Wise Children And Bergson’s Philosophy

Angela Carter is one of the most original contemporary British writers. Her novels are full of rich imagination, reflecting unique narrative technique and superb writing skills. Angela Carter’s last novel, Wise Children is narrated in the form of a memoir by the female protagonist who tells about the story of the legendary and confusion history of her family, including the life history of each family member. The novel has been called a "female version of Hundred Years of Solitude". The novel also reflects the author Angela Carter’s own philosophical reflection on life, which in many ways corresponds with the French philosopher Henri Bergson’s philosophy of life. Bergson’s philosophy has a great influence on modern art and literature. The major concepts of Bergson’s philosophy, such as "True Time","Free Will","Duration","Intuition" and "Memory", are found presented specifically in Carter’s novel Wise Children.This paper tries to study Wise Children from the perspective of Bergson’s philosophy. With the help of some major concepts from Bergson’s philosophy, the profound meaning of the novel and its unique narrative style are explored. The introduction includes a brief account of Angela Carter and literature reviews on Angela Carter’s works as well as Bergson’s philosophy. Then, the subsequent five chapters analyze the main characters in Wise Children respectively based on the concepts of "True Time","Free Will","Life Duration","Intuition" and "Memory". With the interpretation of the novel, the author of the thesis intends to reveal the Carter’s philosophical reflection on the meaning of life. The conclusion points out the significance of reading Wise Children from the perspective of Bergson’s philosophy.