"Straight out of the button-molder's own ladle": on the complexity of characters in Arthur Koestler's Thieves in the Night

This paper discusses the complexity of female and Arab characters in Arthur Koestler's Thieves in the Night. Through an analysis of three main characters (Dina, Ellen and the Mukhtar of Kfar Tabiyeh) and several minor ones, it shows that the allegation of contemporary reviews, and some works on...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Vernyik, Zénó
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Murcia
Repositorio:DIGITUM. Depósito Digital Institucional de la Universidad de Murcia
OAI Identifier:oai:digitum.um.es:10201/51562
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10201/51562
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Koestler
Characters
Stock
Type
Arab
Women
Descripción
Sumario:This paper discusses the complexity of female and Arab characters in Arthur Koestler's Thieves in the Night. Through an analysis of three main characters (Dina, Ellen and the Mukhtar of Kfar Tabiyeh) and several minor ones, it shows that the allegation of contemporary reviews, and some works on Arthur Koestler ever since, that the novel is excessively built on stock characters is untenable. In fact, the representation of women and Arabs is both specific and detailed, in addition to the fact that these characters show a clearly detectable line of development, even if their initial presentation might in some cases be reminiscent of Petrarchan or other types.