THE (RE)TURN OF MYTH IN BRITISH LITERATURE: A.S. BYATT’S POSSESSION
THE (RE)TURN OF MYTH IN BRITISH LITERATURE: A.S. BYATT’S POSSESSION

Summary/Abstract: This paper tries to discuss the reviving and re-evaluation of myths as both a sign of and a solution to the crisis of modernity. The corpus chosen is Possession, the novel written by the British contemporary novelist A.S. Byatt, and the reason for this choice resides in the multiple readings and interpretations allowed by/and embedded in the book. Structured as a double-layered plot, the novel does more than just question the idea of ‘possessing a past as/is a solution to the problem of cultural immortality’ – one of the modern dilemmas – it traces mythical images back to their origins, in ancient imagery. We shall focus on the feminine characters in the novel and analyse their images as possible versions of the same type of woman, that goes back to an archetype – that of the monster-woman, the half-snake, or half-fish woman. In Byatt’s novel, the predominant mythical figure is Melusina, a relative of Medusa’s or of the Little Mermaid’s. This figure is closer to that of a ghost, and its associations range from to the images of a White Lady or a Fata Bianca (the Romanian equivalent might be ielele) to those of a Lamia (with both Greek and Basque sources) or of the Orcadian selkie. The conclusion drawn after our brief analysis would be that all mythical images the novelist evokes and makes use of – Medusa, Lamia, Melusine or the selkie – are only a few tools that Byatt needs in her attempt to portray her fictional women as possessed by ancient demons that, nowadays, in our postmodern times, bear different names, such as ‘a will of their own’, ‘a mind of their own’ and ‘a career-oriented life’.

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