Seeking the Light: A. S. Byatt's The Shadow of the Sun - Page 2
© Pamela St. Clair
The Cannings’ relationship with the Severells is rather volatile, for Oliver, much to Henry’s despair, writes scholarly criticism of Henry’s work. Oliver both admires and resents Henry’s genius, and their relationship is further complicated when Oliver and Anna later have an affair. In the end, Anna vacillates between returning to Oliver, returning to a young man, a “suitable” type of whom her mother would approve and who wants to marry her, or choosing an independent path for herself. The ending, as is characteristic with Byatt’s work, is inconclusive. The sun and light imagery that figures predominantly throughout the novel, especially in regard to the visionary experiences of both Anna and her father, concludes Anna’s story: “Greyness, and remembered brightness, things done and things to do; one had to contain them, and continue somehow...‘Let’s have a drink,’ Oliver said. ‘We’ve a lot to discuss.’ “ (298). We are left to ponder whether Anna will shine on her own or forever remain in somebody’s shadow.
Critics accuse Byatt of being too literary, of taking for granted an audience familiar with her myriad cultural allusions. Kate McDonnell, writing a mostly favorable review of Babel Tower for the online journal NetNet complains: “Byatt is an intellectual and I suspect might never have considered the average reader’s interest in the personal passages might not carry over into issues of more cerebral importance” (www.thenetnet.com/readme/babel.html). However, if you enjoy getting lost in rich language and enjoy, perhaps, just getting lost and having to contemplate the various layers Byatt applies, then there is much to value in The Shadow of the Sun and in Byatt’s fiction in general.
Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Seeking the Light: A. S. Byatt's The Shadow of the Sun - Page 2 in British Literature is owned by Pamela St. Clair. Permission to republish Seeking the Light: A. S. Byatt's The Shadow of the Sun - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
