Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Neil Jordan and the ABC of Narratology: “Stories to do with Love are Mathematical”

1999; Philosophy Documentation Center; Volume: 3; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/nhr.1999.a926666

1534-5815

Richard Haslam,

Discourse Analysis in Language Studies

Richard Haslam Neil Jordan and the ABC of Narratology: "Stories to do with Love are Mathematical" Following the box-office and critical failure of his two Hollywood films, High Spirits (1988) and We're No Angels (1989), Neil Jordan returned to Ireland to make a comparatively low-budget film that drew upon the themes, structures, and locations of his early fiction. The Miracle (1991) depicts the exploits of the story-weaving teenagers Jimmy and Rose, who wander around the seaside town of Bray inventing scenarios of intrigue and romance to compensate for what they perceive to be the dullness of quotidian life. As the plot unfolds, reality begins to outstrip their imaginings. One incident in The Miracle playfully and explicitly reveals how Jordan uses the film to reflect upon his own artistic procedures and devices. When Jimmy and Rose take a roller-coaster ride, they proceed to discuss narratology. Rose claims that "stories to do with love are mathematical;' and provides one formula: "A loves B. Bunfortunately does not love A, but has a longing for C." When Jimmy ponders the fate of C, Rose informs him that "there are various options": "C can love A who loves B who loves C. Or, C can love B, but only half-heartedly. Either way, the stage is set for a farce." Jimmy then envisages another scenario in which ''A and B love C, and C doesn't know what she wants?" According to Rose, this would result in a situation that was "tragic." Finally, Jimmy asks what would happen "If A loves B, and B loves A?" Rose sagely replies, "Well then, there's no story:'1 In this sequence, Jordan self-reflexively comments on the plot dynamics of The Miracle itself. Various characters in the film variously occupy the positions A, B, and C, thereby generating a pattern of intersecting erotic triangles. A (Rose) loves B (Jimmy), but Jimmy does not reciprocate, since he has a longing for C (the mysterious actress Renee Baker). A second triangle originates in Rose's wish to make Jimmy jealous: she has an affair with Jonner, a young animal trainer from the visiting circus. A (Jonner) desires B (Rose), who desires C (Jimmy). In each triangle, C (Renee, Jimmy) loves B (Jimmy, Rose) halfheartedly ; in neither case does C yearn for A (Rose, Jonner). The third of the I. The dialogue quoted in this article is taken from film sources even where a published screenplay exists, because a film's final cut often differs from its published screenplays. NEW HIBERNIA REVIEW/IRIS EIREANNACH NUA, 3:2 (SUMMER/SAMHRADH, 1999), 36-55 Neil Jordan and the ABC ofNarratology film's trio of triangles is based on information previously revealed to the film's audience, but not yet known by Jimmy: Renee is his mother, whom Jimmy's father Sam had told him was dead. It is clear that Sam still loves Renee too. So A (Jimmy) and B (Sam) both desire C (Renee), who loves them both, but at the same time-in the words of Rose--doesn't really know what she wants. However, despite the gloomy outcome predicted by Rose for this narrative permutation, the story's actual resolution is comic rather than tragic. Jimmy's desire for his mother and antipathy for his father, and Rose's desire to dominate Jonner, have both been purged, and this is symbolized by Rose's liberation of the circus animals. It seems, finally, that A (Rose) can love B (Jimmy), B can love A, and-to paraphrase Rose-there's no (more) story. A series of ABC character triangulations coordinates the plot not only of The Miracle, but also of the majority of Jordan's films and fiction. Triangles function as both structure and theme in much ofthe fiction, and as both structure and visual emblem in many of the films. By examining Jordan's use of narrative trigonometry in his earlier work, we can better understand the reasoning behind both the plot structure and the links between the political and the personal in later films like The Crying Game (1992) and Michael Collins (1996). One of the most celebrated literary critical theories of triangular...