Title: Woman's third age : The Seven Sisters by Margaret Drabble
Source document: Brno studies in English. 2009, vol. 35, iss. 1, pp. [173]-184
Extent
[173]-184
-
ISSN0524-6881 (print)1805-0867 (online)
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/105130
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
Margaret Drabble's The Seven Sisters (2002) evolves the middle-aged Candida Wilton's quest for a life after marriage and menopause: "woman's third age", "the age of ageing". Rendered redundant by her husband Andrew, headmaster of a Suffolk school, rejected by her three daughters Ellen, Isobel, and Martha, and replaced by Anthea Richards, Candida has abandoned Suffolk and relocated in the anonymity of London. Yet, Candida is quite courageous and starts an odyssey with six other women friends and the journey forms only one quarter of the interestingly structured novel. Drabble's narrative style is poignant; nevertheless, her last fiction is regarded as very depressing by some reviewers, despite the unusual construction of her narrative. The aim of my essay is to explore Drabble's last fiction The Seven Sisters, mapping Candida's fluid identity at the so-called woman's third age phase, concurrently pinning down Drabble's peculiar narrative style of utilizing various disciplines regarding mythology, intertextuality, gender and psychology.
References
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[2] Craib, Ian (2004 [1998]) 'What's happening to mourning?' In: du Gay, Paul, Jessica Evans and Peter Redman (eds.) Identity: A Reader. London: Sage, 267–276.
[3] Derrida, Jacques (2004 [1972]) 'Différance'. In: du Gay, Paul, Jessica Evans and Peter Redman (eds.) Identity: A Reader. London: Sage, 87–93.
[4] Drabble, Margaret (2002) The Seven Sisters. London: Penguin.
[5] Evans, Jessica (2004) 'Introduction:Psychoanalysis and Psychosocial relations'. In: du Gay, Paul, Jessica Evans and Peter Redman (eds.) Identity: A Reader. London: Sage, 121–129.
[6] Giddens, Anthony (1994) Modernity and Self-identity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
[7] Giobbi, Giuliana (1992) 'Sisters beware of sisters: sisterhood as a literary motif in Jane Austen, A. S. Byatt and I. Bossi Fedrigotti'. Journal of European Studies 22, 241–258. | DOI 10.1177/004724419202200302
[8] Head, Dominic (2002) The Cambridge Introduction to Modern British Fiction, 1950–2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[9] Jay, Elisabeth (December 1993) 'Margaret Drabble: A Reader's Guide'. Notes and Queries 40(4), 570–572.
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[12] Rubenstein, Roberta (Spring 1994) 'Fragmented bodies/selves/narratives: Margaret Drabble's postmodern turn'. Contemporary Literature 35(1), 136–186. | DOI 10.2307/1208739
[13] Stovel, Nora Foster (January 2004) 'Margaret Drabble: the Seven Sisters'. International Fiction Review 31(1–2), 101–103.
[14] Waugh, Patricia (2006) 'The Woman Writer and the Continuities of Feminism'. In: English, James F. A concise Companion to Contemporary British Fiction. Oxford: Blackwell.
[2] Craib, Ian (2004 [1998]) 'What's happening to mourning?' In: du Gay, Paul, Jessica Evans and Peter Redman (eds.) Identity: A Reader. London: Sage, 267–276.
[3] Derrida, Jacques (2004 [1972]) 'Différance'. In: du Gay, Paul, Jessica Evans and Peter Redman (eds.) Identity: A Reader. London: Sage, 87–93.
[4] Drabble, Margaret (2002) The Seven Sisters. London: Penguin.
[5] Evans, Jessica (2004) 'Introduction:Psychoanalysis and Psychosocial relations'. In: du Gay, Paul, Jessica Evans and Peter Redman (eds.) Identity: A Reader. London: Sage, 121–129.
[6] Giddens, Anthony (1994) Modernity and Self-identity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
[7] Giobbi, Giuliana (1992) 'Sisters beware of sisters: sisterhood as a literary motif in Jane Austen, A. S. Byatt and I. Bossi Fedrigotti'. Journal of European Studies 22, 241–258. | DOI 10.1177/004724419202200302
[8] Head, Dominic (2002) The Cambridge Introduction to Modern British Fiction, 1950–2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[9] Jay, Elisabeth (December 1993) 'Margaret Drabble: A Reader's Guide'. Notes and Queries 40(4), 570–572.
[10] Lasch, Christopher (2004) 'The narcissistic personality of our time'. In: du Gay, Paul, Jessica Evans and Peter Redman (eds.) Identity: A Reader. London: Sage, 222–230.
[11] Rainwater, Janette (1989) Self-therapy: A Guide to Becoming your own Therapist. London: Crucible.
[12] Rubenstein, Roberta (Spring 1994) 'Fragmented bodies/selves/narratives: Margaret Drabble's postmodern turn'. Contemporary Literature 35(1), 136–186. | DOI 10.2307/1208739
[13] Stovel, Nora Foster (January 2004) 'Margaret Drabble: the Seven Sisters'. International Fiction Review 31(1–2), 101–103.
[14] Waugh, Patricia (2006) 'The Woman Writer and the Continuities of Feminism'. In: English, James F. A concise Companion to Contemporary British Fiction. Oxford: Blackwell.