The Door by Magda Szabo/Character Analysis
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- #Booktube #booktalk #thedoor
The Door by Magda Szabo
Magda Szabo’s The Door was first published in 1987. The novel explores the relationship between two women, a housekeeper, Emerence, and an author, Magda. The novel continues throughout contributing mythological characteristics to the character of Emerence, building her up as something that resembles more folklore than it does truth. This short character analysis provides one example of how myth works to drive a story forward.
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• THE DOOR by Magda Szab...
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This book certainly sounds intriguing, mostly because I love unreliable narrators. As for your analysis of approaching a book from a certain lens, I think most readers/reviewers focus on certain things more than we may realize. For example, I may have a fascination with fashion and so I focus on the fashion contained in a book because that is my interest. Even if I give overall thoughts about a book, my biases and interests result in me focusing on certain things. And I think more detailed critiques are always great for every book, because every review focuses on different things that I may not have focused on when reading it.
Yeah, you are absolutly right. I really should have said, they may not be aware, or are unconscious of what they focus on, but they do typically look through a lens. I may have to mention that in an upcoming video, thank you for pointing that out. 😊
I agree Anne, especially if I have heard reviews that focus on certain elements of a book. Or if I know specific details about the synopsis that are areas that appeal to me. I have an affinity for boats, so I went into Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderling series believing that I would get the most satisfaction from the Liveship Traders trilogy. I'm finding that to be true, but is that because I'm focusing on the elements of the story that I enjoy more BECAUSE I like boats? Probably :)
Your analogy of applying a critical lens as searching for a specific book on the bookshelf is great. Your analysis into this portrayal of the crone archetype was so in depth!
Thank you so much! I read a lot of comments on other videos dealing with theory of people saying that it is just critics adding things to literature that isn't actually there, but if there can be made an argument, then it is actually there one way or another. It is theory after all, but it doesn't come from nowhere haha. I don't believe so anyway. 😊
Magnificent! This is an absolutely brilliant video.
Haha, Thank you very much. It was a fun one to put together!
Love this Pae. Archetypes are fascinating and your analogy of the bookcase was very good to demonstrate the idea of lenses uncovering what is there in the first place. In terms of general reading, we all bring personal preference and past knowledge to what we read which colours our judgement and our reading. We are all looking at different things in any work of art. Which is what makes a buddy read so enjoyable!
Oh, absolutely, I completely agree. Our perception on things develop over time, and no one's past is identical. It all contributes to how we read a text. And yes! Though I have only done one buddy read, it was really great for that reason. 😎😊
it is hard critiquing work on someone's take on mythology and their imagination! Applying a lens can change everything, depending on the perspective! You are so right! Thanks so much for your analysis and in-depth look! Thanks for shedding some light on this subject! Great video!
Thank you so much! It really can be, especially when it is purposely vague. But it is a lot of fun. 😊😎
I loved this!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to apply your teachings to an actual book, so informative and interesting!🤗
Thank you so much! I am glad that this made more sense! 😊😊
Well The Door just rocketed up my TBR; I've wanted to read it for a bit, but now it will give these videos context.
I find it very enjoyable to hear thought processes that go through my head, be formalised and learn that they're actually a thing.
I think you two would really like The Door. It is very character driven, and messes with what you think is going on.
And yes! That is very true, a lot of literary theory just points out what it is we already do. It does just kind of give it a name haha😎
As you were making this explanation it dawned on me I don't think I've ever tried to read a story while scanning for a particular character type. That could be fun. Many thanks for another great video!
Oh! I am so sorry, I though I had replied here! I have only recently started doing it, and it can really add so much to the story. Also! I have thought more about what we were talking about the other day! I need to send you an email, as soon as this construction is all sorted out. As it turns out, I will be seeing them a bit more for the next little bit.
@@attention5638 No worries, as you can see, I'm not the most prompt in my comment monitoring these days :) We'll catch up after the construction fiasco!
Great job Pae! I'm looking forward to more of these practical examples :) You're making me want to be a better reviewer.
Oh! Thank you so much! I am glad you like them!😊😊
This is an excellent video. I love discussing & analyzing archetypes, particularly ones specific to marginalized communities.
Absolutely! There are a lot more interesting and articulated archetypes. I may have to go over a few others. They are fun to spot. 😊
I have never heard of this book...it was surprising to see it had a movie adaptation and everything. We humans and our universal storytelling tropes is a super interesting topic!
