Medusa's Ankles by A. S. Byatt
"Medusa's Ankles" by A. S. Byatt is a short story centered on Susannah, a middle-aged literary scholar grappling with themes of aging and identity. The narrative unfolds primarily within a hair salon, which features a striking print of Henri Matisse's Pink Nude. Susannah's visits to the salon, initially sparked by its inviting aesthetic, become a reflection of her internal struggles as she confronts the realities of her physical decline.
Her relationship with the hairdresser, Lucian, evolves from a professional dynamic to one where he shares personal grievances, including his dissatisfaction with his marriage. This one-sided connection leads Susannah to a crisis point during a particularly fateful visit when Lucian's emotional turmoil and her own feelings of inadequacy culminate in a dramatic outburst. The story captures her frustration with societal perceptions of beauty and age, ultimately manifesting in her destructive rage within the salon. As the narrative concludes, Susannah's home life offers a contrast, revealing a moment of unexpected tenderness from her husband despite her earlier turmoil. The story addresses complex issues surrounding femininity, self-image, and the impact of societal expectations on personal identity.
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Medusa's Ankles by A. S. Byatt
First published: 1993
Type of plot: Domestic realism, women's
Time of work: The early 1990's
Locale: England
Principal Characters:
Susannah , a middle-aged literary scholarLucian , the owner of the salon she frequentsDeirdre , a hairdresser
The Story
"Medusa's Ankles" presents a third-person narrative featuring Susannah, a literary scholar who frequents a hair salon featuring a print of the Pink Nude by the French artist Henri Matisse. The story relates Susannah's recognition of middle age. Her ongoing relationship with her hairdresser Lucian underscores her physical decline and brings Susannah literally to the breaking point.
Susannah was first attracted to Lucian's salon when she noticed the Matisse artwork through the plate-glass window. Cautious at first, she allows the salon owner to cut and blow-dry her hair. Susannah gradually finds a sense of ease in the salon, which looked like "the interior of a rosy cloud." The colors embodied in the Matisse nude, comforting shades of pink, blue, and cream, are reproduced in everything from the muslin curtains to the combs, brushes, and coffee cups.
Susannah enters the salon after decades of wearing a long, straight style because her hair is becoming lifeless. Its ends are split, broken, and frizzed. She is pleased to find the business of hair care greatly advanced from the 1950's when her mother's generation emerged from beauty parlors with artificial curls rolled, fried, and teased into place. Lucian wins Susannah's trust by giving her hair a short, bouncy cut. He assures her that the new style is "natural-looking," and Susannah takes his term to mean "young."
Her relationship with Lucian becomes somewhat one-sided, however. She does not confide in him, yet he confides in her. She observes that he is shallow and faddish. He does not possess an affinity for art but likes the Pink Nude because the color scheme matches his salon. She is surprised when Lucian confesses that he is thinking of leaving his wife for a younger woman.
Subsequently, Lucian closes the shop temporarily to sail the Greek Isles with his mistress. Once the shop reopens, Susannah finds the Pink Nude and its accessories removed. The refurbished design sports a cold gray and maroon interior of glass and steel. Susannah must make a speech on television as the recipient of a translator's medal and wants her hair to look especially good. In the midst of cutting her hair, Lucian punctures his thumb as an excuse to take a break. As Susannah awaits his return, she contemplates her image in the mirror. When Lucian reappears, he takes up the scissors "listlessly," then confesses he is leaving his wife for good. As justification for his decision, he complains that his wife's fat ankles disgust him; she has "let herself go." Moments later, he is called away and sends Deirdre, another beautician, to finish Susannah's hair.
While the substitute stylist works, Susannah remembers when she was Suzie, a young woman with a chestnut mane, who made passionate love to an Italian student in Perugia. Once Deirdre finishes Susannah's hair, she protests that the "hideous" hairdo makes her look like a middle-aged woman. Her ankles are swollen, and the salon mirrors accentuate her wrinkles and sagging cheeks. Struck by her physical decline, Susannah grows increasingly agitated. An uncontrollable rage rises inside her like a flood.
In her mounting fury, Susannah hurls bottles of hair products into the mirrors and windows. Her rampage leaves no surface undisturbed. The salon becomes a battlefield of broken basins, scattered hairpins, glass shards, and puddles of hair gel and coloring foam. Lucian and the other stylists move to console her. Shaken, Susannah offers to pay for the damages. However, Lucian assures her he has insurance. Perhaps he will close the shop, he tells her, and go into business selling antiques with his mistress.
Susannah returns home to regain her composure and soak the insulting curls from her hair. Though her husband usually pays little attention to her, on this particular afternoon, he compliments her hairstyle, saying it makes her look twenty years younger, and then kisses Susannah on the nape of her neck.