Mrs. May’s Dark Night in Flannery O’Connor’s “Greenleaf”

Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Greenleaf” was significantly influenced by her engagement with the notion of the “dark night of the soul,” which is closely associated with the Christian mysticism of St. John of the Cross. O’Connor became familiar with the dark night through her reading of Evelyn Un...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Piggford, George (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Johns Hopkins University Press [2016]
Dans: Christianity & literature
Année: 2016, Volume: 65, Numéro: 4, Pages: 397-412
Classifications IxTheo:CD Christianisme et culture
KAH Époque moderne
KBQ Amérique du Nord
TK Époque contemporaine
Sujets non-standardisés:B O'Connor, Flannery, 1925-1964
B Religious Literature History & criticism
B GREENLEAF (Short story)
B dark night of the soul
B Mysticism
B Religious Aspects
B Christianity
B John of the Cross
B “Greenleaf”
B Success
B Ethics
B Flannery O’Connor
B Evelyn Underhill
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Résumé:Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Greenleaf” was significantly influenced by her engagement with the notion of the “dark night of the soul,” which is closely associated with the Christian mysticism of St. John of the Cross. O’Connor became familiar with the dark night through her reading of Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism not long before the composition of “Greenleaf.” The story incorporates imagery from St. John’s poem “On a Dark Night” as well as its source text, the Song of Songs chapters 2 and 3. Mrs. May, the protagonist of “Greenleaf,” undergoes a somewhat ironized version of the dark night over the course of the narrative. Her ultimate experience of mystical union is conditioned and even produced by the story’s “sacralizing” use of free indirect discourse.
ISSN:2056-5666
Contient:Enthalten in: Christianity & literature
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0148333116631226