Family Relationships in the Novels of Francois Mauriac
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Durham E-Theses Family relationships in the novels of Francois Mauriac Winnett, Prudence J. How to cite: Winnett, Prudence J. (1982) Family relationships in the novels of Francois Mauriac, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7798/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk PRUDENCE J. WINNETT FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS IN THE NOVELS, OF FRANCO I 5 MAURI AC Abst ract This thesis is concerned with the study of the extent to which the- family relationships portrayed in Mauriac's novels can be regarded as channels of love and the role played by the members of the families described as vehicles of or obstacles to divine grace. Attention is focused on the insight Mauriac's treatment of family relationships gives us into the true nature of love, as this is understood by the Christian, man's need for it and the effect it has on the emotional and spiritual development of the individual. Since Mauriac's characters are generally shown to be egoistic in their relationships, to confuse their love of others with love of self or to communicate even disinterested affection in a meaningless way, an analysis of the vast majority of the families Mauriac describes reveals an almost total absence of genuine love, according to the New Testament interpretation of the word. Mauriac is shown to emphasize throughout his novels that family relation• ships are not naturally loving ones and that, far from being common, even minimally happy homes are rare phenomena, not born but painstakingly made. The secret of their relative success is shown to lie according to Mauriac in Christianity's law of Love and its understanding of 'God' and 'Love' as synonymous. Whether or not they are aware of it, the most effective transmitters of this message are shown to be those who love others selflessly 'in deed and in truth', whilst those who fail in this respect prove to be correspondingly misleading. In the final part of the thesis, however, it is pointed out that God is shown by Mauriac to reveal himself constantly in various and often mystical ways, so that, however beneficially loving, or harmfully unloving, family relationships may be, the only force that can ever be said to constitute an essential obstacle to divine grace is an individual's own will. FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS IN THE NOVELS OF FRANCOIS MAURI AC Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts in the University of Durham by PRUDENCE J. WINNETT, B.A. July 1982 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. ?2.m '9-.i CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER I - THE SOURCE AND NATURE OF LOVE 13 CHAPTER II - THE DYNAMICS OF MAURI AC I EN FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS 36 1. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PARENT/CHILD AND BROTHER/SISTER RELATIONSHIPS 37 2. THE COMMUNICATION BARRIER 69 3. BLOOD-TIES AND LOVE-BONDS 81 CHAPTER III - THE QUEST FOR HAPPINESS-IN LOVE AND MARRIAGE 90 1. MARRIAGE, FAMILY AND SOCIETY 91 2. PASSIONATE LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIPS 107 3. CONJUGAL BLISS - DREAM OR REALITY? 135 CHAPTER IV - THE SCHOOL OF CHRISTIAN LOVE 146 1. INTERDEPENDENCE AND THE DUTY OF THE CHRISTIAN ... 147 2. THE HUMAN REFLECTION OF DIVINE LOVE 158 3. DISTORTED CHRISTIANITY AND THE IMPOSTER IMAGE OF GOD 167 4. NON-PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES 197 5. THROUGH THE HUMAN TO THE DIVINE LOVE AFFAIR 214 6. SUMMARY 241 CHAPTER V - THE FREEDOM AND POWER TO LOVE 244 CONCLUSION 259 BIBLIOGRAPHY 270 REFERENCES With the exception of the works Listed below, a L L the references to Mauriac's novels, plays and essays quoted in this thesis have been cited from the Oeuvres completes de Francois Mauriac, Paris (Grasset, chez Fayard) 1950-56, 12 volumes - abbreviated henceforth to '0C . Un adolescent d'autrefois, Paris, Flammarion, 1969. Maltaverne, Paris, Flammarion, 1972. La Pierre d'achoppement, Monaco, Editions du Rocher, 1951. Memoires interieurs, Paris, Livre de Poche, 3e trimestre 1973. Nouveaux Memo ires interieurs, Paris, Flammarion, Collection Folio, 2e trimestre 1974. Ce que je crois, Paris, Grasset, 1962. STATEMENT OF COPYRIGHT The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without her prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author