An Examination of Female Characterisation in a Selection of The
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An Examination of Female Characterisation in a Selection of the Novels and Short Stories of William Trevor through the Lens of Simone de Beauvoir Anne Nash Student Number: 0466867 Ph.D. Thesis Mary Immaculate College University of Limerick Supervisors: Dr Kathryn Laing and Dr Eugene O’Brien Submitted to Mary Immaculate College: ______________________ i Abstract This thesis aims to examine female characterisation in a selection of William Trevor’s novels and short stories. The core argument in this thesis will be to demonstrate that Trevor, in his portrayal of women, presents a profoundly ethical dimension to his readers. A broad spectrum of his female characters, from a variety of narratives that span a period of nearly fifty years, will be analysed in order to demonstrate that Trevor, in his portrayal of women, conveys an enormous respect and understanding of how their lives are shaped. To substantiate the ethical dimension in Trevor’s fiction, the theoretical lens of Simone de Beauvoir will be employed. Trevor’s claim that the two things that really interest him are life and people finds endless correlations in existential philosophy; a philosophy that is concerned primarily with the concept of what it is to exist in the world and with how to live a meaningful life. This thesis will offer a fecund examination of the lives of female characters that will reveal the implications of de Beauvoir’s intensive examination of women’s lives and will demonstrate the capability of Trevor to grasp the divergence of the female experience from the male experience. Throughout the thesis, the breadth of Trevor’s writerly curiosity will emerge repeatedly through endlessly diverse stories that transport the reader into an array of different fictional worlds. His narrative mastery facilitates compelling characters, situations and themes that demand engagement and reflection. ii Declaration of Originality Declaration: I hereby declare that this thesis is the result of my own original research and does not contain the work of any other individual. All sources that have been consulted have been identified and acknowledged in the appropriate way. Signature of Candidate: ___________________________________ Anne Nash iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank most sincerely my two Supervisors, Dr Eugene O’Brien and Dr Kathryn Laing for all the support, encouragement and time they have afforded me over the past number of years. Their edifying comments and suggestions have enhanced every part of this thesis, and for this, I am extremely grateful. I would like to thank my fellow Ph.D. colleagues that I have met along the way for their unstinting support and understanding. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their support and encouragement throughout this process. iv Dedication For my parents, Eithne and Gerry Donlon, with love and gratitude v Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ ii Declaration of Originality..................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. iv Dedication ............................................................................................................................. v Table of Contents ................................................................................................................. vi Epigraph ............................................................................................................................ viii Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Simone de Beauvoir, William Trevor and Ambiguity .................................... 23 Simone De Beauvoir ....................................................................................................... 24 Existentialism.................................................................................................................. 25 Ambiguity ....................................................................................................................... 28 The Ethics of Ambiguity .................................................................................................. 30 De Beauvoir’s Reflections on Literature .......................................................................... 37 The Other; Facticity; Reciprocity; Evil; Oppression; Transcendence; Solidarity .............. 48 De Beauvoir on Marriage ................................................................................................ 52 De Beauvoir on Old Age ................................................................................................. 53 Chapter Two: Elizabeth Alone – A Veritable Female Sanctum ............................................ 56 Feminism and the Construction of the Other .................................................................... 59 Marriage – Male and Female Relationships, Marriage and Existential Questions ............. 66 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 88 Chapter Three: The Perils Inherent in Female Passivity ....................................................... 93 ‘O Fat White Woman’ ..................................................................................................... 98 ‘The Grass Widows’ ...................................................................................................... 112 ‘The Bedroom Eyes of Mrs Vansittart’ .......................................................................... 124 ‘Lunch in Winter’ .......................................................................................................... 134 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 142 Chapter Four: Oppression and Evil in three novels: The Children of Dynmouth, Other People’s Worlds and Felicia’s Journey ............................................................................. 143 The Children of Dynmouth ............................................................................................ 147 Other People’s Worlds .................................................................................................. 159 Felicia’s Journey ........................................................................................................... 173 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 192 vi Chapter Five: The Pleasures and Perils of Ageing in Trevor’s Elderly Female Characters . 195 Old Age ........................................................................................................................ 197 The Old Boys ................................................................................................................. 204 Elizabeth Alone, Other People’s Worlds and ‘In at the Birth’ ........................................ 211 ‘Broken Homes’ ............................................................................................................ 221 The Silence in the Garden ............................................................................................. 228 ‘Attracta’ ....................................................................................................................... 234 ‘The Paradise Lounge’ .................................................................................................. 238 ‘At Olivehill’................................................................................................................. 242 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 246 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 250 Works Cited ...................................................................................................................... 254 Primary Texts: ............................................................................................................... 254 Secondary Texts: ........................................................................................................... 255 vii Epigraph ‘Certain truths about human life can only be fittingly and accurately stated in the language and forms characteristic of the narrative artist. With respect to certain elements of human life, the terms of ordinary speech, or of abstract theoretical discourse, are blind, acute where they are obtuse, winged where they are dull and heavy’ (Nussbaum, 1990, p. 5). viii Introduction I write out of curiosity more than anything else. That’s why I write about women, because I’m not a woman and I don’t know what it’s like. The excitement of it is to know more about something that I’m not and can’t be. (Ni Anlauin 2008, p. 248) The main focus of this dissertation is an examination of female characterisation in a selection of novels and short stories in the fiction of William Trevor, through the lens of the writing and thought of Simone de Beauvoir. Trevor’s oeuvre is prolific; to date he has produced fifteen novels, three novellas and eleven volumes of short stories, as well as