Created Spaces: Domestic Myth-Making in the Novels of Elizabeth Bowen

Twentieth-century author, Elizabeth Bowen writes often of children in her various works, yet her novels and short stories could hardly be considered for the consumption or pleasure of a young audience. Nevertheless, there exists an exception within her oeuvre - The Good Tiger, a colorful and charming story with illustrations by M. Nebel detailing what happens, "when a not-so-ferocious tiger leaves the zoo". Written and published in 1965, Bowen's sole "children's story" succeeds at speaking not only of but to the adolescent figures of which she so often depicts. While the prose may be simpler, the style less dramatic, the tone and underlying message of Bowen's book resonates with and perhaps encompasses a profound theme found in the rest of her work. After a day of tea party crashing and convertible cruising, the storybook tiger finds himself in a forest, "not the forest of his dreams. There was no hot sunshine, and the trees were dark because of the rain" (23). "But I do not care", the tiger says,

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Chafin, Bethany Carlene

• Domestic

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/33432

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/33432