The Alexandria Quartet: Negotiating Homogeneous Society with Heterogeneous Behavior
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Authors
Paddock, Lori
Issue Date
2013-05-07
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Lori Paddock , Lawrence Durrell , World War II , Alexandria Quartet , Homosexuality , Social Norms , Culture , Theory of Heterogeneity, Excess, and Expenditure , Georges Bataille , Balance of Power--Society , Pederasty , Cross-dressing , Infidelity, Marital -- Adultry
Alternative Title
Abstract
Lawrence Durrell’s The Alexandria Quartet is set in Alexandria, Egypt just prior to and during World War II. The first three of the four novels present similar events from differing perspectives. Durrell’s Quartet is a complex web of characters that violate social norms. The violations include behaviors such as adultery, homosexuality, pederasty, and cross-dressing. This thesis uses Georges Bataille’s theory of heterogeneity, excess and expenditure to examine the violations and the reactions. Some violations provoke strong reactions, such as cross-dressing, while other violations, such as deceit, are left to be dealt with by the victim. Bataille’s theory helps to demonstrate how a society can exclude or accept some behavior based on an individual basis while behavior that threatens the power balance in a society, such as a plot to destabilize the government, will be punished by the society leadership.
Description
A Thesis submitted by Lori Paddock to the Graduate School Valdosta State University in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in English in the Department of English of the College of Arts and Sciences.