Excellent women : the novels of Barbara Pym and Anita Brookner

[摘要] From 1950, until her death in 1980, Barbara Pym published ten novels. Thesocial climate of the 'sixties and early 'seventies was not receptive to hersubtle literary style, and her writing suffered an eclipse of 16 years. A renaissancein her fortunes came in January 1977, when the Times LiterarySupplement asked a selection of critics to say which writers they considered themost underrated of the twentieth century; both Philip Larkin and Lord DavidCecil selected Pym as one of the most underrated novelists of this century.This critical acclaim stimulated renewed interest in her work, and Quartet inAutumn was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1977. Her renaissance In 1977led to her canonisation In the literary world, and several previously unpublishednovels, as well as her edited diaries and notebooks, appeared after her death In1980.Anita Brookner published her first novel, A Start in Life, in 1981, and haspublished a critically acclaimed novel every year since then. In 1984 she wonthe Booker Prize for Hotel du Lac. With the publication of her second novel,Providence, reviewers mooted tentative parallels with the work of Barbara Pym.Similarities and correspondences between these two writers have been noted bycritics and reviewers en passant only, and while an oeuvre of Pym criticism hasgradually emerged, there has been no full-length appraisal of the work of AnitaBrookner, and no comparison, other than passing comments in book reviews, ofthe novels of Pym and Brookner to date. It is surmised that this is due to therecent emergence (and prolific output) of Brookner as a novelist of stature.Pym's posthumous novels yield further topical and uncharted scholastic territory,and her canonisation, as well as the critical acclaim accorded Anita Brookner inher rapid ascent to the stature of a cult novelist, makes a detailed comparisonboth timely and topical.A comprehensive survey of Pym criticism reveals that the bulk of criticism ofher work stems from 1977, the year of her literary resurrection. Criticismtakes the form of book reviews of varying length and academic rigour inliterary and popular journals; however, the last three years have seen thegradual emergence of traditional and more substantial critical treatises on hernovels. Her themes are loneliness and the perils of love, usually unrequited,unsuitable or hopeless, chronicled comically and wittily in the early novels, butmore sombrely in her later ones. Pym is the persistent observer, and the viceswhich are satirised are mild ones. Her novels are peopled chiefly by women,the so-called excellent women of the title of her second novel, while her menare generally absurd characters of diminished stature. Wit, irony, compressionand delicacy are the chief characteristics of her style, while her use of literaryallusions and intratextual manoeuvring demands a fair amount of mental agilityand erudition from her readers. Although Pym has been compared to diversewriters (chiefly to Jane Austen), this study is limited to Brookner - Pymparallels.Anita Brookner's publishing career has been infinitely happier than that ofBarbara Pym. Critical opinion is confined to reviews and interviews, and thelatter have added considerably to an appreciation of her fictional craft.Brookner's major theme lies in her content ion that the world is not won byvirtue; the fable of the hare and the tortoise is a fallacy, as explicitlyexpounded in Hotel du Lac. Other themes which link her with Pym are thoseof filial duty, and the failure of literature to provide adequate role models forlife. In her examination of unrequited love, she evinces a bleaker perspicacitythan Pym. Her heroines, like Pym's, are single women, but although they aresuccessful in their careers, they are obtuse when confronted by the ways of theworld. Critics are unanimous that l:lrookner is a fine and witty stylist, butaccuse her of mawkishness in her repetitive handling of similarly bleak fictionalsituations. She transcends the writing of Barbara Pym in that her forte lies inthe depiction of melancholy modes of existence which go beyond Pym's mildercomedies of manners.A detailed thematic analysis of Pym's twelve novels reveals two importantissues: the theme of romantic love is developed to include the Christianconcept of love thy neighbour in the later novels, and Pym's themes are anintegral part of her exploration of character. The early novels amusinglycontemplate love and marriage, unsuitable attachments and men's love asopposed to women's, with quirky high spirits which take comfort in, and areappeased by, the safe and familiar. Excellent Women is a transitional novel;while still depicting with good humour unsuitable attachments, it exploresmore trenchantly the theme of loneliness in the lives of those forced to livelife vicariously.Intrinsic to several heroines' lives is the theme of filial duty, although this isintimated, rather than explored in depth. Most Pym heroines fancy a decorousliterary role model, which is tentatively but ironically broached by nomenclaturalwhimsy. Greater psychological insight and a more plangent tone characterisethe later novels, and a theme which is broached superficially in the earlynovels, and which culminates in Quartet in Autumn and A Few Green Leaves, isthat of the changing face of Britain and the incontrovertible erosion of cultureand middle-class values. The advent of maturity through the