Discussion of themes and motifs in marguerite duras the lover. In1984, marguerite duras surprised the french literary world by produc ing lamant, a lyrical, darklycandid autobiographical book about her ado lescence in indochina during the late 1920s. Read the lover by marguerite duras book analysis detailed summary, analysis and reading guide by bright summaries available from rakuten kobo. A psychoanalytic critique of marguerite duras the lover psychoanalysis became a popular school of literary theory and criticism thanks largely in part to the work done by theorists sigmund freud and jacques lacan. Everyone says you were beautiful when you were marguerite duras. Unachievable masculinity in marguerite durass the lover. An international bestseller with more than one million copies in print and a winner of frances prix goncourt, the lover has been acclaimed by critics all over the world since its first publication in 1984. Her script for the film hiroshima mon amour 1959 earned her a nomination for best original screenplay at the academy awards. The lover by marguerite duras book analysis ebook by bright.
This engaging summary presents an analysis of the lover by marguerite duras, an autobiographical novel which tells the story of a teenage girl who embarks. An analysis of marguerite duras the lover sexuality is evident in every form of life. One of the things writing does is wipe things out, notes duras, who expertly sculpts her tapestry of memories into a book of striking emotional depth. A psychoanalytic critique of marguerite duras the lover. The book has no boundaries of time and space, first of all. Marguerite durass august 1984 book the lover, published in the heyday of deconstructive thought, bears the signs of that thought in the sense that while it operates without boundaries, it yet is bounded by the very system that calls it forth. A lot of the chapter on duras is in fact an account of julia kristevas psychoanalytic reading of the lover, duras perhaps most scandalous work in which duras, as the autobiographical narrator, emerges as the possessor of a jocasta complex. Key theories of marguerite duras literary theory and. Marguerite duras worn out with desire to write 1985 duration. Set in the prewar indochina of marguerite durass childhood, this is the haunting tale of a tumultuous affair between an adolescent french girl and her chinese lover. Lacan famously sees in durass story an exemplification of his own psychoanalytic. Their scandalous affair served as the raw material for durass bestselling 1984 novel, the lover, for a film version shot in vietnam.
The lover by marguerite duras book analysis by bright. The elements in the story are the basic stuff of common erotic fantasies. As a stunningly beautiful work of art, the lover, by marguerite duras, realistically and profoundly exposes the astonishing harmonization and. Unlock the more straightforward side of the lover with this concise and insightful summary and analysis. Most readers of duras know of her birth and childhood in indochina during the colonial period. Paired with scenes of sexual pleasure in both the novel and the 1992 film version by jeanjacques annaud, it is easy to fall into a trap of identifying desire as a need for sexual satisfaction and to focus on this sexual. Detailed summary, analysis and reading guide summaries, bright on. Name a current literary trend, and the french writer marguerite duras almost certainly got to it first and took it. Marguerite donnadieu 4 april 1914 3 march 1996, known as marguerite duras french.
One of the most intriguing and renowned of durass novels is the ravishing of lol v. Early in marguerite durass the lover, we encounter an indelible image. Marguerite durass the lover, and notebooks that enrich it. This essay, based on the detailed analysis of the text the lover, explores the autobiographical features of writing and feminist representation in the novel. Published in 1984, lamant the lover is a novel based on the reallife story of its author, french writer marguerite duras. Duras herself was surprised by the breathless praise the lover received. This essay, based on the detailed analysis of the text the lover, explores the autobiographical features of writing and feminist representation in the. Marguerite durass the lover, and notebooks that enrich. Quotes from the lover by marguerite duras bookmate. The book, which opens with the young duras crossing the mekong river on a ferry and closes one and a half years later with her departure on an ocean liner. Besides the man being much older than her, he is also apart of a higher social class and a different race. A book that becomes one of the best sellers she had written. Additionally i will support my points by using the 1992 film adaptation by jean jacques annaud as a cinematic analysis of the original text. It provides a thorough exploration of the books plot, characters and main themes, as well as an examination of duras style and her approach to autobiographical fiction.
The lover is marguerite duras s 1984 novelized account of an affair that she wrote about in two other novels, the sea wall 1950 and the north china lover 1991 the lover is told, at times. This engaging summary presents an analysis of the lover by marguerite duras, an autobiographical novel which tells the story of a teenage girl who embarks on a forbidden relationship with a wealthy chinese man twelve years her senior. Plants, animals, humans all actively engage in sexual practices. In marguerite durass novel, the lover, there is an obvious strain put between the love affair. In marguerite duras s novel, the lover, there is an obvious strain put between the love affair. Though the protagonist, a 15yearold girl, a remains unnamed, its. The lover by marguerite duras penguin random house about the lover. Marguerite duras, a famous french novelist, playwright and film director in the twenties century lets us audience appreciate more of her literary and aesthetic values through the novel the lover. A revelation and a confrontation in equal measure, it. Keywords novel, paris, memories, borders, profoundly. The writer was perhaps thinking of the lover, but the reference needed no explanation.
So begins marguerite duras the lover, an evocative and sensual novel about a young girls affair with a man 12 years her senior, which was. Dive deep into marguerite duras the lover with extended analysis, commentary, and discussion. Colonialism and power in marguerite durass the lover. Unachievable masculinity as driving force in marguerite durass the lover desire is a word that appears repeatedly in marguerite durass 1984 novel the lover. Both the book and the film are set in french indochina and tell the love story of a french young girl and a chinese man in 1929. I was 29 when i first read marguerite durass 1984 masterpiece, the lover, translated from the french by barbara bray. This detailed literature summary also contains topics for discussion and a free quiz on the lover by marguerite duras. Marguerite durass the lovera book without boundaries. Long unavailable in hardcover, this edition of the lover includes a new introduction by maxine hong kingston that looks back at duras s. Psychoanalysis is defined as the application of specific psychological principles to the. It has been translated to 43 languages and was awarded the 1984 prix goncourt. Unachievable masculinity in marguerite durass the lover arts. The lover is narrated by helene lagonelle, a french woman looking back on her life in indochina now vietnam and, in particular, the romance she had with a wealthy chinese man in 1929 when she was just 15. The lover was written when duras was 70, and floats delicately in that soft, nebulous space between memoir and makebelieve.
Its largely based on the authors own life she was born in saigon now ho chi minh city to french parents who had emigrated. Writer in a recent french weekly, which featured an impressionist painting of a pretty, young, redhaired girl, said it reminded her of marguerite duras. The lover one day, i was already old, in the entrance of a public place a man came up to me. The lover is set in the indochina of durass birth and recounts, fictionalised, the story of her adolescence. Duras handles expertly her autobiographical narration, the relationship between fabrication and reality or the novel and her own life experience. The lover by marguerite duras was published in 1984, when the author was seventy years old. Much focus of sex is its effects on the body and its senses. Her family had taken advantage of a government incentive to emigrate to indochina but her father, never a well man, was repatriated to france for health reasons where he died. It is a love story without any real continuation but with millions of them in the head of each of the lovers. She says it is autobiographical, but i suspect it is the autobiography of her imagination, not of her real life. Marguerite duras explores both in the lover, an autobiography that itself rejects conventional prose and linear narrative.