Abstract
ABSTRACT The essay applies Northrop Frye’s theory of the imaginative structure of literature to the study of Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy. Frye’s theory not only helps us to notice well-established structural patterns in Atwood’s work that echo the literary classics, but it also sheds light on the larger, socio-political meaning of the trilogy. Crucial to this meaning is the ending of the trilogy with its surprising narrative shift from an essentially realistic story of survival to a fairy-tale-like conclusion. Frye’s theory allows us to see this conclusion as reflecting a turn into the mythical fictional mode, which, however, fits the overall imaginative structure of the trilogy. Even more importantly, Frye also helps us to understand the visionary function of the ending, which may be interpreted in the light of his notion of the myth of concern.
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