Historiographic metafiction
The text is postmodernist (a text that feeds off of texts.) There is a variety of texts that make up this type of writing. Some texts such as Nancy’s reading, Sir Walter Scott’s poem, “The Lady of the Lake” is re-used a later as a chapter title but this time referring to the passage of Grace on the ferry to the USA.
"Historiographic metafiction is one kind of postmodern novel which rejects projecting present beliefs and standards onto the past and asserts the specificity and particularity of the individual past event. It also suggests a distinction between ☆events★ and ☆facts★ that is one shared by many historians. Since the documents become signs of events, which the historian transmutes into facts, as in historiographic metafiction, the lesson here is that the past once existed, but that our historical knowledge of it is semiotically transmitted. Finally, Historiographic metafiction often points to the fact by using the paratextual conventions of historiography to both inscribe and undermine the authority and objectivity of historical sources and explanations." (122-123, Linda Hutcheon)
For more see:
http://hermes.hrc.ntu.edu.tw/lctd/asp/theory/theory_works/36/study.htm#flag4
Monday, 3 September 2007
"Alias Grace" by Margaret Atwood: Mary Whitney
Mary Whitney
After her death she becomes Grace’s alter ego.
She is perceptive on Grace being “bright” but “ignorant” 172
A native-born Canadian. 173 “She claimed that her grandmother had been a Red Indian”. 173
Ironically says that Grace looks like “a mad woman” 175
Would sell her body if pushed through hunger. 175
“Mary was a person of democratic views”. 39
She is egalitarian
She advises Grace that she “should remember that we were not slaves, and being a servant was not as thing we were born to, nor would we be forced to continue at it forever; it was just a job of work”. 182 “And one person was as good as the next”. 182
And against inequality:“It angered her that some people had so much and others had so little, as she could not see any divine plan in it.” (Grace on Mary White) 173
Grace on Mary: “she had very democratic ideas, which it took me some getting used to.” 183 Mary would say a poem: “When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman?” 183
However Mary can make coarse jokes on life, being a servant and being a woman. See pages 182-3. On the women of the leisured classes not being able to survive if they had to:
“- and if they were to lose all their money tomorrow, they would not even be able to make a living by honest whoring, as they would not know which part was to go where . . .182
Thinks that “men are liars by nature”. 190 (Men and sex)
She is sexually knowledgeable
Full of sexual sayings that Grace remembers afterwards
Grace on MacDermott losing his sexual ardour after threatening to rape Grace: “as Mary Whitney would say, he mislaid the poker”. 386
She falls pregnant to the rich son of Mrs Alderson-Parkinson and is abandoned by him.
Grace soon realises that Mary is pregnant. “I was well aware of what was wrong with Mary” 200
After her death she becomes Grace’s alter ego.
She is perceptive on Grace being “bright” but “ignorant” 172
A native-born Canadian. 173 “She claimed that her grandmother had been a Red Indian”. 173
Ironically says that Grace looks like “a mad woman” 175
Would sell her body if pushed through hunger. 175
“Mary was a person of democratic views”. 39
She is egalitarian
She advises Grace that she “should remember that we were not slaves, and being a servant was not as thing we were born to, nor would we be forced to continue at it forever; it was just a job of work”. 182 “And one person was as good as the next”. 182
And against inequality:“It angered her that some people had so much and others had so little, as she could not see any divine plan in it.” (Grace on Mary White) 173
Grace on Mary: “she had very democratic ideas, which it took me some getting used to.” 183 Mary would say a poem: “When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman?” 183
However Mary can make coarse jokes on life, being a servant and being a woman. See pages 182-3. On the women of the leisured classes not being able to survive if they had to:
“- and if they were to lose all their money tomorrow, they would not even be able to make a living by honest whoring, as they would not know which part was to go where . . .182
Thinks that “men are liars by nature”. 190 (Men and sex)
She is sexually knowledgeable
Full of sexual sayings that Grace remembers afterwards
Grace on MacDermott losing his sexual ardour after threatening to rape Grace: “as Mary Whitney would say, he mislaid the poker”. 386
She falls pregnant to the rich son of Mrs Alderson-Parkinson and is abandoned by him.
