Family Relationships in M. Drabble's Jerusalem the Golden : With Special Emphasis on the Mother-Daughter Relationship in One Particular Family

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  • M.ドラブルの『黄金のエルサレム』における家族関係 : 母娘関係から中心に見た或る家族の姿
  • M ドラブル ノ オウゴン ノ エルサレム ニ オケル カゾク カンケイ オヤコ カンケイ カラ チュウシン ニ ミタ アル カゾク ノ スガタ

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The heroine of Jerusalem the Golden, Clara Maugham, does not like her home and seeks to escape from it. She detests it because of her mother, Mrs Maugham. Mrs Maugham greatly differs from the stereotyped image of mothers; she is not kind, generous or affectionate. On the contrary, she is inconsistent, stubborn and spiteful. She torments Clara in many ways and weakens her power to live. Clara thinks that she has to escape from her home and her native town, Northam, in order to live her life fully and become happy. For her, Northam symbolises Mrs Maugham. On the surface, it appears that this novel depicts how Clara lives her life seeking happiness. But if we read it deeply, we notice that there exists a secondary theme: Clara's resistance towards Mrs Maugham's domination. In this paper, I have studied Clara's relations with each of her family members, especially Mrs Maugham. Furthermore, I have studied English middle-class family relationships by comparing the relationships among the members of the fictional Maugham family, and the relationships among the members of Margaret Drabble's actual family. Drabble says that relationships among family members in England used to be cold. She also says that she herself had a lonely childhood, especially because of a strained and unhappy relationship with her elder sister. Judging from her words and works, she seems to want human relationships in England, including family ones, to deepen.

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