It is really interesting, for sure! I think this author only has two of her books translated this far, but seeing a boost in popularity, I am hoping they translate more in the future!
“Very mysterious, secretive, and with a past that’s slowly revealed throughout the novel.” This reminds me of someone I know 🧐😂🤣😊 Her archetype sounds like something I would really enjoy reading. I do enjoy unraveling mysteries! 😁 Really enjoyed your analysis and I also liked your analogy about the one book you’re looking for at the beginning before diving into it all!
Hahah, it will all be revealed eventually 😅🤣 I think you would actually really live this novel. Though very character driven, or only character driven, it is an emotional rollercoaster in a good way haha
I always learn something from this video series! I feel like one really resonated with me. Great job!
Thank you so much! The Door is a really great novel!😊😊
I would like to read both English versions of this novel. I enjoy comparing the choice of words used by various translations and how these different words affect the reader's perception of mood, characterization, etc. Great critique, Pae!!
Absolutely! That is why I have multiple translations of my favorite writers😊😊
Nice. I'm looking forward to more of these analysis videos from you. I'm not familiar with The Door, but it sounds like a story I'd enjoy reading. In RPGs the "crone" is usually called a "hag."
Yes! You are right. I was going to mention, it is also known as the hag, but I could not get that sentence out, and after the millionth try, just gave up hahah. But yes, and thank you!😊
Yeeessss: @3:42 this quote on repeat. Listen to this man, Rufus. He knows what he’s talking about!
This book has been on my shelf for a long time to have not been picked up 😂 So glad you and Noah can drop some talks on this. Never heard of Crone before. I’m pretty bad at archetype analysis. I appreciate the talk!
Oh! I would love to see a Codex break down of this novel. I think the both of you would actually really like this one.
I liked the discussion of The Crone and the archetypes.
By the way, regarding 'statuesque' - in Finnish, we use the word (veistoksellinen) in the meaning that the person, usually a handsome man, is so good-looking and has such nice forms that some sculptor would like to create a sculpture out of him. So it has less to do with stillness. I've no idea how the word is used in Hungarian.
I love the Albrecht Dürer painting on your desk. Excellent taste, sir.
Yeah, you are right, I found a few definitions of the word, but it usually is used in that way, which is why I found it so strange to call a broken down woman "statuesque." Maybe it is used differently in Hungary. Thank you for checking this out!😊😁
YO WHASSUP PAE! you are one fashionable dude, with some excellent analyses to boot!
Oh hey! Nice to see you here! Always with the analysis! 😎😎
This was a fascinating video. I don't know much about literary analysis so your bookshelf analogy was really helpful for me!
Oh good! I am glad to hear. I wasn't sure how much sense I was making there😅
Always love books following unreliable narratives!! Sounds like a translated book I have been looking for! Great analysis I look forward to more in the future!!
It is a great translation, for sure! Thank you for checking this out!😊
The booktube nudging towards Szabo continues!
Also I love the application of the concept, the example really helps to clarify 😊
I am glad to see more people giving recognition to this book! It is a really good one! I only recently heard of this author, but hope they end up translating more of her work than the two they have.😊
I think too many critics often hop right over the "discover something within the text that is concealed" mark and jump right into impressing their own meanings.
I have definitely seen that. Or, it is just such a leap that the meaning gets blurred to the point of being unrecognizable, and then it is applied to the text as a whole. That definitely does happen haha
Once again a fantastically informative video. You should count yourself as the one person who's videos I struggle to comment on. I would love to have something insightful to contribute but honestly I just feel a little bit lost. I was never good at in depth analysis when I was in school though. I feel like the closest I've come to it on the channel is in my review of The Poet where I talk about how the different characters Samantha Jazz interacts with demonstrates the different aspects of her personality. the universal archetype conversation frustrates me. Not because I think it's wrong it's actually the inverse. Knowing that there are a limited number of ways in which to present a character and a story is just sort of depressing. Knowing that nothing is ever truly unique. and is simply a different take on a pre existing story. formed by a combo of the authors experiences, beliefs and influences. It just sort of drives me crazy that no one will ever be able to write something completely unlike anything else that's come before it.
