15 Doris Lessing: The Golden Notebook

Dr. Liji Varghese

Doris Lessing: An Introduction

Doris May Lessing (1919-2013) is a British Nobel Laureate who won worldwide acclaim for her creative output. Being a multifaceted genius, she excelled as a novelist, short story writer, poet and a playwright. Nevertheless, her literary fame mainly rests on her magnificent novels which scrutinised the socio-political, religious and cultural environment of the modern world. She is remembered as a vociferous and spirited writer who had no qualms about raising pertinent questions through her highly  perceptive works. She has published more than fifty novels and some of her notable works are The Grass is Singing (1950), The Golden Notebook (1962), Canopus in Argos: Archives (1979-1983), The Good Terrorist (1985), The Fifth Child (1988), Love, Again (1996) and Alfred and Emily (2008).

Lessing’s prose is often marked for its ironical and whimsical tone. She often selects a vast canvas on which she etches the wide panorama of human conflict. Her works display a close intertwining of the personal and the political and her characters become symbolic representatives of the incessant urge to dispute and defy. Though Lessing eschewed all kinds of labels, her works bear testimony to the fact that she ardently believed in championing liberty and individuality.

The Golden Notebook: An Introduction to the Novel

The Golden Notebook has now been elevated to the status of a cult literary classic that heralded Lessing’s entry into mainstream British fiction. Her earlier works could never attain its success and it is The Golden Notebook which catapulted Lessing into the domain of literary masters. The novel remains a milestone in English Literature as it opened new arenas of writing that has hitherto been unexplored. The novel’s fragmentary structure and narration captured the zeitgeist of the postmodern world in all its verve and vibrancy. In a work of epic proportions, Lessing tackles the issues of racial discrimination, gender politics, communism and individual conflict in a remarkably insightful manner.

The Golden Notebookhas often been lauded as a work that celebrated feminism. However, Lessing steadfastly maintained that her work does not try to project the “war of the sexes.” She believed that such a perception will rob the novel of its thematic significance. Anna Wulf, the protagonist becomes an extension of the authorial self as she discusses the pangs of writing and the angst of being a socially conscious individual in a callous world robbed of sensitivity and the will to react.

An Analysis of the Major Thematic and Structural Ideas in The Golden Notebook

The Notebooks

Anna’s notebooks provide the teeming narrative with artistic unity and become a structural device that coherently connects its diverse themes. The four notebooks- black, red, yellow and blue – become a faithful record of Anna’s multi-faceted personality. The black notebook is associated with Anna’s years in Africa and the evolution of her novel, Frontiers of War. The red notebook becomes her political consciousness and it records her experiences of the Communist party. The yellow notebook becomes an extension of her creative self as it explores the parallel universe of Ella through the framework of Anna’s novel, The Shadow of the Third. The blue notebook is designated to be Anna’s journal where she records the events of her day-to-day life and its emotional turbulence.

The four notebooks thus become a composite mélange that burgeons into the complex self of Anna Wulf. These notebooks bear testimony to her tormented self which yearns to compartmentalise itself in order to forestall the enveloping chaos. Anna’s fragmented psyche finds a release through the notebooks which help her to deal with the complexities of postmodern existence. By highlighting Anna’s fragmented self, Lessing seems to be commenting on the larger structure of the society as well. The notebooks thus become chronicles of not just Anna’s personal world but the faithful record of an illusory and shifting world where ideologies are constantly re-moulded.

The non-linear narrative style is enhanced by the excerpts from the four notebooks.  As events pile on one another, there is often an overlap that provides diverse interpretations. The notebooks sustain the logicality of the otherwise chaotic narrative. The yellow notebook constitutes another diegetic level and though it does not really become a “miseen abyme”, it does closely mirror the events in the main narrative. This metafictional strategy becomes all the more interesting as Anna writes the story of Ella and Ella in turn, is composing another literary work. Through this strategy, Lessing is perhaps trying to project the therapeutic effect of writing. Anna writes Ella’s story so as to efface the pain of her separation from Michael and in the sub-diegetic level, Ella writes another story to subdue the feelings of hurt and betrayal.

