Harold Bloom The Anxiety of Influence.

A Theory of Poetry
Preface: The Anguish of Contamination
I excluded Shakespeare from The Anxiety of Influence and its immediate sequels ecause I !as not read" to
meditate upon Shakespeare and originalit"# One cannot think through the question of influence without
considering the most influential of all authors during the last four centuries. I sometimes suspect that !e
reall" do not listen to one another ecause Shakespeare$s friends and lo%ers ne%er quite hear !hat the other is
sa"ing& !hich is part of the ironical truth that Shakespeare largely invented us. The invention of the human,
as we know it, is a mode of influence far surpassing anything literary. '()
"He wrote the text of modern life" is the heart of this matter Shakespeare invented us, and continues to
contain us. *e are no! in an era of so+called ,cultural criticism&, !hich de%alues all imaginati%e literature& and
!hich particularl" demotes and deases Shakespeare# Politici-ing literar" stud" has destro"ed literar" stud"& and
ma" "et destro" learning itself# Shakespeare has influenced the world far more than it initially influenced
Shakespeare. The common assumption of all the .esenters is that state po!er is e%er"thing and indi%idual
su/ecti%it" is nothing& e%en if that su/ecti%it" elonged to *illiam Shakespeare# 0rightened " their irrational
social order& the 1nglish .enaissance pla"!rights& in this account& either ecame timeser%ers or su%erters or a
mixture of oth& !hile eing caught in the iron" that e%en their textual su%ersions helped to enhance state
po!er& a po!er rather surprisingl" held to e reliant upon theatricalit"# I return to 1merson for an antidote to all
this po!er+mongering# *ho !rote the text of modern life& Shakespeare or the 1li-aethan 2acoean political
estalishment3 *ho in%ented the human& as !e kno! it& Shakespeare or the court and its ministers3 *ho
influenced Shakespeare$s actual text more& *illiam Cecil& 4ord Burghle"& the 0irst Secretar" to Her 5a/est"& or
Christopher 5arlo!e3 !hat we once used to call "imaginative literature" is indistinguisha"le from literary
influence& and has onl" an inessential relationship to state po!er# '()
Coleridge spoke of the e%er+li%ing men and !omen& the canonical !riters& a most archaic !a" of speaking in this
present age& !hen students are taught to scorn the #ead !hite $uropean %ales, or again, most simply
!illiam Shakespeare. The largest truth of literary influence is that it is an irresisti"le anxiety
Shakespeare will not allow you to "ury him, or escape him, or replace him. !e have, almost all of us,
thoroughly internali&ed the power of Shakespeare's plays, frequently without having attended them or
read them. *hen the 6erman poet Stefan 6eorge called The Divine Comedy ,the Book and School of the
Ages&, he !as speaking onl" aout the education of great poets# All the rest of us inescapal" learn that
Shakespeare's plays constitute the (ook and School of the )ges. I am not speaking as an essentialist
humanist& !hich I do not pretend to e& or as a theorist of criticism& !hich is also not m" role# )s a theorist of
poetic influence, * am an anxious partaker of Shakespeare, the inevita"le role for all of us, who "elatedly
follow after Shakespeare's creation of our minds and spirits. 4iterature& that is to sa" Shakespeare& cannot e
thought of in terms onl" of kno!ledge& as if all his metaphors pertained onl" to kno!ing# Shakespeare$s
per%asi%e terms are metaphors of !illing& and so the" enter the domain of the lie# %ost of our understandings
of the will are !ill's, as it were, "ecause Shakespeare invented the domain of those metaphors of willing
that +reud named the drives of ,ove and #eath. Our true relation to Shakespeare is that it is %ain to
historici-e or politici-e him& ecause we are monumentally over-influenced "y him. .o strong writer since
Shakespeare can avoid his influence '() 0rank 7ermode speaks of "the fantastic range of possi"ilities"
that are explored "y Shakespeare's tragedies& and that seems to me precisel" right# *ho can defend herself or
himself& if that self has an" literar" possiilities !hatsoe%er& from !hat trul" is a fantastic range of possiilities&
larger than an" single one of us can hope to apprehend# /esenters of canonical literature are nothing more or
less than deniers of Shakespeare. The" are not social re%olutionaries or e%en cultural reels# The" are sufferers
of the anxieties of Shakespeare's influence. '()
II
8scar *ilde sulimel" remarked that ,all ad poetr" is sincere#, 9outless it !ould e !rong to sa" that all
great poetr" is insincere& ut of course almost all of it necessaril" tells lies& fictions essential to literar" art#
Authentic& high literature relies upon troping& a turning a!a" not onl" from the literal ut from prior tropes# ,ike
criticism, which is either part of literature or nothing at all, great writing is always at work strongly 0or
weakly1 misreading previous writing. '()
I ne%er meant " ,the anxiet" of influence, a 0reudian 8edipal ri%alr"& despite a rhetorical flourish or t!o in this
ook# A Shakespearean reading of 0reud& !hich I fa%or o%er a 0reudian reading of Shakespeare or an"one else&
re%eals that +reud suffered from a Hamlet complex 0the true name of the Oedipus 2omplex1 or an anxiet"
of influence in regard to Shakespeare# '()
influence-anxiety does not so much concern the forerunner "ut rather is an anxiety achieved in and "y the
story, novel, play, poem, or essay. The anxiety mayor may not "e internali&ed "y the later writer,
depending upon temperament and circumstances, yet that hardly matters the strong poem is the achieved
anxiety. "*nfluence" is a metaphor, one that implicates a matrix of relationships-imagistic, temporal,
spiritual, psychological-all of them ultimately defensive in their nature. *hat matters most :and it is the
central point of this ook; is that the anxiety of influence comes out of a complex act of strong misreading, a
creative interpretation that * call "poetic misprision." *hat !riters ma" experience as anxiet"& and !hat their
!orks are compelled to manifest& are the consequence of poetic misprision& rather than the cause of it# The
strong misreading comes first< there must "e a profound act of reading that is a kind of falling in love with a
literary work. That reading is likel" to e idios"ncratic& and it is almost certain to e ami%alent& though the
ami%alence ma" e %eiled# !ithout 3eats's reading of Shakespeare, %ilton, and !ordsworth, we could
not have 3eats's odes and sonnets and his two Hyperions. !ithout Tennyson's reading of 3eats, we would
have almost no Tennyson. *allace Ste%ens& hostile to all suggestions that he o!ed an"thing to his reading of
precursor poets& !ould ha%e left us nothing of %alue ut for *alt *hitman& !hom Ste%ens sometimes scorned&
almost ne%er o%ertl" imitated& "et uncannil" resurrected: '()
***
In !a"s that need not e doctrinal& strong poems are always omens of resurrection. The dead may or may
not return, "ut their voice comes alive, paradoxically never "y mere imitation, "ut in the agonistic
misprision performed upon powerful forerunners "y only the most gifted of their successors. Isen loathed
influence more perhaps than an"one else& particularl" since his authentic forerunner !as Shakespeare& much
