Fairy Tale and Myth in Mahy's The Changeover and The Tricksters

Gose, Elliott B.

doi:10.1353/chq.0.0779

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…1 The most important theme among the criticism has been, probably, adolescence. According to Anna Smith, for example, Mahy's novels for young adults focus on the adolescent disjuncture between 1 Apart from the articles gathered in Marvellous Codes, Gavin (Gavin and Routledge, 2001), Gose (1991), Jackson (Coats, Jackson and McGillis, 2008), Lawrence Pietroni (1996), Lovell-Smith (Coats, Jackson and McGillis, 2008), Marquis (1987), and Raburn (1992), have all produced articles on facets of Mahy's work. Leibowitz (1997) and Voorendt (2007) have written theses.…”

Section: Michael Pohl Wellington March 2010mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When she dies, the mourning god takes her bridal crown, and sets it in the sky as a constellation. The first half of Ariadne's story, indeed, is so well-known that two scholars, Elliott Gose (1991) and Claudia Marquis (2005), have already used it as a springboard for their own readings of the novel. It is the association that the myth provokes with the god Dionysus, however, which is as yet unexplored, and, I believe, at least as important to a reading of the novel as its references to the Labyrinth.…”

Section: Dionysian Imagery In the Trickstersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Classical Myth and Margaret Mahy's Young Adult Fiction

Pohl¹

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<p>This thesis investigates the importance of classical myth in the young adult fiction of Margaret Mahy. Mahy's novels are full of references to classical myths, both direct and indirect, in names of characters like Dido, Ovid, Ariadne or Hero; in storylines such as Flora's journey to the Underworld-like Viridian to rescue her cousin Anthea, strongly reminiscent of Demeter's rescue of Persephone from Hades, which take their inspiration from classical myth; in seemingly incidental references like the persistent comparisons of Sorry to Charon, the classical ferryman of the dead, in The Changeover. These references point to a deep engagement with the heritage of classical myth. It is an engagement that has not gone unnoticed by scholars of Mahy's work, but it is one that has not enjoyed the dedicated critical attention it deserves. This thesis explores the full importance of classical myth to Mahy's young adult fiction, and shows how an understanding of the classical background of a large selection of Mahy's major novels can both enhance our appreciation of what is already there, as well as open up new avenues for critical engagement with her work.</p>

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