Grace soon realises that Mary is pregnant. “I was well aware of what was wrong with Mary” 200
"Alias Grace" by Margaret Atwood: Mrs Rachel Humphrey
Mrs Humphrey
(“Rachel”, when Simon gets to know her better)
She is incapable of functioning without servants (Dora). Mrs H can’t even cook an egg or clean her house.
Role-playing
Jordan thinks “she is an interesting study” in herself: Her idea of herself, for instance, is much more exalted than present circumstances warrant” 85
Jordan sees her as living a life of quiet desperation (my idea) See 85-6 for his analysis of her.
Melodrama!
Simon after buying Mrs H. some much needed supplies.
(Simon) “’Think nothing of it. I could not let you starve.’ His voice is heartier than he intends, the voice of a jolly and insincere uncle who can scarcely wait to bestow the expected quarter-dollar on the grovelling poor-relation niece, pinch her cheek, and then make his getaway to the opera.” Simon silently curses and envies Major Humphrey’s freedom from Mrs H. 166.
Mrs Humphries hints that she has her body and will trade that:“Women like me have few skills that they can sell”. 166 (The whole scene here is melodramatic, “Her eyes fill with tears” and the moment is “slightly dampened” by “the trace of butter that remains upon” Mrs Humphries’ mouth”. 167
Dora tells Grace, “ . . . Dr. Jordan should watch himself, because if ever she saw a determination to get a man’s trousers of him, it was there in the eyes of Mrs. Humphrey.” 353
Mrs. Humphreys gets depressed and “She’s been raiding his supplies” of Laudenum . 376
Dupont to Simon: “But will you go as far as to admit that women in general have a more fragile nervous organization, and consequently a greater suggestibility?” 350 (Men’s views on women or can they be applied to several characters including Grace and Mrs Humphries?)
She also claims to be a sleepwalker
Mrs Humphrey claims to have been sleepwalking when she went to Simon’s bed:
This is the very thing Rachel claims of herself: she was sleepwalking, she says. She thought she was outdoors in the sunlight, gathering flowers but somehow found herself in his room, in the darkness, in his arms, and already then it was too late, she was lost”. . . .”He doesn’t for a moment believe this story, but for a refined woman of her class he supposes it’s a way of saving face.” (Mrs Humphreys claims to be a somnambulist “since childhood”. The links with Grace are obvious. It also highlights the question for Simon whether he should believe “Grace’s” somnambulism when he immediately discounts “Rachel’s”. 423
(“Rachel”, when Simon gets to know her better)
She is incapable of functioning without servants (Dora). Mrs H can’t even cook an egg or clean her house.
Role-playing
Jordan thinks “she is an interesting study” in herself: Her idea of herself, for instance, is much more exalted than present circumstances warrant” 85
Jordan sees her as living a life of quiet desperation (my idea) See 85-6 for his analysis of her.
Melodrama!
Simon after buying Mrs H. some much needed supplies.
(Simon) “’Think nothing of it. I could not let you starve.’ His voice is heartier than he intends, the voice of a jolly and insincere uncle who can scarcely wait to bestow the expected quarter-dollar on the grovelling poor-relation niece, pinch her cheek, and then make his getaway to the opera.” Simon silently curses and envies Major Humphrey’s freedom from Mrs H. 166.
Mrs Humphries hints that she has her body and will trade that:“Women like me have few skills that they can sell”. 166 (The whole scene here is melodramatic, “Her eyes fill with tears” and the moment is “slightly dampened” by “the trace of butter that remains upon” Mrs Humphries’ mouth”. 167
Dora tells Grace, “ . . . Dr. Jordan should watch himself, because if ever she saw a determination to get a man’s trousers of him, it was there in the eyes of Mrs. Humphrey.” 353
Mrs. Humphreys gets depressed and “She’s been raiding his supplies” of Laudenum . 376
Dupont to Simon: “But will you go as far as to admit that women in general have a more fragile nervous organization, and consequently a greater suggestibility?” 350 (Men’s views on women or can they be applied to several characters including Grace and Mrs Humphries?)
