AS Byatt's "Morpho Eugenia"

16 Pages·2012·1.22 MB·English

The Double Voice of Metaphor: A. S. Byatt's "Morpho Eugenia"
Author(s): Heidi Hansson
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Twentieth Century Literature, Vol. 45, No. 4 (Winter, 1999), pp. 452-466
Published by: Hofstra University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/441947 .
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The DoubleV oiceo f
Metaphor:
A. S. Byatt's" MorphoE ugenia"
HEIDI HANSSON
Analogyi s a slipperyt ool.
-A. S. Byatt( 100)
double voice of postmodernf ictionp resentsa challenge because it
The
requires that we question the way we read and interpretn ot only
postmodernl iteratureb ut also literaturea s a whole.' This doubleness is
particularlyn oticeablei n workst hato penlyd isplayt heira ffiliationw ithg e-
neric conventionso r older works,s uch asJ. M. Coetzee's Foe (1986), which
rewritesR obinsonC rusoeP, eterA ckroyd'sH awksmoo(r1 985), whichi s struc-
turedl ikea detectives toryo,r A. S. Byatt'sP ossession(1 990), LindsayC larke's
The ChymicaWl edding(1 989), John Fowles's TheF renchL ieutenant'Ws oman
(1969), and Susan Sontag's TheV olcanoL over( 1992), whicha ll build on ro-
mance conventionsS. uch doublenessr esemblesa llegoryi,n sofara s allegory
defines the moment when one text is read throught he lens of another
(Owens pt. 1, 68). By thus allyingt hemselvesw ithp revioust extsi n their
genres and by fusingc onventionala nd postmodernn arratives trategies,
these literaryh ybridsd estabilizeo ur interpretationosf traditionalw orks,
and, at least in the case of the postmodernr omances,m anage both to re-
read theirt raditiona nd revitalizei ts twentieth-centuarpyp earance.2 Thus
the multiplen arrativev oices, the open contradictionsa,n d the consistent
resistancet o totalizinga nswersi n a postmodernr omance likeP ossessiocna n
be seen as continuingt he allegoricalm ode of the "high"r omances of the
late Middle Ages and the Renaissance,a s questioningt he apparentu nifor-
mityo f women's popular romances,a nd as restoringt hose complex and
sophisticatedq ualities thatf ormerlych aracterizedt he romance but seem
to have disappeared fromi tst wentieth-centumrya nifestations.
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BYATT'S "MORPHO EUGENIA"
Even thoughP ossessionin itsp arodies of scholarsi nfluencedb yF rench
feminisma nd Lacanian psychoanalysicso ntainsa faira mount of critiqueo f
poststructuraliasnt d postmoderna ttitudesi,t signalsi tso wn postmodernity
throughd evicesl ike fluctuatingn arrativep erspectivesp, aradox, ambiguity,
and self-reflexiviTtyh.e shorts toriesi n Byatt'sT heD jinn in theN ightingale's
Eye (1994) can also be categorized as postmodern fictions,e specially
throught he inclusiono f magic and fairy-talset ructureisn apparentlyr eal-
istict ales,a nd the disjunctiven arratives tyleo f BabelT ower(1 996) is another
example of Byatt'si nteresti n postmodernl iteraryt echniques.W orksl ike
these,w hicho penlyd isplayt heirp ostmodernl inks,n eed to be approached
in a wayt hatc an acknowledget he multiplem eaningsp roduced. Workst hat
at least on the surfacel ook like straightforwarnda rrativesm ighta ppear to
be another matterB. ut are they?C onsider the novella "Morpho Eugenia"
in Byatt'sA ngelsa nd InsectsI.n contrastt o Possession",M orpho Eugenia" is
firmlyse t in the past,a nd therei s no visiblet wentieth-centupryer spective
in the telling.T he storyi s mainlyt old bya n omniscientn arratora,n d even
though it is interspersedw ithf ictionalt extso stensiblyw rittenb y the vari-
ous charactersi n the novella, these do not representd ifferenvt oices and
shiftingp erspectivest o the extentt heyd o in Possession.
