Who is that man behind the curtain?
Posted by Karen R on October 21, 1997 at 14:12:51:
In response to The theme of possession, written by Jane Elizabeth on October 21, 1997 at 13:32:52
] ] Karen, you refer to Ash as a minor poet, but isn't he supposed to much more famous? I tried to find a Victorian poet who might have been a model for him, but Byatt is too good a writer and inventor to have simply cloaked an existing poet in fiction. I do think she means him to be on par with, say, Browning or even Tennyson, who she uses in Angels and Insects.
I can't remember where I saw him referred to as a "minor poet" but I'll find it.
Just this morning, I sent Cassia an e-mail saying I would hold off on this aspect of the discussion until next week since allusions get so thick in those chapters you need boots. You are quite right that Byatt modeled Ash and LaMotte on real Victorian poets (the consensus opinion is Browning/Swinburne and Rossetti/Dickenson). But Ash is much more of mystery man for me for another reason...
BTW, I have been driving Cassia crazy about this for several weeks now behind the scenes.
Posting followups to old messages is disabled; instead go to the main index and post a new message which mentions this one.