more than 6oethe# '()
The iron" of one era cannot e the iron" of another& ut influence-anxieties are em"edded in the agonistic
"asis of all imaginative literature. '()
2ultural "elatedness is never accepta"le to a ma4or writer& though Borges made a career out of exploiting his
secondariness# Belatedness seems to me not a historical condition at all& ut one that elongs to the literar"
situation as such# .esentful historicists of se%eral persuasions stemming from 5arx& 0oucault& and political
feminism no! stud" literature essentiall" as peripheral social histor"# *hat has een discarded is the reader$s
solitude& a su/ecti%it" that has een re/ected ecause it supposedl" possesses ,no social eing#, '()
the contingenc" that Shakespeare imposes upon us& !hich is that we are so influenced "y him that we cannot
get outside of him. Criticism necessaril" fails !hen it deludes itself into the smugness of not seeing that we
remain enclosed "y Shakespeare. The only instruments "y which we can examine him were either
invented or perfected "y Shakespeare himself. *ittgenstein& !ho disliked Shakespeare& tried to defend
philosoph" from the est mind !e can kno! " insisting that Shakespeare !as less a !riter than he !as ,a
creator of language#, It !ould e nearer the truth to sa" that +alstaff, Hamlet, and *ago are creators of
language, while Shakespeare, "y their means, created us. 4anguage& despite Heidegger and his 0rench flock&
does not do the thinking for Shakespeare, !ho more than any other writer, or any other person that we
know of, thought everything through again for himself. Shakespeare did not think one thought and one
thought only5 rather scandalously, he thought all thoughts, for all of us. A ne! Bardolatr" is not the issue&
nor is h"perole possile !hen !e seek to estimate Shakespeare$s influence during the four centuries since his
death# 9outless Shakespeare& at heart al!a"s a pla"er& concei%ed e%er" part he e%er !rote as a role for a
specific actor& ut it is an e%asion no! to regard them as roles onl"& since the" ha%e ecome roles for us, !hether
!e are pla"ers or not# *hen !e are orn& !e cr" that !e are come unto this great stage of fools# 4ear echoes the
*isdom of Solomon& ut the Scriptural authorit" for the pronouncement is Shakespeare$s and not the Bile$s# *e
are fools of time ound for the undisco%ered countr"& more than !e are children of 6od returning to hea%en# The
issue is not elief ut our human nature& so intensified " Shakespeare as to e his re+in%ention# Ho! can !e
historici-e Shakespeare if we are children of Shakespeare, mapping our origins and our hori&ons in his
diction, in his astonishing voca"ulary of some 66,777 separate words3
I=
To sa" that Shakespeare and poetic influence are nearly identical is not %er" different from oser%ing that
Shakespeare is the western literary canon# Some !ould argue that ,aesthetic %alue, is an in%ention of 7ant$s&
ut pragmaticall" it is the aesthetic supremac" of Shakespeare that o%erdetermines our /udgment of literar"
%alue# '()
*.T/O#82T*O.
A Meditation upon Priority, and a Synopsis
This short ook offers a theor" of poetr" " !a" of a description of poetic influence& or the stor" of intra+poetic
relationships# 8ne aim of this theor" is correcti%e: to deideali-e our accepted accounts of ho! one poet helps to
form another# Another aim& also correcti%e& is to tr" to pro%ide a poetics that !ill foster a more adequate practical
criticism#
9oetic history& in this ook$s argument& is held to "e indistinguisha"le from poetic influence, since
strong poets make that history "y misreading one another, so as to clear imaginative space for themselves.
5" concern is onl" !ith strong poets, ma4or figures with the persistence to wrestle with their strong
precursors, even to the death. !eaker talents ideali&e5 figures of capa"le imagination appropriate for
themselves. But nothing is got for nothing& and self+appropriation in%ol%es the immense anxieties of
indetedness& for !hat strong maker desires the reali-ation that he has failed to create himself3 8scar *ilde&
!ho kne! he had failed as a poet ecause he lacked strength to o%ercome his anxiet" of influence& kne! also the
darker truths concerning influence# The allad of !eadin" #aol ecomes an emarrassment to read& directl" one
recogni-es that e%er" lustre it exhiits is reflected from The !ime of the Ancient Mariner$ and *ilde$s l"rics
anthologi-e the !hole of 1nglish High .omanticism# 7no!ing this& and armed !ith his customar" intelligence&
*ilde itterl" remarks in The Portrait of Mr. %. &. that: ,Influence is simpl" a transference of personalit"& a
mode of gi%ing a!a" !hat is most precious to one$s self& and its exercise produces a sense& and& it ma" e& a
realit" of loss# 1%er" disciple takes a!a" something from his master#, This is the anxiet" of influencing& "et no
re%ersal in this area is a true re%ersal# T!o "ears later& *ilde refined this itterness in one of 4ord Henr"
*otton$s elegant oser%ations in The Picture of Dorian #ray, !here he tells 9orian that all influence is immoral:
Because to influence a person is to gi%e him one$s o!n soul# He does not think his natural thoughts& or
urn !ith his natural passions# His %irtues are not real to him# His sins& if there are such things as sins&
are orro!ed# He ecomes an echo of someone else$s music& an actor of a part that has not een !ritten
for him# '()
.e%isionar" ratios:
I Clinamen or Poetic 5isprision
> Tessera or Completion and Antithesis
? 'enosis or .epetition and 9iscontinuit"
@ Daemoni(ation or The Counter+Sulime
A As)esis or Purgation and Solipsism
B Apophrades or The .eturn of the 9ead
P1T1. AC7.8C9 C&ATT*!T+,
9hilip Slack stared at the rows of dark "ooks< then he s!itched on the electric light ao%e his head& and in its
right circle he could see the red& ro!n and green cloths of the %olumes& their spines dulled and rued& man"
of their titles so faded that onl" certain letters could e recognised& their edges !orn at the top !here other
people had taken them do!n to read them# And& e"ond this circle of light in !hich he stood& the ooks cast
intense shado!s# He !as in $the stacks$& the asement of the lirar" in !hich he !orked& !here all the forgotten
or neglected %olumes !ere deposited# Some of these had een piled in corners& !here the" leaned precariousl"
against the damp stone !alls of the asement< ut some !ere scattered across the floor& and it occurred to him
that the" had een dragged from the shel%es " %ermin efore eing eaten# *ithin this place there lingered the
must"& in%asi%e odour of deca"< ut it !as a smell !hich soothed and pleased Philip#
He had come do!n to see if he could find an" references to Thomas Chatterton and& since he suspected
that in old ooks some forgotten truth might e reco%ered& he placed his trust in the principle of sortes
-er"ilianae. So no! he !alked along the narro! path!a"s et!een the shel%es& turning on the lights as he !ent&
lightl" touching the damp spines of the %olumes until e%entuall" he took do!n the one on !hich his finger had
come to rest< the red cloth of its co%er !as dust"& ut !hen he rushed it !ith his hand he sa! the title %er"
clearl": The .ast Testament " Harrison Bentle"# It seemed appropriate for his search& and he opened the ook#
