Reading

Mihaela Culea, Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacau, Romania

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Abstract

This article looks at Alan Bennett’s fictional exercise in The Uncommon Reader (2006/2008), which provides the British monarchy with a human face and analyses the effects of this process of humanization through reading. The introduction presents the background to Bennett’s novella, with special emphasis on the monarchist and anti-monarchist trends in Britain, as well as on the increased popularity of the monarchy as a result of intensive media coverage. The first part also draws the connection between the media craze which exposes the private side of the royalty and Bennett’s disclosure of the humanity of Queen Elizabeth II through the mediation of the world of literature instead of that of tabloids or television. The next section explores the potential of reading for the Queen and the ways in which reading contributes to change in matters of both private and professional life. Thus, reading becomes a factor of social and affective communion with her people and also represents a process of discovery and acquisition of insight into human nature. The last part of the novel imagines the Queen as a potential writer, so the paper also deals with writing as an act of revelation and redemption. Stimulated by reading, the Queen’s decision to write “a tangential history” (119) of her times will be an invitation addressed to her people to reflect on the demoted political power of their monarch and the political evils that result from it. Apart from that, the article also discusses the possibility for self-discovery and personal achievement animated by the Queen’s new passion for books.            Keep Reading