Mrs. May’s Dark Night in Flannery O’Connor’s “Greenleaf”
Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Greenleaf” was significantly influenced by her engagement with the notion of the “dark night of the soul,” which is closely associated with the Christian mysticism of St. John of the Cross. O’Connor became familiar with the dark night through her reading of Evelyn Un...
| Published in: | Christianity & literature |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Johns Hopkins University Press
[2016]
|
| In: |
Christianity & literature
|
| RelBib Classification: | CD Christianity and Culture KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KBQ North America TK Recent history |
| Further subjects: | B
O'Connor, Flannery, 1925-1964
B Religious Literature History & criticism B GREENLEAF (Short story) B dark night of the soul B Mysticism B Religious Aspects B Christianity B John of the Cross B “Greenleaf” B Success B Ethics B Flannery O’Connor B Evelyn Underhill |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Greenleaf” was significantly influenced by her engagement with the notion of the “dark night of the soul,” which is closely associated with the Christian mysticism of St. John of the Cross. O’Connor became familiar with the dark night through her reading of Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism not long before the composition of “Greenleaf.” The story incorporates imagery from St. John’s poem “On a Dark Night” as well as its source text, the Song of Songs chapters 2 and 3. Mrs. May, the protagonist of “Greenleaf,” undergoes a somewhat ironized version of the dark night over the course of the narrative. Her ultimate experience of mystical union is conditioned and even produced by the story’s “sacralizing” use of free indirect discourse. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2056-5666 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Christianity & literature
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0148333116631226 |