Les turbulences du temps : linéarités, cycles et résurgences dans The Death of the Heart d’Elizabeth Bowen

• Main Author: Céline Magot
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée 2009-11-01
• Series: Études Britanniques Contemporaines
• Subjects: Bowen; Death of the Heart; amnesia; Bildugsroman; cycle; park
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/ebc/3710

Critics have often described The Death of the Heart as a Bildungsroman centred on the character of Portia, in her progress towards maturity. If such a vision is undoubtedly valid, this article attempts to show that the novel can be better comprehended by placing Anna alongside Portia. Thus, the centre of the plot is not simply the young heroine but the tension between the two antagonistic characters. Such a shift also affects the perception of the temporal structure of the novel — the linear narrative appears to be interspersed with gaps opening onto previous moments, revealing that Portia’s present experience is a mere repetition of the past. Time takes the shape of a circle mapped out in the space of the action by the characters’ walks through Regent’s Park, which make them draw temporal loops. The re-surfacing of the past bridges shallow differences and reveals the meaning of the story, which lies in the ambiguities of the text itself.