Alchemy and Finnegans Wake

Download or read book Alchemy and Finnegans Wake written by Barbara DiBernard and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1980-01-01 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the first full-length study of Joyce's direct and indirect use of alchemical allusions, DiBernard shows how an awareness of the alchemical metaphor guides a reader through the richness of Finnegans Wake. For example, the alchemical transmutation of lead into gold parallels the transmutation of the dross and commotion of ordinary life into a work of art. This study shows how the themes of Joyce's novel--death and rebirth, the conflict between physical and spiritual, incest, colors, forgery, and the reconciliation of opposites--relate to the alchemical process. The author then presents a theory, based on alchemical metaphor, on the much debated subject of Joyce's view of the artist.