Lessing also comments on the constructedness of ontological notions like Truth and Reality when Anna pastes newspaper clippings in her blue notebook. Thus the notebook contains Anna’s own version of the world and the world as seen from an outsider’s perspective. The blue notebook which acts as the repository of Anna’s memories and desires is transformed into an objective record of the outside world. However, this objectivity is again punctured by Anna’s own subjective worldview as she persists in pasting newspaper clippings detailing news of war and death. Lessing seems to suggest that there is no “truth” outside one’s own subjective worldview. Just as Anna’s personal predilections colour her “selection” of news, other characters also evince a worldview that is predetermined. Anna realises that objectivity is a mere chimera and she says:

The blue notebook, which I had expected to be the most truthful of the notebooks, is worse than any of them. I expected a terse record of facts to present some sort of a pattern when I read it over, but this sort of record is as false as the account of what happened on 15th September, 1954, which I read now embarrassed because of its emotionalism.

As Anna’s world comes crashing down and she is unable to fend off the ensuing chaos, she tries to get her life back by reassembling her thoughts in the golden notebook. The golden notebook symbolises her frantic attempts to re-establish order and regroup her fragmented selves. She is initially unaware of what she wants to do with the golden notebook but later it accelerates the process of self-healing. She says, “I’ll pack away the four notebooks. I’ll start a new notebook, all of myself in one book” (GN 528). Saul Green urges her to rejuvenate her spring of creativity and the notebook offers the promise of healing. The golden notebook is symbolic of a creative principle; one that tries to restore sense out of senselessness and form out of formlessness. However, the promise of rejuvenation is not immediately realised as Anna falls into a psychotic episode, but she soon bounces back. Though she gifts the golden notebook to Saul  Green, the four notebooks are never discarded and towards the end, as she peruses them again, she understands that they form an indelible part of her own psyche.

Fragmentation

Fragmentation is perhaps the most important theme in The Golden Notebook. Lessing explores the microcosmic world of the fragmented individual which coalesces into the inevitable fragmentation of the societal macrocosm. The very structure of the novel and the non-linear narration employed is indicative of the fragmentary nature of Lessing’s creative cosmos. The characters constantly express their anguish in helplessly living out such a divided existence. Anna tries to decipher her various selves by categorically recording her various “lived experiences” in her notebooks. Thus the four notebooks become the leitmotif in a narrative that highlights the notion of fragmentation in the postmodern world.

Anna and Molly refuse to conform to the dictates set by the patriarchal society and thereby deemed as “free women.” Nevertheless, they understand that this appellation is yet another stereotypical category that is thrust on them. They refuse to conform as they realise that such normative categories are unable to contain their fragmented selves. They strive to become enlightened individuals as they realise that it is impossible to attempt a reconciliation among their myriad selves. Richard, Molly’s ex-husband becomes extremely antagonistic towards both the women as he does not understand their flexible perspectives. Fragmentation is here posited as an essential feature of the postmodern scenario; one that offers a plethora of possibilities in return. Though the fragmentation of the individual self is enunciated in all its agonising details, the awareness of this reality is celebrated as a liberating experience.

Anna realises that her divided selves have to be analysed in detail and it is her self- reflexivity that results in the creation of the four notebooks. Her diverse selves dispute each other’s validity and Anna almost succumbs to an emotional breakdown. She emerges a stronger woman after she shakes away the disquiet in her soul that had kept her spirit manacled. Her knowledge of her different selves enables her to attain a deeper level of self-realisation. However, in the process of battling chaos, Anna has to attend to the cacophony of her diverse selves.

Anna’s profound knowledge of her divergent selves is enabled by the process of “writing her self.” The notebooks thus perform a cathartic function in the narrative as they release her from the monotony of a conformist rationale. She comprehends that her identity as a woman rebels against her identity as a subservient lover. Similarly, her identity as a free thinking, logical and rational individual opposes her communist self and disputes the validity of her political ideology. Again, her identity as a writer enables her to question her own complicity in denigrating her femininity in her relationship with men. It is this constant tension among her plural identities that empowers her and makes her a truly enlightened individual. Anna realises the essential dichotomy in personal, political and societal relations by gaining an insight into her own fragmented psyche. She perceives that her internal fragmentation is but a reflection of the deeper segmentation that occurs in a society.

