The ghosts around the houseRepressed fears and literary images in Elizabeth Bowen's descriptions of place
ISSN: 0211-5913
Year of publication: 2012
Issue: 64
Pages: 131-144
Type: Article
More publications in: Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses
Abstract
The ambiguous presence of supernatural and anthropomorphic elements in Elizabeth Bowen’s representations of place reveals her contradictory feelings of both attachment and detachment from Ireland and her personal obsession with the Anglo-Irish past. Bowen’s permanent explorations of the Irish landscape and the literary use of natural space denote the importance that the Anglo-Irish writer confers to the agency of the land in the formation of the Anglo-Irish identity and in the anticipation of their decline.