The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
"The Golden Notebook," written by Doris Lessing, is a complex and multifaceted novel that explores the fragmented identity of its protagonist, Anna Wulf, through a series of interwoven narratives. Set against the backdrop of post-World War II, the novel delves into Anna's struggles with personal relationships, political disillusionment, and the challenges of being a woman in a patriarchal society. The narrative is divided into several colored notebooks—each representing different aspects of Anna's life, including her experiences with communism, her creative writing endeavors, and her mental health struggles.
Through Anna's interactions with friends and lovers, the novel examines themes of sexuality, motherhood, and the quest for authenticity in a world rife with societal expectations. The characters around Anna, such as her friends Molly and Marion, provide contrasting perspectives on love, ambition, and the complexities of interpersonal dynamics. Lessing uses Anna's story to critique both political ideologies and the limitations of conventional storytelling, ultimately leading to a reflection on the nature of reality and self-expression.
"The Golden Notebook" stands as a significant literary work that invites readers to consider the intricate layers of identity and the search for meaning in a fragmented world.
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
First published: 1962
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Social realism
Time of plot: 1940’s-1950’s
Locale: London
Principal Characters
Anna Wulf , a writer (Ella in the Yellow Notebook)Molly Jacobs , Anna’s friend (Julia in the Yellow Notebook)Richard Portmain , Molly’s former husband (George in the Yellow Notebook)Tommy Jacobs , Molly and Richard’s sonMarion Jacobs , Richard’s present wife (Muriel in the Yellow Notebook)
The Story
Book One. In the “Free Women” section, Anna visits her old friend Molly, feeling distant and cynical about their personal talks. Richard and Molly fight about their son, his new wife, and his choice of career. Tommy watches his parents, and Anna goes home, depressed, to write. Beginning as a parody of a novel synopsis, the Black Notebook then continues with Anna’s reminiscences about her experiences with a group of communist intellectuals in World War II Rhodesia. The group had discovered a resort hotel in the veld, and they spent their weekends there drinking and discussing political ideas. An older member of the group, George Hounslow, had an affair and a child with an African woman, the hotel cook’s wife. When the hotel owner discovered this, she dismissed the cook, ruining his family. Anna had a sexual encounter with her lover’s friend, and these two incidents ended the group’s association.
In the Red Notebook, Anna is cynical about the British Communist Party but joins anyway. She decides she did this because she, like others, could not give up hope for a better world. Anna worked for the party canvassing neighborhoods and discovered her real interest was the life of the average housewife, who was home going “quietly mad,” a subject for study not considered serious by the party leaders.
Anna writes the Yellow Notebook as a novel. Ella, a women’s magazine writer, becomes involved with Paul Tanner, a married psychologist with two children. They begin to behave more like the stereotypical man and woman. In a plot sketch of the novel, Ella and Paul are involved for five years. He refuses to leave his wife, then gets a job in Africa to escape Ella. Anna is frustrated that the novel, like her first book, does not capture her actual lived experience.
In the Blue Notebook, a diary, Anna goes to a psychotherapist and immediately begins dreaming. She cuts out articles from the newspapers that examine the violence in the world, trying to understand it. In her dreams, a menacing dwarf who represents chaos appears.
Book Two. In “Free Women,” Tommy visits Anna to tell her he has turned down his father’s job offer and he has read her private notebooks. Marion, Richard’s new wife, arrives, drunk, and in the middle of their conversation, Molly calls to say Tommy has shot himself. In the Black Notebook, Anna has dinner with television agents who want to buy the rights to her novel. Both want to change the novel beyond recognition to be socially acceptable. In the Red Notebook, Anna toys with quitting the Communist Party. In a dream, she sees a tapestry that stretches over the earth. Someone pulls a string and it dissolves into chaos. She attends a writing group in which everyone is afraid to criticize a badly written pamphlet because it is politically correct. In the Yellow Notebook, on a rough plane trip home, Ella realizes she wants to die. She meets an American on the plane and has a physically unsatisfying affair with him. In the Blue Notebook, Anna writes a long, detailed description of one day hoping to capture reality in writing. She rewrites the scene in short, terse language the next morning, trying to be objective.
Book Three. Tommy is blinded by his suicide attempt, and Marion begins spending all her time with him. Richard tries to bully Anna into doing something about this situation, and Ivar, Anna’s gay roommate, and his new lover are rude to Anna. She dreams she must cross a desert. On waking, she confronts Ivar.
In the Black Notebook, Anna reminisces about a pigeon-hunting episode with her Rhodesian group during which Paul, an aristocratic sort, bullies Jimmy, the working-class member of the group. They discuss how communist philosophy does not consider the possibility of a destructive element in the world. Anna writes parodies that reveal how decadent writing has become. Then she examines various Soviet reviews of her novel, which reveal to her that the various writers are responding to the social climate of their country rather than to the book. In the Red Notebook, Anna notices a growth of enthusiasm in her communist group, then another return of cynicism, which confirms for her that this sort of political activity is meaningless. Tommy becomes involved in a young socialist group, which repeats the same self-righteous polemics that Anna was involved with in her youth.
In the Yellow Notebook, Ella becomes more disturbed by her dependency. She visits her father and discovers that her intuition that he writes poetry is correct. In the Blue Notebook, Anna begins to experience a loss of meaning in words. She dreams about the dwarf again and has two affairs with very destructive men, noticing how they seemed split into two personalities, reminding her of Paul.
Book Four. In “Free Women,” Marion leaves Richard and moves in with Tommy, and the two are arrested at a political demonstration. Anna tries to calm everyone but notices that she is beginning to crack up herself. Marion refuses to return to Richard, and Anna returns home to kick out Ivar.
In the Black Notebook, in Anna’s dream a “director” appears and begins changing the memories of the resort hotel. She realizes what she remembers is colored by her own point of view. The Red Notebook tells the story of Harry Mathews, an insignificant Communist Party member. He cherishes the illusion that one day his correct analysis of the political situation will be appreciated in Russia. When he is invited to Russia, he imagines his time has come, but he is only able to talk with a lowly interpreter. He realizes his mistake and, on returning home, marries and begins a new life.
The Yellow Notebook lists a series of story ideas, exploring a whole variety of possible scenarios between men and women. The Blue Notebook tells the story of Anna’s affair with Saul Green. In this affair, they enact all the plot lines written in the Yellow Notebook. Anna understands that she is not in control of herself but acts out cultural ideas of relationships and that she and Saul are psychically connected.
The Golden Notebook. Anna and Saul finally act out all their insanity with each other. They both recognize this by saying, “Well, we’ll never have to say that again.” The film projectionist begins to show Anna in her dreams the story of the resort hotel weekends as perceived by the characters whom Anna least understands. She feels that something new has now emerged in her life. She and Saul give each other the first sentence of their next novels.
Free Women. Anna moves to a smaller flat and gets a job as a social worker. Molly marries a progressive businessman. Marion and Tommy take Molly’s house. Tommy is to follow in his father’s footsteps as a business tycoon. Marion buys a dress shop.
Bibliography
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