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STEPHEN DONADIO
the ordeal of Aeneas or the presence of the myth of metamorphosis in
a
Comedy of Errors.
There are also some fine pages on the way a
character quite incidental to the main action, like the clown Lavache in
All's Well,
may express in a joking aside the essential comic vision of
mingled sympathy and ridicule.
But in much of Frye's application of the cyclical theory, we find a
mechanical routine leading to conclusions that are sometimes true, and
sometimes forced. It is thus we learn that in
The Winter's Tale
"eventually the sacrificial role settles on Mamillius," or that in
All's Well
"the natural society" equivalent to that of
The Tempest
and
Cymbeline
"is contained in Helena's magical power of healing the diseased king."
As we go through more examples of mythical forms in each play, the
sense of monotony and critical busy-work increases. The method so
pursued leads to disposing with literature, rather than exploring
it,
and
raises questions about myth criticism and its future that take us far beyond
the limits of Frye's book, and this review.
Reuben A. Brower
LOOKING FOR THE MAN
GOING TO MEET THE MAN. By James Baldwin. Dial. $4.95.
It hardly seems surprising now that when
The Fire Next Time
was first published in the
New Yorker
it was titled "Letter From A
Region In My Mind": the power of James Baldwin's earlier essays was
largely derived from his ability to isolate and probe the inflamed
regions of his consciousness. The title was of interest for other reasons,
though, since it attested to a shift in emphasis which had been growing
gradually more perceptible in the later essays and fiction. Mr. Baldwin,
it appeared, had begun to realize how highly personal his writing was;
he had become self-conscious.
Apparently faced with two alternatives-to become a Negro rep–
resentative or to run the risk of self-exposure to the point at which he
might be considered a special case (and thus perhaps diminish his
political impact)-he chose the first.
It
was not an easy choice to make,
especially for someone so convinced that
to
be free the Negro had to be
seen as an individual and not simply a living reminder of white guilt and
frustration. Besides, Mr. Baldwin is not now and never was an ideologist:
he is a writer, understandably preoccupied with privacy, and his choice
has
had
effects not wholly suited to his temperament. As one of his