The pages of the no%el !ere slightl" soiled& !ith light ro!n stains spreading across them in an arc& and !hen he
turned to the frontispiece he sa! that it had een pulished in DEEA " Sulli%an and Bridges of DE Paternoster
Square# Philip held it up to his face& as if he !ere aout to de%our it& and turned the pages quickl"< he might
seem slo! or hesitant in his dealings !ith the !orld& ut he al!a"s read s!iftl" and anxiousl"# He kne! that his
real comfort !as to e found in ooks#
And so the outline of the stor" soon ecame clear to him: the iographer of a certain poet& throughout
referred to as 7& disco%ers that his su/ect& at the end of his life& had een too ill to compose the %erses !hich
had rought him eternal fame< that& in fact& it had een the poet$s !ife !ho had !ritten them for him# The plot
seemed oddly familiar to 9hilip "ut he was not sure if he had read this novel some years "efore, or if it
resem"led some daydream of his own. 9istracted no!& he turned to the last pages of the ook and then to the
endpaper !hich contained an ad%ertisement for $5r Harrison Bentle"$s most recent pulication$# This !as
entitled Sta"e /ire and the prFcis of its plot& in eight point t"pe& summarised the histor" of an actor !ho elie%es
himself to e possessed " the spirits of 7ean& 6arrick and other famous performers of the past and !ho& as a
result& has a triumphant career upon the stage# Once more this story seemed familiar to 9hilip5 he recognised
its shape so clearly that he was convinced that he had read it elsewhere and that this was not simply some
trick of his imagination. He understood the phenomenon of dj vu "ut he did not "elieve that it could "e
applied to "ooks how could he trust his reading, if that were so:
He !as idl" tracing the !atermark on the last page !ith his finger !hen he rememered: he had read the stor" of
Sta"e /ire in a no%el " Harriet Scrope# He did not recall its title that !as not important ut it had concerned
a poet !ho elie%ed himself to e possessed " the spirits of dead !riters ut !ho& ne%ertheless& had een
acclaimed as the most original poet of his age# And at once Philip rememered !here he had read Harrison
Bentle"$s The .ast Testament efore: Harriet Scrope had !ritten a no%el in !hich a !riter$s secretar" is
responsile for man" of her emplo"er$s $posthumous$ pulications< she kne! his st"le so !ell that she !as ale
effortlessl" to counterfeit it& and onl" the assiduous researches of a iographer had unco%ered the faker"# This
!as %er" close to the late nineteenth+centur" no%el !hich Philip no! held in his hand# He dropped it& and its fall
echoed around the asement of the lirar"#
Philip !as surprised " his disco%er"& particularl" since he admired Harriet Scrope$s no%els# *hen
Charles had first told him that he !as going to !ork as her assistant& Philip had read them a%idl" and !ith
pleasure< he had een impressed " her comination of %iolence and comed" although& !hen he had mentioned
this characteristic to Charles& his friend had merel" shrugged and said& $0iction is a %er" deased form$# Philip
felt ound to agree Charles& after all& !as more creati%e and imaginati%e than he !as ut he !as still content
to en/o" this lo!er pleasure#
And so what did Harriet's "orrowings matter: *n any case, 9hilip "elieved that there were only a limited
num"er of plots in the world 0reality was finite, after all1 and no dou"t it was inevita"le that they would "e
reproduced in a variety of contexts. The fact that two of Harriet Scrape's novels resem"led the much
earlier work of Harrison (entley might even "e coincidental. He was less inclined to criticise her, also,
"ecause of his own experience. He had once attempted to write a novel "ut he had a"andoned it after some
forty pages not only had he written with painful slowness and uncertainty, "ut even the pages he had
managed to complete seemed to him to "e filled with images and phrases from the work of other writers
whom he admired. *t had "ecome a patchwork of other voices and other styles, and it was the
overwhelming difficulty of recognising his own voice among them that had led him to a"andon the
pro4ect. So what right did he have to condemn %iss Scrope:
He picked up The .ast Testament and carefull" replaced it on the shelf# Then& in order to calm himself
after his strange disco%er"& he took do!n the small %olume next to it# It !as a selection of literar" reminiscences&
edited " the 9o!ager 4ad" 5o"nihan& and at once his attention !as dra!n to the engra%ed plates !hich
illustrated the text and !hich !ere still protected " the thin& fine tissue common to that period of ook
production# He looked through them& e%entuall" stopping at one scene !hich !as familiar< and& !hen he looked
do!n at the legend eneath the engra%ing& he read $Chatterton$s 5onument in Bristol Church"ard$# There !as a
short text on the page opposite the illustration: it concerned the no%elist 6eorge 5eredith $!ho& in the earl"
months of DEAB& in the utmost extremit"& and !ith thoughts of self+murder after his !ife$s desertion& sat in the
gloom" en%irons of St 5ar" .edcliffe in Bristol& lo& e%en in the shado! of Chatterton$s 5onument# He had
purchased a phial of mercur"+and+arsenic !ith !hich he intended to end his life ut& as he !as aout to put the
deadl" flask to his pale lips& he felt a hand laid upon his !rist< looking up& he sa! a "oung man standing o%er
him and foridding him to drink# *hen he put do!n the phial& the "oung man disappeared# Thus !as the "oung
6eorge 5eredith sa%ed for literature " the inter%ention of the ghostl" Thomas Chatterton# I do not elie%e m"
readers !ill kno! of a more chilling and "et more nole stor"#$ Philip leaned ack against the !all of the
asement& and tried to imagine this scene # # #
He !as a!are that someone !as !atching him# It !as Harriet Scrope and ehind her& his face in shado!&
!as Harrison Bentle"# Philip /erked for!ard and opened his e"es< his throat !as dr" from sleep& and he could
feel the dampness of his shirt !here he had een slumped against the stone# There were pools of light among
the stacks, directly "eneath the "ul"s which 9hilip had switched on, "ut it was now with an unexpected
fearfulness that he saw how the "ooks stretched away into the darkness. They seemed to expand as soon as
they reached the shadows, creating some dark world where there was no "eginning and no end, no story,
no meaning. )nd, if you crossed the threshold into that world, you would "e surrounded "y words5 you
would crush them "eneath your feet, you would knock against them with your head and arms, "ut if you
tried to grasp them they would melt away. 9hilip did not dare turn his "ack upon these "ooks. .ot yet. *t
was almost, he thought, as if they had "een speaking to each other while he slept. '()
;.ow * realised that not infrequently "ooks speak of "ooks it is as if they spoke among themselves.<
08m"erto $co = The Name of the Rose1
Charles stopped !riting for a moment& and looked up at her# G*h" should the aged eagle3H
G*hat3H
>*t?s a quotation from $liot.?
>*t sounded like Shakespeare to me.?
GIt !as 1liot#H
>!ell, you know these writers. They?ll steal any@? And her %oice trailed off as she looked do!n at her
tremling hands#
GAn"thing& thatHs right#H He leant ack in his chair& and smiled ene%olentl" in her general direction#H >*t?s called
the anxiety of influence.?
