REVIEW: Portraits In Fiction by A.S. Byatt
Ann Skea
AUTHOR: A.S.Byatt
PUBLISHER: Random House (December 2001)
ISBN: 0 7011 73160 PRICE: A$32.90 (Hardback) 101 pages
Reviewed by Ann Skea (a...@skea.com)
"Portraits in words and portraits in paint are opposites, rather
than metaphors for each other."
This is A.S. Byatt's opening line, but what does she mean? Surely both are
metaphors for the person depicted, aren't they? Surely both can be equally
informative and equally imaginative, can they not?
Apparently not. Byatt, as an artist with words, favours words over pictures and
argues that they are better at presenting a person's character and presence.
But one of my favourite portraits is of two young men and I know as much about
them from this picture as any word portrait could tell me. I know that the
elder is the more serious, proud of his position, ready to shoulder
responsibility. And the younger, who has a pleasant, open face, makes me laugh.
I can see how pleased with himself he is; how carefully he has done his hair;
how much he loves his soft, kid boots. No words can quite capture the quality
of that painting but the artist was inspired and that inspiration shines
through and conveys something of the nature of his subjects. Words, too, can do
this but in both cases it depends on the skill of the work's creator. Dull
portraits are as common in literature as in art, inspired work is rare in both.
Byatt, nevertheless, presents an interesting argument and illustrates it with
examples of portraits in fiction and fictional writing about art from a wide
range of work, including her own. Amongst the authors and artists she discusses
are Proust, Ford Maddox Brown, Ford Maddox Ford, Oscar Wilde, Emile Zola, Joyce
Carey, Iris Murdoch, Holbein, Durer, Monet and Manet. Rather spoiling her
argument about the superiority of words, however, are the many beautiful
reproductions of portraits which accompany the text and add to the attraction
of the book.
Ironically, considering her thesis, this book is based on a lecture which Byatt
gave at the National Portrait Gallery, London, last year (2000) for the Heywood
Hill Annual Lecture. But this is not a dry, heavy lecture - it is beautifully
presented, entertaining and light in tone (it is literally light, too, being a
surprisingly small, thin book for its price).
Byatt tells us that she first began to haunt the National Portrait Gallery when
she was planning a novel which, in part, concerned the difference between art
and literature at the times of Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II. The Darnley
Portrait of Elizabeth I at the Gallery, she says, "dazzled and then obsessed"
her, and she offers us her portrait in words of this painting. But what does
that do? It points out things which an imaginative viewer might notice: that
the fan is "dangled or gripped"; that its colours suggest passion; that
Elizabeth has the "stillness and energy of a young girl". All true. All part of
the imaginative picture of Elizabeth I which a viewer might construct in their
mind.
Yet, but both words and painting equally prompt and also limit the imaginative
viewer in different ways. Byatt's word description of her own fictional
characters may suggest or state things about them just as the Darnley Portrait
does about Elizabeth I. Her presentation of her characters is just as
subjective as the artist's presentation of Elizabeth, and readers or viewers
will still construct their own images from these sources, and no two mental
images will be alike in every detail. So, is art less able than words to depict
the "variety of selves" of its subject? Does a painting fix an image in time
more than a word portrait does? I think not.
As you can see, this is a book which makes you think. For anyone who loves art
and literature, Byatt has interesting things to say about both and says them in
an interesting way, although she is, naturally, biased towards words. As a
lecture, this book is different to Byatt's fictional work and will appeal a
different group of readers. But those who know and enjoy her novels will
recognize her style and find that her arguments, here, make interesting
background reading to her stories.
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Copyright © Ann Skea 2001
http://ann.skea.com
Ted Hughes' Birthday Letters: Poetry and Magic http://ann.skea.com/THHome
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For permission to reproduce this text in any form contact Dr Ann Skea.