You always have such great comments, though! Haha And yeah, I used to feel the same way, but now, I see it a bit differently. Instead of thinking there can't be new and orginal characters, what we have are templates that we can present in a new way. This book, The Door, for example, took the template and transformed it, and made something original from it. It is kind of like genre fiction. Sci fi is still producing original novels with a particular template. Authors dont have to invent a new genre to be original. If that makes any sense haha
Never known or even heard about The Crone archetype - probably also because I’m not a native English speaker. Thanks for another excellent video.
They surely exist in Italian folk tales?
@@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711 Oh yes for sure! I meant the actual word in English, I had never come across it before.
@@tomlabooks3263 that makes sense.
Another common name is "The Hag." I find that some people know the archetype by that name. 😊
Applying a lens to a text. Love the way you teach it.
That you so much! I do hope to do more of these in the future!😊
Generally I love the ideas of an author in his construction of characters...
It can be a lot of fun finding this archetypes and realizing what is going on.😊😊
This story sounds interesting af, and as if I'd wind up with a new tattoo (this story already sounds similar to existing tatts)! But also, that picture with all the books looks like there's a holy grail in there lol
There are definitely enough good quotes in this book that would make a great tattoo! Don't tempt me! Haha. And really? I have to go back and find it 😂
@@attention5638 I’m on to you! That’s organized chaos af! 😂
yay practical examples :D i will tell you again after this a lot of uni will offer you chances to teach things like this!
next time i meet up with someone i don't know I will put a veil just to be more mysterious 🤣🤣🤣
That would be really great, actually. I would definitely accept haha. Hahah same here, if I ever meet anyone again, I will have to put on the veil haha
Love the denim. Great video
Haha, have to represent the Canadian suit jacket! 😅
@@attention5638 looks great
Great application of theory to a text! I would add one thing to your discussion of theoretical lenses, which is something that I think (unfortunately) a lot of academics and scholars neglect to do in their own readings/interpretations/analyses: you should also say why it matters. Why this particular lens? What do we gain from considering this aspect of the text and why is it perhaps more beneficial than (or, at least, equally as good as) other ways of looking at the text in question?
Excellent point! I really should have added that, and will for sure the next one I do. Thank you very much for pointing that out.😊
Excellent analysis! I've actually been thinking about how I extrapolate meaning from text and how far I can go with that. I never intend to create new meaning or meaning that isn't there, but I'm afraid that might happen sometimes. I loved analysis of the crone archetype in The Door, especially as you noticed there were parts of this character that fit that archetype and parts that didn't. Once familiar with an archetype or trope, I think it can be easy to overlook mild subversions or differences. I like the way this author chose very interesting contrasting descriptions. Thanks! 😊
What is funny is, I didn't pick up on the archetype at all when reading it, and it wasn't until I sat down to write something about the novel that I noticed the contrasting descriptions, and then it clicked what she was doing haha😅
This story sounds interesting! And there's an adaptation?! That's cool! Great video!
Yeah! Although, I heard it was not all that great. But the book was amazing!😊
This was very helpful! The Door sounds interesting. I haven’t read anything by that author yet
I am probably not clever enough to fully grasp everything you're discussing here, but, at the risk of sounding like a moron, I recognise the architypes you described here as very familiar tropes in my favourite genre of fantasy. You highlighted Gandalf, of course, as the wise old man, and what better illustration could there be? But for the Crone I would cite Jill from my beloved Katharine Kerr books (The Deverry series). Jill is unusual, perhaps unique, because she gets to represent almost every imaginable archetype (except the wise old man) because her life goes through many twists and turns (we follow her from literally pre-birth right through to death), but also we get to know her in multiple previous (and future) lives, or incarnations, in which she embodies many archetypes, each one informing to a greater or lesser extent the lives to come. So, for once, I was able to semi-follow you in a non-tag video and apply it to my own reading experience! LOL. Thank you, as ever, for being a most interesting and diverting BookTuber. 😊
Oh! You do not give yourself enough credit! You are dead on, on this one. In fact, there is no other genre of fiction that tops fantasy in utilizing the archetypal method in telling stories. I wouldn't be surprised if you could point out multiple in every novel you read. It is a lot of fun when you come across one you know well, and then know their role in the novel before getting too much in. It may make a novel a bit more predictable, but it is a fun predictability, because we truly enjoy these characters and their character traits. 😊😊
Interesting. The crone is a pretty common archetype in fantasy. Are all fictional characters a variation of one or more archetypes? Is it even possible to create a new one anymore?
Like my martial arts teacher once told me; ‘there are only so many ways you can throw a punch.’