GIs it3H She seemed consoled " the phrase# GThatHs right# Anxiet"#H G8f influence#H GAnd of course it must e
true of no%elists& too#H She paused& and licked her lips# GIo dout&H she !ent on& Gthere are resemlances et!een
m" ooks and those of other !riters#H
GCou mean like Harrison Bentle"3H Charles onl" /ust rememered PhilipHs remark of the pre%ious e%ening& and
no! rought it out triumphantl" as an indication of his !ide reading#
G*hat !as that3H '()
Harriet sat on the edge of the ed& !atching the creases in her leather shoes as she curled and uncurled her toes&
!ondering ho! it !as that Charles had found the connection et!een her !ork and that of Harrison Bentle":
this was the discovery which she had always feared, this was the revelation which she had suppressed "ut
which had provoked so much anxiety in her. It !as inconcei%ale that Charles had learnt this for himself& he
!as far too la-"# Someone must ha%e alerted him # # # perhaps there !as an article aout her in the Times .iterary
Supplement . . . perhaps she !as aout to e exposed# She kicked the !ardroe door shut !ith her foot& and in its
mirror the room s!ung %iolentl" around her#
This is !hat had happened: her first no%el had en/o"ed a modest success !hen it !as pulished in the
earl" 0ifties# It !as the !ork of a st"list& and had een praised " other st"lists< kind !ords from 9/una Barnes
and Henr" 6reen !ere printed on the ack of the American edition# It had taken Harriet six "ears to complete
:!hile !orking as a secretar" for a small literar" maga-ine; since she !rote %er" slo!l"& sometimes composing
no more than a sentence or e%en a phrase each da"# She told herself that !ords !ere $sacred$& ho!e%er& graduall"
forming their o!n associations and gathering in their o!n clusters of significant sound< !hen the" !ere read"&
the" informed Harriet of their presence and she !as content to transcrie them# As far as she !as concerned& that
!as all# The onl" continuit" !hich her no%el possessed la" some!here !ithin the !orkings of her o!n
consciousness#
And so after the first no%el she could see no further ahead: she had rought her consciousness $up to
date$& as she put it& and she !as not at all sure that she could expect an" more progress from it# The !ords had
%anished /ust as m"steriousl" as the" had once arri%ed# Her friends and colleagues expected another no%el from
her& she kne!& ut the prospect of !riting it e!ildered her: she could not find !ithin herself an" strong
connection !ith the !orld& and so she could find no method of descriing it# 1%en !hen she did manage to !rite
something& her inspiration seemed random and inconsequential< she !ould ha%e an $idea$ !hen shopping& or
!hen sitting on a us& ut then it ecame clear to her that if she had not needed to shop that da"& or tra%el in that
particular direction& the idea or phrase !ould ne%er ha%e emerged# This made her !ork seem frail& e%en
!orthless# And& reall"& she had nothing !hate%er to !rite aout#
It !as then that the notion of adapting a plot from some other source occurred to her# 0or t!o !eeks
she read all of the most interesting stories in the ne!spapers& ut she found an"thing e%en remotel" connected
!ith actual life affling# She e%en tried follo!ing people in the street& to see !here the" !ent and !hom the"
met& ut one unpleasant scene :!hen an old man had rounded on her and called her a $tart$; con%inced her that
this !as not !ise# Then one late afternoon in 5a"& ored " herself and " her failure& she walked into a
second-hand "ookshop off 2hancery ,ane. .ormally such places depressed her since she could easily
imagine her own work lying forgotten on their shelves, "ut now she found a strange comfort in the rows of
dusty "ooks which surrounded her. She picked out at random The Last Testament "y Harrison (entley
and, even as she "egan to read it, she realised that here was the answer to her pro"lem. Since she "elieved
that plots themselves were of little consequence, why should she not take this one and use it as a plain,
admittedly inferior, vessel for her own style: So she "ought the old novel, and set to work. )nd, with the
story of The Last Testament to support her, she found that the words came more easily than "efore. !here
phrases and even sylla"les had once emerged as fragments of a larger structure which she could neither
see nor understand, now she could make her own connections5 she went on from sentence to sentence, as if
she were carrying a lamp and moving from room to room in a large mansion. )nd she looked a"out her
with wonder, sensing her a"ility to descri"e what she was seeing now for the first time.
This second no%el& A /iner Art, !as also a success< once again she !as praised for her st"le :the
Manchester #uardian called her a $lepidopterist of language$; and the fact that the plot of the no%el !as
descried onl" in the %aguest terms encouraged her to use another Harrison Bentle" narrati%e for her next ook#
But her confidence had increased !ith her ailit"& and in The %hippin" Post she adapted onl" the eginning of
his Sta"e /ire. She altered the characters& changed their relationships& and& " the end& onl" the arest outline of
Bentle"$s initial situation remained in place :of course& this !as all Philip Slack had understood from the prFcis
!hich he had read in the damp asement of the pulic lirar";# The experience of employing a plot, even
though it was the invention of some other writer, had li"erated her imagination5 and, from that time
forward, all her novels were her own work. (ut in recent years even this originality had "egun to "ore her.
8nce she had deri%ed enormous pleasure from seeing her characters mo%e and de%elop through time& ut the
spectacle no longer charmed her# She recalled !ith pleasure onl" the !riting of her earliest no%el& !ith all its
oliquities and discordancies< and& for the first time& she egan to admire her o!n ner%ousness and isolation
during that period# She had allo!ed the language to carr" her for!ard< she had not tried to direct it# She had een
a serious !riter then& a proper !riter: she had not kno!n !hat she !as tr"ing to sa"#
It !as this ne! sense of her o!n life !hich had intensified her anxiety a"out the use of Harrison
(entley's novels. She had forgotten the earl" episode at least& she had dismissed it as of no particular account
ut& when she "egan to contemplate the writing of her memoirs, this act of plagiarism acquired a
prominence which she had not since "een a"le to challenge. She could see no !a" around it# She could not
"ring herself to admit the "orrowing, and this mainly for reasons of pride5 "ut, even if she did not herself
confess to it, the plagiarism might in any case "e discovered and an unwarranted suspicion cast over the
rest of her work = even over her first novel. Anxious reflection had so nourished the prolem that it seemed to
encompass the !hole of her past# There !as no escape from it# So no! she sat upon the edge of the ed& her
hand clasped to her forehead as the !ardroe door slammed shut#
But it !as !ith a nole calmness that she e%entuall" descended the stairs# $5other$s ackJ$ she shouted
!hen she !as half !a" do!n# $She !as straining her greensH she added& rather grandl"& as she entered the room#
Charles did not kno! this phrase# $0or dinner3$
She !as so intent on !hat she !as aout to sa" that she ans!ered quite factuall"# $Io& not for dinner# I$m
thinking of spaghetti tonight#$ .oused from his da"+dream " her %oice& Charles started making random pencil
marks on the side of the pages she had gi%en him# She !atched him !ith apparent fascination and then asked&
%er" s!eetl"& $*hat !ere "ou sa"ing aout Harrison Bentle"3$ She scratched her arm %iciousl" and then left her
hand poised in mid+air as Charles continued to e preoccupied !ith her notes#
$8h# Iothing#$
$IothingJ$
Something in her %oice made Charles look up& and he noticed ho! her left e"elid !as tremling# $I /ust
meant # # #$ He hesitated# $I /ust didn$t think that it !as %er" important#$
