DARK LONDON IN PETER ACKROYD’S HAWKSMOOR
DARK LONDON IN PETER ACKROYD’S HAWKSMOOR
Irina Lipchanskaya
Candidate of philology, Moscow State pedagogical University,
Russia, Moscow
ТЬМА ГОРОДА В РАННЕМ РОМАНЕ ПИТЕРА АКРОЙД “ХОКСМУР”
Липчанская Ирина Владимировна
канд. филол. наук, Московский педагогический государственный университет,
РФ, г. Москва
ABSTRACT
The article examines the representation of London in “Hawksmoor”, one of the early novels by a postmodernist writer Peter Ackroyd. Merging two plot lines set in different historical time, the author creates an image of the city that stays unchanged through centuries.
АННОТАЦИЯ
В статье рассматривается репрезентация города в одном из ранних романов британского постмодерниста Питера Акройда. Автор представляет Лондон неизменным, соединяя две исторические эпохи.
Keywords: city, postmodern, London, Ackroyd, psychogeography.
Ключевые слова: город, постмодернистский, Лондон, Акройд, психогеография.
A city and its poetics are among the central themes in writing of a contemporary British author Peter Ackroyd. Born in London, Ackroyd has made the capital of Great Britain one of the main characters of his novels. London is not just a setting, the place where the plot unveils; the city leads its own life and influences the lives of its dwellers. Ackroyd’s Hawksmoor (1985) most diligently proves it. Interleaving chapters, recurring episodes, and similar names of the victims interrupt the linear flow of time and history making a reader think of two parallel worlds touching upon each other.
The novel has two story lines. The odd chapters are set at the beginning of the 18th century when an architect named Nicholas Dyer commits ritual murders nearby his churches. The character of Dyer is based on the real Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736), the famous British architect who constructed several parish churches in London.
The second plot is set in modern times in the 1980s. In the even chapters of the book a detective, confusingly named Nicholas Hawksmoor is investigating serial murders at the Dyer’s churches.
It is necessary to start with a closer look at Nicholas Dyer’s story. The author sets a date for the events – 1712-1715 when the character is 58. Population of the capital in that time was about 575 thousand people which makes up almost one tenth of the country’s population. The city was growing in size very quickly; trade and industry were rapidly developing. But the memory of the Great Plague of London and the Great Fire of 1666 still persisted.
The Great Plague of London in 1665 was the last time when the Black Death visited the city. The epidemic took its toll – one fifth of London population, about 100 thousand people, died. Ackroyd writes: “Any observer willing to enter the city during the plague would first have noticed the silence; there was no traffic except for the dead carts, and all the shops and markets were closed. Those who had not fled had locked themselves within their houses, and the river was deserted” [1, 204]. The King left his capital. The city was turned into a prison – all the gates were closed, trade stopped. If someone caught the disease their house was locked and the guards were left outside so that no one could leave. “In theory each street and each house became a gaol” [1, 206].
Superstitions spread wild in this atmosphere. London was full of magicians, prophets and astrologers of all sorts. Different religious sects including radical ones sprang up.
Dyer’s life is closely tied to the history of London. His story begins at the time of the Black Death. Little Nicholas sees the death of his parents from the plague while he luckily escapes the contagion. He is thrown into the streets and lives as a beggar. Here he learns his first lessons of life. The boy meets Mirabilis, a spirituous leader, and his followers and becomes involved with a radical religious sect. Mirabilis’s learning made a huge impact on the personality of the future architect. It became the foundation for Dyer’s understanding of architecture and London which is inspired with the idea of Great Evil.
The Great Fire of London changed the city completely. The fire raged for five days. In the biography of the city Ackroyd writes: “Five sixth of the city were thus consumed, the area of devastation encompassing a mile and a half in length and half a mile in breadth. Fifteen of the city’s twenty-six wards were thoroughly destroyed and, in total, 460 streets containing 13,200 houses were razed. Eighty-nine churches had gone, and four of the seven city gates were reduced to ashes and powder. It was officially reported that only six people were killed” [1, 223].
The Great Fire of London (1666) played a significant role in Nicholas Dyer’s life as it determined his future profession: “London was put in to the Oven and the Fire burnt it. With the old Houses of Timber gone, new Foundations could be laid – and it was for this Reason that I soon came to Stand upon my own Legs. For I conceived a great Fancy to become a Mason” [2, 50-51]. Пояснить цитату
In London. The Biography Ackroyd writes: “[London] was to be a new city in every sense” [1, 226]. Hawksmoor depicts this very new London: “Thus in 1771, the ninth year of the reign of Queen Ann, an Act of Parliament was passed to erect seven new Parish Churches in the Cities of London and Westminster” [2,1]. Architect Nicholas Dyer was responsible for this work; and we see London of his time through the light of Dyer’s imagination, his religious feelings and fear. Reconstruction works paid off – the streets were made wider and cleaner, the city grew in size adding new territories.
However these improvements bear no meaning for Dyer. For him there exists a different London – dark city of death and fear “that great and monstrous Pile of London” [2, 13]. He sees the reconstruction in a different light: “But what a Chaos and Confusion is there: mere fields of Grass give way to crooked Passages and quiet Lanes to smoking Factors, and these new Houses, commonly built by the London workmen, are often burning and frequently tumbling down… Thus London grows more Monstrous, Straggling and out of all Shape” [2, 48]. Slums removed from London centre spring up again in a different place. Limehouse where Dyer is building his new church now hosts beggars and homeless.
