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Roco Martn Garrido Professor Dr. Rosario Arias Doblas Literature and other Arts and Disciplines in the European Context 28 April 2013

A Female Vision of The City in Any Contemporary Novel This essay aims to understand and analyse the female vision of a city in a contemporary novel through The Diaries of Jane Somers by Doris Lessing. Jane, Janna to her friends, is the protagonist of this novel who, through her diaries, recounts every detail of her everyday life in London, immersing the reader in life in the city - from the detailed description of its scenery to the streets, the bars, the people and their custom, allowing the reader to feel London firsthand, as if they were too living the experience. The diaries are about how Janna re-examines her life in the light of her role as the accidental caretaker of an old woman The Diary of a Good Neighbour and then later her role as the lover of a married man If the Old Could In this book, we have not only been immersed in the London of 1980's, but we have also analysed the importance of London to Janna, and how this influences her mood changes in the city. This novel also gives us access to all the events that happen in her life there. In this paper we further compare the Lessings protagonist with the figure of the flneur in the nineteenth century. Janna is permanently observing fragments of the city and of others people's lives, which shows us significant similarity with the character of the flneur. Jane Somers through their walks and strolls observe and watch the comings and goings of the people in London and in so doing; she is able to read the city described as a great theatre. This fact is related with Lessings passion for theatergoing and playacting, as well as her perception of life as a stage. It is through this novel that Lessing exploits the story as if it were a theatre production with London as the main stage. Therefore we will also analyse in this paper the vision of the city of London as a stage of theatre, whereby the female protagonist happens to become a spectator of snippets and sketches of real-life scenes.

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Doris Lessing was born Doris May Tayler in Persia (now Iran) on October 22, 1919. In 1937 she moved to Salisbury, where she married Frank Wisdom and had two children. A few years later they divorced and she moved to London with her young son, where she remained. In 1949, she published her first novel The Grass is Singing and began her career as a professional writer. Since then, London has been turned into the setting for most of her novels and short stories. Lessing finds her city life very enjoyable, as she points out in the second part of her autobiography, Walking in the Shade: Volume Two of My Autobiography, 1949-1962 (1997), when she recollects the delights of walking and strolling around the city particularly at night and elsewhere. A good example of this is Janna in the Diaries of Jane Somers (1983-1984), in her walks and strolls, this female character observes and notes the comings and goings of the people in London and, in so doing, the reader is exposed to the city, described as a grand theatre. The diaries of Jane Somers are composed of two distinct parts: The Diary of a Good Neighbor and If the Old Could ... two diaries that are very different but with a common denominator: Jana is the protagonist who tells in first person everything that is happening in her daily life. Both parts of the novel talk about love and heartbreak, disappointment and suffering, but also tenderness, however the characters of the two diaries are not always the same. Janna is a widow but still an attractive woman who focuses all her efforts on her profession. On the other hand Maudie is an old woman, hunched over the years and sacrifices. The unexpected encounter between both of these women forms a friendship of an infinite tenderness. Through this relationship Janna stops being so selfish and starts looking for others, spending long hours of her time with Maudie until the end of her days. This relationship between Jana and Maudie opens Jannas eyes and evokes her human side (repenting of the little affection given to her husband before he died of cancer). Three years after the death of Maudie, Janna has settled into a comfortable, appropriate way of life. She dresses impeccably and lives in a beautiful apartment. Although now, suddenly, the immaculately controlled flow of her life is disrupted. One of the most unexpected events happens; Janna falls in love with Richard, a man she actually met on the street, a stranger who has now wholly entered her life. This is a

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stormy relationship, where she is wonderfully giddy when she is with Richard and extremely anxious about him when they are not together After having summarized the novels argument of The Diaries of Jane Somers, we will better understand why the city is so important to Janna and why this is so present in both parts. The female vision of the city is much more prominent in the second diary If the Old Could... because Janna spent days on end walking up and down holding Richards hand and observing the city. On the other hand in The Diary of a Good Neighbor, there are some parts where the city is relevant too but less important than in the second one, due to Janna's life being more home-loving and calm. As I have just explained, the presence and description of London in Lessing's novel is more relevant in the second diary If the Old Could ... but in the first part of the novel the diary of a good neighbor there are times where the city becomes a key point. A good example of this is, the moment when Janna first meets Maudie in the street, in the neighborhood pharmacy. This is a pivotal moment:

I saw an old witch. I was staring at this old creature and thought, a witch...but here she was, beside me, in the chemist's. A tiny bent-over woman, with a nose nearly meeting her chin, in black heavy dusty clothes, and something not far off a bonnet I walked beside her. I thought how I rushed along the pavements every day and had never seen Mrs. Fowler, but she lived near me, and suddenly I looked up and down the streets and saw- old women, old men too, but mostly old women (11).