$Io& "ou$re right# It isn$t important#$ She put her hand up to her tremling e"e& and Charles tried not to
laugh as the remaining e"e stared calml" at him# Slo!l" she pulled her hand do!n across her face& the e"elid
peaceful no!& and then !agged her finger at him# $Cou$%e een a naught" o"& "ou kno!# Cou$%e found 5other
out# Bentle" did influence me once& ut that !as a long time ago#$ She spoke !ithout thought since these !ere
!ords she had rehearsed man" times efore# $In an" case novelists don't work in a vacuum. !e use many
stories. (ut it's not where they come from, it's what we do with them. I$%e found lots of material else!here
ut no one $ and here her %oice rose slightl" $no one has e%er accused me of plagiarismJ$
$Io# That$s right#$ He did not quite kno! !hat to sa"# That$s !h" it !asn$t important# I didn$t accuse "ou#$
Charles$s enign reaction !as unexpected& and at once his unconcern egan to remo%e her o!n fears#
The telephone rang& ut she ignored it for a fe! moments as she stared at him in relief# $Cou mean& it doesn$t
matter3 Cou ha%en$t read aout me an"!here3$
$8f course not# *h" should it matter3 1%er"one does it#$ '()
P1T1. AC7.8C9 T&* &+0S* +/ D+CT+! D**

* confess to one o"session, or fear. It al!a"s %isits me !hen I am inside the house at m" !riting+desk& and
rarel" follo!s me e"ond these !alls# It calls at aout ten or ele%en in the morning& and sta"s !ith me for an
hour or so< during this period I perspire freel"& and !alk throughout the house !ithout eing ale to settle
an"!here or concentrate upon an" one task# But !h" should I e haunted " an anxiety so ridiculous, so
laugha"le& that I can smile at m"self later for entertaining it3 Ie%ertheless it al!a"s comes ack this fear that
whatever * happen to "e writing comes from some other source, that * am stealing someone else?s plot or
words, that * am relying upon the themes or images of other novelists. That is !h" there are occasions !hen
I lea%e the house and tra%el to the 4ondon 4irar" in St 2amesHs Square# The shelves of $nglish fiction there
are "oth my terror and my consolation: I search for e%idence to con%ict me& ut I find nothing# And "et& e%en
in that moment of relief& * am still haunted "y the fear that somewhere among these volumes will "e
discovered the same novel * myself am writing. 5" osession is most extreme !hen I ha%e finished a ook&
and am !aiting impatientl" for its pulication# In those moments the essential fear is recapitulated in a %ariet" of
forms that * have used dialogue from the work of another novelist, that a plot comes from a "ook * have
read and forgotten, that * have simply written down the words of someone else. )nd this is the strangest
anxiety of all = what if that other person were actually within me all the time: This !as m" state of mind
"esterda"& /ust after I had sent m" t"pescript to m" pulishers in 0etter 4ane# '()
And then& "esterda"& it happened at last# I !as in the asement of the old house& choosing the !ine for m"
solitar" dinner that e%ening& !hen * was overtaken "y the old fear. %y "ook had "een written "efore. * was
convinced of it. * did not understand the process involved 0* presumed there was a name for such
phenomena1 "ut * knew that, somehow, * had copied another novel word for word. $ven the title was the
same. * cannot descri"e the horror which the reali&ation provoked in me5 it was as if my entire identity
had "een taken from me, as "ou !ould take a net out of !ater& and * was left with nothing of my own. I left
the house at once and took the tram to High Holorn< from there I !alked to the lirar" of St 2amesHs Square# I
happened to see Tom 1liot " the issue desk& and I had enough ci%ilit" left to greet him efore I hurried up the
stairs to the shel%es of fiction# Then I egan !hat I kne! to e a fatal search fatal in the sense that if * found
the "ook and confirmed my fears, then my life as a writer would "e at an end. * would no longer "e a"le to
trust any of my words, or "elieve anything which * fondly thought * had imagined. *t would always come
from some other source. And then I found it# There !as a ook here !ith the title I had onl" recentl" chosen# It
had een pulished t!o "ears ago G4ondon& DK>>H !as on the spine and as soon as I opened it& I sa! the same
!ords as I had manufactured on m" t"pe!riter# This !as the no%el I had /ust !ritten# GI am nothing&H I said out
loud# GIothing can come of nothing#H I came ack to this house& !hich unaccountal" I consider the cause of all
m" !oe& and I chose to sit here at m" desk# But am *, even now, writing what others have written down
"efore me: )nd if this is so, what am * to do: '()
9A=I9 48961 The ritish Museum is /allin" Do1n
4ife imitates art#
8SCA. *I491
It !as Adam Apple"Hs misfortune that at the moment of a!akening from sleep his consciousness !as
immediatel" flooded !ith e%er"thing he least !anted to think aout# 8ther men& he gathered& met each ne!
da!n !ith a refreshed mind and heart& full of optimism and resolution< or else the" mo%ed sluggishl" through
the first hour of the da" in a state of lessed numedness& incapale of an" thought at all& pleasant or unpleasant#
But& crouched like harpies round his ed& unpleasant thoughts !aited to pounce the moment AdamHs e"elids
flickered apart# At that moment he !as forced& like a dro!ning man& to re%ie! his entire life instantaneousl"&
di%ided et!een regrets for the past and fears for the future#
Thus it !as that as he opened his e"es one Io%emer morning& and focused them learil" on the sick
rose& three do!n and six across& on the !allpaper opposite his ed& Adam !as simultaneousl" reminded that he
!as t!ent"+fi%e "ears of age& and !ould soon e t!ent"+six& that he !as a post+graduate student preparing a
thesis !hich he !as unlikel" to complete in this the third and final "ear of his scholarship& that the latter !as
hugel" o%erdra!n& that he !as married !ith three %er" "oung children& that one of them had manifested an
alarming rash the pre%ious e%ening& that his name !as ridiculous& that his leg hurt& that his decrepit scooter had
failed to start this morning& that he had /ust missed a first+class degree ecause of a ad 5iddle 1nglish paper&
that his leg hurt& that at his primar" school he had pro%ed so proficient in the game of !ho+can+pee+highest+up+
the+!all of the o"sH outside la%ator" that he had !etted the iretta of the parish priest !ho happened to e
%isiting the pla"ground on the other side of the !all at the time& that he had forgotten to reser%e an" ooks at the
British 5useum for this morningHs reading& that his leg hurt& that his !ifeHs period !as three da"s o%erdue& and
that his leg hurt# '()
0rom near" *estminster& 5rs 9allo!a"Hs clock oomed out the half hour# It partook& he thought& shifting his
!eight in the saddle& of metemps"chosis& the !a" his humle life fell into moulds prepared " literature# 8r !as
it& he !ondered& picking his nose& the result of closel" stud"ing the sentence structure of the 1nglish no%elists3
8ne had resigned oneself to ha%ing no pri%ate language an" more& ut one had clung !istfull" to the illusion of a
personal propert" of e%ents# '()
At the edge of the pa%ement an old& old lad"& !hite+haired and !rinkled& dressed in soer lack and elastic+sided
oots& stood nol" erect& as if she thought someone reall" important had passed# In her right hand she held a
speaking trumpet& !hich she raised to her ear# Adam& dra!ing le%el !ith her as the traffic surged slo!l" for!ard&
murmured GClarissaJH and the old lad" looked at him sharpl"# '()
The su/ect of AdamHs thesis had originall" een& G4anguage and Ideolog" in 5odern 0ictionH ut had een
!hittled do!n " the Board of Studies until it no! stood as GThe Structure of 4ong Sentences in Three 5odern
1nglish Io%els#H The !hittling do!n didnHt seem to ha%e made his task an" easier# He still hadnHt decide !hich
three no%els he !as going to anal"se& nor had he decided ho! long a long sentence !as# 4a!rence& he thought
