Ambivalence as a Carnival Category in Barry Unsworth's Novel "Morality Play"

Sadovnikova Yuliya Mikhailovna Postgraduate student of the Literature Department of Kaluga State University named after K.E. Tsiolkovsky 248000, Russia, Kaluzhskaya Oblast' oblast', g. Kaluga, per. Voskresenskii, 4 OrangeLioness@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Carnival for a medieval man, whose daily life was characterized by strict regulation of behavior, was of great importance. Until the second half of the XVII century, carnival remained one of the forms of human life, since people were direct participants in carnival actions.

In our country and abroad, studies based on the concept of carnivalization regularly appear and consider the Bakhtin theory to be the basis for analyzing the poetics of works by authors of different eras. Thus, B.E. Groys addresses the study of totalitarianism through the theory of carnival [Groys, 1992]; O.E. Pohalenkov [Kovaleva, Pohalenkov, 2021] deals with the study of carnival poetics in B. Vasiliev's novella "Tomorrow was the War"; examines the text of A.S. Pushkin's "Captain's Daughter" from the standpoint of I.V. Marusov's carnivalization [Marusova, 2007] – there are quite a few similar examples

In M.M. Bakhtin, the founder of the theory of carnivalization, we find the following characteristic of the carnival worldview: "This worldview, hostile to everything ready and complete, all claims to inviolability and eternity, required dynamic and changeable ("proteic") playing and unstable forms for its expression. All forms and symbols of the carnival language are imbued with the pathos of shifts and updates, the consciousness of the cheerful relativity of the prevailing truths and authorities. He is very characterized by a peculiar logic of "inversion" (a l*enuers), "on the contrary", "inside out", the logic of incessant movements of the top and bottom ("wheel"), face and ass, characterized by various types of parodies and travesties, declensions, profanation, buffoonish crowning and debunking" [Bakhtin, 1990]. An integral characteristic of carnival is the special organization of symbolic space, since any action of carnival is ambivalent in its essence. Bakhtin notes in his work "Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics" that "every carnival character is ambivalent and ambivalent, carrying both some idea and its debunking" [Bakhtin, 1972].

Bakhtin also identifies carnival categories – the most general provisions, principles of carnival attitude: free familiar contact, eccentricity, profanity. The principle of ambivalence described by the researcher, which underlies the carnival attitude to reality and determines the nature of carnival images, adjoins the carnival categories. According to the scientist, there are two main ways of manifestation of carnival ambivalence in the text: the creation of paired images and the emergence of paired scenes.

The presented work will consider the main category of carnival – ambivalence based on the novel by the English author Barry Unsworth "Morality Play" (B. Unsworth "Morality Play", 1995), which reveals the features of the carnival worldview, a characteristic feature of which is the idea of the dialogical nature of truth. The play by traveling comedians is dedicated to the murder of a little boy who turns out to be one of many whose body has been discovered, and this, in turn, is an excuse that the author uses to turn the players into detectives.

During the analysis of the system of characters in the novel, paired images characteristic of carnival thinking were revealed: the priest Niklas Barber – the confessor of Lord Simon Damian; Margaret Cornwall – a deaf-mute girl; Brendan – Thomas Wells.

Let's take a closer look at the presented paired images.

1)      The priest Niklas Barber is the confessor of Lord Simon Damian.

The image of Niklas Barber is an example of the dualism inherent in carnival. On the one hand, he is a priest who has lost his way: "... I left the borders of my diocese without permission, I sang in taverns and lost my sacred relics at dice, I reclined with a woman in fornication, I joined wandering comedians, and this is directly forbidden to clergy, whatever their rank. That's how I insulted God and upset the Bishop of Lincoln, who was a father to me" [Unsworth, 2004].

Niklas puts on the clothes of a comedian and radically changes his life. In one of the episodes we find a scene with dressing up: "Brendan now rested in the vestments of a priest, a man who during his lifetime shunned piety and did not skimp on blasphemous jokes. And I was standing in the rags of a dead comedian" [Unsworth, 2004].

