Challenges Present in Artemisia

            I found Anna Banti’s Artemisia to be an extremely challenging piece of literature. It took me quite some time to understand the changes in time, location, theme, etc. However, after digesting the story I was able to comprehend the presence of the character “Artemisia” and the dialogue between the character and the author. There is also a lot of what I thought to be internal dialogue in the story, which I also found at times confusing.

            The story opens with a very powerful demonstration of the internal dialogue mentioned above. The very first words of the novel open with,

 “’Don’t cry.’ In the silence that separate each of my sobs this voice conjures up the image of a young girl who has been running uphill and who wishes to deliver an urgent message as quickly as possible. I do not raise my head. ‘Don’t cry.’: the suddenness of these two syllables bounces back now like a hailstone, a harbinger, in the heat of the summer, of high, cold skies. I do not raise my head; there is no one beside me”(Banti 3).

This passage demonstrates many of the challenging aspects of the story. First, I found it difficult to determine who was taking. Is it a narrator or is it Artemisia? However, one of the main aspects of the novel is the smooth transitions between past and present and the first and third person point of views. Additionally, the unclear line between character and author is highlighted. The phrase “don’t cry” appears twice in the excerpt emphasizing its important. It is important because it both spoken and heard at the same time by the reader and whoever is speaking those words. The point of view of the novel is up for interpretation. I believe Anna Banti writes in this challenging and unique style to reveal the importance of the character. Banti glorifies Artemisia’s character, making the novel a sort of love story between author and character.