"Morpho Eugenia" opens like a women's historicalr omance and con-
tinues like a Victoriann ovel about love, marriage,s ociety'se xpectations,
nineteenth-centurhyy pocrisys,o cial injustices,D arwin, and religion.B e-
cause the storiesi n Angelsa nd Insectasr e set in the 1860s and 1870s and deal
withV ictorianc oncerns,r eviewerhs ave describedt he diptycha s "resolutely
mid-Victorianin tone and content" (Hughes 49), and A. S. Byatta s "a
VictorianistIr is Murdoch" (Butler). The postmodernc onnectioni s conse-
quentlyo verlooked.O ne reviewerh, owever,s ees continuitiesb etween the
Victoriann ovel and postmodernismw hen he referst o Byatta s a "postmod-
ern Victorian"w ho findst he groundso f her postmodernityin "an earnest
attemptt o get back beforet he modernsa nd revivea Victorianp rojectt hat
has never been allowed to come to completion" (Levenson 41). Like the
greatn ineteenth-centurnyo velistsB, yatti s a storytellewr ho continuest he
Victoriant raditiono f describingt he individuali n society,b ut it does not
automaticallyf ollowt hats he exercisesh er storywritera'ust horityto present
totalw orldv isions.3" MorphoE ugenia" appears to be double-voicedo nlyi n
itse xtensiveu se of analogyi n comparingt he worldo f theV ictorianh ouse-
hold witht hato fi nsectsb, ut even thought he narrativsee emss tablee nough,
a strugglei s going on withint he texti tself,s o thata t timesn arrativea nd
language seem to be at cross-purposesT. o read the novellaa s a postmodern
romance---ora s a postmodernV ictoriann ovel,i fs uch a hybridc an exist-
helps to account fort he ambiguitiest hisg ivesr ise to.
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TWENTIETHC ENTURY LITERATURE
The prominenceo f comparisons,a nalogies,a nd metaphorsp laces the
novella in the traditiono f allegoricalw ritinga, quintessentiallmy edievalo r
Renaissance genre. But allegoryi s also characteristico f postmodernism
(Owens pt. 2, 64). In Deborah Madsen's words," [a]llegory flourishesa t
timeso f intense culturald isruption,w hen the most authoritativet extso f
the culturea re subject to revaluationa nd reassessment"( 135). Such reas-
sessmentt akes place when a photographerl ike Sherrie Levine takes pic-
tureso f famousp hotographso r when Coetzee's Foe,M arinaW arner'sI ndigo
(1992), and Peter Carey'sJackM aggs( 1998) reappraiseR obinsonC rusoeT, he
Tempesatn, d GreatE xpectationWs. orksl ike these stand in an allegoricalr ela-
tionshipt o thes ubjectst heya ppropriate,b ut it is not altogetherc learw hich
of the worksi nvolvedr epresentst he literala nd whicht he figurativme ean-
ing of an allegoryT. he hierarchicalr elationb etweent he textsi s unstable,
since it is equally possible to read the modernw orkst hrought he filterso f
theirp redecessorsa s the reverse.
A characteristiocf the late twentiethc enturya,s well as of postmodern
literaturei,s thatc ertaintiesa re continuouslyc alled into question,a nd thus
allegoryb ecomes a suitablef ormf ore xpression.T he model is certainlyn ot
alien to postmodernismo: n the contrarya,l legoryi s a classic example of
double discourse,a s well as a textualm ode that-like postmodernl itera-
ture-avoids establishinga centerw ithint he text,b ecause in allegoryt he
unityo f the worki s providedb ys omethingt hati s not explicitlyt here.T his
lastp oint is wherep ostmoderna llegoriesd ifferf romt raditionaol nes, how-
ever,b ecause mosta llegoriesd epend on the existenceo f a recognizeda nd
more or less universallyac cepted frameo f referenceo utside the text.B ut
where,f ore xample,a Protestanta llegoristl ikeJ ohn Bunyanc ould presup-
pose his reader'sk nowledgeo f theB ible, thep ostmoderna llegoristc an take
no referentf org ranted.A s a consequence, postmoderna llegoryi s notori-
ouslyu nstable,a nd a conventionala llegoricali nterpretationof a workl ike
"Morpho Eugenia" becomes impossible,b ecause no singlek eyc an explain
the meaningo f the analogies.
The question is: who is in charge of decoding the allegory?I n contrast
to symbols,w hich are generallyt aken to transcendt he sign and express
universalt ruthsa,l legoriesa nd metaphorsd ividet he sign,e xposingi tsa rbi-
trariness(S mith 106). Thus the allegoricali mpulsei n contemporaryli tera-
turec an be seen as a reflectiono f the postmoderne mphasiso n the reader
as coproducer,s ince it invitest he reader's activep articipationi n meaning
making.B ut allegories can also be manifestationosf authorial power: re-
lentlesslyd idacticw orkst hatr esolutelyd irectt he reader's interpretations.
