Chimera (Barth novel)
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LC Class PZ4.B284 Ch PS3552.A75[1] | |
Chimera is a 1972
Plots
Dunyazadiad
The Dunyazadiad is a retelling of the framing story of
Perseid
The second novella entitled Perseid follows the middle aged Greek hero Perseus in his struggle to obtain immortality. Told from Perseus' point of view, the first part of the story revolves around the retelling of Perseus' life history, while the following part details his rise to, and eventual immortalization as a constellation of stars.
Bellerophoniad
The final novella, Bellerophoniad, chronicles the story of
Central characters
- Dunyazadiad
Scheherazade: Also referred to as "Sherry," she is the key storyteller from One Thousand and One Nights and much of this novella's plot revolves around her and her power of crafting stories. She is nevertheless not the principal narrator of the Dunyazadiad.
Dunyazad: Also referred to as "Doony," Dunyazad is the sister of Scheherazade and being held captive by the King. Doony narrates the first and longest of the three chapters in the novella.
Shahryar and Shah Zaman: The King and his brother. Both men were cuckolded by their wives, so together they devise a revenge plan whereby they each deflower and then kill a new woman from their kingdom each night, initializing the conflict of the story.
The Genie: Actually a writer - likely a representation of Barth - who magically transports through time and space from 20th century America to Sherry and Doony's room. Scheherazade is his favorite author/narrator and he falls intellectually in love with her. With the help of the Genie, Sherry and Doony devise the plan to tell the King stories every night to forestall sex and execution. This plan involves the Genie reading a section of One Thousand and One Nights every day and then reporting back to Sherry, complicating notions of authorship.
- Perseid
Perseus: The hero of Greek mythology who beheaded the
Andromeda: Perseus's wife who's grown dissatisfied with marriage and Perseus's obsession with his past triumphs.
Calyxa: A nymph and priestess charged with the task of caring for certain gods' and heroes' temples, including Perseus's. A very devoted individual, Calyxa appears obsessed with Perseus's stories and craves his sexual attention, despite his impotence.
Medusa: Beheading Medusa had been Perseus's major heroic accomplishment, but now the figure troubles Perseus because of his lost glory and issues of guilt.
- Bellerophoniad
Bellerophon: The Greek mythic hero who first tamed Pegasus and slayed the Chimera, becoming the King of Lycia. Also called "Bell," he's Perseus's younger cousin and he constantly compares himself self-consciously to the older hero.
The Narrator: Somewhat a version of Bellerophon, he was "transformed by the seer Polyeidus into a version of Bellerophon's life" in order to tell this story (138). He constantly questions his own adequacy for the task, and his narrative doubts perpetually intrude in the story.
Philonoe: Bellerophon's wife. She loves Bellerophon and is comfortable in her life, but she sees every delight in life as a "net loss" (148)
Melanippe: An Amazonian woman that Bellerophon has as a "lover and alleged chronicler" in the second half of his life (146). Intrudes on narration periodically.
Polyeidus: He tutors Bellerophon and his twin, Deliades, when they were children, and he is the marsh seer who turns Bellerophon into the narrator of the "Bellerophoniad." Polyeidus has trouble controlling his magical abilities and prophesying. Intrudes on narration periodically.
Style and structure
Chimera is written in three loosely related sections, or novellas, similar to the way the mythical Chimera is a hybrid creature composed of three animals (typically some combination of a lion, a goat, and a snake).
There are a number of Q&A sessions and diagrams, all occurring in Bellerophoniad: a classification of human actions (175), a genealogical chart of demigods (182), a geometric "schema" for the course of dramatic action (251), and a cyclic depiction of the heroic journey (261).
References
- ^ "Chimera". (first edition). LC Online Catalog. Library of Congress (lccn.loc.gov). Retrieved 2016-10-29.
- ^
"National Book Awards – 1973". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
(With acceptance speech by Barth and two essays by Harold Augenbraum from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog. The essay nominally about Williams and Augustus includes Augenbraum's discussion of the shared award.)
Barth, John. Chimera. New York: Random House, 1972.
External links
- John Barth's Acceptance Speech Archived 2017-08-07 at the Wayback Machine for the 1973 National Book Award