“금 간 거울” 간의 대화: 마리아 에지워쓰의 『랙크렌트 성』에 나타난 화자와 작가의 관계 (The Dialogue between the “Cracked Mirrors”: Maria Edgeworth’s Relationship with Thady Quirk in Castle Rackrent)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국근대영미소설학회
· 수록지 정보 : 근대영미소설 / 16권 / 1호 / 59 ~ 86페이지
· 저자명 : 김진아

초록

Maria Edgeworth’s first and best novel Castle Rackrent has been considered a foundational work that paved the way to the regional and national novel in Irish literature. Critical debates on this work has for a long time revolved around the nature and the reliability of the narrator, an old Irish servant, Thady Quirk. Until recently the dominant tendency has been to identify him as a simple, naive and transparent character who is loyal and faithful to the Rackrent family. Recent criticisms, however, have seen Thady as a disingenuous, double character who performs an act of reverence and servility toward the landlord class, while encroaching upon the authority and legitimacy of the Rackrents by portraying their spendthrift, exploitative and even incompetent way of life. Many critics associate Thady with the author herself with her complicated subject position as a member of the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy and subordinated woman in the patriarchal society. They suggest that Edgeworth identifies herself with Thady and uses him as her own mask to express her resentment as a marginalized woman. This paper, however, argues that Edgeworth tries to distance herself from Thady by a number of carefully used literary devices and implicit hints in the narrative. Firstly, Edgeworth portrays the ways in which Thady covertly helps his lawyer son Jason precipitate the downfall of the Rackrent family to acquire the estate, and warns the Ascendancy class not to trust a lower-class Irish man’s self-professed loyalty. Secondly, she also exposes Thady’s limitations as a narrator by employing editorial commentaries that ridicule and circumscribe Thady’s representation of indigenous Irish culture. Through the editor’s voice, Edgeworth renders Thady an unreliable narrator and his narration a kind of ‘cracked mirror’ that distorts the reality in Ireland. However, Edgeworth’s voice reflected in the editorial comments that repress Thady’s voice can be another ‘cracked mirror’ with its vested interests. Thus, Castle Rackrent stages the dialogue between two ‘cracked mirrors.’

영어초록

Maria Edgeworth’s first and best novel Castle Rackrent has been considered a foundational work that paved the way to the regional and national novel in Irish literature. Critical debates on this work has for a long time revolved around the nature and the reliability of the narrator, an old Irish servant, Thady Quirk. Until recently the dominant tendency has been to identify him as a simple, naive and transparent character who is loyal and faithful to the Rackrent family. Recent criticisms, however, have seen Thady as a disingenuous, double character who performs an act of reverence and servility toward the landlord class, while encroaching upon the authority and legitimacy of the Rackrents by portraying their spendthrift, exploitative and even incompetent way of life. Many critics associate Thady with the author herself with her complicated subject position as a member of the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy and subordinated woman in the patriarchal society. They suggest that Edgeworth identifies herself with Thady and uses him as her own mask to express her resentment as a marginalized woman. This paper, however, argues that Edgeworth tries to distance herself from Thady by a number of carefully used literary devices and implicit hints in the narrative. Firstly, Edgeworth portrays the ways in which Thady covertly helps his lawyer son Jason precipitate the downfall of the Rackrent family to acquire the estate, and warns the Ascendancy class not to trust a lower-class Irish man’s self-professed loyalty. Secondly, she also exposes Thady’s limitations as a narrator by employing editorial commentaries that ridicule and circumscribe Thady’s representation of indigenous Irish culture. Through the editor’s voice, Edgeworth renders Thady an unreliable narrator and his narration a kind of ‘cracked mirror’ that distorts the reality in Ireland. However, Edgeworth’s voice reflected in the editorial comments that repress Thady’s voice can be another ‘cracked mirror’ with its vested interests. Thus, Castle Rackrent stages the dialogue between two ‘cracked mirrors.’

참고자료

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