She also claims to be a sleepwalker
Mrs Humphrey claims to have been sleepwalking when she went to Simon’s bed:
This is the very thing Rachel claims of herself: she was sleepwalking, she says. She thought she was outdoors in the sunlight, gathering flowers but somehow found herself in his room, in the darkness, in his arms, and already then it was too late, she was lost”. . . .”He doesn’t for a moment believe this story, but for a refined woman of her class he supposes it’s a way of saving face.” (Mrs Humphreys claims to be a somnambulist “since childhood”. The links with Grace are obvious. It also highlights the question for Simon whether he should believe “Grace’s” somnambulism when he immediately discounts “Rachel’s”. 423
"Alias Grace" by Margaret Atwood: attitudes towards women
Contextual attitudes towards women
Societal expectations“There were only forty women in the Penitentiary. This speaks of the superior moral training of the feebler sex” Susanna Moodie (Opening pages)
1859 “The Woman Question” discussed by characters. (“The emancipation of this or that”) 24
Grace is “a celebrated murderess” (Stories in the press and public views of Grace, see 25. A list of items on her notoriety.
“Red hair of an ogre” G “ A wild beast”.
Her “red hair” also brings forth comments from the keepers: “a little fire, they say it comes with the redness of the hair. But is it red where it most counts . . .” (The keepers hold most of the cliched notions of red-haired women as they make sexual comments about Grace) 277-8
Dr. Jordan
While referring briefly to Verringer’s supposed appearance before he meets him:
“At least he isn’t a woman, and thus not obliged to wear corsets and deform himself with tight lacing. For the widely held view of women are weak-spined and jelly-like by nature, and would slump to the floor like melted cheese if not roped in” 83
Grace to Nancy on the need to have a bit of flesh on her: “as it did not do to be all skin and bones, and that the young ladies nowadays were starving themselves because of fashion” 315 (Nancy is also pregnant when she fears being “too plump”.
On Simon’s imagination, fantasies and animalism (When Mrs Humphries first collapses and is lifted by Simon to his bed) He is “aroused by the sight of Mrs Humphries, “ a helpless woman extended extended upon his tumbled bed” in a semi state of dress.
“He has always been curious about these manifestations of the imagination as he has been able to observe them in himself. Where do they come from? If they occur in him, they must occur as well in the majority of men. . . he cannot always control such pictures. The difference between a civilized man and a barbarous fiend – a madman, say – lies, perhaps, merely in a thin veneer of willed self restraint. “ 163
Contextual views of seduced single women (Nancy and Mary Whitney. Predatory men mostly escaped moral censure.)
Note also the view of “fallen” women by men at the time and even by women themselves of their being fair game for seducers for as Grace says, “once the horse was out of the stable it was no good shutting the barn door, and a woman once on her back was like a turtle in the same plight, she could scarcely turn herself right side up again, and was fair game for all”. 296
Mary Whitney and fell victim to the sexual advances of their employers. Servant girls were particularly vulnerable to this. Even Simon’s fantasies and dreams from his youth were bound up with his sexual curiosity of the servant women who lived in his house.
The third person’s representation of Simon’s view of women as he tries extricate himself from Mrs Humphries:“Women help each other; caring for the afflicted is their sphere. They make beef tea and jellies. They knit comforting shawls. They pat and soothe.” 164
In the market as Simon buys groceries he realises that as a man of his class he is out of place and is unsure of what to buy Mrs Humphries. He feels that “the women of the poorer classes” are “laughing behind his back”. 164
Simon is aware of his insincerity as he speaks with Mrs Humphries after going out for supplies:
“’Think nothing of it. I could not let you starve.’ His voice is heartier than he intends, the voice of a jolly and insincere uncle who can scarcely wait to bestow the expected quarter-dollar on the grovelling poor-relation niece, pinch her cheek, and then make his getaway to the opera.” Simon silently curses and envies Major Humphrey’s freedom from Mrs H. 166.
Mrs Humphries hints that she has her body and will trade that:“Women like me have few skills that they can sell”. 166 (The whole scene here is melodramatic and it is “slightly dampened” by “the trace of butter that remains upon” Mrs Humphries’ mouth”. 167
Dupont (Jeremiah the Peddlar) when talking about the mind.
To Simon: “But will you go as far as to admit that women in general have a more fragile nervous organization, and consequently a greater suggestibility?” 350 (Men’s views on women or can they be applied to several characters including Grace and Mrs Humphries?)