Viewed in thisw ay,a llegoryi s reactionary(S mith 120). If allegoryr equires
the presence of a fixed,c ulture-specifiacu, thor-controllerde ferentt,h e no-
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BYATT'S "MORPHO EUGENIA"
tion of a postmoderna llegorical formi s contradictoryin deed. If, on the
other hand, allegories serve to destabilizet he relationb etweenw ord and
meaning,b etweenf orma nd essence, such textsb ecome verys uitable ex-
pressionso f the postmodernd istrusto f accurate representationI.n "Mor-
pho Eugenia" the reader can discovers everal meaningsi n dialogue with
each other,a nd the hierarchicalr elationb etweena monologic "message"
and the allegoricalf ormt hato bscuresi t collapses.T his is preciselyt he mark
of postmoderna llegory.
The comparisonsb etween,f or instance,p eople and insectsi n Byatt's
novella are quite explicit,s o much so that one reviewera ccuses Byatto f
"applyingt he messagew itha trowel"( Lesser), and anothers ighst hat" she
followst he reader around witha cowhorn,i nstructingh im in thoughta nd
reaction,r athert han renderinga n action and lettingt he reader enjoy the
illusion of freedomi n his engagementw ith the text" (Tate 60). The de-
scriptiono f the clash betweena n aristocratics ocietya nd a new,w ork-ori-
ented one seems to invitea politicalr eading,a nd the feminizationo f the
insect metaphorss uggestsa reading in termso f gender struggle.B ut the
apparent transparencyof the comparisonsi s illusorya,n d the meaningso f
the analogies remainu nsteadyB. yattu ses common,e ven trite,m etaphors,
but she uses the same metaphori n severald ifferenwt ays,w hich drawsa t-
tentiont o language itselfa nd means that readers will have to reevaluate
theiri nterpretationof the texto vera nd overa gain. Both the figurative-or
the hackneyed-meaningsa nd the literalm eaningsa re presenta t the same
time,a nd so metaphorsa nd analogies become more than embellishments:
theyb ecome toolsf ore mphasizingt he double voice thati s an integralp art
of language.
Metaphorsa re indeed highlya ppropriatep ostmodernd evices,b ecause
theya re obvious vehicles for ambiguityA. livingm etaphor alwaysc arries
dual meanings,t he literalo r sentence meaninga nd the conveyedo r utter-
ance meaning.I n "Morpho Eugenia" the strainb etweent he figurativaen d
the literalm eaningi s constantlyu nderscored,s ince antsa nd butterflieasp -
pear both as insectsa nd as metaphorsf orh uman behaviorA. s BrianM cHale
puts it, the hesitation between literal and conveyed meaning typifies
postmodernm etaphoricalw riting:
Postmoderniswt ritings eeks to foregroundt he ontologicald ualityo f
metaphor,i tsp articipationin twof rameso f referencew ithd ifferent
ontologicals tatusesT. his it accomplishesb ya ggravatingm etaphor's
inherento ntological tensions,t herebys lowings tillf urthert he al-
readys lowf lickerb etweenp resence and absence. All metaphorh esi-
tatesb etweena literalf unction( in a secondaryf rameo f reference)
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TWENTIETHC ENTURY LITERATURE
and a metaphoricalf unction( in a "real" frameo f reference);p ost-
modernist texts often prolong this hesitation as a means of
foregroundingo ntologicals tructure. (McHale 134)
Using analogyd isplayst he metaphor'sr eferencet o the "real"w orld,a nd as
a consequence, Byatt'st echnique of offeringm etaphoricald escriptionsi n
the formo f analogies ensures thatt he postmodernv acillationb etweenl it-
eral and figurativem eanings is constantlyp resenti n "Morpho Eugenia."
But metaphorsa re unstablen ot onlyb ecause theyh overb etweent wof rames
of reference:t heirf igurativme eaningsa re also shakyA. metaphori nduces
comparison,b ut since the groundso f similaritayr e not foreverg iven,m eta-
phors servet o emphasize the freedomo f the reader as opposed to the au-
thorityof the writerT. his becomes particularlycl ear in "Morpho Eugenia."
