Seraglio — Graham Swift

Title

The title can refer to these three aspects:

A seraglio is a sultan's harem. The word is derived from the Latin serare
which means: to lock up, to secure. For the narrator and his wife, Englishmen on
vacation in Istanbul, the word's entomology takes on special significance. "Seraglio"
is a tale of personal space and privacy in relationships and the narrator's marriage
is in trouble as a result of his failure to understand the amount of space his wife
requires.

The husband had two relationship at the same time: One with his wife and
another with a lover whom he broke up when his wihe got pregnant

The hotel porter treated the woman as an objetct when he tried to “violate”
her.

Topic

The main goal of this story seems to be an exploration of the husband and
wife relationship. The exotic setting and dark events that surround this family
drama are details required for mood only. This represents an interesting
characteristic of Swift's writing, which is its darkness.

The differences between Asian and European cultures made the characters
being aware of two separate worlds. The police does not take care of strange
negative events and it is very difficult to denounce abuses. The authorities do not
solve problems.

(characters: Rarely are his characters happy, and when they are they seem
to be uncomfortable with the Keeling)
Text Structure:

1. Type of narrator

The narrator is a 1st person singular one that is developed by one of the
main characters: the husband. There are some passages in the story that are
written in dialogue when both husband and wife talks to each other.

2. Three main parts:

• The narrator describes Istanbul accurately and in detail. And

also the places they are visiting in their trip.
• Then he tells the history of his marriage: a miscarriage, the
future impossibility of having children, the way in which they
try to overcome and to make up themselves for the
misfortune, their alternative ways of fulfilling, their feelings,
how the relationship was affected because of that,…
• After taking some photos in the morning, leaving his wife
alone, the narrator returns to the hotel and finds her crying:
something seems to have happened between her and one of
the hotel porters… The incident is used to show how the man
understands the peculiar way in which each one hurts the
other in their crazy communication process. The writer inserts
little references to the Turkish atmosphere which contributes
to put the reader in situation and slows down the narrative
rhythm; but the tension continues relentlessly.
Style:

The use of the language is not complex. It is very clear and easy to
understand. He gives a lot of information about the places and he historical
background of the city. However there are no names of the main characters, almost
no superfluous details. Only the essential.

When he talks of the city the author uses a lot of adjectives as he is using
descriptive paragraphs. However when he talks about his personal relationship with
his wife and explain how their lives have been until now he uses more narrative
passages and we can find more verbs in these parts.

This play is organised around an underlying mystery. A plot that keeps our
attention through the reading of the story.