hopefull"& !ould produce lots of sentences !here the issue !ould not e in dout# '()
And this morning on m" !a" to the 5useum&H he concluded# GI met 5rs 9allo!a" gro!n into an old !oman#H
'()
G*hat exactl" did the Superintendent sa" to "ou3H Camel asked# GI !ant to kno! exactl" !hat he said# 9id he
sa"& LI hope "ou !onHt mind& ut three Chinese gentlemen are looking at "our deskM3H
GCes& he did& actuall"&H said Adam& surprised# GThatHs exactl" !hat he did sa"#H
GAnd !hat did "ou sa"3H
GI didnHt sa" an"thing at first# I tell "ou& I felt prett" queer#H
GSo !hat happened then3H
G*ell& he looked a it emarrassed& and said& LIt !as 7arl 5arxHs desk& "ou see# *e often get %isitors !anting to
see it#MH
GSo !hat did "ou sa" then3H
G*ell& thatHs !hat I !as going to tell "ou# * think * said Mr Marx, he deadH
Camel and Pond looked meaningfull" at each other# GI told "ou&H said Camel# GApple" is cracking up#H
GI can see&H said Pond# GHeHs going to ecome one of the 5useum eccentrics# Before !e kno! it& heHll e
shuffling around in slippers and muttering into a eard#H
GItHs a special form of scholarl" neurosis&H said Camel# GHeHs no longer ale to distinguish et!een life and
literature#H
G8h "es I can&H said Adam# G4iterature is mostl" aout ha%ing sex and not so much aout ha%ing children# 4ife is
the other !a" round#H '()
G*hat do "ou think of anus3H said the man#
GI eg "our pardon3H
GThe no%elist& 7ingsle" Anus&H said the man impatientl"#
G8h& "es# I like his !ork# There are times !hen I think I elong to him more than to an" of the others#H
GPlease3H said the man& fro!ning#
G*ell& "ou see& I ha%e this theor"&H Adam !ho had /ust thought of it& said expansi%el"# GHas it e%er occurred to
"ou ho! novelists are usin! up experience at a dangerous rate3 Io& I see it hasnHt# *ell& then& consider that
"efore the novel emerged as the dominant literary form, narrative literature dealt only with the
extraordinary or the allegorical = with kings and queens, giants and dragons, su"lime virtue and dia"olic
evil. There was no risk of confusing that sort of thing with life, of course. (ut as soon as the novel got
going, you might pick up a "ook at any time and read a"out an ordinary chap called Aoe Smith doing 4ust
the sort of things you did yourself. .ow, * know what you?re going to say = you?re going to say that the
novelist still has to invent a lot. (ut that?s 4ust the point there?ve "een such a fantastic num"er of novels
written in the last couple of centuries that they?ve 4ust a"out exhausted the possi"ilities of life. So all of us,
you see, are really enacting events that have already "een written a"out in some novel or other. Of course,
most people don?t reali&e this = they fondly imagine that their little lives are unique@ 2ust as !ell& too&
ecause !hen "ou do tumle to it& the effect is %er" disturing#H '()
8n all sides a ale of academic con%ersation dinned in his ears#
G5" su/ect is the long poem in the nineteenth centur"(H
G8nce "ou start looking for 0reudian s"mols(H
GThis ook on Bro!ning(H
GPoe !as quite right# It is a contradiction in terms(H
'()
Three of the "oung men present !ere !riting academic no%els of manners# 0rom time to time the" detached
themsel%es from the main group of guests and retired to a corner to /ot do!n oser%ations and !itt" remarks in
little noteooks# Adam noticed one of them looking o%er the shoulders of the other t!o& and cop"ing# '()
G*ell& !eH%e sorted out 5r AliaiHs little prolem&H Pond said# GHeHs going to !ork on the influence of the 'ama
Sutra on contemporar" fiction#H '()
As he !alked unsteadil" a!a" from the phone& the people in the corridor falling ack efore him& he thought of
himself as a man set apart " a dangerous quest# 0or !hat !as the house in Ba"s!ater& dismal of aspect and
shrouded in fog& !ith its mad& ke"+rattling old queen& ra%en+haired& hone"+tongued daughter& and murderous
minions insecurel" pent in the dungeon elo!& ut a Castle Perilous from !ith& mounted on his trust" scooter&
he& intrepid Sir Adam& sought to snatch the unhol" grail of 1gert 5err"marshHs scrofulous no%el3 If the success
of this quest& contrar" to the old stor"& necessitated his fall from grace in the arms of the seducti%e maiden& then
so much the etter# He had had enough of continence# '()
He struggled in %ain to reco%er the image of himself as a s!ashuckling ad%enturer& ent single+mindedl" on his
purpose& ut prepared to accept impertural" !hate%er !illing female flesh chance thre! in his path# All da"
circumstances had cracked the !hip and urged him through a e!ildering %ariet" of hoops& ut so far he had not
een at a loss for a st"le in !hich to negotiate them# Io!& !hen he most needed to assume a read"+made role&
the knack seemed to ha%e deserted him# He !as alone !ith himself again& the old Adam& a are forked animal
!ith his o!n peculiar moral prolem#
There !ere& of course& plent" of unfaithful husands in literature: modern fiction& in particular& might e
descried as a compendium of ad%ice on the conduct of adulter"# But he couldnHt& off+hand& recall one !ho&
distracted and frustrated " the complexities of the married relation& had sought relief in the !illing arms of
another !oman onl" to find himself trammeled " the %er" same asurd scruples from !hich he had fled# '()
As Adam stepped on to the fire escape& his trousers slipped do!n again# To sa%e time& he took them off and
!ound them round the 5err"marsh papers# The fog coiled dampl" around his are legs& ut he !as grateful for
its co%er# As he cautiousl" descended the ladder he !as conscious of re+enacting one of the oldest roles in
literature# '()
heHs al!a"s in a dream& !hat !as it he said& a no%el !here life kept taking the shape of literature& did "ou e%er
hear an"thing so cracked& life is life and ooks are ooks and if he !as a !oman he !ouldnHt need to e told
that# '()
'() he has this illusion that itHs onl" the irth control usiness !hich stops him from getting sex perfectl" under
control itHs like his thesis he keeps sa"ing if onl" I could get m" notes in the right order the thesis !ould !rite
itself !hat !as that he said suddenl" !hen I thought heHd fallen asleep IH%e reali-ed !hat the longest sentence in
1nglish fiction is I !onder !hat it is he had such an idealist %ie! of marriage !hen !e !ere courting I donHt
think heHs reco%ered from the shock "et though I !arned him perhaps he didnHt listen to !hat I said then either
e%en that da" at the sea I rememer I suppose "ou could sa" that !as !hen he proposed though !eHd assumed it
for some time I !asnHt as starr"+e"ed as he !as though I !as prett" carried a!a" I admit that each !ith not a
soul in sight !e ic"cled for miles to find it ecause !eHd forgotten out costumes and !e !ent s!imming in our
under!ear his pants !ere inside out I rememer thatHs t"pical !e spread our things on the sand to dr" the trees
came do!n to the each !e sat in the shade and ate the sand!iches and drank the !ine the footprints in the sand
!ere onl" ours the sea !as empt" it !as like a desert island !e la" do!n he took me in his arms shall !e come
ack here !hen !eHre married he said perhaps I said he held me lo! do!n tight against him !eHll make lo%e in
this same spot he said m" dress !as so thin I could feel him hard against me perhaps !eHll ha%e children !ith us
I said then !eHll come do!n at night he said perhaps !e !onHt e ale to afford to come at all I said "ouHre not
%er" optimistic he said perhaps itHs etter not to e I said IHm going to e famous and earn lots of mone" he said
perhaps "ou !onHt lo%e me then I said IHll al!a"s lo%e "ou he said IHll pro%e it e%er" night he kissed m" throat
perhaps "ou think that no! I said ut I couldnHt keep it up perhaps !e !ill e happ" I said of course !e !ill he
said !eHll ha%e a nann" to look after the children perhaps !e !ill I said " the !a" ho! man" children are !e
going to ha%e as man" as "ou like he said itHll e !onderful "ouHll see perhaps I !ill I said perhaps it !ill e
