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Lalwendë · 01-13-2008, 05:09 PM

Bethberry - might be worthwhile looking up some of Pullman's recent comments on education as they shed a lot of light on his views of children and childhood. He's very much against all this business of setting targets and denying the chance to exercise the imagination and just 'be children'. I think a lot of this comes into his portrayals of children. In addition I detect a lot of comment on certain attitudes towards children, certainly in British society, which has been judged the worst place to grow up in Europe

If you look at Asriel and Mrs Coulter they are very much like the wealthy 'career' parent who does not necessarily have a child's needs and wants at heart - though taken to extremes. They also have echoes of the upper class parents of days gone by who would pack off the kids to boarding school for most of the year.

More than this though, it's the characters of Asriel and Coulter. He is rather like the ultimate Byronic figure, though one with rather more flaws than normal. He is rich, dark, powerful and rebellious. He is Milton's Satan! She is a character Pullman has said he loves to write about as "there is nothing she wouldn't do" and there have been parallels drawn with Margaret Thatcher - her 'metallic' smell (the iron lady), her entourage of adoring men from the Magisterium, her odd unmotherly attitude towards her own child...though of course Mrs Coulter gets some kind of redemption at the end and 'learns'; you cannot say the same of Mrs T at all

There is also something in these two figures who create a child in the throes of (illegal, certainly in their world as she is married) passion when contrasted with Lyra and Will, who fall in love quite innocently and in their innocence, end up doing good for the world and saving it.

I certainly don't think you are supposed to like them.

01-13-2008, 05:09 PM	#2
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,737	Bethberry - might be worthwhile looking up some of Pullman's recent comments on education as they shed a lot of light on his views of children and childhood. He's very much against all this business of setting targets and denying the chance to exercise the imagination and just 'be children'. I think a lot of this comes into his portrayals of children. In addition I detect a lot of comment on certain attitudes towards children, certainly in British society, which has been judged the worst place to grow up in Europe If you look at Asriel and Mrs Coulter they are very much like the wealthy 'career' parent who does not necessarily have a child's needs and wants at heart - though taken to extremes. They also have echoes of the upper class parents of days gone by who would pack off the kids to boarding school for most of the year. More than this though, it's the characters of Asriel and Coulter. He is rather like the ultimate Byronic figure, though one with rather more flaws than normal. He is rich, dark, powerful and rebellious. He is Milton's Satan! She is a character Pullman has said he loves to write about as "there is nothing she wouldn't do" and there have been parallels drawn with Margaret Thatcher - her 'metallic' smell (the iron lady), her entourage of adoring men from the Magisterium, her odd unmotherly attitude towards her own child...though of course Mrs Coulter gets some kind of redemption at the end and 'learns'; you cannot say the same of Mrs T at all There is also something in these two figures who create a child in the throes of (illegal, certainly in their world as she is married) passion when contrasted with Lyra and Will, who fall in love quite innocently and in their innocence, end up doing good for the world and saving it. I certainly don't think you are supposed to like them. __________________ Gordon's alive!