Unlike Anna and Molly, Tommy remains a thoroughly confused character for the most part of the narrative as he does not accept the reality of his plural selves. He has a faint idea of the conflict raging in his mind, but he does not realise how such an awareness can liberate him. He accepts defeat and tries to commit suicide. It is interesting to note that Tommy tries to kill himself after reading Anna’s notebooks. He is unable to process the chaotic world depicted in the notebooks. And it is this inability to cope with the relentless pressure of his conflicting selves that prompts him to end his life. Though his suicide attempt fails, he becomes blind. Tommy’s physical blindness is symbolic of his lack of true awareness. He is limited as an individual and his blindness confirms his failure to grasp the truth. He thus acts as a foil to Anna as he is unable to overcome the hurdles raised by a fragmented psyche. Anna’s potency in the narrative is determined by her victory over a conformist society. She becomes more liberated as she acknowledges the feasibility of multiple discourses. She remains a feminist by embracing her femininity; she remains a communist by understanding its flawed principles and becomes an enlightened individual by accepting her vulnerabilities.

Gender Politics

The Golden Notebook has often been hailed as a feminist text that focussed on the interminable “war of the sexes.” The novel’s female characters are seen as champions of the feminist ideology who chose to dispute the traditional gender roles assigned to them. However, Lessing deliberately refutes such an interpretation as she believed that the novel’s primary theme was one of self-healing (GN 8). She says in her preface, “But this novel was not a trumpet for Women’s Liberation. It described many female emotions of aggression, hostility, resentment. It put them into print” (GN 8-9). Thus while Lessing skillfully delineates the trajectory of feminine experience,she does not project it as a battle cry for feminist revolution. However, this does not mean that Lessing is in any  way belittling the notion of feminist empowerment. Through her works she demonstrates how women have to wage a savage war in order to preserve their individuality.

Anna and Molly emerge as empowered women in the narrative as they are aware of the complexity of their selves. They do not ignore the presence of men in their lives and at the same time they never serve as chattels to these men. Though Anna and Molly often become embroiled in parasitic or self-destructive relations with men, they emerge stronger from their experiences because of their indomitable will. Anna is able to regain her “self” after her affair with Michael comes to an end because she realises her worth as a woman. She is not dependent on him as a woman and though she sorely misses the security he offered, she is able to take her life forward. Anna ultimately finds completion in her existence as she is able to reconcile her various selves as a mother, a lover, a friend and an enlightened individual. Anna and Molly do not efface their individuality so as to cater to the egoistic needs of the men in their lives. Richard perceives them as a potent threat to his worldview as they refuse to conform to his notion of an ideal and subservient woman. He cannot categorise them and therefore he views them as enigmas. His relationship with Marion is fraught with sexual and emotional conflict as she slowly discards her pliant and meek self. Her rebellion ends in the termination of her relationship and this is projected as an act of self-liberation.

Anna and Molly are posited as the “free women” in the narrative and Lessing depicts how such an appellation often becomes another normative category in itself. Since they are “free women”, men seem to think that they are ready for casual sex and this attitude is ironically mocked by the women. “ ‘Free women,’ said Anna, wryly. She added with an anger new to Molly, so that she earned another quick scrutinizing glance from her friend: ‘They still define us in terms of relationships with men, even the least of them’ ”(GN 26). The adjective “free” becomes a signifier that becomes heavily loaded with sexual connotation in such a context. Since they are not saddled with the fetters of domesticity, these women are taken to be sexually available. Lessing critiques such a double standard by portraying Anna and Molly as rebels who do not adhere to the expected gender roles. When these women indulge in sexual liaisons, they do it of their own free will and without any compunction to cater to a stereotypical image.

Later in the narrative, Molly ironically comments on how men try to take advantage of free women like herself and Anna. She says, “Now we free women know that the moment the wives of our men friends go into the nursing home, dear Tom, Dick and Harry come straight over, they always want to sleep with one of their wives’ friends,  God knows why, a fascinating psychological fact among so many, but it’s a fact” (GN 45). Molly’s statement reveals a skewed gender scenario where women are relentlessly objectified. And as Judith Kegan Gardiner aptly puts it, “The title “Free Women” is thus both ironic and self-congratulatory, while the novella skewers social and psychological limitations on women’s freedom”.

Nevertheless, not all gender relations are troubled by this antagonistic tone. Anna’s relationship with Saul Green becomes a cathartic one as it initiates her self-healing. He prompts her to re-awaken her creativity and thereby complete her process of self- realisation. Their relationship begins on a note of despair but later on matures into a mutually beneficial equation where their tormented selves soothe each other. Anna’s process of self-discovery is initiated by a man rather than any other female character in the narrative. Her relationship with the many men in her life enriches her as a person and she understands that all the debilitating experiences will only serve to strengthen her. She grows as an individual out of the insights gleaned from these relationships. Even her traumatic relationship with Michael makes her a more resilient person. Lessing shows how men and women enact the drama of their lives by contributing to each other’s psychological and social perspectives. The gender politics in the novel can therefore never be summarized as one-dimensional as it covers a wide array of man-woman experiences.

