the authors to study and analyze the dark side of the Irish psyche. For example, the topic “violence” (typical

aspect of the Irish race) is connected to the Irish psyche: it determines an abundant use of gloomy, grotesque

and macabre elements.

Moreover, the topic “madness” is a key ingredient of the Anglo­Irish tradition and the Gaelic imaginary.

Besides, in the Irish context the choice of this genre isn’t connected to an international trend, but it is an

th

attempt to explain the social Irish discomfort condition of the second half of the 20 century.

CHAPTER 7­ WRITING ITS OWN WRUNES FOR EVER CHAPTER 8 – JOYCE’S

WAKE

In the first pages