“I am going to see his ghost. It will be his ghost-not him”
The figure of the ghost in the English novel is used to
represent that which is not English. The ghosts, or what were termed as such, we
have encountered so far in this course have been the figure of Bertha Mason and
Monsieur Manette. Oh wait, there’s also Jane’s uncle Mr. Reed. But he’s dead.
His ghost figure is something Jane imagines so the difference between Mr.
Reed’s ghost and the ghost of the other two is that the other two weren’t
really dead or figments of someone’s imagination but were introduced or
perceived initially as ghost like figures.
Bertha Mason and Monsieur Manette represent a non English
figure, the former being Creole and the latter being French. Moreover, they
represent an unknown, underground individual. In the earlier chapters of A Tale
of Two Cities, it is mentioned over and over again how Monsieur Manette was dug
out of the grave; highlighting the fact that he was underground. Similarly,
Bertha Mason is kept hidden away. They are both treated as a supernatural
figure of sorts; one being a resurrected ghost and the other as a savage beast
like creature.
Another interesting thing to note is how both figures don’t
give up their original identity. Monsieur Manette is not Mr. Manette; his
French-ness is never underemphasized. In
the same way, Bertha Mason is not referred to as Mrs. Rochester. She remains
Mason.
The ghost figure in the English novel represents an identity
of the unknown, similar to real ghosts that are unknown and understandable by
the humans. The ghost is used to represent
the figure which does not fit into the English narrative.
No comments:
Post a Comment