The Pursuit of Alternative Voices in Billy Budd: Polyphony, Femininity and Speechlessness
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This paper explores Herman Melville’s Billy Budd in terms of the pursuit of alternative voices. Billy Budd, a multi-layered text with a complex discourse by a self-ironic narrator, can be successfully reinterpreted beyond its traditional dichotomous interpretation. Three different strategies―multi-layered endings, a feminine voice within a male voice, and ambiguity through speechlessness―are addressed. First, different voices that challenge the dominant voice are examined from the perspective of polyphony. Three different endings to the same event encourage readers to contemplate the implications of Billy Budd’s death from various perspectives, and media such as newspaper articles and poetry offer alternatives to a unified and authoritative interpretation. Second, I shed light on the femininity in a male character by examining the angelic character of the protagonist, Billy Budd. Through this examination, I discover a different voice within the dominant voice while delving into its implications and limitations. Third, a voice without a voice is introduced to show the role of the ambiguity of speechlessness in the novel. The ambiguity comes not only from Billy Budd’s speech impediment but also from the narrator’s strategy of using indirection and taking advantage of the effect of space between lines. This strategy extends the possibility of reinterpretation by evoking readers’ imagination instead of narrating a fixed meaning of the text.
Abstract
This paper explores Herman Melville’s Billy Budd in terms of the pursuit of alternative voices. Billy Budd, a multi-layered text with a complex discourse by a self-ironic narrator, can be successfully reinterpreted beyond its traditional dichotomous interpretation. Three different strategies―multi-layered endings, a feminine voice within a male voice, and ambiguity through speechlessness―are addressed. First, different voices that challenge the dominant voice are examined from the perspective of polyphony. Three different endings to the same event encourage readers to contemplate the implications of Billy Budd’s death from various perspectives, and media such as newspaper articles and poetry offer alternatives to a unified and authoritative interpretation. Second, I shed light on the femininity in a male character by examining the angelic character of the protagonist, Billy Budd. Through this examination, I discover a different voice within the dominant voice while delving into its implications and limitations. Third, a voice without a voice is introduced to show the role of the ambiguity of speechlessness in the novel. The ambiguity comes not only from Billy Budd’s speech impediment but also from the narrator’s strategy of using indirection and taking advantage of the effect of space between lines. This strategy extends the possibility of reinterpretation by evoking readers’ imagination instead of narrating a fixed meaning of the text.
참고문헌 (16)
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