Character Analysis The Twyborn Affair - 1570 Words

2 The Twyborn Affair 2.1 Identity The protagonist plays three different roles in the story, which is divided into three distinct but essentially unrelated sections. In a small town in Mediterranean France, the protagonist appears as a woman named Eudoxia Vatatzes, who is the lover of an elderly Greek man, Angelos. Then in Australia, the protagonist becomes a man, Eddie Twyborn. Later in London, his identity shifts to Eaddie Trist, the doyenne of a house of prostitution. At the outset of the novel, despite the calmness of the relationship between Eudoxia and Angelos, their love is gradually fading. When Joan Golsen, the lesbian lover of Eudoxia’s mother, appears, Eudoxia escapes the town due to the fear of discovery. The†¦show more content†¦After escaping to the farm as a â€Å"he†, Eddie feels determined to conquer the farm owner’s wife in order to establish male subjectivity. However, Eddie is often defeated by her aggressive femininity. Once, while Eddie is alone, he is driven by strong desire to dress up in woman’s clothes, lying in bed and dreaming of masculinity. The two identities, Eudoxia and Eddie, start to blend with each other here. Meanwhile, the complexity of the relationship between Eddie and the farm manager furthers his struggles. When they are together, they often have intense lust toward each other, but the seemingly consensual sexual behaviors are all done under dreadful violence. Self-consciousness is a concept that the protagonist tries hard to avoid. Instead of saying that E, including all three identities, is seeking for the real self, it’s better to interpret his experience as an escape from reality. Androgyny brings confusion and pain to his entire life, and all his struggles seem meaningless within the gap of feminine and masculine worlds. In the fixed binary opposition, he is the Other who cannot fit into either category. There are certain characters that show strong sympathy and understanding toward the protagonist’s situation. The financial backer of the brothel, after Eaddie shows her tiredness and detest toward the worldly love between men and women, falls in love with her deeply. However, due to the fear that her complex identity will