Expressionism and the unconfined female protagonist in three novels by Patrick White

Abstract

This thesis examines how Patrick White's expressive portrayal of the confined femaleprotagonists in three of his novels: The Aunt Story (1948), Voss (1957), and A Fringe ofLeaves (1976) enacts their ultimate liberation. I propose that the women are restricted bythe social conventions of their gender, but are given opportunities to escape theserestrictions via their expressive responses to their relationships and circumstances.Scholarly research has given limited attention to the key female characters of White'snovels in a way that does not closely analyse the expressive depictions of their conditionsand behaviour. Passages and episodes in the novels reveal their characters, conditions,relationships, and reactions or responses to the world around them. This requires theclose examination I provide in this thesis to determine how White's expressionistic stylegives agency to his female characters. I analyse each novel from the perspective of thefemale protagonist: Theodora Goodman in The Aunt's Story, Laura Trevelyan in Voss, andEllen Roxburgh in A Fringe of Leaves, and explore their narrative trajectories. The firstchapter considers Theodora Goodman's life at Meroe¨, and her experiences as she movesbeyond her home to the Jardin Exotique and later her meeting with Holstius in America.I outline how Theodora's transitory state psychologically and imaginatively enables her toreconcile illusion and reality. In the second chapter I contend that Laura Trevelyan is thetrue protagonist of Voss. I examine how her experience defies boundaries as sheimaginatively joins Voss on his expedition and demonstrates: "knowledge was never amatter of geography. Quite the reverse, it overflows all maps that exist" (V 275). Myclose analysis of Laura's journey examines how White's use of characterisation, gender,space, and relationships leads to Laura's transcendent experience, eclipsing Voss. Thefinal chapter on Ellen Roxburgh in A Fringe of Leaves identifies the masquerades and rolesshe plays in direct response to the men in her life. My analysis of Ellen is split into twoclear parts: before and after her shipwreck and capture - before and after the socialmasks are removed - where I explore her agonising immersion into a more primitivesense of self. I conclude that at the end of their narratives all three discover somethingprofound, and present a visionary intelligence that transcends ordinary existence. White'sexpressive portrayal of the women throughout these experiences reveals their agency.

Date of Award	2019
Original language	English