That’s why I find alien POV’s a good idea but often so poorly executed as portrayed via the English language with essentially human/earth references… I know. Asking a lot.
It is hard to say. I am not sure if a completely knew archetypal character could be invented, as they kind of come about organically, over time. I do see most characters having some traits that you could relate it to one or two archetypes.
I need to get around to reading The Door. I’m seeing it everywhere
It definitely raises a lot of questions and has a Kafkaesque vibe going on. I would recommend!😁
On a completely separate search for discussion Qs for this book today, your video popped up in the first page of search results?? Surely nothing to do with the fact that Google tracks my every move....right? 😂Anyway, good soup!
Very few statues made of crones, however...
There really should be, though haha
Well you have me incredibly intrigued!
It is an interesting novel, for sure! And does at times have this horror/absurd vibe going on. 😊😊
@@attention5638 I will have to check it out... I do love my darker readers... however my reading taste is so vast... I read it all! :) One of my favourite books of all time is a nonfiction about the worlds 9 most unusual brains...
Re: your 'applying the lens' comment--I just came from Jeremy's video where he highlights the story of a pillaging monster no one can see because he inhabits a wavelength of color we can't see...now just waiting for monsters to start eating characters, Fforde-style! :P
Hahah, I just saw that too, unfortunately, there were no monsters in this novel 😅
I like the bookshelf analogy! That makes a lot of sense! How exactly did you get into literature analysis? And do you come up with these discussion ideas or are you building on an existing lesson plan? Basically, are you sure you do not teach in some capacity? Because I am pretty sure you are an Oxford professor. Just curious! 😂 excellent video. I enjoyed seeing how you took material from previous discussions and applied it to your latest reading material. Really illustrated your discussion points and brings it all together!
I also liked your discussion of The Crone. I had never heard of that archetype before and just connected it to a character I saw in Penny Dreadful. Felt like I learned something and was very proud of myself to make that connection! Wonderful discussion and presentation as always, Pae! Chat soon! 👏👏👏👏👏
I agree with Jane… I feel like we all should receive professional certificates after attending Attention! University. 🤣👏🏼 I haven’t done much literary analysis with my background being history that’s usually what I notice more. I think you’re right that we find what we look for. Maybe I’ll start looking at literature a bit differently. Nice video, Pae!
Thank you so much! I wish I taught at Oxford haha but no, I am far from that. I am surprised you have no heard of this archetype before, seeing what you ha e read, I would think it could be spotted quite a bit! I may have to cover a few more, they can be fun! 😊😊😎😎
Oh! Thank you so much Kari! I think I will make up a bunch of certificates, print them out, and start sending them to people!🤣😅
@@attention5638 Yes!! 👍🏼🤣
@@attention5638 I definitely recognize the traits but I did not know of the name or “standards” that the archetype required. I would love if you discussed more archetypes! That would be informative and interesting. Just a suggestion, no pressure! 😂 and I second the certificates! 😂 great job! 👍
This video is a door unto complexity. Your ‘well maybe’ is something of a key phrase.
Where is the line drawn? At what point are we going to have an author publish a book and then we lock them up and quiz them at every psychological level to guess at what they thought they might have conveyed to an unknown reader…
#lockupauthors
😅🤣 I am not so sure that will ever happen, but there are a few that I wouldn't mind kidnapping and force answers out of them haha
Nice video stay connected.....
Thank you so much! And definitely!😊😊
I got a question that has less to do with this story than with the concept of the unreliable narrator:
As someone whose default is "crone good," I'd be inclined to take her side regardless of narrator eyewitness or expertise.
Elsewhere in Lit Land, I and folks I know have been inclined to take the side of the monster over his Dr. Frankenstein, 'cause Frankenstein's a punk despite his status as the POV character.
Is Frankenstein a work that intentionally or unintentionally features an unreliable narrator?
Oh! I did not see this! I think it would be very difficult to have a first person narrator that isn't, to a degree, and unreliable narrator. So I would be inclined to say yes--but if it is intentional or not, I don't know--of course, not from Dr. Frankenstein, but from Shelley, haha. I think she would have intended it, as it is an epistolary novel. That would be my guess haha.
No worries.
's the price of fame, Darling.
If you got so many folks commenting that's few fall be the wayside, that's a nice problem to have 🥂
46 like 👍👍❤️
Thank you so much!😊
books and meth - not a bad idea, thanks for the tip! 🤣🤣