John Banville and His Romantic Quest

Abstract

John Banville, one of Ireland's most serious and gifted writers, shares the belief of modernist writers that the modern society alienates mankind through its chaos, madness and sterility, but denies the fatalist idea that this society is hopelessly doomed. He, therefore, pursues a romantic quest in his fiction by resorting to nostalgia, nature and imagination. This thesis will study Banville's fiction from a Romantic perspective, aiming to reveal how Banvill returns to Romanticism and pursues a romantic quest. By examining his various books, this thesis will discuss how Banville looks for a spiritual home by writing about nostalgia, nature and highlighting imagination. It concludes that the utopian world created by Banville for his protagonists, cannot solve all problems in reality. However, it provides an ideal, a belief towards a sublimate life, which helps mankind bravely face the real world and provides hope. Banville imagines a better world in his fiction; and if imagined, this world might in time actually come to be.