II. Substitution and Dream
In the identity of Eudoxia, Eddie not only fails to love himself, but also fails to love others. Eudoxia and Angelos look like an affectionate couple, but they don’t really love each other. To Angelos, Eudoxia is not so much his wife as a substitute for his past wife Anna. Although he is accompanied by Eudoxia, he is always recalling the time he spends with Anna. He still calls Anna wife, but doesn’t call Eudoxia that. When the Golsons says that they are invited by his wife, Angelos replies that “Anna died” (99). So in Angelos’ mind, Eudoxia can hardly be called his wife, and Mrs. Golson also finds disharmony in this couple. As Eudoxia thinks, “Angelos, I believe, both admired and loved Anna, but only lusts after me—the hetaira, and Empress Eudoxia in name” (61). In Angelos’ Byzantine fantasy, he is the Emperor of Byzantium, and Eudoxia is …show more content…
On one hand, being with Angelos can meet Eddie’s sexual desire to his father, so “I can never leave him. He is too dependent. Only I am more so. We are welded together, until war, or death, tears us apart” (99). On the other hand, Eudoxia is just a fiction made by Angelos, a substitute for Anna, and is not the “complete Eddie”, so “However much I need him I must somehow escape” (65). If it is not Mrs. Golson who intrudes on their life, Eudoxia will live with Angelos in this whirlpool forever. Being afraid that Mrs. Golson may recognize that she is Eddie, Eudoxia and Angelos move away quietly. Not long after that, Angelos dies of heart attack. “‘He is dead,’ she said, in what sounded not only a broken, but at the same time, an awakening voice” (126). Eddie’s attempt fails; living in a female identity, s/he can neither love h/erself nor loves Angelos. Eddie hasn’t become a complete man. Angelos dies, Eudoxia dies as well, and Eddie’s odyssey has to be
In the identity of Eudoxia, Eddie not only fails to love himself, but also fails to love others. Eudoxia and Angelos look like an affectionate couple, but they don’t really love each other. To Angelos, Eudoxia is not so much his wife as a substitute for his past wife Anna. Although he is accompanied by Eudoxia, he is always recalling the time he spends with Anna. He still calls Anna wife, but doesn’t call Eudoxia that. When the Golsons says that they are invited by his wife, Angelos replies that “Anna died” (99). So in Angelos’ mind, Eudoxia can hardly be called his wife, and Mrs. Golson also finds disharmony in this couple. As Eudoxia thinks, “Angelos, I believe, both admired and loved Anna, but only lusts after me—the hetaira, and Empress Eudoxia in name” (61). In Angelos’ Byzantine fantasy, he is the Emperor of Byzantium, and Eudoxia is …show more content…
On one hand, being with Angelos can meet Eddie’s sexual desire to his father, so “I can never leave him. He is too dependent. Only I am more so. We are welded together, until war, or death, tears us apart” (99). On the other hand, Eudoxia is just a fiction made by Angelos, a substitute for Anna, and is not the “complete Eddie”, so “However much I need him I must somehow escape” (65). If it is not Mrs. Golson who intrudes on their life, Eudoxia will live with Angelos in this whirlpool forever. Being afraid that Mrs. Golson may recognize that she is Eddie, Eudoxia and Angelos move away quietly. Not long after that, Angelos dies of heart attack. “‘He is dead,’ she said, in what sounded not only a broken, but at the same time, an awakening voice” (126). Eddie’s attempt fails; living in a female identity, s/he can neither love h/erself nor loves Angelos. Eddie hasn’t become a complete man. Angelos dies, Eudoxia dies as well, and Eddie’s odyssey has to be