Folks, Possession is a novel that ranks the "intense pleasure of reading" on the same scale as "the primary pleasures of eating, or drinking, or looking on, or sex" (26.39). A. S. Byatt clearly takes her literature seriously. In fact, the novel as a whole celebrates the lasting powers of literature and suggests that they can shape our deepest thoughts about life, love, and happiness. This is one novel that pulls out all the stops to be as "literary" at it can possibly be—and seriously, that's part of the fun.
Questions About Literature and Writing
- In your view, which historical nineteenth-century poets may have influenced A. S. Byatt's creation of Randolph Henry Ash?
- Which historical nineteenth-century poets seem to have influenced A. S. Byatt's creation of Christabel LaMotte?
- How many twentieth-century writers are mentioned in Possession? Which twentieth-century poems or novels come up in the twentieth-century characters' day-to-day lives?
- What forms of oral literature (folklore, fairy tales) help to shape Possession?
Chew on This
Although Possession occasionally pokes fun at characters who have devoted their lives to studying, editing, and preserving the works of long-dead authors, at heart, the novel celebrates and shares their literary obsessions.
In Possession, an elderly Christabel LaMotte wonders if she could have become a better and more famous poet if she had stuck to her original plan of living in isolation. Although it's impossible to know for sure, the novel suggests that getting out and experiencing life to the fullest—even its hardships and tragedies—made her a stronger and more daring writer in the end.