Romance forms in A. S. Byatt's Possession

Abstract

A. S. Byatt's Possession: A Romance (1990) is best defined as a quest narrative, as it follows the pattern that Campbell, Propp and Frye among others have described. Although mainly working with archetypes, Byatt also deploys here elements taken from romance subgenres such as detective stories and gothic fiction. Through this generic encoding of her work, Byatt raises questions as to the reception of these archetypes, the function of the author and the very process of reading.