Because ants and butterflieasr e presentb oth literallya nd metaphorically,
the reader is forcedt o take a closer look at whati s embedded in the famil-
iar comparisonso fw omenw ithb utterflieosr human societiesw itha nt com-
munities.M etaphorsi nvitet houghtb ecause theye nforcet he understand-
ing thatt herea re at least twos ides to everything".M orphoE ugenia" maya t
times seem overloaded with metaphors,b ut since the interplayb etween
metaphorical and literal meaning destabilizesb oth the novella and the
metaphorst hemselvest, hisi s one of the clearests ignso f itsp ostmodernity.
"ThingsA re Not WhatT hey Seem"
-A. S. Byatt( 119)
N44 orpho Eugenia" takesi ts titlef roma butterflyan, d the controlling
metaphors belong to the worlds of ants, bees, and butterflies.
WilliamA damson,a naturalistr ecentlyb ack fromt heA mazon,i s welcomed
into the Alabasterh ousehold at BredelyH all. At the beginningo f his visit,
the youngl adies presenta t a ball appear to him as butterfliess,h immering
in "shell-pinkan d sky-blues,i lvera nd citron"( 3). Verys oon his interestf o-
cuses on one of them,E ugenia, who, like all the otherm emberso f the Ala-
basterf amilyi,s a "pale-golda nd ivory"c reature,a lmost alwaysd ressed in
white( 4). Byc ontrastW, illiamh imselfis "sultry-skinnewdi,t hja undice-gold
mixed into sun-toasting("3 ), and Eugenia's whitenesss, o easilyi nterpreted
as betokening innocence, temptsh im by its differencef rom the "olive-
skinneda nd velvet-browlna dies of doubtfulv irtuea nd no virtue"h e knew
in Pari and Manios (5). Aftera period of silentl onging,W illiamp roposes
to Eugenia among a cloud of butterfliehs e has raisedf orh er in the conser-
vatorya,n d theym arrya nd settlea t BredelyH all.
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BYATT'S "MORPHO EUGENIA"
Eugenia is compared to the butterflyth ats hares her name, the shim-
merings atiny-whiMteo rpho Eugenia. The butterfliym age is quite automati-
callyu nderstooda s a ratherc ommon metaphorf or feminineb eautya nd
flightinessb,u t as Williamp ointso ut, it is the male butterfliews ho exhibit
brightc olorsa nd whirla bout in the sunlightw, hereast he femalesa re drab-
colored and timid.O bviouslyt he butterflmy etaphori n "Morpho Eugenia"
cannot be read traditionallyan, d the titleo f the novellag ivesa clue: morpho
is the Greekw ordf or" form,"w hichs uggestst hatt he titlec ould be read as
"thef ormo f Eugenia." What is mosts ignificanatb out the formo f a butter-
flyi s that it changes, that it undergoes metamorphosiasn, d this is indeed
what Eugenia-and William's conception of her-does. As the story
progresses,W illiamr ealizes thatE ugenia's whitenessi s not a reflectiono f
her puritya nd innocence but instead signalsd egenerationa nd the impu-
rityo f incest. "Morpho Eugenia" becomes a storya bout a fall fromi nno-
cence to experience and knowledge,w here William has to realize that
"thingsa re not what theys eem." Beneath the orderlys urface of life at
BredelyH all are a dysfunctionafla milya nd a sectiono f society-the coun-
trya ristocracy-thath as lost itss ense of directiona nd purpose.W illiamb e-
comes like Psychei n the inset Psychea nd Cupid storyw, here Psychec an
keep her husband onlyi f she promises" nevert o tryt os eeh im"( 42). If Will-
iam is allowed to see Eugenia and her worldf orw hatt heya re, his marriage,
like Psyche's,w illd isintegrate.4
This seems to identifyE ugenia as the villaino f the storyb, ut the un-
stablen atureo f the butterflmy etaphorc ounteractsa singlei nterpretation.
At BredelyH all, butterflsyp ecimensa re beautifullyla id out in displayc ases,
whiche mphasizest heirs tatusa s objects,a nd in manyw aysE ugenia and her
sistersa re objects too, withn o other aspirationi n life than to make them-
selvesb eautifulf ora prospectiveh usband. In the world of insects,t he use
of beautya s a wayo f attractingth e others ex is reservedf ort he male, but as
the Alabasterr elativeM attyC romptono bserves," thisa ppears to be the op-
positet o human societies,w hen it is the woman whose success in thatk ind
of performanced eterminest heirl ives"( 40). Eugenia is a victimo f a society
thath as no use forh er except as the breedero f the nextg eneration,a nd to
secure her place in thiss ocietys he has to make herselft he object of men's
admiration.
