A Cultural Reconstruction: From Pathos to Comedy, Alfred, Lord Tennyson Reimagined in A.S. Byatt’s ‘The Conjugial Angel’ (1992) and Lynne Truss’ Tennyson’s Gift (1996)

Études Britanniques Contemporaines

关键词: A.S. Byatt;    ‘The Conjugial Angel’;    Lynne Truss;    Tennyson’s Gift;    Alfred Tennyson;    In Memoriam;   

DOI  :  10.4000/ebc.4322

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The title of Lynne Truss’ Tennyson’s Gift designates the Poet Laureate as its major textual focus. He is not the only one, however. Indeed, the imaginary reconstruction and interaction of a number of 19th century ‘real life’ characters in the summer of 1864 on the Isle of Wight provides one of the main comic effects of the novel. The metatextual comments of the third-person, omniscient but clearly 20th century narrator also contribute to the harmless fun the reader is having at the expense of the Victorian icons. A.S. Byatt in her novella ‘The Conjugial Angel’ on the other hand reconsiders the relationship between Tennyson and his dead friend Arthur Hallam, the dedicatee of In Memoriam. One of the central figures is Emily, Tennyson’s sister and Hallam’s fiancée, who reflects on the nature and the meaning of In Memoriam. Then the older Tennyson himself is used as centre of consciousness, and the portrayal of the Poet Laureate, ‘with warts and all’, continues but in a much less playful mode than in Tennyson’s Gift.

【 授权许可】

Unknown