This extract shows us how Janna used to be before meeting Maudie, and how her life changed from that moment. Janna used to have a bright life, dealing with beautiful people and surrounding herself with young models from her magazine; she never stopped to notice her neighborhood in depth, until that moment, Janna had never realized that she also had elderly neighbors. Another relevant occasion, is when the relationship between Janna and Maudie is already consolidated and in their snack time,

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with tea and pastries that Janna brings for Maudie, Maudie tells stories about her past, about customs as they used to be, about people, and especially about the city, which allows the reader to turn back in time and immerse in the period of London after the war. Janna writing about Maudie's life in her diary:

Her father owned a little house where they wanted to put the Paddington railway line, or something to do with it. And he got a fortune for it. Her father had had a corner shop in Bell Street, and sold hardware and kept free coal and bread for the poor people, and in the cold weather there was a cauldron of soup for the poor (28).

As the female vision of the city has more prominence in If the Old Could ... we will analyze this part in more depth. Since the very beginning of this diary, London witnesses the doings of the main character. This part of the novel starts with Janna waiting at the tube and accidentally falling onto the railroad tracks when a handsome gentleman picks her up and saves her.

My right foot went into the gap. I fell. I was on all fours on the platform, among the people waiting to push on to the trainHe caught me as I was going down again, and as a result of our joint attempts I found myself lying in his armsHis face, so close to mine, was attractive, intelligent (267).

This is the beginning of the turbulent love story between Richard and Janna, due to Richard hiding a "double life" with his ex-wife. This relationship torments Janna; however they will have great moments together as a couple, as a result of their love, constantly strolling around the city and on the outskirts of London.

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We went to St Jamess park. It was just right for our mood. The grey waters, where we caught glimpses of the frivolous blue spring sky reflected, were crammed with fanciful ducks, in style rather like punks ( when they get it right) if you come to think of it. We stood hand in hand among the crocuses and daffodils and marveled at the inventiveness of the world, while the spring exploded all around us (285).

The river seemed full of pleasure, little boats, other river boats, even the river patrol boat seemed to be frivolously darting about, and the heat was weighing the green trees along the banks with a look of summer repletion, and the buildings were on holidaysmy head rested against Richards shoulder, and just above my ear he was humming, London, London, London, I love you, how I love you, London, my love (336)

All these extracts are from Janna's diary, they are excerpts from her day to day life with Richard in the city. Janna and Richard always used to met up to their appointments at any point of the city; a bar, a park, a coffee shop but they never could stay in their homes for meetings, because Janna lives with Jill, her niece who spends the whole day locked up at home. For this reason, London is very important to this couple, the city is witnessing their loves and hates at every single moment. It is through long walks in the parks of the city, for many appointments for a drink in a bar, for nights at the theater... that this couple knows and loves each other. When Janna and Richard are in a good mood London seems wonderful to them, however when they have fought or had problems, the city turns grey and cold in that moment. Janna is a very observant woman who usually portrays in detail everything around her, she does not only describe about her encounters with Richard in her diaries, but also describes her workmates and friends, the life of her niece Jill, and the lovely