loss of illusions isa theme which Pym shares with Jane Austen, but Pym's heroines are generallyless myopic than Brookner's. Pym intimates that love is a universal need, andthe characters in her later novels who deny this, either through senile dementiaor hedonistic self-absorption, are depicted with compassionate pathos, or, in thecase of The Sweet Dove Died, with cool and detached wit.A detailed thematic analysis of Anita Brookner's six novels reveals that as inthe work of Pym, character and theme are inextricably intertwined. Brookner'sheroines, in their unmitigated quest for love, are more single-minded than mostof Pym's, who find alternative options and compensations when love eludesthem, or settle for attachments which are second best. Love and marriage arethe only options for Brookner's heroines, and the solitary woman is seen as anobject of pity. Brookner's novels are littered with ruined expectations andunrequited love; in a Brookner novel, innocence is routed by experience, trustby prurient self-interest.Brookner intimates that literary role models do not provide a blueprint for life ,and that the lessons taught by literature are misleading. Although her heroinesare adept at explicating recondite literary texts, they are dyslectic in analysingtheir own predicaments, and therefore irony in Brookner's novels is omnipresentand insistent. Obedience to filial duty is a barrier to happiness which isexplored in considerable detail, while adherence to the trivial round, thecommon task which occupies Pym's heroines, gives little solace to Brookner'swomen. Brookner imposes her themes insistently from the outset, and althoughher moral tone is more overt than Pym's, her deft literary craftsmanship andpervasive irony preclude didacticism.Although the close reader finds constant nuances of Pym in the writing ofBrookner, the latter's novels are on a more ambitious emotional and literaryscale. Pym does not admit despair, while Brookner does not allow charity, andBrookner's avowal of human need seldom goes beyond the self. In her novelsthere are no happy endings, no redemption.In addition to similarities between the protagonists, there is also substantialcorrelation between the authors' peripheral characters. Peripheral must beused with caution, however, as these characters often contribute substantially tothe illumination of the central theme or themes, as well as to the stories andplots. A major difference is in the size of the writers' respective casts, andBrookner's list, in keeping with her more interior style, is more circumspect.There is a vast preponderance of clergy in Pym's novels, and Pym's clergymen,as befits their traditional comic character, are generally static characters, andthe recipients of the ministrations of the excellent women. They are characterisedby mannerisms, preoccupations and obsessions. While Anita Brooknerdoes not number clergymen among her characters, her male characters withChristian leanings are the complacent recipients of women's adoration as well asof their cooking.Both writers have a vast cast of academics, and Pym is particularly given todetailing the machinations of anthropologists. In addition to providing comedy,anthropology also becomes a metaphor for detachment, observation, classificationand categorisation. Some of her most malicious creations are librarians, whoare averse to both books and borrowers. Her jibes at academe are countless;while they are frequently intrinsic to the plot, her funniest scenes concernacademic ambition and pretensions.Brookner, having spent most of her working life as an academic, reserves hermost potent wit for academe.Cleaning women are also important peripheral characters in the novels of bothPym and Brookner. Cleaning is not as much in evidence as gratuitous advice;clad in an amazing array of garments, these characters offer a reflection inmicrocosm of the themes of the novels, as well as being the stock comiccharacters of fiction.Both Pym and Brookner make wide use of semiotic signifiers like food, clothesand interiors in their depiction of character. The comforting rituals of eatingand drinking anchor Barbara Pym's novels firmly in the real world, and food,drink and their consumption frequently and' amusingly offer insights intocharacters, illuminate the roles of men and women in the war of the sexes, andcomment on human behaviour in general. Food is particularly pertinent inPym's comic reflections on men's needs, a prominent theme in the earlynovels, and the excellent women are seen as endless purveyors of fine victuals.Food is less obtrusive but as important in the novels of l:lrookne1�? In additionto being a touchstone of character, it is also a symbol and prognosis of mood,and is thus important to Brookner's interior narrative mode. Brookner's femaleprotagonists also cater assiduously and with destructive self-abandon to thegastronomic needs of their pusillanimous men, but Brookner invests food withmultifarious qualities and significance, and creates narratives of horrendousexpectation around social occasions involving eating.Brookner's use of food in her fictional technique is more complex than Pym's.In Brookner's novels, not only is character illuminated by food and the Imageryand occasions surrounding it, but moods are�?sustained and alienation, isolationand need are delineated.Food is never a barometer of character alone, but an Integral element of themeand style in both novelists. Above all, it anchors the novels