Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1983

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Peyton, Ann

Abstract

The five novels of Margaret Atwood contain a pattern borrowed from The Aeneid of Virgil, Aeneas , guided by the Cumaean Sibyl, descends to the underworld to gain knowledge from his father, then returns to earth, equipped to fulfill his destiny. Atwood confronts her protagonists with similar tasks. The presence of an effective guide and of a positive parental influence contribute to the completion of each quest, but the prime determiner of success is the nature of the journey itself. Seen in her early novels as a source of growth and enlightenment, the journey is a vehicle of personal development and awakening. In later works, however, it becomes a snare of delusion which entraps characters in fantasy, cynicism, madness, despair and even death. Attwod unfolds a darkening vision of reality by the manipulation of various elements within the frame-work of descent and return.

Extent

62 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1983.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT14167

Format

pdf

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