Language and Meatmorphosis in A.S. Byatt's "Possession"

A. S. Byatt’s novel is full of metamorphoses both on thematic and on structural levels. At first sight, the narrative line can be seen to reenact a simple romance form, a plot driven by the obstacles that two lovers have to overcome. However, the structure of the novel turns out to be more complicated when we come to realize that it stages two parallel intertwined storylines (a contemporary and a Victorian one), which, through Byatt’s mirroring-technique (Covert 128), reflect upon one another. In this way, reading Byatt’s Possession, one can easily notice the conspicuous interrelating system upon which its structure is built. Its recurrent archetypes and its parallel storylines reflecting upon one another give the reader the sense that somehow they share a common pattern, as if they were only figurations of a general design. Accordingly, its mythical, Victorian and contemporary characters and plots can be interpreted as the metamorphosed manifestations of one another.Mscanglisztik