Post-Modern Victorian: A. S. Byatts Possession Essay examples -- essay

Post-Modern VictorianA. S. Byatts self-commandIf I had read A. S. Byatts novel Possession with let on having had British Literature, a fortune of the novels meaning, analogies, and literary mystery would have been lost to me. The entire book seems adept big reference back to aboutthing weve learned or read this whitethorn term. The first few lines of chapter superstar are poetry attributed to Randolph Henry Ash, which Byatt wrote herself. already in those few lines I hear echoes of class, lines written in flowery Pre-Raphaelite tradition. "The serpent at its root, the fruit of g former(a) /At the old worlds rim, /In the Hesperidean grove, the fruit /Glowed prosperousen on eternal boughs, and there /The flying lizard Ladon crisped his jewelled (sic) crest." Because of class, I was able to pick up on this poetry tradition right away. This bilgewater within a story is strengthened by Byatts ability to write Victorians accurately. Until I read some of the reviews, I tho ught Byatts Victorian characters were actual historical literary figures, when real they are fictitious, and their journals, letters, and poetry are written by Byatt.      The action of the book takes place in two periods. The two main characters, Roland and Maud, are literary scholars living in the 1980s. Their love story is shared and played out by the diaries, poetry, and correspondence of two poets and lovers from the 1860s-Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte. Although the book is ultramodern fiction, much of it is a Victorian novel as well. Possession is typical of Byatts love for intertextuality and imbedded texts. Possession is also an example of several literary genres, on the whole written into one book. At various times it gives evidence of poetry, mythology, a romance novel, a detective story, a fairy tale, journals and diaries, and scholarly writings.      on that point are several themes in Possession that tie this book to in front texts that we have read. Individual versus group identity, feminism, sexuality and the link between sit and past are themes that Byatt deals with in her novel. Interestingly, Byatt expresses many of these themes using symbolic excuse imagery, a technique that makes her writing reminiscent of Pre-Raphaelite style.      According to Byatt, the " cope of the individual to discover and then live out her... ...hanged, and romance from one time to some other is not so different as we thought. The characters commingle the old and the new Maud wears a brooch once belonging to Christabel, and another Ash scholar, Mortimer Cropper, carries Ashs pocket watch. In the end of the novel, the last love letter written by Christabel enables Maud to finally enjoy the value of love in the present, and give her trust to Roland. The cyclical time frame of the novel provides an evoke contrast to the normal, stifling, linear time frame of typical literature and c ursory life. The way Byatt expresses many of these themes through her symbolic use of color is significant. Byatt paints with words, qualification her reminiscent of the Pre-Raphaelites. She gives color descriptions for her characters, painting the women such as LaMotte and Christabel in gold and green description, while persons whose characters are flat and never well-developed, such as Paola the secretary, are described in colorless terms. Paola has "long, colourless hair jump-start in a rubber band" huge mothlike glasses, and "dusty gray-headed pads" for fingertips. Her lack of color sets her off from the beginning as a very(prenominal) flat character.