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elderly Annie. Janna enjoys watching and trying to understand the lives of these people. These events are what make us compare Janna with the figure of flneur. This term was commonly used in nineteenth-century France, in the writings of Charles Baudelaire, to refer to members of a class of writers and journalist who, in the serial sections of the Paris newspapers, wrote sketches of urban life from the perspective of a strolling situated observer (Brand, 1991, p.6). According to Brands definition of this kind of observer it contributes to a better understanding of the urban interpreter in Lessings fiction, she argues that the flneur is someone who without any set purpose strolls through and observes the life of a city or town and watches the crowds as if he or she were watching a performance (Brand, qtd. in Arias 5,) The main difference between the traditional figure of the flneur and Lessing's protagonist is that no female flneur can be found whatsoever in the nineteenth- century. Undoubtedly, Dana Brands says, it must have had to do with the specific meaning of a solitary woman, walking the streets, without any apparent purpose, looking for faces of passers-by (Brand, 1991, pp. 199-200). In contrast in Lessings novel the protagonist, Janna does not feel any fear walking around London on her own. We have pointed out a couple of examples where Janna is clearly identified as a flneur. She sits at a coffee shop in the company of Richard and watches the world around her Everywhere bodies sprawl around on the grass of Londons parks, acres of naked flesh; along the city streets go girls dressed for Hawaii or the Riviera, with naked shoulders that are flushed dangerously, white legs that seem to blush, and hair spread about to catch every luxurious ray (308). My days are full of pleasure, delights, little treats, listening to the amazing exchanges between people on Londons pavement, so surreal and suggestive of hidden continence of experience, looking at people in restaurants, buses, shops...but today I feel no pleasure at all. Leaving England is leaving Richard (373).

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These summaries, but especially the last one, exemplify what I said previously: how the perspective of the city changes for Janna when Richard is gone, and how much Janna enjoys playing the role of "flneur". Doris Lessing's novels are characterized by a hint of theatricality. The author through the protagonist of her books, make the reader see the novel as if it were a play. As Rosario Arias points out in her article All the Worlds a Stage: Lessings more recent fiction brings to the fore a vision of the city of London as a stage or theatre, whereby the female protagonist happens to become a spectator of snippets and sketches of real-life scenes, as she strolls around London. Moreover, in the act of observing these scenes from everyday life, these twentieth- century female flneurs render London as a potential space, a space of creativity I am looking up into the theatrical London sky through which, an hour ago, Richard flew off toward his real life, accompanied by the woman he has lived with for over a third of a century. And I look around at this quiet, white, cool, orderly room, where soon, I know, into the emptiness will steal one by one, at first lackluster and inconsiderable, but then familiar and loved, all the little innumerable pleasures and consolations of my solitude...A stage set! House lights down...the sudden hush...the curtains goes up... (515).

This citation corresponds to the last page of the book, in it, Janna ends her diary as if it were a theatre play, where the curtain is lowered, the public is gone, and the theater is empty. Janna feels after ending the relationship with Richard as the protagonist of a play that has just made her last performance. In the second part of her autobiography Doris Lessing also reveals her passion for the theatre by vividly describing her involvement with actors, directors and managers in London in the 1960s. (Arias. Rosario, pp 4). This shows once again that The Diary of Jane Somers is a true reflection of the author's pleasure for the theater, and Janna is used as an excuse to reach the public trough the interpretation of the main character of a play.

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We conclude this essay emphasizing again that the function of Janna in The Diaries of Jane Somers is a very important role to reach the public and make them being immerse in the novel. A detailed account of the landscape, the streets, the customs and the citizens of London by the protagonist, makes the reader feel firsthand the city. Therefore through Janna's character, the reader comes to love the city of London as much as Lessing says. It is through playing the role of flneur that the protagonist of this novel discloses the City of London through her own vision and through the events that have shaped her in that city as a theatre plays. Lessing has not only declared her love for the theater in her autobiography but she also has declared her passion for the city of London. A good example of this was her testimony in a famous interview where she claimed: "the people who live in London are always knocking it, saying what a ghastly place it is. I can't image why. It's an extremely place to live, if people actually use their eyes" (Upchurch, qtd. in Arias 7).

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WORKS CITED

Arias, Rosario. All the Worlds a Stage: Theatricality, Spectacle and the Flnuese in Doris Lessings Vision of London. Journal of Gender Studies 14.1 (March 2005): 3-11. Print. Brand, Dana. The Spectator and the City in Nineteenth-Century American Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1991. Print Fleischner. Jennifer. A Readers Guide to the Golden Notebook & Under My Skin. [s.l.] Harper Perennial, 1995. Print. Lessing. Doris. The Diaries of Jane Somers. London: HarperCollins, 2002. Print. Upchurch, Michael. Voice of England, Voice of Africa. Doris Lessing: Conversations. Ed. Earl G. Ingersoll. Princeton, NJ: Ontario Review Press, 1994. 219-227. Print.