Theodora as an Unheard Prophetess in Patrick White’s The Aunt’s Story
Abstract
Il saggio analizza alcuni temi cari a Veronica Brady, presenti nella sua profonda analisi critica della letteratura australiana. Veronica ha spesso letto l’opera di Patrick White alla luce di una ricerca spirituale e di una visione mitico-mistica. Obiettivo di questo saggio è studiare come la figura della zia in The Aunt’s Story (1948) incarni unodei personaggi isolati e visionari di White che si fanno portavoce di un messaggio incomprensibile per la societàcontemporanea, incapace di vedere oltre la realtà ordinaria. Intendo dimostrare come il suo ruolo di esploratricenella terra interiore del Sé connetta Theodora Goodman agli antichi archetipi di partnership (Eisler 1987) e della Dea, in particolare della vecchia saggia (Crone), che incarna una “woman of age, wisdom and power” (Bolen2001). Questa figura aveva un ruolo importantissimo, ora dimenticato, nelle antiche società gilaniche (Eisler 1987). Theadora, il dono della Dea, come dovrebbe suonare il nome della protagonista, rimanda in termini chiari alla funzione spirituale e sacra delle antiche donne-sacerdotesse. Theodora è in realtà Theadora, una sacerdotessaamata dalla Dea, ma la società contemporanea, incapace di vedere oltre la realtà ordinaria, può solo catalogare queste figure sacre come ‘pazze’.
DOI: 10.17456/SIMPLE-41
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