The Trials of Philip Roth: Writing As Ordeal and Punishment
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The Counterlife of Knight Errant Christie McKay and The Trials of Philip Roth: Writing as Ordeal and Punishment A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2013 Philip Leeke School of Arts, Languages and Cultures Contents Contents 2 Abstracts 4 Declaration and Copyright Statement 5 Acknowledgements 6 The Counterlife of Knight Errant Christie McKay 7 1. The Senokot 8 2. Big ships at night 15 3. Julia 18 4. Confession 22 5. Toy story 27 6. Yurt 32 7. Preparations 37 8. Merlin 42 9. Interview 47 10. Intrepid travel 52 11. Christmas 59 12. Mentally ill Bill 65 13. The Twit 70 14. Nigel 76 15. Hospital 82 16. Late call 89 17. Whale music 92 18. Going home 97 19. Bill’s art therapist 105 20. Curious 110 21. Airport 121 22. Flight 126 23. Empty 129 24. Home comforts 132 2 25. Castilla La Mancha 135 26. Reunion 139 27. John Smith’s life 144 28. The hole 153 29. Mates 159 30. Zigler 163 31. Alone 173 32. Stairway to Heaven 176 33. Metamorphosis 181 34. Princess 191 35. Velvet Squirrel 194 36. Naming it 198 37. Trash the dress 201 38. The murder of reality 212 The Trials of Philip Roth: Writing as Ordeal and Punishment 218 List of Abbreviations of Works by Philip Roth 219 Introduction: Philip Roth on Trial 220 1. The Anatomy Lesson 238 2. The Ghost Writer 253 3. Zuckerman Unbound and The Prague Orgy 262 Part Two: The American Trilogy 277 4. The Human Stain 278 5. American Pastoral 309 6. I Married a Communist 338 7. Conclusion: Dark Complexity and Engagement 361 Bibliography of Works Cited 376 Total word count: 108, 632 3 Abstracts The Counterlife of Knight Errant Christie McKay is a novel about a man with two lives. Christie McKay is a middle-aged academic who has a self-harming partner he cannot leave. On a sabbatical studying Don Quixote he meets another woman and falls in love. However, instead of leaving his self-harming nemesis, he concocts an absurd fantasy that will allow him to lead a double life and have a relationship with both women at the same time. His attempts to compartmentalize both lives leads to tragedy as the one crashes into the other with dire consequences. The novel was partly inspired by Philip Roth’s notion of ‘the counterlife’, this being the double life that is created in order to make the official one somehow more manageable. Thus the rococo fantasies of a Billy Liar or, more commonly, the prosaic extramarital affair. The Trials of Philip Roth: Writing as Ordeal and Punishment examines the influence of a recurring trope in the writings of Philip Roth which I have called ‘The Trial’. I trace the development of this feature to a negative reaction to Roth’s early work, most notably the Goodbye Columbus collection of short stories and the novel Portnoy’s Complaint. The thesis examines the changing nature of this ‘trial’ conceit and how it is broadened and developed by Roth in the later works, especially in the so-called American Trilogy series of novels. I argue that the basic structure of the trial involves an individual, almost always a man, unjustly accused of some heinous crime by the presiding arbiters of moral taste. This individual is usually hounded and banished by their particular community. While acknowledging the complex differences between fiction and autobiography, I argue that Roth’s personal experiences of being on trial, in the earliest work for supposedly having ridiculed American suburban Jews, has helped to produce a body of work which feeds on rage and moral indignation and which repeatedly puts the individual up against a censorious community with suffocating concepts of normalcy. 4 Declaration No portion of the work referred to in this thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. Copyright Statement i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright” )and s/he has given the University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administration purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trade marks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP Policy ( see http: documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo. aspx?DocID=487), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University’s Library regulations (see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations) and in The University’s policy on Presentation of Theses 5 Acknowledgements A large number of people have made this thesis possible. First and foremost I give special thanks to my partner Joy for the patience she has shown during the writing of it. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to both Dr Ian McGuire and Geoff Ryman for the consistency and encouragement they have shown in helping me produce it. Geoff for helping to curb my more digressive moments and Ian for the clarity of his feedback in seminar discussions. Thanks also to Ian for organizing the various research workshops at the Centre for New Writing. I would also like to thank Dr John McAuliffe for helping to create an intellectually stimulating environment around which new writers can learn and thrive. Thanks also to ‘Mr Boris’ my beloved cat. Secondly I would like to thank the various writers who have offered feedback during workshops. These include Veronica Turiano, Creina Mansfield, Kathrina Daud, Reshma Ruia, Beth Daley and Nicholas Murgatroyd. I would also like to acknowledge Carmel Roche of Manchester University Language Centre who deserves credit for providing me with regular employment. As does Dr John Morley for involving me in stimulating literary projects in the Arab world. It is a source of regret that my family are no longer around but would like to give special thanks to my mother for instilling in me a love of books from an early age. The words have been a source of constant comfort during difficult times. 6 The Counterlife of Knight Errant Christie McKay 7 1: The Senokot SOME MEN SAID they were working late, others hid their phones. His lying wasn’t pathological. It wasn’t designed to enhance reality, more subdue or deny it. And besides, he’d had a few drinks. Actually he’d had a few everything. The woman at the bar was conservatively dressed in a short black dress and with proper high heels, as opposed to those unappealing built-up barges that women chugged around in. She was the sort of woman he liked. Her face had maternal warmth coupled with an obviously passionate nature, her nose was sharp and slightly mannish. Brown eyes and a slim and wiry body, lean. She had beautifully defined calves and they couldn’t have bridge abutments or piano supports. He needed delicate tapering. Bronzed, passionate, slightly gypsy. A brunette. Well, if you were trying to fuck somebody you might as well have the full bill of your own particulars and he’d ticked them off. Toned, he’d ticked. Stunning, he’d ticked. Vivacious. Moves her hands dramatically. Liked the confident way she ordered drinks, pushing in and catching the eyes of bar staff. She would know what she liked in bed and wouldn’t be ashamed to ask. Strong women were the ones who eroticised you. Her body was strong too. Her hips swayed through the thin dress. Pert. There wasn’t a better word. Pert and strong. She could embrace you with those legs, crack you open. You’d empty yourself in great shuddering jerks. She’d laugh and smile and sex would be many things. And now she was here, in a noisy and 8 crowded Spanish bar that had once been frequented by Valle-Inclán, or so it said on the plaque. Valle-Inclán was a bohemian and so was McKay. Or at least he thought so. They both made up stories and he was making one up even before he had fully processed the encouraging fact about this plenitude of shared being, and when he had finally moved through the crowded noise of the bar he swam in her perfume and felt an almost physical pulse drawing him in. The tumblers had clicked into place. Chemical, it was definitely chemical, at least on his part. He looked at her hands and saw that her arms were toned and muscular. Silver accessories, but not too much.