Melusine The Serpent Goddess in A. S. Byatt's Possession and in Mythology by Gillian Alban

Melusine The Serpent Goddess in A. S. Byatt's Possession and in Mythology by Gillian Alban

Gillian Alban meticulously pursues the Fairy Melusine snake-woman image through the plot and the poetry of A. S. Byatt's novel Possession, into medieval legend, and beyond into her antecedents in ancient myth. The book describes the erotically inspiring force of Melusine's love story and draws parallels with goddesses such as Lamia, Ishtar or Inanna, Isis, and Asherah. Mother, creator, and leader, the figure of Melusine was ultimately vilified and tellingly converted into the demon of patriarchal accounts, as seen in the examples of Lilith, Medusa, Scylla, and the serpent in the Garden. Alban deconstructs part of Genesis, including the roles of Adam and Eve and Cain's crime, and illuminates the Old Testament worship of the goddess Asherah alongside the male Yahweh. A forceful exploration of literature, history, and myth, this study sweeps away limiting assumptions about the female sex. Melusine the Serpent Goddess restores the dignity acknowledged to women of old, making a forceful statement about the power and creativity of women.

Gillian M. E. Alban teaches Literature and English at Dogus University in Istanbul, Turkey.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780739104712
ISBN 10	0739104713
Title	Melusine The Serpent Goddess in A. S. Byatt's Possession and in Mythology
Author	Gillian Alban
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Year published	2003-04-28
Number of pages	307
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.