[ilds] Melissa Artemis

[James Gifford]

Hi all,

For Melissa, Gracie, Ruth, &c. I've long thought Durrell had a previous 
model in mind from before Nancy.  I don't think I'd see Melissa as 
representing an ideal when you set her in contrast to Clea, nor Gracie 
in contrast to the Nancy figure in The Black Book, nor ultimately 
Iolanthe in contrast to Benedicta by the end of Revolt of Aphrodite. 
Ruth, the predecessor to all Durrell's waifs, is set in contrast to 
Pamela in /Pied Piper of Lovers/ (Pamela being based closely on George 
Wilkinson's wife).  She dies, and the successor in /Panic Spring/ is 
Francis, who in many ways in Nancy.

I can't say who Ruth is based on...  But she was important enough to 
bring back over and over, even if she wasn't the idealized female.

Best,
James

On 2015-05-08 10:25 AM, Bruce Redwine wrote:
> David and Sumantra,
>
> My theory, which is in no way original, is that Justine and Clea are
> based primarily on real prototypes (Eve Cohen and Claude-Marie
> Vincendon) but that Melissa is fictional, or shall we say, a
> “projection” or “screen” in the Freudian sense.  Eve and Claude get
> dedications /(Justine/ and /Mountolive),/ Melissa gets poems and a
> burial in the “tepid sand of the black estuary” /(Justine)./  I’m
> tempted to say Melissa represents the kind of woman Durrell would like
> to have as a “helpmeet” (loving and pliant) but also the type he tends
> to abuse physically and mentally.  Nancy Myers, wife no. 1, is a kind of
> “Melissa.”  Of course, none of these fictional characters correspond
> exactly to actual people.  The Justine/Eve correspondence seems obvious,
> but as Ray Morrison once remarked, Eve Cohen Durrell, whom he met, was
> not the type of person to have a copy of Schopenhauer on her reading
> shelves, as Justine does.
>
> Bruce
>
>
>
>
>
>> On May 7, 2015, at 3:50 PM, Denise Tart & David Green
>> <dtart at bigpond.net.au <mailto:dtart at bigpond.net.au>> wrote:
>>
>> Sumantra,
>> perhaps, in fact, Durrell cared more for Melissa and Clea than for
>> Justine. If poetry is the higher form, Justine only makes prose.
>> maybe the poems on Justine have been lost. What is your theory?
>> By the way, I enjoy Durrell's poetry, much of it, especially his
>> visceral responses to landscape/place. I get a bit lost in all the
>> classical allusion stuff.
>> Durrell likes to see people organically attached to both landscape and
>> history, the rind of the ear goes much further than Melissa's brain.
>> the small forevers go back in time
>> to ancient times and the sea edge where Anthony and Cleopatra walked.
>> David Whitewine
>> 16 William Street
>> Marrickville NSW 2204
>> +61 2 9564 6165
>> 0412 707 625
>>
>> *From:* Sumantra Nag <mailto:sumantranag at gmail.com>
>> *Sent:* Friday, May 08, 2015 3:24 AM
>> *To:* ilds at lists.uvic.ca <mailto:ilds at lists.uvic.ca>
>> *Cc:* James Gifford <mailto:james.d.gifford at gmail.com> ; Bruce Redwine
>> <mailto:bredwine1968 at earthlink.net> ; James Gifford
>> <mailto:gifford at fdu.edu>
>> *Subject:* Re: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 97, Issue 6
>>
>> BY THE LAKE
>> 'How many several small forevers
>> Whispered in the rind of the ear
>> Melissa, by this Mediterranean sea-edge,
>> Captured and told?
>> How many additions to the total silence?'
>> I know the ILDS discussion forum is not prone to discussing Durrell's
>> poetry in terms of detailed context.
>> But lines such as these from his poetry surely have an organic link
>> with the Alexandria Quartet, and attempts to address these lines might
>> be rewarding in its own way.
>> Durrell has mentioned Melissa more than once in his poems and Clea at
>> least once,  but never Justine.
>> Sumantra
>> Sent from my Samsung Tab
>> On 7 May 2015 21:35, "Sumantra Nag" <sumantranag at gmail.com
>> <mailto:sumantranag at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> "The heart must be very old to feel so young."
>>> Do you think Lawrence Durrell has got something here?
>>> Sumantra
>>> Sent from my Asus Zenfone
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
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