Placa of the mind: a study of place imagery in Muriel Spark's novels

Resumo

This dissertation is addressed to undergraduate students of the modern English novel. It presents a study of the relationship space/character in Muriel Spark's novels Robinson (1958) and The Mandelbaum Gate (1965). The analysis of this relationship shows to what extent geographical places are representative of the characters' inner spaces. It dwells on the several ways this relationship is effected and on their adequacy as an important element of character
portrayal. The analysis likewise stresses the multiple devices used by the writer to build up a sort of narrative which, at the same time, provides factual inferration and encourages analysis at the symbolic level. It also demonstrates how the two levels run parallel to each other and the way the literal underprops the symbolic.