Portrait of the Other as a Woman with Gloves: Ethical Perspectives in John Banville's The Book of Evidence

Abstract

In his introduction to the recent PMLA issue on ethical criticism, Lawrence Buell observes that “ethics has gained a new resonance in literary studies over the past dozen years” (7). Indeed, the number of special issues of literary and philosophical journals, recently published books, and round-table conferences on ethics testifies to this trend.1 This “ethical turn” can also be observed in contemporary literature. For instance, readers of the works of the Irish novelist John Banville can note that with his art trilogy he shifted from an epistemological perspective to more overt ethical concerns.2 He has moved from an engagement with the possibilities and limits of truth and representation in the science tetralogy to a more focused investigation of the ethical consequences of our necessarily subjective representations. In this essay, I propose to analyze Banville's articulation of ethical questions in the first novel of the art trilogy, The Book of Evidence. Because the questions raised in the novel and the current debate about ethics in general and the ethics of reading in particular converge at many points, I also address some of the theoretical perspectives that structure this debate.