arises between selfhood and community.This is a central theme in Byatt's Possession (1990),Drabble's The Witch of Exmoor (1996)and Murdoch's The Philosopher's Pupil (1983)-novels that show characters resisting being defined by their relationships with others.In Byatt's Possession,a writer who feels the attraction of community ties finally throws them off in order to pursue her art,but loneliness characterizes her later years. The Witch of Exmoor suggests that happiness rests in ignoring some standards of behaviour imposed by the community,a truth known only by the eccentric recluse Frieda Haxby,although Frieda's death-likely a suicide-complicates the lesson.In The Philosopher's Pupil.a man much discussed by his neighbours because of his bad temper and his abusive marriage comes to terms with the degree to which he has been defined by other people,and also seems to acknowledge the extent of his responsibilities to the community.The ending to Murdoch's novel suggests,however,that George McCaffrey has not really changed in any significant way.In each case,animal-bridegroom fairy tales enable characters to reconsider the conflict between individuality and community, although the conflict is a matter which all three novels leave unresolved. In Chapter Six of this essay,novels by Murdoch,Drabble and Byatt use"Briar Rose"to describe women who see advantages in holding onto a circumscribed existence, although there is no lack of princely suitors available to show them the way out.The isolation of each character has,in fact,less to do with relationships than it does with nameless anxieties about living amid the pressures of the modern world.Although highly imaginative characters are certainly important to the fiction of these writers,these novels illustrate the difficulty of leading a moral life,which,to Murdoch,Drabble and Byatt,is a life of taking action to improve one's lot rather than a life of quiet
contemplation.In Drabble's novel The Realms of Gold(1975),Frances Wingate,a world-famous archaeologist who has succeeded in her career despite the constraints imposed by an unhappy childhood,is plagued by depression,which she likens to a"stone in my chest"(Drabble,Realms 204).In Byatt's Possession(1990),Maud Bailey,a beautiful and renowned English scholar,is sometimes overwhelmed by the pressures of academia so that she fantasizes about"[a]n empty bed in an empty room"(Byatt, Possession 291),a vision that anticipates suicide elsewhere in Byatt's fiction.In Murdoch's The Unicorn(1963),Hannah Crean-Smith married the man she loved and moved into his country house,but guilt over an extramarital affair that he discovered has kept her a prisoner there.Attempts to remove Hannah forcibly lead to a self-perpetuating cycle of violence and murder.Each character has achieved success according to her own standards,but has now reached a point where she feels that she can advance no farther. While protagonists who take on the world are generally rewarded by these novelists, these three works remind the reader how much characters have to contend with when obstacles are comprised of their own attitudes rather than physical realities Byatt writes that,when she was growing up,she appreciated fairy tales for"the comfort of the inevitable ending...the happy ending against odds"(Fraser 128).The endings to fairy tales do not make every reader happy,however.Although attitudes toward class and race in the fiction of Murdoch,Drabble and Byatt are not the focus of my essay,in the Conclusion I suggest approaches to those dimensions of their work, which invite further critical attention.University-educated,all three write from a position of class privilege when they describe their faith in European fairy tales.In the Conclusion,I depart from my examination of these writers'use of German fairy tales to
examine their rather different use of The Arabian Nights,and to theorize explanations for that difference.While Murdoch,Drabble and Byatt use European fairy tales throughout their fiction to address sometimes painful realities,one wonders why it is that The Arabian Nights-a loose association of Indian,Persian,Chinese and Arabic folk tales dating,in its written form,from the thirteenth century-describes for them the unreal, things that are incomprehensible,unobtainable,or fleeting One of the most appealing fairy tales is the Grimms'"All Fur,"despite its description of shocking events.In the tale,a king mourning his wife's death decides to remarry,with their daughter as the bride.Horrified at the prospect of marrying her father,the heroine escapes to a neighbouring kingdom,where she takes a job in the kitchen as a cook's assistant.There,she produces a bread soup so fine that the king who eats it falls in love with her.Whatever lessons it teaches,whatever it reveals about a particular place and time,however it contributes to the history of artistic endeavour, above all,the fairy tale celebrates life.Brutal violence and troubling themes are present in the fairy tale,but its happy ending is more or less a certainty.This mixture of darkness and celebration also characterizes the fiction of Murdoch,Drabble and Byatt,where lonely characters who have failed in their engagements with the world are nevertheless driven to keep trying to make meaningful connections with others.The result is a moving and encouraging vision of our troubled modern times
Acknowledgements I would like to thank my committee members:Ted Bishop,JoAnn Wallace,Anna Altmann,Juliet McMaster and Joanne Creighton.Special thanks is due to Nora Foster Stovel,my supervisor,for her patience and encouragement
Table of Contents troduction.................................................................................................... SECTION ONE-FAMILIES Chapter One:"Hansel and Gretel".35 Chapter Two:“Cinderella”. .60 SECTION TWO-LOVERS Chapter Three:Beast Tales I........ .95 Chapter Four:“Briar Rose”I.. 129 SECTION THREE-COMMUNITY Chapter Five:Beast Tales II....... .157 Chapter Six:“Briar Rose”Ⅱ 187 Conclusion..... .219 Works Cited 229