comically, andsometimes traumatically, in reality.Clothes are as important, and Barbara Pym is fond of contrasting her charactersin terms of dress and appearance. She frequently imbues appearance andclothes with comic and ironic intent. Clothes and outward appearance oftendesignate suitability, but Pym wryly intimates that love does not conform tosartorial rules. Brookner is also fond of contrasting characters sartorially, andinvests�?clothes with symbolic significance. Dress, like food, imbues her novelswith tangible expectation.Interiors are important in the novels of both writers. In Pym's novels, theinteriors of houses arc delineations of character, barometers of dissatisfaction,or touchstones of suitability. Above all, houses are symbols of comfort andprivacy. Brookner's heroines give the impression of occupying their domicilesin transit, and consequently make no impression on their bland surroundings.Brookner relentlessly describes interiors, creating mood as much as delineatingcharacter, and her interiors do not provide much in the form of peace, securityor serenity. Warm, sombre, stifling interiors, ponderously furnished, reflect theinterior landscape and foreign ambience of Brookner's characters.Pym's intratextual manoeuvring is analysed, and her penchant for what HenryJames called the revivalist impulse on the fond writer's part reinforces hertheme of survival through the trivial round, the common task. Brookner doesnot revive individual characters. Her heroines are cast in the same mould,which makes her plots somewhat predictable. As indicated by her revival ofcharacters, Pym's perspective is also infinitely wider than that of Brookner, andto some extent Pym uses the device of the self-conscious or omniscient authornarrator.This device creates fictionality, which Brookner achieves by deft,retrospective structures, and in Family and Friends, by using the device of thephotographer's lens as a method of estrangement.Citations from the novels conclusively demonstrate Brookner's thematic andstylistic allegiance to and familiarity with the work of Barbara Pym. Inaddition to this symbiosis, the novels of both writers are dense with literaryallusion, and predict the author's familiarity with the English literary tradition,although Brookner's scope is more catholic, as it encompasses the Frenchtradition of Balzac, Flaubert, et a! . Many of Pym's titles, culled from thegreater English poets, appositely reflect her themes, and both writers employthe myths of literature as controlling themes, although Pym's modus operandiappears more desultory in comparison with Brookner's. Pym's allusions frequentlywork, as does her comic irony, by deflation, and examples of this areprolific. Her allusions are often subtly interwoven in her texts, but to theobservant and literate reader they lose none of their ironic impact. Theinfluence of the seventeenth-century Metaphysical poets is particularly evidentin her wit.In marked contrast, Brookner's style is inflationary, and therefore approachestragedy. Brookner underscores her ironies with sedulous literary parallels, andmany casual allusions invest her mild heroines with tragic grandeur. Bothnovelists' predilection for allusive style extends to occasional appropriation;while Pym's literary allegiance is chiefly to Jane Austen, Brookner has echoesof Austen and Dickens, and in her exposition of subtle states of consciousness,in dialogue, and in moral stance, she is closest to Henry James.Brookner's forte is the grimace, rather than the edge of smiling which Larkindiscerns in Pym's novels. Her wit is more pithy, more astringent, more aphoristicand infinitely less charitable than Pym's. Pym is not a true satirist, forshe is too compassionate, charitable and understanding. In keeping with hermore stringent moral tone, Brookner frequently verges on a satirical diatribe,but this is kept in check by her fine wit.Pym's generic vehicle is the comedy of manners, and although she forsakesmanners for melancholy to some extent in the later novels, she neverapproaches Brookner's introspective and philosophic profundity. AlthoughBrookner employs the vehicle of the novel of manners with its hallmarks ofsophisticated wit, repartee and comic characters, in a novel like Look at Me,her essay into the realm of the psychological novel and her interior style elicitgreater involvement and empathy from the reader than the more superficialgenre of the comedy of manners generally allows.The popularity of both writers' novels testifies to a reader market stillappreciative of a civilised, fastidious tradition of English writing, and althoughcounter-arguments could be raised to the effect that excess is a fittingmetaphor for contemporary angst, Brookner incontrovertibly demonstrates thatpsychological turmoil can be effectively contained within the English traditionof sophisticated decorum.Brookner is a self-avowed moralist, and in her writing does not disavow thetruth. This unflinching quality, combined with her consummate polished style,makes her judgements more felling than those of Pym. She embraces happinessas a sine qua non for the human condition, and in her disavowal of this, Pympossibly evinces greater tolerance and maturity. Although Brookner's themesare similar to those of Pym, her heroines' refusal to settle for half-measuresmakes her work more excruciating than that of Pym, with the latter's unflinchingChristianity, agape, and comfort in the mundane and familiar.

[发布机构] North-West University