English Language and Literature Commons^™

Metafiction, Fairy Tale, And Female Desire In A.S. Byatt‘S Possession: A Romance, Susan Marie Kieda

Masters Theses

Analysis of the novel Possession: A Romance by A.S. Byatt, in which Byatt contributes to a metamorphosis of the fairy tale genre through a reappropriation of individual tales and characters, such as the Grimm Brothers‘ Little Snow White and The Glass Coffin; Hans Christian Andersen‘s The Snow Queen; and the French fairy story Melusine. Analysis of the metafictional devices Byatt uses to achieve this reappropriation such as the writing and reading of letters, journals, and works of fiction within the novel, as well as an intertextuality created by repeating fairy tale allusions. Analysis of Byatt‘s character development …