English
240 - Literature for Younger Readers
Dr.
Wally Hastings - Northern State University
P.L.
Travers
(1899-1996)
"For me there
are no answers, only questions, and I am grateful that the questions go
on and on. I don’t look for an answer, because I don’t think there is one.
I'm very glad to be the bearer of a question."
- P.
L. Travers
LIFE
“P. L. Travers,” like “Lewis Carroll” or “Mark Twain,” is a pseudonym.
The author was born Helen Lyndon Goff, in Queensland (Australia), the daughter
of a sugar planter. Her parents were both of Irish descent.
Reportedly, the idea for Mary Poppins’ appearance derives from a Queensland
lady she saw walking in town, dressed in an old-fashioned style and carrying
an umbrella with a bird's head carved into the handle.
When she was 7, her father died and her mother moved the family to New
South Wales. She became a professional actress when she was 10, under
the stage name “Pamela Lyndon Travers.” She moved to Dublin when
she was 17, where she entered literary circles; her interest in myth and
symbol connected her to W. B. Yeats and A. E. (George Russell). This
association with the Irish Literary Renaissance led her to the study of
Celtic folklore. Influenced by A.E., she began to write poetry, and
created the Mary Poppins stories while recovering from an illness.
A.E. recommended that she gather the stories together and publish them,
which she did in 1934. All together, she published eight Mary Poppins
books, and several other novels and studies of mythology. She died
in London, April 23, 1996.
She met and was influenced by G. I. Gurdjieff, a Russian mystic who published
one of her poems in his journal, The New Age. She contributed to
Parabola magazine, which she edited for a period. She was interested
in Sufi Islam and studied Hinduism while living in the United States.
Mary Poppins
“I believe it to be important when reviewing her popular works, the Mary
Poppins series, to see beyond the superficial. Within these works she strived
to repeat the achievements of ancient storytellers, infusing the characters
and the plot with numinous qualities. The subtler and even hidden meanings
can be revealed by careful study and consideration of the construction
of the story(ies), the characters and the variety of pace and emphasis.”
(Richard Austin, website)
Who
is Mary Poppins? An ordinary nanny? A witch? A fairy?
(The penguin says, p. 160: “If you’re going to say ‘fairy,’ don’t.
I’ve thought of that already but as it’s not a bit like her, it won’t do.”)
Critics suggest she is an elemental spirit, a manifestation of the earth
and nature – Evidence:
-
She can talk to animals
(Miss Lark’s Andrew, the Dancing Cow, zoo animals, animals in “Bad Tuesday”).
-
She works with Mrs. Corry
to put the stars back in the sky.
-
The animals look to her
as above all of them.
-
She can talk with the
wind, and seems to be allied with it (she arrives with the wind, and moves
on when it changes).
The Bird Woman.
Description of her (p. 108) suggests she is a guardian of the birds, almost
their mother – she sits over them as they sleep like a brooding hen.
One of a series of natural figures throughout the book – Mary Poppins herself,
her mother (in the Dancing Cow chapter), Mrs. Corry, Maia (Christmas Shopping)
§ What
does the novel say about the relationship between people and the natural
world?
§ How does Travers
make use of existing material from mythology? Does she create her
own mythology? How? Can we state this mythology clearly?
§ Is there a
unifying structure to the book, or is it just a collection of stories about
an unusual figure?
§ Why do the
children love her? She is vain, not nice, doesn’t always seem to
want to take them on adventures.
Birthdays here
are given a special role in the scheme of things – magic things happen
when birthdays coincide with celestial events – Uncle Albert’s on Friday,
Mary’s on the Full Moon.
Consider the final
chapter in light of the Dancing Cow chapter.
A. Waller Hastings
Professor of English
Northern State University
Aberdeen, SD 57401
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