Closer to the finale of the novel, the monk Simon Damian was also disguised: "I saw his pale crown and the fringe around his tonsure, I saw his dangling arms swaying in time with the movements of the mule only two feet above the ground, white hands, like wax in the light of torches, with dark bruises on the wrists below the sleeves of his robe — he was not dressed in a Benedictine cassock, but in white the robe in which penitents follow in processions" [Unsworth, 2004].

The priest and the monk are two opposed images in the novel. Being representatives of the same profession, they manifest themselves in completely different ways. Niklas turned himself into a comedian consciously: "Yes, the offer came from me, the first thought belonged to me, but at first I did not think of taking part in their games, practicing their shameful craft — artem illam ignominiosam — forbidden by the Holy Church" [Unsworth, 2004], and the monk was made a "rope dancer" a puppet in the hands of those in power: "But something didn't go well here. The memory of the Monk lying across the mule's back came back to me. About the white robe worn by penitents. Or led to execution. Those who tied his hands put this hoodie on him. Could ordinary people do this? Anyone could tie him up and hang him, but to dress him like this… They dressed him in a costume, made him a comedian, a dancer on a rope. Only those who act in coldness, confident in their power, or those who believe that God is talking to God inside them" [Unsworth, 2004].

Niklas Barber forgets about his direct duties at the beginning of the novel when he commits a sin: instead of the duties of a scribe at the monastery, he voluntarily leaves the monastery and engages in adultery: "a fugitive who left his diocese without permission" [Unsworth, 2004]. Another violation of his duties and characteristic of the carnival is his unwillingness to perform the funeral service of the body of the deceased: "The man was dying without the last communion, and perhaps there was still time to hand him the Cross, but I was afraid to approach" [Unsworth, 2004]. The first role played by Niklas Barber is the complete opposite of his profession: "I was put on the hair shirt of the Antichrist with a horned Devil mask, armed with a trident, so that I poked them threateningly around, muttered angrily and hissed." [Unsworth, 2004]

2)      Margaret–Jane.

The principle of ambivalence can also be found in paired female images: Margaret and Jane. The carnival poetics of the novel consists in the fact that the daughter of a weaver, a girl unable to speak or hear, is not only accused of a crime that she did not commit, but according to the principles of carnival, she cannot even defend herself due to her physical illness. "I heard Martin's voice calling his name again, and then the woman made a sound that had nothing human in it, and then I realized (as, of course, Martin did) why, clutching a shilling in his fist, the jailer grinned: her tongue was not able to round the words." [Unsworth, 2004]

The principle of ambivalence inherent in the image of Margaret is manifested at the level of the system of motives of the work. The character of Margaret initially had a negative characterization, since she is a harlot. Cf.: "We took Margaret because Stephen wanted it that way" and "I'll go to Flint. He came in this afternoon and asked for me. The two times we were together made him happy. He wants to take me to his house." [Unsworth, 2004]

The uncharacteristic motive of searching for the truth, showing the ambivalence of the image of a girl who has no right to vote because she is not a member of the troupe, is realized in her desire to find information about those responsible for Thomas' death.

Thus, an opposition arises: an innocent girl accused by society cannot defend herself, and the despised one commits an act uncharacteristic of her character.

3) Brendan – Thomas Wells

The ambivalence of the third pair of characters lies in the "living-dead" opposition. The image of Brendan is directly connected with the carnival situation – with a change in the traditional course of events. According to traditional Medieval morality, the deceased should be interred after death, but if we consider the work from the point of view of the carnival, this is refuted by the motive of making money with the help of the story of Thomas' death: in order to bury Brendan, it is necessary to play morale with Thomas.

All of the above confirms the carnival category – ambivalence. Scenes and characters paired by contrast and similarity have an impact on the figurative system and poetics of the novel.