BredelyH all representsa fractiono f a societyt hat,a ccording to the
historyb ooks, was male dominated. In "Morpho Eugenia" Byatts uggests,
however,t hata t least thats ociety'sd omesticl ifew as controlledb yw omen:
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TWENTIETHC ENTURYL ITERATURE
Houses such as thisw ere run fora nd by women. Harald Alabaster
was master,b ut he was,a s fara s the whirringo f domesticc locksa nd
wheels went,a deusa bscondituws,h o set it all in motion,a nd might
at a pinch stop it,b ut had littlet o do withi tsu se of energy. (76)
That women have been relegated to the domestics phere and as a result
have been able to exert theirp ower over household mattersi s no revolu-
tionaryi nsight.W hat givest he observationn ew life are the analogies with
bee and ant societies.O ne reviewere xpressesh is disaffectionw itht he de-
vice thus:o ne "muste ndure the elaboratec omparisono f insecta nd human
societies,a n idea thatI mightn ot be alone in findingh ackneyed"( Tate 60-
61). This commentf ailst o acknowledget hati n the novella, as in nature,
ant and bee communitiesa re predominantlyf emale.5E verythingis run by
and determinedb yf emales,d own to the sex of the embryosT. he male ants
and the dronesa re sex objects,justl ike the male butterflietsh atf launtt heir
brilliantc olors to attractt he females,a nd fertilizationof the femalesi s the
solej ustificationf ort heire xistence.W hen Byattd escribess uch a male-domi-
nated societya s the nineteenth-centurEyn glish aristocracyt hroughr eso-
lutelyg endered metaphorso f bees, ants,a nd butterflieso,n e of the results
is to challenge the conventionalp ictureo f thiss ociety.
In most Victorianf iction,m arriage" means the end of sexual adven-
turesb ut the beginningo f social responsibility("B elsey 120), and thisp rin-
ciple appears to be pared down to itse ssence at BredelyH all." But marriage
seems to mean nothingm ore than a sociallya cceptable way to secure the
propagationo f thes pecies,a nd once conceptionh as occurred,t hep retense
of love is not required.T he men at BredelyH all lead the liveso f male ants
or drones whose existencei s directeds olelyt o "the nuptiald ance and the
fertilizationo f the Queens" (103), and the women become "egg-laying
machines, gross and glistening,e ndlesslyl icked, caressed, soothed and
smoothed--veritableP risonerso f Love" (102). Their abilityt o produce
young gives them theirv alue, and in such a societyl ove becomes "an in-
stinctualr esponsel eading to the formationo f societiesw hich [gives] even
more restrictedan d functionali dentitiest o theirm embers"( 116).
Pregnancya nd motherhoodm etamorphosew omen's lives,b ut some-
times this metamorphosisi s of a Kafkaesque kind. Eugenia experiences
pregnancya s a period of cocooning,b ut she emergesf romh er cocoon not
reborna s a butterflbyu t as somethingr esemblinga n ant queen. Withe ach
pregnancys he becomes more and more like the Queen of the Wood Ants:
She was swollena nd glossyu, nlike the mattw orkers,a nd appeared
to be stripedr ed and white.T he stripingw as in factt he resulto f the
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BYATT'S "MORPHO EUGENIA"
bloating of her body by the eggs inside it,w hich pushed apart her
red-browna rmour-platings,h owingm ore fragile,m ore elastic,w hit-
ish skini n the interstices. (39)
Like the ant communitiesi t is compared with,t he aristocratics ocietyt o
which the Alabastersb elong has no other purpose than to guarantee its
own perpetuation.T hat thisi nvolvesi nbreedingi s also highlightedb y the
comparison.A s soon as Eugenia is pregnant,W illiami s shuto ut of her bed-
room to be let in again onlyw hen it is timet o produce anotherb aby.Q uite
soon it is clear to the reader thatE ugenia has an incestuousr elationship
withh er half-brothearn, d thatW illiam'sc hildren,w ho are so "truet o type-
veritableA labasters,"m ay not be William'sa t all (106).7 In an ant or bee
society,in cesti s the rule, of course, because there are no other insectsi n
the nestst han those produced by the queen.
