History and myth in the modern English historical novel

Abstract

The formal and conceptual characteristics of the historical novel are examined in the light of existing criticism. The criteria thus derived are applied to the modern English historical novel, as exemplified in the work of Naomi Mitchison, Robert Graves, Alfred Duggan and Mary Renault. The origins of the mythological historical novel are traced back to the concept of myth as disguised fertility ritual proposed by Frazer and elaborated by Freud and Jung. Mitchison's The Corn King and the Spring Queen (1931) is taken as the type example. By incorporating myth into the structure of her novel, and archetype into her character relationships, Mitchison re-established the historical novel as a vehicle for serious themes. The other three novelists are examined as they conform to, or diverge from, this mythological tradition. The oeuvre of Graves shows the mythopoeic imagination at work on the material of a single life, interpreting its events as archetypal encounters within a myth of necessary female dominance of all being. Duggan, beginning his career twenty years later, displays qualities which apparently run counter to those of the mythological tradition. But his moral irony and rational insight derives from and established literary tradition within the Christian myth of history. Renault's novels represent a synthesis between the didactic and mythical characteristics of Mitchison and Graves and the irony and technical polish of Duggan. The outstanding points made by the thesis are considered in retrospect, and conclusions drawn from them about the nature and achievements of the modem English historical novel.