Good Morning, Midnight (Rhys novel)
Modernism | |
| Published | 1939 (Constable) |
|---|---|
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
Good Morning, Midnight is a
The book initially sold poorly—critics thought it well written, but too depressing—and after its publication Rhys spent a decade living in obscurity. It was not until it was adapted by Selma Vaz Dias into a radio play, first broadcast by the BBC in 1957, that Rhys was once again put into the spotlight.
Background
The novel's title is derived from a poem by the American poet Emily Dickinson which is also included as an epigraph before the text opens:[1]
Good morning, Midnight!
I'm coming home,
Day got tired of me –
How could I of him?
Sunshine was a sweet place,
I liked to stay –
But Morn didn't want me – now –
So good night, Day!
Plot introduction
Sasha Jansen, a middle-aged English woman, has returned to Paris after a long absence. Only able to make the trip because of some money lent to her by a friend, she is financially unstable and haunted by her past, which includes an unhappy marriage and her child's death. She has difficulty taking care of herself; drinking heavily, taking sleeping pills and obsessing over her appearance, she is adrift in the city to which she feels connected despite the great pain it has brought her.
Reception and resurgence of popularity
Although early critics noted that Good Morning, Midnight was well written, they found its depressing storyline ultimately repellent.[3]
Rhys had disappeared from public view and fallen into obscurity shortly after Good Morning, Midnight was published in 1939. In fact, many believed that she was dead as a result of the seeming end of her literary career.
V. S. Naipaul wrote in 1973 that it is "the most subtle and complete of [Rhys'] novels, and the most humane".[6]
The novel and Rhys' own struggles are the subject of the song 'The Glitter' on Irish folk singer Maija Sofia's debut album Bath Time about women who have been wronged by history.[7]
References
- ISBN 978-0-393-35780-6.
- ^ "Good-Morning--Midnight". All Poetry.
- ^ Savory (1998), p. 116
- ^ a b Lindfords (1992), p. 269
- ^ Lindfords (1992), p. 270
- ^ Frickey (1990), p. 56
- ^ "Maija Sofia - Bath Time". 5 January 2020.
Sources
- Frickey, Pierrette M. (1990). Critical Perspectives on Jean Rhys. Washington, DC: Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 0-89410-059-9.
- Lindfords, Bernth, and Reinhard Sander. (1992). Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 117: Twentieth-Century Caribbean and Black African Writers, First Series. The Gale Group. pp. 258–278.
- Savory, Elaine. (1998). Chapter 5. Dangerous spirit, bitterly amused: Good Morning, Midnight, pages 109–132 in Jean Rhys. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-47434-5.