Indifferent Borders: Confined and Liminal Spaces in Sarah Hall’s “Bees”

Abstract

This chapter analyses how Sarah Hall’s short story “Bees” uses borders, boundaries and liminal space to explore their relevance for constructions of identity, individuality and belonging. Experimentally stripping its protagonist not only of her regional and biographical roots, but also of narrative voice and self-assertion, the story revolves around indifference and affective responsiveness, questioning the importance of suffering for constructions of the human. In this context, the secluded space of the garden is cast against both rural and urban spaces, and intersects the Western paradise myth with a symbolic repository of Marian devotion and courtly love.