Dupont on women acting and role-playing
‘I myself, says Dr. Dupont, “tend to place prostitution in the same class as the homicidal and religious manias; all may be considered, perhaps, as an impulse to play-act which has run out of control. Such things have been observed in the theatre, among actors who claim that they become the character they are acting. Female opera singers are especially prone to it. There’s a Lucia on record who actually did kill her lover.’ 349-50)
Societal expectations“There were only forty women in the Penitentiary. This speaks of the superior moral training of the feebler sex” Susanna Moodie (Opening pages)
1859 “The Woman Question” discussed by characters. (“The emancipation of this or that”) 24
Grace is “a celebrated murderess” (Stories in the press and public views of Grace, see 25. A list of items on her notoriety.
“Red hair of an ogre” G “ A wild beast”.
Her “red hair” also brings forth comments from the keepers: “a little fire, they say it comes with the redness of the hair. But is it red where it most counts . . .” (The keepers hold most of the cliched notions of red-haired women as they make sexual comments about Grace) 277-8
Dr. Jordan
While referring briefly to Verringer’s supposed appearance before he meets him:
“At least he isn’t a woman, and thus not obliged to wear corsets and deform himself with tight lacing. For the widely held view of women are weak-spined and jelly-like by nature, and would slump to the floor like melted cheese if not roped in” 83
Grace to Nancy on the need to have a bit of flesh on her: “as it did not do to be all skin and bones, and that the young ladies nowadays were starving themselves because of fashion” 315 (Nancy is also pregnant when she fears being “too plump”.
On Simon’s imagination, fantasies and animalism (When Mrs Humphries first collapses and is lifted by Simon to his bed) He is “aroused by the sight of Mrs Humphries, “ a helpless woman extended extended upon his tumbled bed” in a semi state of dress.
“He has always been curious about these manifestations of the imagination as he has been able to observe them in himself. Where do they come from? If they occur in him, they must occur as well in the majority of men. . . he cannot always control such pictures. The difference between a civilized man and a barbarous fiend – a madman, say – lies, perhaps, merely in a thin veneer of willed self restraint. “ 163
Contextual views of seduced single women (Nancy and Mary Whitney. Predatory men mostly escaped moral censure.)
Note also the view of “fallen” women by men at the time and even by women themselves of their being fair game for seducers for as Grace says, “once the horse was out of the stable it was no good shutting the barn door, and a woman once on her back was like a turtle in the same plight, she could scarcely turn herself right side up again, and was fair game for all”. 296
Mary Whitney and fell victim to the sexual advances of their employers. Servant girls were particularly vulnerable to this. Even Simon’s fantasies and dreams from his youth were bound up with his sexual curiosity of the servant women who lived in his house.
The third person’s representation of Simon’s view of women as he tries extricate himself from Mrs Humphries:“Women help each other; caring for the afflicted is their sphere. They make beef tea and jellies. They knit comforting shawls. They pat and soothe.” 164
In the market as Simon buys groceries he realises that as a man of his class he is out of place and is unsure of what to buy Mrs Humphries. He feels that “the women of the poorer classes” are “laughing behind his back”. 164
Simon is aware of his insincerity as he speaks with Mrs Humphries after going out for supplies:
“’Think nothing of it. I could not let you starve.’ His voice is heartier than he intends, the voice of a jolly and insincere uncle who can scarcely wait to bestow the expected quarter-dollar on the grovelling poor-relation niece, pinch her cheek, and then make his getaway to the opera.” Simon silently curses and envies Major Humphrey’s freedom from Mrs H. 166.
Mrs Humphries hints that she has her body and will trade that:“Women like me have few skills that they can sell”. 166 (The whole scene here is melodramatic and it is “slightly dampened” by “the trace of butter that remains upon” Mrs Humphries’ mouth”. 167
Dupont (Jeremiah the Peddlar) when talking about the mind.
To Simon: “But will you go as far as to admit that women in general have a more fragile nervous organization, and consequently a greater suggestibility?” 350 (Men’s views on women or can they be applied to several characters including Grace and Mrs Humphries?)
