ABSTRACT
The second chapter deals with the structure and plot of the Quartet. It is shown that the stratified topography of the novel relates to psychoanalytic notions that Durrell was influenced by.
Thus different narrative voices have different sense of time and space in regard to the narrative, often holding conflicting notions as to where and when events took place.
The multiplicity of narrative voices echo Durrell’s understanding of Freudian ideas regarding the conscious and unconscious parts of the self. The work as a whole stands as a metaphor for a person’s psyche which cannot be identified with any one single element. The text continues to evolve according to the diachronic links created by the different voices relating the story.
The chapter addresses the issue of the authorship of the work. Durrell makes an important statement regarding the question as to who is the author of the text. Which of the many author figures appearing in the work is “responsible” for the text and its veracity? Can anyone make such a claim? Durrell states his position quite subtly. The question of the authorship remains unresolved on purpose. It is up to the reader to make up their own minds as to what was the “real” story underlying the labyrinthine plots and sub-plots he describes in the beautiful though biased view of pre– Second World War Alexandria.
