Artemisia is the story of a woman’s tragedy and struggles
throughout her lifetime. She was the victim of rape, had a strained
relationship with her father whom rejected her and then forced her husband out
of her life. Artemisia is a damaged woman who has faced many trials and lives a
rather lonely life. However, because of the unfortunate events that have
occurred in her life she emerges as a strong woman specifically through her
passion for art. She uses her career to bring her success and a good life.
The most striking characteristic to Artemisia besides her
own character’s complexity and compelling story is the narration and the
relationship between Anna Banti, the author, and Artemisia. In this specific
kind of narration is the concept of time never being chronological. If one
chooses to read this novel they will find that both narrators jump back and
forth in time and therefore, it forces the reader to do more work to understand
where they are and what is going on.
On page 5 the narrator says,
“Those eyes
tempted me with another story at the time when I did not know that I would lose Artemisia; and as I wonder whether
Angelica was very frightened or not, I
see at the height where her head would be, and more clearly than has ever happened before the small, green-tinged
face of a neglected child with eyes bordering
on gray and dull hair, delicate features expressing pride and ill- treatment: Artemisia at ten years of age,”
(Banti).
Now, I realize that this is a long quote and it is packed
with a lot of details and questions so I am going to attempt to talk about it
to the best that I can. First, the reader sees that the narrator has a close
relationship to Artemisia and has known her for a long time. She has seen the
trials Artemisia has had to face and now she must decide how to tell her story
to the reader. Second, the reader learns a lot about Artemisia’s character. The
reader learns that she is frightened of something, she has been neglected and
feels incredibly lonely, because her face is described as “green-tinged,” her
gray eyes and dull hair makes it seem as though she has already had a rough
time growing up.
As the story continues, the reader begins to learn about
Artemisia’s struggles and why she is described this way. Banti, the narrator,
is precise in her descriptions matching them to Artemisia’s age. While reading
the reader easily loses track of whether or not Banti is telling her own story
or telling the story of Artemisia. For example Banti says on page 108, “The
awakening of Artemisia’s is also my own awakening.” Banti’s story becomes
intertwined with Artemisia’s and it could be argued because of the way the
narration is set up that they become one in the same. The only time Artemisia
is narrating is when Banti gives dialogue or inner thoughts within quotations. There’s
also a level where Artemisia’s choices in her life become her own narration of
her story, but it is Banti who is narrating for her. She leaves Rome to narrate
her own life and change her story (Banti 57). This is a story about Artemisia
growing out of her childhood and changing the life she was almost forced to
live. What gives her story power and a voice is Banti’s narration.
No comments:
Post a Comment