Williamf indso ut about Edgar's and Eugenia's relationshipb y a mes-
sage nobodya dmitst o havings ent:
"And someonsee nt form e to come back to the house, today,w hen I
was not wanted.W hen I was anythingb ut wanted."
"I didn't send fory ou," she said. "If thati s whaty ou are think-
ing. There are people in a house, you know,w ho know everything
thatg oes on-the invisiblep eople, and now and then theh ouses im-
ply decides that something must happen-I thinky our message
came to you aftera series of misunderstandingtsh ata t some level
were quite deliberate." (154-55)
MattyC romptoni mpliest hatt he house itselfw antst o put a stop to the in-
cestuousr elationshipt, hatt he invisiblep eople at BredelyH all worki n con-
junction towardw hatt heyb elieve is right.C ertainlyt he household, as well
as the rest of nineteenth-centuryso ciety,w ould agree on Edgar's and
Eugenia's guilt,b ut Byatto ffersE ugenia's side of thingsa s well:
"I knowi t was bad," said Eugenia. "I knowi t was bad, but you must
understandi t didn'tf eelb ad-it grewl ittleb yl ittle,o ut of perfectly
innocent,n atural,p layfutl hings-which no one thoughtw rong--I
have never been able to speak to any other livings oul of it, you
mustf orgivem e fors peakingt o you-I can see I have made you an-
gry,t houghI triedt o make you love me-if I could have spoken to
anyone,I mighth ave been broughtt o see how wrongi t was. But-
het houghti t wasn't-he said-people like makingr ules and others
like breakingt hem-he made me believe it was all perfectlyn atural
and so it was, it was natural, nothing in us rose up and said-it
was-unnatural." (158-59)
459
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CENTURYL ITERATURE
TWENTIETH
Eugenia may appear primarilya s a self-indulgenbtr eeding machine, but
she is also the victimo f a hypocriticaslo cietyw heres ex is not talkeda bout,
and where women are not encouraged to acknowledge theirs exual feel-
ings.T o a certaine xtent,E ugenia's incestuousr elationshipw ithh er brother
is an act of rebellion,a wayo f eludingt he constrictionosf her societyT. here
are twos ides to everythinga,n d whatm akes it impossiblet o come to a final
conclusion about how to interpreti ncest in the novella is that the union
between Edgar and Eugenia produces children,w hereas theirs ister,w ho
marries" outsidet he nest,"r emainsc hildless.
To fillh is days,W illiamA damson agrees to help MattyC romptona nd
the girlsi n her charge to make a studyo f the "social insects."T ogethert hey
set up a glass bee hive and a glass tank for ants in the schoolroom. The
formicarybe comes a miniaturer eflectiono f lifea t BredelyH all. The Victo-
rian household is filledw iths ervantsw ho occupy the place of the worker
ants:
The servantsw ere alwaysb usy,a nd mostlys ilent.T hey whiskeda way
behind their own doors into mysteriousa reas into which he had
never penetrated,t hough he met them at everyt urningi n those
places in whichh is own lifew as led. ... They were as fullo f urgent
purpose as the childreno f the house were emptyo f it. (74)
Harald Alabasterb elievest hatt he social insectse xerciseb oth altruisma nd
self-sacrificbe;y implicationt hese virtuesg overnt he liveso f his servantsa s
well.W illiams lowlya rrivesa t anotherc onclusion,b oth about the ants and
the household: "mosts ocial systemsw orkb y mutual aggression,e xploita-
tion,t he sacrificeo f the manyn ot fort he whole,b ut fort he few"( Butler).
He is graduallyb roughtt o realize thath is situationa t BredelyH all in many
wayse quals thato f the Wood Antsw ho are enslavedb y the Blood-redA nts.
The slaves lose all sense of theiro rigin and identifyc ompletelyw ith the
inhabitantso f theirn ew nest,t o the pointw heret heyt akep arti n slaver aids
against memberso f theiro wn species. "Men are not ants,"h owever,a nd
Williamd oes not have to be trapped in the analogy (106). Disenchanted
withE ugenia, and suppliedw itht he proceeds fromt he book about ants he
has writtent ogetherw ithM attyC rompton,h e finallyb reakso ut and leaves
fort he Amazon withM attya s his companion. Ultimatelyt he development
and choices of the individualm attera, nd as a consequence a reading that
triest o explain the analogies in universalt ermsc ollapses.
460
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