Female Bonding and Male Resistance

Though The Golden Notebook is fraught with gendered politics and its myriad nuances, it also foregrounds the theme of sisterhood. Anna’s relationship with Molly boasts of an easy camaraderie that is indicative of their mutual trust and concern. Much has been written about the glories of male bonding, however, a close perusal of the annals of literature reveals that the theme of female friendship is curiously absent or seldom portrayed in canonical literature. Lessing’s depiction of the theme of female friendship becomes all the more relevant because it is showcased as one of the most crucial aspects governing Anna’s evolution as a balanced individual. Molly becomes an extension of Anna’s self as they live out their separate yet strangely conjoined lives.

Anna’s close relationship with Molly is one that is fostered by years of companionship and they draw strength from each other’s presence. Though they are drastically different personalities, they share a common worldview. In the beginning of the narrative, Anna wryly comments that many people consider them to be “practically interchangeable” (GN 26). Molly mocks this strange misconception and says, “I suppose because we both live the same kind of life – not getting married and so on. That’s all  they see” (GN 26). Through this ironical comment, Lessing exposes the patriarchal world view which tends to ignore the individuality of a woman by neatly classifying her according to her marital status. They become aberrations in a patriarchal society as they refuse to efface their individuality and remain “free women”. Richard and Michael view their friendship with much antagonism and do not understand the intensity of their relationship. In fact, Michael urges Anna to move out of Molly’s flat as he feels claustrophobic in their feminine space.

Lessing problematizes the male resentment towards female bonding through characters like Michael who try to sever Anna’s ties with Molly. Michael perceives their female space with a closely veiled antagonism. “It was bad for her, he had said, to live in Molly’s house, always under the wing of the big sister” (GN 67). Michael manipulates Anna into moving out of Molly’s house and when she eventually leaves their feminine world, he deserts her. His desertion becomes all the more problematic as he leaves Anna once he had succeeded in destroying her shared world with Molly. The hostility that clouds the triangle of Anna, Michael and Molly is mirrored in the hypodiegetic level as well where Ella, Paul and Julia share a similar antagonistic situation.

Paul dislikes Ella’s relationship with Julia. He sees it as a pact against him, and makes professional jokes about the lesbian aspects of this friendship. At which Ella says that in that case, his friendships with men are homosexual? But he says she has no sense of humour. At first Ella’s instinct is to sacrifice Julia for Paul; but later their friendship does change, it becomes critical of Paul. The conversations between the two women are sophisticated, full of critical insight, implicitly critical of men. Yet Ella does not feel this is disloyalty to Paul, because these conversations come from a different world; the world of sophisticated insight has nothing to do with her feeling for Paul.

Anna projects Paul as an uncouth individual who tries to place Ella’s relationship with Julia within a lesbian context. His uncouthness is further foregrounded when the conversation between the women is specified as being “sophisticated” and “full of critical insight.” The antagonistic male figure tries to place female bonding using a sexual overtone and when this endeavor fails, he becomes morose and comments on Ella’s lack of humour sense. Lessing thus comments on the intricacies of the male world when it encounters a female world that it cannot comprehend.

Richard also views Anna’s friendship with Molly in a dubious light and is often openly hostile towards the women. He fails to grasp the intensity of their relationship and displays a wariness in all his interactions with them. The narrator comments on how he tries to maintain an air of nonchalance by adopting an air of “jovial tolerance” (GN 35) but such overtures are ironically met by both Molly and Anna. Richard feels distinctly uncomfortable in their presence as he is not able to comprehend the ambiguities of the feminine world. This closed circle of female bonding is not accessible to any of the male figures in the narrative.

