The Tragic Significance Of Patrick White's Novels

As one of the literary giants in the 20th century, Patrick White, the Australian winner of Nobel Prize for Literature, has exerted a great influence in the literary arena both in Australia and in the rest of the world. Patrick White's literary fame chiefly rests with his novels. His writings, notable for their successful modernist techniques, their unique language styles, and their insight into human hearts transcend the Australian literary tradition, heralding a new literary era of "Patrick White" and "putting Australian literature on the world map".The present research on the tragic significance of Patrick White's novels is first based on the academic achievements on White study so far available to the present author and then on the application of modern tragedy theories by some theorists or dramatists whose works are within the author's reach. The dissertation, which is a critical study of White's four novels: The Aunt's Story, Voss, Vivisector and The Twyborn Affair, consists of eight chapters.Chapter I gives an introductory remark on the outline of Patrick White's life and his novels, summary of White study and the objectives of the present research. With the appearance of his first internationally acclaimed novel, The Tree of Man, Patrick White began to be the focus of literary criticism. Up to now criticism on Patrick White has extended to various approaches and the appraisal of White's literary works is divided and changing. However, critics tend to neglect in varying degrees the profound aspect of tragic spirit in White's writing. What is more, some other critics deny the tragic sense in White's novels and classify White's work into comedy. But their views cannot explain the sense of crisis that threatens human existence in White's novels. Nor can they justify in accordance with the theory of comedy the characters' knowing efforts to strive hopelessly for their individual dignity and values, to confront their identity crisis and to seek theirspiritual home. Other critics have made studies of tragic vision in Patrick White but their researches are more related to the intention and outlook of Patrick White as an author rather than the intrinsic and aesthetic value of Patrick White's novels in terms of literary art. Moreover, constituents of modem tragedy are well exemplified by White in his deep concerns for such serious problems in modem society as the inharmonious surroundings, the alienation between man and society, the estrangement of human relations, the de-individualization in social life as well as the perplexities generated by the loss of faith in God. It is with the tragic elements presented in the novels that reveal White's probing into the fundamental problem of human existence and reinforce the dramatic effect of "pity and fear". In addition, the fate as well as the life experience of White's fictional characters is in a sense the embodiment of his tragic views towards human beings and modem industrial society. Therefore, there is a need to explore on the basis of textual analysis the tragic world constructed by Patrick White.Chapter II "Patrick White and Tragic Significance" intends to outline first the definition of tragedy, especially that of modem tragedy with a view to justifying its adaptation in modem literature. Historically speaking, literary forms develop and their contents vary in accordance with the vicissitudes within social, political and linguistic context to "express the ideas and passions of the age, and reflect the national character". As a result, theorists of different ages tended to interpret the definition of tragedy prescribed by Aristotle in their own way. In modem time, Herbert J. Muller holds the view that any fiction that deals with terrible and pitiable events, or the 'tragic' aspects of human experience, may be called a tragedy which is inspired by a serious concern with the problem of man's fate. The focus of concern in modem tragedy is human existence.The tragic profundity of White's fictional world is undeniable. Nearly every novel of White deals with the "problem of...