Dwelling in Confinement

Abstract

Throughout my thesis I examine the major motifs of A. S. Byatt's protagonists' spatial entrapment both in their private and public domains, as well as how the characters are "built in" the fictional world of the novel, constituting a postmodern self-reflective mirror image of the text. I discuss the sub-title of the novel, A Romance, in relation to the concept of "continuation" and the well known fairy tale motif of "following the thread". By the end of my essay, the question, whether liberation for Byatt's characters is possible would be disclosed. If there is some sort of a gap leading out of confinement for the protagonists, I also try to explain why it was created.