!onderful perhaps e%en though it !onHt e like "ou think perhaps that !onHt matter perhaps#
:9a%id 4odge The ritish Museum is /allin" Do1n;
'() 8 that a!ful deepdo!n torrent 8 and the sea the sea crimson sometimes like fire and the glorious sunsets
and the fig trees in the Alameda gardens "es and all the queer little streets and pink and lue and "ello! houses
and the rose gardens and the /essamine and geraniums and cactuses and 6iraltar as a girl !here I !as a 0lo!er
of the mountain "es !hen I put the rose in m" hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I !ear a red "es and
ho! he kissed me under the 5oorish !all and I thought !ell as !ell him as another and then I asked him !ith
m" e"es to ask again "es and then he asked me !ould I "es to sa" "es m" mountain flo!er and first I put m"
arms around him "es and dre! him do!n to me so he could feel m" reasts all perfume "es and his heart !as
going like mad and "es I said "es I !ill Ces#
:2ames 2o"ce 0lysses;
AI A0T1.*8.9
This example of interior monologue rings me to the second aspect of The ritish Museum is /allin" Do1n on
!hich it seems appropriate to comment in this after!ord: the element of literar" parod" and pastiche# In looking
for a character& or pair of characters& and a milieu& in !hich to explore the Catholic+sexual theme& I turned to an
idea I had casuall" /otted do!n some time efore& for a comic no%el aout a postgraduate student of 1nglish
literature !orking in the British 5useum .eading .oom& !hose life keeps taking on the thematic colouring of
the fictional texts he is stud"ing# In this I !as dra!ing not onl" on m" o!n experience of !riting a thesis :on the
Catholic Io%el from the 8xford 5o%ement to the Present 9a"; in the British 5useum& ut also on more recent
research into the !a" fictional !orlds are constructed in language !ork completed /ust efore I left for the
Nnited States on the Harkness 0ello!ship& and pulished a fe! months after this no%el as .an"ua"e of /iction
:DKBB;& m" first ook of academic criticism# That& then& !as m" asic concept of the no%el: a "oung& married&
impo%erished Catholic research student& racked " anxiet" aout his !ifeHs putati%e fourth pregnanc"& !ould e
propelled through a series of picaresque ad%entures centering on the British 5useum .eading .oom& each
episode echoing& through parod"& pastiche and allusion& the !ork of an estalished modern no%elist# The shifts of
tone and narrati%e technique in%ol%ed !ould e naturali-ed " making the hero prone to da"dreams& fantasies&
and hallucinations& !hich !ould in turn e moti%ated " his chronic anxiet" aout his marital circumstances#
The asic iron" of Adam Apple"Hs plight is that the only element in his life that seems authentically his, and
not already >written? "y some novelist, is the very source of his anxiety. GItHs a special form of scholarl"
neurosis&H sa"s his friend Camel& as Adam recounts a Conradian experience in the .eading .oom# GHeHs no
longer ale to distinguish et!een life and literature#H G8h "es I am&H Adam retorts# G4iterature is mostl" aout
ha%ing sex and not much aout ha%ing children# 4ife is the other !a" round#H
Io dout the use of parody in this "ook was also, for me, a way of coping with what the )merican
critic Harold (loom has called >)nxiety of *nfluence? = the sense every young writer must have of the
daunting weight of the literary tradition he has inherited, the necessity and yet seeming impossi"ility of
doing something in writing that has not "een done "efore. There is a passage in 0lann 8HBrienHs At S!im+
T!o+Birds that is 2 propos:
The modern no%el should e largel" a !ork of reference: 5ost authors spend their time sa"ing !hat has
een said efore usuall" said much etter# A !ealth of references to existing !orks !ould acquaint the
reader instantaneousl" !ith the nature of each character& !ould o%iate tiresome explanations and !ould
effecti%el" preclude mounteanks& upstarts& thimlerigggers& and persons of inferior education from an
understanding of contemporar" literature# Conclusion of explanation '()
There are ten passages of parody or pastiche in the novel& mimicking :in alphaetical order& not the order of
their appearance in the text; 2oseph Conrad& 6raham 6reene& 1rnest Heming!a"& Henr" 2ames& 2ames 2o"ce&
0ran- 7afka& 9#H# 4a!rence& 0r# .olfe :Baron Cor%o& author of Hadrian =II;& C#P# Sno!& and =irginia *oolf#
There are also allusions to other texts& such as *illiam 6oldingHs 0ree 0all& and to literar" schools and
sugenres: the Chesterelloc st"le of essa" !riting is caricatured in G1gert 5err"marshH& and there is a
postgraduate sherr" part" scene that !as supposed to e a kind of distillation of the post+Amis campus no%el
:three aspirant no%elists are present at the occasion& and taking notes on it; ut !hich ears the impress
especiall" of 5alcolm Bradur"Hs 1ating People is *rong :DKAK;# '()
I !as !ell a!are that the extensive use of parody and pastiche was a risky device. There was, in particular,
the danger of pu&&ling and alienating the reader who wouldn?t recogni&e the allusions. %y aim was to
make the narrative and its frequent shifts of style fully intelligi"le and satisfying to such a reader, while
offering the more literary reader the extra entertainment of spotting the parodies. This in turn meant that
the parodies had to e comparati%el" discreet& especiall" in the earl" part of the ook# In the later chapters the"
ecome longer& more elaorate and more o%ert# 0or aesthetic reasons I !anted the last of these passages to e the
most o%ious& most appropriate and most amitious parod" of all# At the same time& I !as a!are& as the ook
approached its conclusion& that Adam Apple"Hs marital prolems needed to e seen& ho!e%er riefl"& from
another perspecti%e& that of his !ife& Barara# But could such an arupt and elated shift in Gpoint of %ie!H e
contri%ed !ithout an effect of clums" impro%isation3 To sol%e this prolem& and the prolem of finding a
climactic parod"& in a single stroke& !as one of those moments of happ" inspiration that make the laour of
composing literar" fictions !orth!hile# In !hat famous modern no%el did the character of the !ife& up to the
penultimate chapter an o/ect in her husandHs thoughts and perceptions& ecome in the last chapter the
su/ecti%e consciousness of the narrati%e& and gi%e her o!n !r"& do!n+to+earth& feminine perspecti%e on him and
their relationship3 *here ut in 2ames 2o"ceHs 0lysses& the no%el !hich :I elatedl" recogni-ed; had& in limiting
the duration of its action to a single da"& and in %ar"ing the st"le of the narrati%e from episode to episode&
pro%ided me !ith the asic model for The ritish Museum is /allin" Do1n# 5oll" BloomHs famous&
unpunctuated interior monologue lent itself to m" purposes !ith uncann" appropriateness: m" no%el could end&
like 2o"ceHs& !ith the hero returned to his home& reunited !ith his spouse& asleep in the marital ed& !hile the
more !akeful !ife dro!sil" pondered the foiles of men& the paradoxes of sexualit" and the histor" of their
courtship and marriage# 0or 5oll"Hs ke"!ord& G"esH& I !ould sustitute a more tentati%e !ord& as more
appropriate to BararaHs character and the mingled notes of optimism and resignation on !hich I !anted to end
the no%el# I had al!a"s intended that BararaHs immediate anxiet" should e relie%ed in the last chapter# *hen I
recalled that 5oll"Hs period also started in the last episode of Nl"sses I kne!& if I had not kno!n it efore& that
there is such a thing as !riterHs luck#
*hile the no%el !as in production !ith 5ac6ion O 7ee :the pulishers of m" t!o pre%ious no%els&
later to e s!allo!ed up " 6ranada; I discussed !ith m" editor& Timoth" 8H7eefe& the ad%isailit" of dra!ing
attention to the parodies in the lur on the dust /acket# He !as against doing so& and I accepted his ad%ice# I
later came to think that the reader is entitled to a hint aout !hat to look for in a ook# =er" fe! re%ie!ers