Communism and Disillusionment

Lessing’s disillusionment with Communist ideology is closely mirrored in Anna who understands that the party is fast losing its principles. Anna becomes a party member, works for the party and finally decides to leave the party because of its ambivalent existence in modern society. Her disenchantment with party politics is shared by Molly and the two women offer an insightful critique of the communist party and its shifting ideology. Anna tries to analyse the reason for her own apathy towards the party and comes to the conclusion that it is gradually losing its grip on popular imagination. As J.K. Gardiner aptly comments, “Anna grows discouraged with organized politics and turns increasingly inward, striving to understand rather than to change history. Communism in The Golden Notebook thus becomes simultaneously a set of false beliefs, a hypocritical façade over Stalinist anti-Semitism and butchery, and a repository of social ideals”.

The dichotomy becomes even more apparent when Anna critiques her own political allegiance. Her self-doubt helps to create an awareness of the vacuum that envelops her. She understands that the party has become a stagnant principle, one that becomes incapable of change. She reaches this enlightened ground because by analysing and disputing her own political beliefs, she is able to gain a wider perspective of societal politics. She realises that her comrades are trapped in their own political fantasies where they fail to comprehend its” constructedness.” Anna records her experiences of the Communist party in her red notebook and it becomes a chronicle of the slow deterioration of the Communist party ideology. The ennui faced by Anna slowly deepens until she can no longer commit to being an active member of the party.

Anna and Molly discuss their disillusionment and come to the conclusion that though many people face the same dilemma, they refuse to act because of a certain ideological conditioning that they have become accustomed to. Though they automatically defend their political ideology to people like Richard, they soon realise that the passion has disappeared from their belief in the party. They realise that it never gained its planned momentum and has been reduced to an ossified principle that is incapable of growth. Unlike Jack, her comrade, Anna refuses to be part of a system which is fast losing its credibility and therefore walks out.

1.3.5    Racial Discrimination 

Anna’s experiences in Africa leads her to write her novel Frontiers of War which highlighted the pernicious reach of racial discrimination. In her black notebook she chronicles her memories of Africa. These memories are later culled into her novel which transmutes these subjective impressions into a fictionalised cosmos. Though racial tension never becomes a predominant motif in the novel, it always looms in the background and rises to the fore whenever Anna mentions her novel. She becomes greatly agitated whenever she thinks back about her African days as her creativity is inextricably moulded by the ideological tension that she witnessed there.

However, Anna’s relationship with her creative work is beset with a great deal of ambivalence. She does not appreciate the way in which she handled the theme and wonders why she had to write a fictionalised story instead of writing the truth. She feels ashamed of the motivating factor that led to the evolution of the work. She says:

The novel is ‘about’ a colour problem. I said nothing in it that wasn’t true. But the emotion it came out of was something frightening, the unhealthy, feverish, illicit excitement of wartime, a lying nostalgia, a longing for license, for freedom, for the jungle, for formlessness. It is so clear to me that I can’t read that novel now without feeling ashamed, as if I were in a street naked.

Anna is troubled because at a certain level of literary creation, she herself is guilty of objectifying the Africans and she also questions the artistic emotion that went into its genesis. Later in the narrative when many directors and agents approach her for adapting the novel to other formats, she becomes hostile and thoroughly obstinate. Anna’s reaction may be prompted by an artistic distrust that doubts the veracity of the others’ claims. As an artist, she wonders whether they will be able to re-create or re-enact the conundrum of racial discrimination. Anna is greatly disturbed by the pain and agony suffered by the Blacks at the hands of their white masters, but she dons the role of the helpless spectator when these atrocities occur. Lessing here contrasts Anna’s naïve and fervent diatribe with her friend Willie’s pragmatic and calm approach and thereby depicts how political ideologies largely ignore racial tensions by trying to be more practical.

Conclusion

Lessing wrote The Golden Notebook during a period fraught with social and political turmoil. The conflicts of the bygone era become crystallised in her magnum opus and as Irving Howe rightly says, “it moves with the beat of our time, it is true.” The novel retains its popularity in the contemporary era because of its universal appeal. The book defies classification as it transcends such parameters. Anna and her world become all the more poignant as it holds a mirror that reflects the postmodern reality. Each of her notebooks questions the cultural and ideological signifiers that went into its making. Lessing intends

these notebooks to enter into a dialectical debate with its own creator so that the reader becomes aware of larger issues like creativity, politics and subjectivity. Anna internalises the anguish of the modern psyche and it is this process of identification that has made her one of the most mesmerising fictional creations of our time.

Reference

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• Rado, Lisa. Rereading Modernism: New Directions in Feminist Criticism. 1994. Oxon: Routledge, 2012. Print.
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