Chimera by John Barth
"Chimera" is a novel by John Barth that explores the intricacies of storytelling through a layered narrative structure. The book draws inspiration from the tale of Scheherazade, the storyteller who must captivate the king to survive, reimagined through the voice of her sister, Dunyazade. This narrative is further enriched by a genie figure resembling Barth himself, who interacts with the characters and comments on the unfolding story. The novel shifts focus to the legendary hero Perseus, who grapples with the challenges of his past and his relationships with feminine muses, ultimately seeking meaning through the retelling of his exploits.
The narrative complexity deepens with Bellerophon, another mythic hero, who faces his own crises while battling his identity and the expectations of heroism. His journey culminates in the slaying of the Chimera, a mythical creature, but the story hints at the limitations of his achievements. The overarching theme emphasizes the power of the storyteller over the heroes they create, suggesting that the true significance lies in the act of narration itself. Barth's "Chimera" presents a rich tapestry of myth and narrative, inviting readers to contemplate the nature of storytelling and its profound impact on identity and meaning.
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Subject Terms
Chimera
First published: 1972
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Fantasy—mythological
Time of work: Antiquity and the mid-twentieth century
Locale: The realm of mythic heroes, the Arabian Empire at the height of its power, and tidewater Maryland
The Plot
John Barth’s fascination with the intricacies of narrative possibility and the complex, evolving interrelationship between an author and a work in progress drew him to the plight of Scheherazade, his figure for an ultimate author who must hold the attention of her audience or lose her life. Using a pattern of doubling that establishes a multiple perspective informing the three parts of Chimera, Barth presents the classic fable of Scheherazade’s predicament—to keep the shah’s interest in a never-ending story so he will spare her life in order to learn what happens next—through the words of Dunyazade, “Sherry’s” younger sister, who is talking to her husband, the shah’s brother, in an effort to escape the same fate. Dunyazade’s narrative is further complicated by the appearance of a genie figure who seems to resemble Barth himself, a fortyish American who has read Scheherazade’s account and can contribute to, comment on, and interact with the characters.
After numerous questions are raised about the composition of a narrative that continues for 1,001 nights, the focus shifts to the legendary Perseus, an analogue for a man, like Barth, who is caught between a heroic past in his youth and the flatness of his middle years. Perseus’ problems are summarized by his apparent impotence with the feminine muses who have inspired his glorious feats. By retelling and simultaneously reliving (now in altered form) the circumstances of his achievements, however, Perseus is able to achieve a degree of serenity and satisfaction. Through the imaginative re-creation of his life, he clarifies and deepens its meanings by transmuting the temporal into the eternal, ultimately reconciling his rancor for Medusa and finding peace with her in the symbolic constellations that are their timeless domain.
The third section of Chimera compounds the problems of the mythic hero by following the crisis Bellerophon faces. Like Perseus, he has a glorious past, but unlike Perseus, he is unable to break out of an archetypal pattern for heroic behavior of which he is self-consciously aware. The devastating act of patricide—a symbolic necessity for claiming an individual identity—is reduced to a parodic confusion, a chaos of elements from many myths mutually diminishing any possibility of meaning. Bellerophon eventually slays the Chimera, a fabulous creature with a lion’s head, goat’s body, and serpent’s tail, but even with the aid of the winged horse Pegasus, his feats seem second-rate. His life story eventually is revealed as the imaginings of Polyeidus, the mythic shape-shifter who controls the narrative and who, as the writer of the myth, ultimately is more powerful than the heroes whose exploits he describes. When Bellerophon crashes to earth in the Maryland marshland that the writer John Barth inhabits, he achieves his mortal destiny, and the book in which his story is contained may “expect a certain low-impact afterlife,” proving the tale less significant than its teller while revealing the true hero of myth as its maker.
Bibliography
Bowen, Zack R. A Reader’s Guide to John Barth. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1994.
Fogel, Stan, and Gordon Slethaug. Understanding John Barth. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1990.
Harris, Charles B. Passionate Virtuosity: The Fiction of John Barth. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983.
Morrell, David. John Barth: An Introduction. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1976.
Schulz, Max F. The Muses of John Barth: Tradition and Metafiction from “Lost in the Funhouse” to “The Tidewater Tales.” Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990.
Scott, Steven D. The Gamefulness of American Postmodernism: John Barth and Louise Erdrich. New York: Peter Lang, 2000.
Waldmeir, Joseph J., ed. Critical Essays on John Barth. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1980.
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Ziegler, Heide. John Barth. New York: Methuen, 1987.