It is necessary to understand the time when the story develops. The beginning of the 18th century is the Age of Enlightenment when people believed in the rational, in the powers of the human mind, scientific progress. Close links of philosophy and religion, faith combined with the belief in human mind were characteristic of the British Enlightenment Era. Yet the rational is left aside in Peter Ackroyd’s novel.
Nicholas Dyer’s belief overthrows the principles of Christianity. In the beginning of his story the architect states the postulates of his religion that may seem sacrilegious. He sees not a fine new city but “the Nest of Death and Contagion”, “The Capitiol of Darknesse”, “Hive of Noise and Ignorance” [2, 47-48]. According to his faith it is necessary that a death happens near his every church. One of the main principles of Dyer’s religion, the sacredness per contra, states that only by acting evil you can avoid the anger of the Spirits.
London architecture and geography bear the traces of ancient druid practices. Even nowadays there are some places in the city, so called ‘places of power’, that are said to possess the ancient magic. The most famous one is Stonehenge where druids performed their rites. Nicholas Dyer visits the place with Sir Christopher Wren. Magic of Stonehenge helps the main character when he has a vision of his own death.
Dyer traces druids’ culture in London of his time: “these Druides held their yearly Sessions in London, Astarte’s Temple stood where Paul’s is now; and where the Abbey of Westminster now stands there was erected the Temple of Anubis” [2, 22]. St. Paul’s Cathedral is built upon the ruins of the church destroyed by the Great Fire; but the evidence much more ancient is also found: “For when we open’d the Ground next to the Scite of the North Porticoe, some Stones were found which on further Inspection … appeared to be the Walls and Pavement of a Temple” [2, 55].
The culture of ancient Egypt influenced Dyer, his faith, and work a lot, too. According to his belief the greatest power that has created our world and controls it is the Universal Architect, Lord of Darkness. This image goes back to Egyptian God Ptah. Dyer builds a pyramid with a labyrinth inside as a part of one of his churches. The image of a pyramid occurs in his visions: “the Base of the pyramided is the exact size and shape of Lincolns-Inn-Fields, and I have some times in my Mind’s Eye a Pyramidde rising above the stinking Streets of London” [2, 61]. Ted Gioia sees a close connection between the architect’s work and Egyptian mythology: “[He] designed six London churches in the early 18th century, and picked locations with historic linkages to plague, murder, fire and other unsavory events. If plotted on a map, the sites can be linked to form the image of the eye of Horus - an Egyptian symbol congruent with Hawksmoor's obvious interest in pyramids, obelisks and other pagan structural concepts” [3].
We can see Ackroyd’s theory of ‘imperatives of place’ at work. Houses are built on their former sites; churches are erected where sacred rituals took place. The author thinks the place itself chooses its own dwellers attracting people of a particular stamp and profession.
Working upon his churches Nicholas Dyer tries to continue the process started long before him and achieve his own power: “And in time my own Churches will rise to join them, and Darknesse will call out for more Darknesse” [2, 22]. Darkness in the novel should be understood not as the lack of light but as the religious darkness. It is the darkness of the human sole sunk in vice and fault. This is the implementation of the Great Evil that Dyer serves with his artwork. He worships the Devil and the Darkness making his churches magnets for the Dark Spirits. He builds seven churches connecting them to seven planets, seven celestial circles and seven stars in the Pleiades.
Thus London of the 18th century is the city of death and sickness, ritual sacrifice and mysterious religious practices. The city lives according to its own magic laws and against any rational thought.
Modern day London makes little difference from the 18th century city. This is the city of absolute darkness. Light is always meager, it is either dawn or sunset, or just a reflection. Neon lamps and advertising signs are the brightest. The same London districts, e.g. Limehouse, provide shelter for the poor and outcast.
In the novel Ackroyd carefully reconstructs London geography. We see the city through the eyes of detective Hawksmoor as he rushes to the crime scene in a police car. London becomes a list of street names: “as he passed St George’s, Bloomsbury… as he travelled down High Holborn and across Holborn Viaduct, past the statue of Sir Christopher Wren… as the car moved along Newgate Street… as he was driven down Angel Street… and as he entered St Martin’s-le-Grand…” [2, 152]
Seven churches where the murders are committed are the brightest spots in London of the 80s. We see them against the dark grey background of the metropolis. All Dyer’s churches are in decline but they still produce a great impression. They seem to be out of the city context: “From the corner here, he could see the front of the church entire… now it seemed startlingly incongruous in its setting despite the fact that other buildings so pressed upon it that it was almost concealed. But this church had grown larger and more distinct in the face of death” [2, 155-156]. Standing out against the background of London the seven churches arrest a viewer’s attention, become the setting for local legends and horror stories.
When detective Hawksmoor starts to see a connection between the murders and Dyer’s churches he becomes a psychogeographer. He investigates the mysterious murders using all available means of logic. He tries to stay rational but the lack of evidence puzzles him making him doubt his abilities. The 18th century story disturbs the present time in the form of victims, churches, and a strange letter signed ‘Universal Architect’.
Thus the 20th century London is the city of shadowy light, its streets rush in front of the reader’s eyes blurring into a haze. Only the old churches catch the attention standing out the grey monotonous background. Sometimes they become objects for ‘psychogeorgaphical’ tours.
At the end of the book two characters merge together and time gets confused. Finally only dark evil London that contradicts all laws of logic and rationality is left unchanged.
Список литературы:
- Ackroyd, Peter. London. The Biography/ Peter Ackroyd. - Vintage, 2000.
- Ackroyd, Peter. Hawksmoor/ Peter Ackroyd. – Abacus, 1985.
- Ted Gioia. Review of Hawksmoor // http://www.postmodernmystery.com/hawksmoor.html