''Maiden Castle'' by

John Cowper Powys John Cowper Powys (; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English philosopher, lecturer, novelist, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...

was first published in 1936 and is the last of Powys so-called Wessex novels, following '' Wolf Solent'' (1929), ''

A Glastonbury Romance ''A Glastonbury Romance'' was written by John Cowper Powys (1873–1963) in rural upstate New York and first published by Simon and Schuster in New York City in March 1932. An English edition published by John Lane followed in 1933. It has ...

'' (1932), '' Weymouth Sands'' (1934). Powys was an admirer of

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wor ...

, and these novels are set in Somerset and Dorset, part of Hardy's mythical

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

. American scholar Richard Maxwell describes these four novels "as remarkably successful with the reading public of his time". ''Maiden Castle'' is set in Dorchester, Dorset Thomas Hardy's Casterbridge, and which Powys intended to be a "rival" to Hardy's '' Mayor of Casterbridge''. Glen Cavaliero describes Dorchester as "vividly present throughout the book as a symbol of the continuity of civilization. The title alludes to the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

Maiden Castle that stands near to Dorchester. Powys, along with Phyllis Playter, returned permanently to England in June 1934 and, while staying near the village of Chaldon, Dorset, Powys began ''Maiden Castle'' in late August 1934, In October 1934 they moved to Dorchester but then they moved again, to

Corwen Corwen is a town and community in the county of Denbighshire in Wales. Historically, Corwen is part of the county of Merionethshire. Corwen stands on the banks of the River Dee beneath the Berwyn mountains. The town is situated west of Llango ...

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, ...

, in July 1935, where ''Maiden Castle'' was completed in February 1936. Until 1990 ''Maiden Castle'' was only available in an abridged version, because Powys original typescript of ''Maiden Castle'' had been reduced by about one-fifth of its original length for the previous editions. In 1990 the

University of Wales Press The University of Wales Press ( cy, Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru) was founded in 1922 as a central service of the University of Wales. The press publishes academic journals and around seventy books a year in the English and Welsh languages on six general ...

published "the first full authoritative edition" under the editorship of Ian Hughes.

Plot

''Maiden Castle'' is about "the difficult relationship of a historical novelist ud No-Man ..and a young circus acrobat izzie Raveleston Another major character, the novelist's father ryen Quirmbelieves that he is "the incarnation of a Welsh god". Uryen tries "to reawake the old gods once worshipped" at Maiden Castle, but he fails in this, just as his son fails in his relationship with Wizzie.

Critical response

When the novel appeared in Britain in 1937 Geoffrey H. Wells, in a review in the ''

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to '' The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', wrote: The total effect is rather that of a celestial –or demonic –

Punch and Judy Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr. Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically Mr. Punch and one other character ...

show. All the characters are, by ordinary standards, grotesques, eccentric physically and mentally". More recently, Morine Krissdottir, in her biography of Powys, describes the plot of ''Maiden Castle'' as "absurd" and "the characters over-the-top", while "the dialogue is often unintentionally comic". However, she still finds that the novel "sticks in the mind". Glen Cavaliero also recognises that much of this novel is "implausible", but he suggests that "it takes on a hypnotic reality in the encounters between its leading characters", and he also comments, that though Uryen's "mad quest may have its ludicrous side", he "remains an impressive haunting figure". Cavaliero also describes it as "perhaps the most Powysian of all the novels".Glen Cavaliero, ''John Cowper Powys: Novelist'', p. 93.

Bibliography

*Cavaliero, Glen. ''John Cowper Powys, Novelist''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973, pp. 93–102 *Christensen, Peter G. The "Dark Gods" and Modern Society: ''Maiden Castle'' and ''The Plumed Serpent'', in ''In the Spirit of Powys: New Essays'', ed. Denis Lane. Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1990, pp. 157–179. *Humfrey, Belinda, ed.''The Powys Review''. Index to critical articles and other material (including articles by Ian Hughes in nos, 12 and 15)

*Keith, W. J. "Three personal readings of ''Maiden Castle''

*Knight, G. Wilson. ''The Saturnian Quest''. London: Methuen,1964, pp. 47–55, 77–80. *Krissdottir, Morine. ''Descents of Memory: The Life of John Cowper Powys''. New York: Overlook Duckworth, 2007, pp. 312–321 *Lock, Charles, ed. ''The Powys Journal''. Another source for critical articles

*Moran, Margaret. "Animated Fictions in ''Maiden Castle''", in ''In the Spirit of Powys: New Essays'', ed. Denis Lane. (Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1990), pp. 180–192. *Nodius, Janina. '' "I Am Myself Alone": Solitude and Transcendence in John Cowper Powys''. Goteborg, Sweden, University of Goteborg, 1997, pp. 135–170.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Modernist novels 1936 British novels Works by John Cowper Powys Novels set in Dorset Simon & Schuster books

Plot

Critical response

Bibliography

See also

References