The Paradoxical Existence of Female Artists in Possession by A.S. Byatt

【Abstract】In the juxtaposed storylines of the Victorian world and the modern literary circle in Possession， Byatt creates various images of female artists whose life echo each other's. This essay aims to explore the concept of enclosed space employed in the novel as self-preservation as well as self-imprisonment for these female artists struggling for recognition in a male-dominated culture.

【Key Words】Byatt， Possession， female artist， enclosed space

The 1990 Booker Prize winner – Possession： A Romance by A.S. Byatt continues to enjoy enormous critical and popular success since its publication. Byatt has been widely read as a feminist writer. Critics have commented： “few contemporary writers have examined both patriarchal and social attitudes to marginalized women more imaginatively than A.S. Byatt” （Todd， 55）. In an interview with Nicolas Tredell in 1990， Byatt said： “All my books are about the woman artist – in that sense they are terribly feminist books.”（qtd. in Franken， 54）. In Possession， Byatt shows special concern for the existential state of female artists in the male-dominated society. In recounting their experience， Byatt breaks the silence of stereotypical， passive female figures and endow them with true voices telling their dream， passion， perplex and dilemma.

1. Opposing Desires for Enclosure and Freedom

According to Maud， the modern feminist scholar in the novel， Victorian women suffer from paradoxical desires “to be let out into unconfined space and at the same time to be closed into tighter and tighter impenetrable small spaces.” （61） For women who have long been under repression and constraints imposed by the male-dominate society and patriarchal culture， the enclosed space is paradoxically the desired place where they can enjoy autonomy and freedom.

Despite women's desire for open space – “the wild moorland， the open ground” （61）， the enclosed space is where a woman does not have to fear losing herself. It offers safety because of its tightness and impenetrability. As LaMotte tells Ash： “The Donjon may frown and threaten – but it keeps us very safe – within its confines we are free.” （137） But at the same time， this desire for enclosure frequently conflicts with their need to live and love freely.

2. Wings Folded in the Fragile Egg

The concept of the Egg as a feminine enclosed place frequently appears in the novel. In the riddle LaMotte puts for Ash， the image of the Egg is described as “a perfect O， a living stone， whose life may slumber on till she be Waked – or find she has Wings to spread” （152） In asserting “I am my own riddle”， LaMotte suggests the solitary space women settle themselves in is just like a fragile egg. She further warns Ash of his intrusion into her solitude： “shattering an egg is no Pass time for men” （152）. Like her great-great-great grandmother， Maud also has to confront the restrictions and contradictions of patriarchal constructions of female identity. In spite of her involvement with Roland， she does not lose sight of the importance of her subjectivity and autonomy which she guards fiercely and in this respect keenly identifies with LaMotte. Her uncomfortable relationship with Fergus always makes her recall the disturbing image of a tormented bed， “like the surface of whipped egg-white” （56） which suggest the loss of the egg's sealed autonomy.

Therefore， the enclosed space inside the Egg allows room for female artists where their talents and dreams incubate， but at the same time with a guard only too vulnerable to intrusion.

3. Princess in the Glass Coffin

The Glass Coffin is version of Snow White in Grimm tales which Byatt rewrites in the novel. The princess is locked in a glass coffin， until the hero， a humble tailor， releases her with his glass key. Here glass coffin is another form of the enclosed space， which possesses seemingly contradictory traits of “both chilling and life-giving， saving as well as threatening”. Byatt observes in her collection of critical essays On Histories and Stories： “Preserving solitude and distance， staying cold and frozen， may， for women as well as artists， be a way of preserving life” （Byatt， 2000：158）. This state of life in death truly represents women's paradoxical existence as the marginalized group. Like the heroines in Snow White and Sleeping Beauty， they survive through deep slumber but at a price of losing their voice， their right of social engagement.

As Byatt points out in Ice， Snow， Glass， Lamott is “deeply afraid that any ordinary happiness may be purchased at the expense of her art， that maybe she needs to be alone in her golden hair on her glass eminence， an ice maiden” （Byatt， 2000：157）. The glass coffin， in her eyes， becomes a refuge. She is the princess who does not want to be kissed into wakefulness and pulled into the outside world.

Conclusion

In Possession， the various female figures' shared need for solitude and isolation to be free from male intrusion， to escape from the oppression of conventional gender constructs and social bias to maintain their self-autonomy and free pursuit of art has driven them to a marginalized position – the enclosed space. Like Virginia Woolf's idea of “A Room of One's Own” for women writers to create， the enclosed space offers safety and the desired artistic autonomy， but at the same time， it also becomes an imprisonment that denies women's right to social involvement and their need to experience life， to live and love fully. This paradox of female existence revealed in the novel becomes the core of the predicament which women artists confront with and find hard to escape.

【References】

[1]Baytt， A.S. Possession [M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2001.

[2]Baytt， A.S. On Histories and Stories： Selected Essays [M]. Cambridge， Massachusetts： Harvard University Press， 2000.

[3]Franken， Christien. A. S. Byatt： Art， Authorship， Creativity[M]. London： Palgrave， 2001.

[4]Todd， Richard. “Interview with A. S. Byatt” [J].NSES： Netherlands Society for English Studies， 1991（4）：1.