recogni-ed the full extent of the parodies& and a surprising numer made no reference to them at all# Some
complained that it !as a some!hat deri%ati%e no%el !ithout percei%ing that this effect might e delierate and
s"stematic# *hen an American edition !as pulished later& the lur carefull" dre! attention to the parodies&
and the" !ere dul" noticed and generall" appro%ed# '()
9A=I9 48961 Chan"in" Places
In 5orris Papp$s %ie!& the root of all critical error was a naive confusion of literature with life. 4ife !as
transparent& literature opaque# 4ife !as an open& literature a closed s"stem# 4ife !as composed of things&
literature of !ords# ,ife was what it appeared to "e a"out if "ou !ere afraid "our plane !ould crash it !as
aout death& if "ou !ere tr"ing to get a girl into ed it !as aout sex# ,iterature was never a"out what it
appeared to "e a"out& though in the case of the no%el considerale ingenuit" and perception !ere needed to
crack the code of realistic illusion& !hich !as !h" he had een professionall" attracted to the genre : even the
dum"est critic understood that Ham"et wasn't a"out how the guy could kill his uncle, or the #ncient
Mariner a"out cruelty to animals, "ut it was surprising how many people thought that Aane )usten's
novels were a"out finding %r /ight;# The failure to keep the categories of life and literature distinct led to all
kinds of heres" and nonsense: to $likingQ and $not liking$ ooks for instance& preferring some authors to others
and suchlike !himsicalities !hich& he had constantl" to remind his students& !ere of no concei%ale interest to
an"one except themsel%es :sometimes he shocked them " declaring that& speaking personall" on this lo!&
su/ecti%e le%el& he found 2ane Austen a pain in the ass;# He felt a particularl" pressing need to castigate nai%e
theories of realism ecause the" threatened his master!ork: o%iousl"& if "ou applied an open+ended s"stem
:life; to a closed one :literature; the possile permutations !ere endless and the definiti%e commentar" ecame
an impossiilit"# 1%er"thing he kne! aout 1ngland !arned him that the heres" flourished there !ith peculiar
%irulence& no dout encouraged " the man" concrete reminders of the actual historic existence of great authors
that littered the countr" + aptismal registers& houses !ith plaques& secondest eds& reconstructed studies&
engra%ed tomstones and suchlike trash# *ell& one thing he !as not going to do !hile he !as in 1ngland !as to
%isit 2ane Austen$s gra%e# But he must ha%e spoken the thought aloud& ecause 5ar" 5akepeace asks him if 2ane
Austen !as the name of his greatgrandmother# He sa"s he thinks it unlikel"# '()
The Papps li%e in a luxurious house& in some disarra" !hen I called& at the top of an incredil" steep hill# There
are t!o "oung Papps& t!ins& called rather preposterousl" 1li-aeth and 9arc" :Papp is a 2ane Austen man& of
course + indeed the 2ane Austen man in the opinion of man";# '()
He leaned ack into it& put his feet on the desk and lit a cigar# $*ell no!&$ he said to the three de/ected+looking
students#$ *hat are "ou ursting to discuss this morning 3$
$2ane Austen&$ mumled the o" !ith the eard& shuffling some sheets of foolscap co%ered !ith e%il+looking
hand!riting#
$ 8h "eah# *hat !as the topic 3$
$ I$%e done it on 2ane Austen$s moral a!areness#$
$ That doesn$t sound like m" st"le#$
$I couldn$t understand the title "ou ga%e me& Professor Papp#$
$1ros and Agape in the later no%els& !asn$t it3 *hat !as the prolem3$
The student hung his head# 5orris felt in the mood for a little displa" of high+po!ered exposition# Agape& he
explained& !as a feast through !hich the earl" Christians expressed their lo%e for one another& it s"moli-ed
non+sexual& non+indi%iduali-ed lo%e& it !as represented in 2ane Austen$s no%els " social e%ents that confirmed
the solidarit" of middle+class agrarian capitalist communities or !elcomed ne! memers into those communities
R alls and dinner parties and sight+seeing expeditions and so on# 1ros !as of course sexual lo%e and !as
represented in 2ane Austen " courtship scenes& tete+a+tetes& !alking in pairs + an" encounter et!een the
heroine and the man she lo%ed& or thought she lo%ed# .eaders of 2ane Austen& he emphasi-ed& gesturing freel"
!ith his cigar& should not e misled " the asence of o%ert reference to ph"sical sexualit" in her fiction into
supposing that she !as indifferent or hostile to it# 8n the contrar"& she in%arial" came do!n on the side of 1ros
against Agape + on the side& that is& of the pri%ate communion of lo%ers o%er against the pulic communion of
social e%ents and gatherings !hich in%arial" caused pain and distress :think for instance of the disastrous nature
of group expeditions& to Sotherton in Mansfield Par), to Box Hill in *mma, to 4"me .egis in Persuasion3.
6etting into his stride& 5orris demonstrated that 5r 1lton !as o%iousl" implied to e impotent ecause there
!as no lead in the pencil that Harriet Smith took from him< and the moment in Persuasion !hen Captain
*ent!orth lifted the little rat *alter off Anne 1lliot$s shoulders # # # He snatched up the text and read !ith
feeling: $# # # she found herself in the state of 4ein" released from him # # # efore she reali(ed that Captain
%ent1orth had done it # # # he 1as resolutely 4orne a1ay # # # &er sensations on the discovery made her perfectly
speechless. She could not even than) him. She could only han" over little Charles 1ith the most disordered
feelin"s.5 Ho! aout that3$ he concluded re%erentl"# $If that isn$t an or"asm, !hat is it 3 $ He looked up into three
flaergasted faces# '()
Sitting there& taking it all in !ith the same leisurel" relish as he sucked the fortified lack coffee through its filter
of !hipped cream& Philip felt himself finall" con%erted to expatriation< and he sa! himself& too& as part of a great
historical process + a re%ersal of that cultural 6ulf Stream !hich had in the past s!ept so man" Americans to
1urope in search of 1xperience# Io! it !as not 1urope ut the *est Coast of America that !as the furthest rim
of experiment in life and art& to !hich one made one$s pilgrimage in search of lieration and enlightenment< and
so it !as to American literature that the 1uropean no! looked for a mirror+image of his quest# He thought of
2ames$s The Am4assadors and Strether$s in/unction to 4ittle Bilham& in the Paris garden& to $4i%e # # # li%e all "ou
can< it$s a mistake not to&$ feeling himself to partake of oth characters& the speaker !ho had disco%ered this
insight too late& and the "oung man !ho might still profit " it# He thought of Henr" 5iller sitting o%er a eer in
some scruff" Parisian cafe !ith his noteook on his knee and the smell of cunt still lingering on his fingers and
he felt some distant kinship !ith that coarse& une%en& priapic imagination# He understood American 4iterature
for the first time in his life that afternoon& sitting in Pierre$s on Cale A%enue as the ri%er of Plotinus life flo!ed
past& understood its prodigalit" and indecorum& its "ea+sa"ing heterogeneit"& understood *alt *hitman !ho laid
end to end !ords ne%er seen in each other$s compan" efore outside of a dictionar"& and Herman 5el%ille !ho
split the atom of the traditional no%el in the effort to make !haling a uni%ersal metaphor and smuggled into a
ook addressed to the most puritanical reading pulic the !orld has e%er kno!n a chapter on the !hale$s
foreskin and got a!a" !ith it< understood !h" 5ark T!ain nearl" !rote a sequel to &uc)le4erry /irm in !hich
Tom Sa!"er !as to sell Huck into sla%er"& and !h" Stephen Crane !rote his great !ar+no%el first and
experienced !ar after!ards& and !hat 6ertrude Stein meant !hen she said that $an"thing one is rememering is
a repetition& ut existing as a human eing& that is eing& listening and hearing is ne%er repetition$< understood all
that& though he couldn$t ha%e explained it to his students& some thoughts do often lie too deep for seminars& and
understood& too& at last& !hat it !as that he !anted to tell Hilar"# '()