wishes to express appreciation to her supervisor, Dr. B.G. Garnham, for his helpful advice, constructive criticism and unfailing encouragement throughout the preparation of this thesis. To parents and K ieran - 1 - INTRODUCTION - 2 - In her full-length study of Francois Mauriac Nelly Cormeau emphasizes that love is of supreme importance in his work. Her statement that 'I'amour est Le theme principal du roman mauriacien' is true from whatever angle the novels are viewed. Samuel Silvestre de Sacy maintains that 'L'homme, pour Mauriac, 2 ne s'accomplit que dans I'amour'. Love is certainly the essence of the religious convictions described by Michael Moloney as 'the warp upon which the fabric of /Mauriac'sT art is woven'.^ Thus, Jean de Fabregues refers to 'cette foi-amour, cet amour-foi' that is 'partout dans cette oeuvre, au coeur de cette oeuvre'.^ Refer• ring to Christ's disciples who have learnt 'que leur ami est Dieu et que Dieu est amour', Mauriac writes in Vie de Jesus: Qu'avaient-iIs besoin de comprendre autre chose? Toute la Loi Nouvelle tenait dans un seul mot, le plus profane dans toutes les langues du monde: amour. (OC, VII, 133) Mauriac's unswerving conviction that 'rien ne compte en ce monde que I'amour' (Ce que je crois, p. 75) is reflected throughout his novels. They are concerned substantially with human passion, love is the inspiration behind them, and, although, in the words of Eva Kushner, Mauriac 'pratiquait I'oeuvre-quest ion et non L'oeuvre- reponse, le cri plutot que le sermon', he implies throughout his works that Love Incarnate is the solution to the conflicts and evil inherent in the human condition. 1. N. Cormeau, L'Art de Francois Mauriac, Paris, Grasset, 1951, p. 217. 2. S. Silvestre de Sacy, L'Oeuvre de Francois Mauriac, Paris, Paul Hartmann, 1927, p. 75. 3. M.F. Moloney, Francois Mauriac: A Critical Study, Denver, Alan Swallow, 1958, p. 13. 4. J. de Fabregues, Maur i ac, Paris, Plon, 1971, p. 181. 5. E. Kushner, Maur i ac, Paris, Desclee de Brouwer, 'Les Ecrivains devant Dieu1, 1972, p. 106. - 3 - In this thesis i have considered the extent to which the family relationships portrayed in Mauriac's novels can be regarded as channels of love, and I have attempted to focus attention on the insight they give us into the nature of love, man's need for it and the effect it has on the emotional and spiritual development of the individual. In so doing I have explored various ways in which the members of the families Mauriac describes help or hinder each other in their conscious or unconscious search for the Christian God of Love. These two superficially different themes of a) the extent to which the families in Mauriac's world prove or fail to be networks of love and b) the role played by the individual members of these families as vehicles of or obstacles to divine grace, are in fact very intimately connected, for, as Nelly Cormeau indicates, 'I'amour et la religion touchent, au plus profond de notre etre, des regions si proches qu'elles sont presque coextensives et qu'on pourrait considerer L'experience de I'amour comme une maniere d'introduction a la vie devote'.^ Excluding the Introduction and Conclusion, this thesis is divided into five chapters, the second and fourth of which - g 'The Dynamics of Mauriacien Family Relationships' and 'The School of Christian Love' - are concerned with the two main subject areas referred to above. Owing to their length the three middle chapters - 6. Although this thesis is concerned primarily with the family relationships portrayed in Mauriac's novels, I have made occasional references to his drama and short stories and quoted passages from his memoirs, essays or articles which complement or shed light on the fictional evidence of the novels themselves. 7. N. Cormeau, op. c i t. , p. 202. 8. As no general rule has been found for the formation of an adjec• tive from the name of Mauriac, 'Mauriacien' has been used throughout this thesis in accordance with the example set by M.F. Moloney (op. c i t., p. 21). - 4 - II, III and IV - are divided into subsections as Listed in the Contents table. In Chapter I, 'The Source and Nature of Love', essential definitions and background information are given. Through the argument developed in the course of Chapter III, 'The Quest for Happiness in Love and Marriage', the transition is made from the theme of Chapter II to that of Chapter IV.