“The Hunt” a novel and the accompanying exegesis “A Voyage Through Darkness: Finding a Voice in the Silence of Bluebeard’s Castle” Vanna Morosini B.A. (Hons) Submitted as requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Discipline of English, School of Humanities University of Adelaide, South Australia March 2013 Table of Contents ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................................... 3 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ................................................................................................................. 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................... 6 “THE HUNT” ........................................................................................................................................... 7 FIGURE 1. EDVARD MUNCH “PUBERTY” (1894-1895) ....................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................................................................. 9 CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................................ 18 CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................................................ 33 CHAPTER 4 ................................................................................................................................................ 54 CHAPTER 5 ................................................................................................................................................ 82 CHAPTER 6 .............................................................................................................................................. 104 CHAPTER 7 .............................................................................................................................................. 136 CHAPTER 8 .............................................................................................................................................. 157 CHAPTER 9 .............................................................................................................................................. 182 THE EXEGESIS ..................................................................................................................................... 198 “A VOYAGE THROUGH DARKNESS: FINDING A VOICE IN ..................................................................... 198 THE SILENCE OF BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE” .............................................................................................. 198 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 199 CHAPTER 2. BLUEBEARD’S WIFE: PASSIVE VICTIM OR WILY PROTAGONIST? ...................................................... 206 CHAPTER 3. ANGELA CARTER’S “THE BLOODY CHAMBER” AND FEMININE DISOBEDIENCE ..................................... 214 CHAPTER 4. BARGAINING WITH BLUEBEARD: MIRANDA AND CLEGG IN JOHN FOWLES’ THE COLLECTOR ................. 224 CHAPTER 5. VOICE FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE: ALICE SEBOLD’S THE LOVELY BONES............................................ 236 CHAPTER 6. ESCAPE FROM BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE: ALICE’S QUEST FOR FREEDOM IN “THE HUNT” .......................... 242 WORKS CITED ..................................................................................................................................... 262 2 Abstract The novel “The Hunt” follows the journey of a thirteen year old girl, Alice, as she navigates a path through the uneasy terrain of family breakdown, the onset of puberty and the slow, deliberate entrapment by an older man and his female accomplice. The novel charts Alice’s progress towards captivity, as she becomes slowly alienated from both her family and best friend. Alice finds herself in a perplexing world, where only her instincts alert her to the presence of danger. The novel can be read superficially as a story about a young girl and her pre-teen world of horses, friends and parents. However the significant themes of the novel are predation and capture, cruelty, alienation and the presence of mortal danger. The novel seeks to give voice to an aspect of the captor/captive narrative that is frequently absent: namely the perspective of a victim, in this case a young girl, who barely understands what is happening to her. The novel explores a world where things are not what they seem. The exegesis, “A Voyage through Darkness: Finding a Voice in the Silence of Bluebeard’s Castle” explores the role of myth and fairy story in the development of the thematic and narrative concerns of the novel “The Hunt”, framed particularly through the story of “Bluebeard”. It chronicles the struggle to develop a credible narrative voice, particularly in the central character of Alice. It also traces and analyses the “narrative footprints” of those who have covered similar territory in fiction, returning to archetypal myths and fairy tales and acknowledging “Bluebeard” as a template for a type of predatory male. Questions of feminine disobedience and curiosity are explored as keys to freedom. The exegesis examines texts that represent the predatory male/female captive dynamic: namely Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, John Fowles’ The Collector and most recently, Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones. These texts, in revising the “Bluebeard” tale, inform my novel, although “The Hunt” attempts a different ending. I 3 argue that archetypal myths and fairy tales still provide a framework through which a modern readership can interpret and therefore better understand our world. 4 Statement of Originality This work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution to Vanna Morosini and to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I give consent to this copy of my thesis, when deposited in the University Library, being made available for loan and photocopying, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I also give permission for the digital version of my thesis to be made available on the web, via the University’s digital research repository, the Library catalogue, the Australasian Digital Theses Program (ADTP) and also through web search engines, unless permission has been granted by the University to restrict access for a period of time. Signed ………………………………….. Date ……………….. 5 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the assistance of the University of Adelaide through the provision of a University of Adelaide Scholarship, which supported the research and writing of this project. I would also like to thank my principal supervisor, Dr Susan Hosking, for her invaluable support and guidance during the development and completion of both the novel and the exegesis, and Professor Nicholas Jose for his insightful assessments during the revision of the final drafts of the novel. Dr Janet Harrow, Dr Philip Edmonds and Dr Anne Bartlett all contributed to the development of various drafts of the thesis and I’d also like to acknowledge Nina Bierbaum for her professional assistance in formatting the final manuscript. 6 “The Hunt” A novel By Vanna Morosini 7 Figure 1. Edvard Munch “Puberty” (1894-1895) Original painting held in the collection of the National Museum, Oslo Reprinted with permission 8 Chapter 1 Miranda’s finger twisted in and out of her hair, weaving through the thick strands in a wild, circular motion. Her head was bent forwards, and from behind Alice could see her fingertip bend and curl its way in and out. “Hey!” Alice whispered, leaning forward to kick the leg of Miranda’s chair, “what’s the answer to number 7?” Her eyes darted sideways at Mr Mackenzie but he remained perched on one side of his desk, leg swinging, his gaze fixed on some distant point outside the window. Miranda giggled under her breath, so softly it came out as a faint wheeze. “Don’t know!” she managed to whisper, before Mr Mackenzie’s voice cut the silence in the room. “Girls! Be quiet! This is a detention and you are not to speak!” His head swung in their direction, and Alice dropped her eyes to her page, which was covered in small crosses in her attempt to answer the multiple choice questions they had been given. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Miranda shuffle forwards in her seat. Mr Mackenzie sighed and looked at his watch. “That’s probably enough for now. Time to go home.” His voice boomed across the empty classroom. He slid off the edge of the desk and stretched his shoulders backwards, his thin arms reaching out behind him like emaciated wings. Alice leaned down to grab her books from under her desk, afraid she was going to choke on the stifled guffaws bubbling up her throat. Miranda kept her head down, Alice knew, for the same reason. She stuffed her books into the school bag at her feet and stood up, ready to go. As the girls bustled out of the classroom Mr Mackenzie turned to them one last time. 9 “And girls, remember, quiet in class tomorrow!” “Yes, Mr Mackenzie,” they chanted in unison as they piled into the corridor, jostling each