Event overview
Goldsmiths Literature Seminar
Jasmine Richards (Goldsmiths)
In Vergil's Aeneid, Lavinia is the only child of King Latinus and the future mother of Rome. The narrative of Vergil’s epic poem turns on whether she will marry Turnus or Aeneas. She is the subject of prophecy, a symbol of virginal eroticism and national identity, an object of desire, the cause of a war and jealous rage. But never once, in Vergil's epic poem, do we hear her speak.
In Lavinia (2008), Ursula le Guin over-reads Vergil's representation of Lavinia in two similes from book twelve of The Aeneid in order to give voice to Lavinia as the female author of her own epic. In The Aeneid, the narrator describes Lavinia's blush as: 'Indum sanguine veluti violaaverit ostro si quis ebour, aut mixta rubent ubi lilia multa alba rosa/ As when one stains Indian ivory with crimson dye or as when white lilies blush with many a blended rose.' These similes place emphasis on Lavinia's silent chastity and obedience but give us no insight into the reasons or emotional response behind her physical reaction.
Le Guin reads this as indicative of the patriarchal repression of female experience in the textual field. Through the transformative appropriation of The Aeneid, Le Guin gives voice to a silenced female character. However, through her criticism of, what she calls, 'feminine voice,' Le Guin deliberately problematises her novel as a feminist project of rewriting and recovery. Furthermore, through the characterisation of Vergil as a male precursor to Lavinia, who nonetheless happily engages in a dialogue of influence with Lavinia as a new female author, Le Guin contests the theory of a female 'Anxiety of Influence.' This paper will explore Le Guin's complex and often seemingly contradictory representation of female authorship and its anxieties in Lavinia.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Feb 2012 | 6:30pm - 8:00pm |
Accessibility
If you are attending an event and need the College to help with any mobility requirements you may have, please contact the event organiser in advance to ensure we can accommodate your needs.
