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A. S. Byatt's Possession

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Literature is known to provoke thoughts and inspire actions because people constantly react to what they read. These reactions, spanning from a minuscule change to a total transformation, can happen subconsciously in one’s mind or publicly in the world. Nonetheless, they are a response to a piece of work. A. S. Byatt decides to explore this concept in her novel Possession. Using the underlying theme that literature significantly affects its audience, the novel follows two scholars as they discover an illicit, nineteenth century love affair between famous poets. Possession explores the relationship a body of work can have with its audience, whether it be used as an escape or a means to shift one’s perspective. It demonstrates that while reading …show more content…
After being consumed in finding out all he could about Ash’s affair, Roland that he is truly an expert on Ash. This belief is so strong that he considers Ash to be a part of him. However, Roland decides to reflect and think back to the day when he first found the letters in the library. He recalls what has transpired since and how his perspective has changed. Despite having analyzed it multiple times, he reads the book by Vico again. Accordingly, Roland “gains an almost mystical understanding of how it is possible to know a work of literature without imposing subjective meanings on it,” (Polvinen). He realizes that every reader has a different understanding of an author’s work, and that their interpretations could have no meaning to all the other readers. Nevertheless, he also recognizes that a piece’s context could change and expand with each additionally reading. Roland uncovers a secret of literature: readings can appear “wholly new….followed by, almost immediately, by the sense that it was always there” (Byatt 512). He concludes that interpretation of literature is dependent on perspective, which is different with every person. Yet, he concedes that some things are hidden between the lines, waiting to be found, analyzed and shared with the world, like the affair between Ash and

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