Verbal Representation And Reconstruction Of Pre-raphaelitism In The Fictions Of A.S.Byatt

A.S.Byatt’s intricate novels can be termed as “painterly” in more ways than one,with some employing the visual vocabularies and others layered with allusions topaintings,painters and art genres.A few studies have been conducted on Byatt’s engagement with the visual art,but the dynamic relationship betweenByatt’snovels and Pre-Raphaelitism has not yet been thoroughly discussed.Through character analysis,comparative study and intermedia study,this thesisstrives to investigate the verbal representation and reconstruction of Pre-Raphaelitism in A.S.Byatt’s three novels Possession,Morpho Eugenia and The Children’s Book,andexplore the novels’ intricate incorporation,reflection,criticism and reconstruction of Pre-Raphaelite paintings and the Pre-Raphaelite movement.First,the thesis employs Mitchell’s picture theory to analyzeByatt’stransfiguration of Pre-Raphaelite iconographies in the imaging of characters,and examines the ways she translates the dynamic,shifting and morally ambivalent juxtaposition of the paintingand the viewer into the written text.In doing so she creates a variegated and conflictual space of engagement where the reader is invited to participate and allowed with a certain amount of freedom to project his or her own comprehension of the image as well as of the relationship between the text and the image.Second,the thesis mirrors Simon Goldhill’s reception study of art,and examines Byatt’srevisitationand reception of Pre-Raphaelitism from the perspective of Pre-Raphaelite women artists and models.By virtue of fictionalityByatt bridges the fragmentation of history with imagination,investigates the necessity and the varying validity of art reception,and explores the changing agendas in which Pre-Raphaelitism is received.Overall,Byatt’sverbal representation and reconstruction of Pre-Raphaelitismembraceits ambivalence,antagonize its merits and limits,reenactand rejectits aesthetic and historical stereotypes,all of which result in a showcasing of Pre-Raphaelitism in all its profundity and complexity.