James A. W. Heffernan
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780300195583
- eISBN:
- 9780300206845
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300195583.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
In works of Western literature ranging from Homer's Odyssey to Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the giving and taking of hospitality is sometimes pleasurable, but more often perilous. This ...
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In works of Western literature ranging from Homer's Odyssey to Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the giving and taking of hospitality is sometimes pleasurable, but more often perilous. This book traces this leitmotiv through the history of our greatest writings, including Christ's Last Supper, Macbeth's murder of his royal guest, and Camus' short story on French colonialism in Arab Algeria. By means of such examples and many more, it considers what literary hosts, hostesses, and guests do to as well as for each other. In doing so, it shows how often treachery rends the fabric of trust that hospitality weaves.Less
In works of Western literature ranging from Homer's Odyssey to Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the giving and taking of hospitality is sometimes pleasurable, but more often perilous. This book traces this leitmotiv through the history of our greatest writings, including Christ's Last Supper, Macbeth's murder of his royal guest, and Camus' short story on French colonialism in Arab Algeria. By means of such examples and many more, it considers what literary hosts, hostesses, and guests do to as well as for each other. In doing so, it shows how often treachery rends the fabric of trust that hospitality weaves.
