| A. S. Byatt is one of the famous female writers of modern Britain. Her writing career started with1960s and lasts to the present day. Her works mainly include novels, among which is Possession. On its publication in1990, it immediately became a bestseller and won the Booker Prize of that year and was adapted to a movie in2002. It is widely acknowledged as Byatt’s masterpiece.Possession tells the story of a modern scholar Roland who occasionally found two love letters by a famous Victorian male poet to a mysterious lady. In the process of finding out the secret love story, Roland, with the help of a female scholar Maud, experienced a long and hard journey of quest. Three phases of time and space are involved, in which the characters, stories and plots, while presenting historical pictures, are embodied with mythological meanings, so that historical changes are not only suggested in myths but also rewriting myths, thus bringing about the fusion between mythology and history.This thesis chiefly applies myth and archetypal theory to the interpretation of Possession, Firstly, the major archetype in the novel are described and analyzed, including the paradise pattern and major characters and their archetypes of the three phases of time and space. The characters include two couples of lovers:the Victorian poets, Ash and LaMotte; the scholar lovers of modern society, Roland and Maud. The archetypes comprise the Queen of Underworld, Proserpina, a mythical figure in the Victorian poem; Psyche, who falls in love with Eros; Melusina. a fairy of half-woman and half-serpent and the Paladins Roland, a legendary hero of the Middle Ages etc.. Secondly, the correspondence of the three phases of time and space is to be discussed and their respective historical factors are to be revealed. Thirdly, the evolution of myths and archetypes is examined in light of historical process. It is shown that, along with social and historical changes, myths are interpreted differently, while history is embodied in mythology. History and mythology thus adjust to each other and achieve their fusion.The thesis points out that, by achieving this fusion in the general context of Western literature and history, Possession not only shows the writer’s broad vision and profound learning in history and mythology but also deepens its own significance. |