Dupont on women acting and role-playing
‘I myself, says Dr. Dupont, “tend to place prostitution in the same class as the homicidal and religious manias; all may be considered, perhaps, as an impulse to play-act which has run out of control. Such things have been observed in the theatre, among actors who claim that they become the character they are acting. Female opera singers are especially prone to it. There’s a Lucia on record who actually did kill her lover.’ 349-50)
Saturday, 1 September 2007
"Alias Grace" by Margaret Atwood: the theme of relationships between men and women
Relationships between men and women in Alias Grace
Grace is perceptive about Simon Jordan. She can see when he is troubled. She offers to remember her dreams for him, “If it will help you, Sir, with the trouble you are in; for I was feeling pity towards him, he looked so out of sorts” 282-3
Simon’s attitudes towards women, their “gratitude” and power within relationships.
He knows that Grace is playing a game during their conversations.
“She appears to welcome them, and even enjoy them; much as one enjoys a game of any sort, when one is winning, he tells himself grimly. The emotion she expresses most openly towards him is a subdued gratitude.
He’s hates the gratitude of women” because “it puts you at a disadvantage.” He thinks that “their gratitude isn’t real; what they really mean by it is that he should be grateful to them. Secretly they despise him. He recalls with embarrassment, and a kind of shrivelling self-loathing, the puppyish condescension he used to display when paying out money to some pitiful shopworn streetgirl – the beseeching look in her eyes, and how large and rich and compassionate he felt himself to be, as if the favours about to be conferred were his, not hers. What contempt they all must have kept hidden, under their thanks and smiles” 422
This is a fascinating passage which explores the power and sex relationships that Simon feels he has with women. He doesn’t feel in control and suspects that even when he is paying a prostitute it is he that is being manipulated through the selfishness of another.
Simon feels the same way about the “gratitude”of Mrs Humphrey
“Rachel, as he has now been entreated to call her. The more miles he is able to put between himself and Rachel Humphrey, the lighter and less troubled in spirit he feels. He’s gotten himself in too deep with her. He’s floundering – images of quicksand come to mind – . . . .Having a mistress – for that’s what she’s become, he supposes, . . . is worse than having a wife. The responsibilities involved are weightier, and more muddled.” 422-3
Mrs Humphrey claims to have been sleepwalking when she went to Simon’s bed:
This is the very thing Rachel claims of herself: she was sleepwalking, she says. She thought she was outdoors in the sunlight, gathering flowers but somehow found herself in his room, in the darkness, in his arms, and already then it was too late, she was lost”. . . .”He doesn’t for a moment believe this story, but for a refined woman of her class he supposes it’s a way of saving face.” (Mrs Humphreys claims to be a somnambulist “since childhood”. The links with Grace are obvious. It also highlights the question for Simon whether he should believe “Grace’s” somnambulism when he immediately discounts “Rachel’s”. 423
The rituals of Mrs Humphrey’s melodramatic role-playing “bores” Simon. (Perhaps also because he is required to play the role of secret lover himself.)
Simon wants to get out of the relationship and “Inwardly he wishes” the Major “ a long and healthy life”. 424.
Lydia wears her new dress for the benefit of Simon – and she is sorry to have missed him. (Grace is very aware of this. 283. The will he or wont he have a relationship with Lydia is continued for a good part of his inclusion in the novel.) Grace can see there will be trouble “when one loves and the other does not”. 285
Simon’s relationship with Mrs Humphries.-She is his landlady
-becomes through necessity a kind of servant (when Dora leaves)
-becomes his mistress out of gratitude!
Jeremiah the peddler’s relationship with Grace (caring and somewhat mysterious, although he offers a relationship without marriage if she would form a partnership with him in his role as a mesmermist duping the credulous.
Jaimie’s relationship with Grace
He is young and innocent at Richmond Hill. Jaimie allowed his jealousy to get the better of him at the trial:
“He felt betrayed in love, because I had gone off with MacDermott; and from being an angel in his eyes, and fit to be idolized and worshipped, I was transformed to a demon, and he would do all in his power to destroy me. (This was a disappointment as Grace had been hoping for “a good word” from him at the trial.) 418
Kinnear’s relationship with Nancy and Grace
McDermott’s relationship with Grace
Kenneth McKenzie’s relationship with Grace
These relationships are mostly based on power in which women, from servants to wives, are dependent or vulnerable.
"Alias Grace" by Margaret Atwood: it is not just Grace who has a split personality
Split or multiple personalities/identities
Grace Marks
The novel's title, “Alias Grace”, suggests a double identity. Alias Grace and not Mary Whitney.
