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Et Ego in Atlantis: A Possible Source for Quentin Compson's Suicide by Hal McDonald William Faulkner's famously troubled Harvard freshman Quentin Compson has fascinated readers for decades, due in large part to the simultaneous universality and singularity of his character. Most readers can identify to some extent with his late-adolescent angst, yet at the same time cringe at the suicidal extremes to which he carries it. As his friend Spoade remarks, Quentin may elicit "not only admiration, but horror" (167). Seeking out a source for the precise manifestation of this anguish, however, is a more complex and interesting proposition. One might, of course, look for some autobiographical origin (Spilka 452), with certain aspects of Quentin's character reflecting Faulkner's own personal interests and experiences, but aside from some similarities in geography and temperament, the actual details of Faulkner's life offer little basis for the extremes to which Quentin's misplaced idealism carry him. More fruitful as a possible source for sources is the literary work of other writers, where pathologically hopeless young and mostly male idealists abound. Previously suggested literary models for Faulkner's tortured character include Hamlet's Ophelia (Campbell 53), a character from Balzac's "The Old Maid" (Horton 59), Joyce's
The Southern Literary Journal – University of North Carolina Press
Published: Feb 13, 2013
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