Jonathan Franzen on Talent, Theatre, and His Next Novel
2 days ago
- #theatre
- #moral-ambiguity
- #coming-of-age
- The story 'A Talent for Seeming' is adapted from a novel-in-progress about a teenage girl named Adele in Butte, Montana in the late 1970s, who falls in love with acting.
- The inspiration for Adele came from a combination of fragments, including a memorable performance of Rosalind in 'As You Like It,' the author's personal experiences with Shakespeare and high school theatre, and the desire to reclaim lost loves through fiction.
- Adele's seesaw between born-again devoutness and a lifestyle condemned by her church youth group is crucial for dramatic tension, reflecting obstacles in her desires and exploring how one set of beliefs can morph into another over time.
- A substitute English teacher, Bromley Stokes, challenges Adele's piety; he is perceived as either embodying Jesus or Satan, and while Adele feels saved by him, her church friends disagree, highlighting the ambiguous moral impact of theatre on her.
- Adele is quickly seduced by the 'spirit of theatre' and her own talent for acting, driven by a thirst for attention and the immediate feedback from live audiences, a change that happens rapidly without resistance once she discovers her calling.
- Inspiring laughter is particularly addictive for Adele because it guarantees the audience's full attention and delivers pleasure, which the author views as a primary goal for artists, even more so than eliciting tears.
- Despite her own childhood neglect by her mother, Adele repeats similar patterns as a mother by leaving her child in Bromley's care, reflecting the theme that artists often prioritize their talent and the 'higher good' of art over conventional morality.
- The novel is a sequel to 'Crossroads,' and toward the end, a Hildebrandt character appears in Adele's life, indicating narrative connections, though the overall work is still in progress.