Jeremiah the peddler.
Dr. Jerome Dupont (although Jordan suspects differently) Dr. Jerome Dupont has the deep liquid eyes and intense gaze of a professional charlatan.” 95
Simon Jordan
t could be argued that in his relationship with Mrs Humphreys Simon shows another side to himself – a split personality
The following passage can be used as evidence to suggest the double-sidedness of Simon’s personality. Like Grace, there is a secret side who no-one sees – except the narrator and by extension, the readers. Remember that Simon becomes an amnesiac later in the novel and ends up as a different personality.
Jordan reflects on the his relationship with his landlady, Rachel and considers “Words of passion and burning love, of how he cannot resist her, which – strange to say – he actually believes at the time. During the day, Rachel is a burden, an encumbrance, and he wishes to be rid of her; but at night she’s an altogether different person, and so is he . . . He’s driven by what heels like uncontrollable desire; but apart from that – apart from himself, at these times, as the sheets toss like waves, . . . another part of himself stands with folded arms, fully clothed, merely curious, merely observing. How far, exactly, will he go? How far in? 425-6
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"Alias Grace" by Margaret Atwood: Narrative Style
The author uses multiple narratives or “a split narrative” to construct the reader’s view of Grace, her innocence or guilt, and keep it objective.
Grace’s Narrative
Her narrative is mainly chronological. She gains confidence and shows this through her creativity. She’s even going to have a baby.
Notice the nested narratives within Grace’s story. (Mary’s story, the immigration story, working as a maid at the Mrs Alderman Parkinson’s, etc.
There is a switch to the present from the past in some chapters. (See the opening to Chapter 27)This gives a non-linear feel to the early to mid part of the novel.
Dr. Simon Jordan:
He gives a mainly retrospective narrative although he is sometimes chronological. He loses confidence throughout the novel and eventually his narrative drops away as he develops amnesia. His mother and The Rev. Verringer support this view towards the end of the novel.
In several chapters there is an omniscient third person narrator.
Atwood also uses the eighteenth century epistlatory technique through her use of letters. They usually fill in blank pieces of narrative or move several narratives forward
Possible reason why Atwood adopted this style
There are a number of narratives to create objectivity and thought on the part of the reader in his or her construction of Grace and her guilt or innocence. The novels also fits within the modern tradition of historiographical literature. (More on this in another post.)
Atwood uses a variety of literary forms
The Ballad at the beginning of the novel in which the story of Kinnear and Nancy’s murder are related together with Grace’s and McDermott’s part in it.
She uses Susanna Moodie’s “Life in the Clearings” (Various extracts).
Note Moodie’s reported comments in Chapter 43 when she, in Grace’s own words, says that Grace was “shrieking” and “running about” the asylum.417
The veracity of some of her extracts are questioned, by the characters. See Verringer’s comments. 221 (“She is unclear about the location of Richmond Hill, she is inaccurate on the subject of names and dates”. 221-220
Simon and Verringer are referring to the melodramatic images of Grace painted by Moodie on page 220: “her two bloodshot and blazing eyes were following her around (Grace on Nancy). These are exaggerations.
McKenzie also thinks that Mrs Moodie was given to exaggerate:
“ ‘Mrs Moodie – for whom I have the greatest regard,’ says MacKenzie, ‘has a somewhat conventional imagination, and a tendency to exaggerate. She put fine speeches into the mouths of her subjects.’” 436-7
Lines from several poems of the period.
Letters (Whole chapters)
Press accounts
James McDermott to Kenneth McKenzie (their pair’s lawyer)
He claims that Grace “was entirely taken up with her master. Grace was very jealous of the difference between her and the housekeeper, whom she hated, and to whom she was often very insolent and saucy . . .”What is she better than us”?” 275 (Does this not ascribe motive?) 275
Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” appears to have been an influence. Verringer reads Hawthorne. Simon: Hawthorne had been accused of sensualism” . . . and “of a laxity of morals”> 223 (Relevance? Some reviewers mentioned the influence of Hawthorne’s text in their reviews. It might be worth following this textual reference up.)
The “Punishment Book” from Kingston Penetentiary
The warden’s reports (extracts)
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