Bernardine Evaristo’s novel The Emperor’s Babe is about the Sudanese girl Zuleika, who gets married at the age of eleven to a much older man in the Londinium of 211 AD. Zuleika gives us an insight in her everyday life and introduces the partly authentic, partly virtual Londinium with all its fascinating and unique inhabitants like her best friends Alba and Venus. The question of identity is a recurrent theme in the novel and always seems to hang like a shadow over Zuleika. Though she is born in Londinium, she is black and her parents tell her about Sudan, and she feels that she does not really belong to either of the countries. She also feels imprisoned in her marriage, and one day she starts writing poems, which help her to create some kind of “virtual place” of her own. There does not seem to be a place she really feels home, at most when she is together with her two best friends. With their long conversations they also create some personal place of their own, where they all can retire a bit from the outside world. Apart from that, there is also Zuleika’s affair with Septimius Severus, the Emperor, which gives her a feeling of safety and affiliation, but in the long run leads her into perdition.
This paper is trying to point out the social spaces and places in Zuleika’s world, and to describe her and her surroundings in the fictitious London/Londinium of ancient times.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Place vs. Space
2.1 The Question of Identity
2.2 The Question of Home
2.3 The Question of Race
3. Past vs. Present
3.1 London vs. Londinium
3.1.1 Language
3.1.2 Places
4. Marriage vs. Love
5. Conclusion
6. Works Cited
Objectives and Core Topics
This paper explores the construction of social spaces and the search for identity in Bernardine Evaristo's novel "The Emperor's Babe," focusing on the protagonist Zuleika's navigation between her reality in ancient Londinium and her internal world.
- Analysis of Zuleika's identity crisis in a multicultural historical setting.
- Examination of the interplay between physical geography and metaphorical space.
- Evaluation of the significance of language as an anachronistic tool for characterization.
- Investigation of Zuleika's marriage versus her extramarital affair with the Emperor.
- Critique of societal expectations regarding race, class, and gender in the text.
Excerpt from the Book
2.1 The Question of Identity
Throughout the text, there is always a slight shadow on Zuleika’s thoughts, and repeatedly she asks herself, who she is. On her origin she comments that she is “Illa Bella Negreeta! born in the back of a shop on Gracechurch Street, who got hitched to a Roman nobleman, whose parents sailed out of Khartoum on a barge”(3). So, in public she is in her opinion just seen as “Illa Bella Negreeta” (3, 52, 164), the wife of the rich and influential Felix, who is three times as old as her. Though the marriage brought her some advantages concerning her class, she feels imprisoned and that she cannot be herself.
She starts writing poems, which reflect her thoughts and impressions. In her poems, the question of identity also often occurs, as well as a certain melancholy and the theme of life and death. With her poems, Zuleika creates an additional, virtual place of her own, where she can be herself, deal with her thoughts about and conflicts with her identity. She says that she is “going to become a great poet” (45), but probably she writes rather for herself than for others. When her teacher, Theodorus, tells her that she will never be a poet if she does not know about the important poetry of the past, she comments that “what [she] really [wants] to read and hear is stuff about [her people], about now, about Nubians in Londinium, about men who dress up as women, about extramarital peccadilloes, about girls getting married to older men” (85) – in short, everything that bothers her in her present life. She has finally found “a way to express [her]self” (85).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Presents the protagonist Zuleika and establishes the central themes of identity, imprisonment, and the creation of virtual spaces in the novel.
2. Place vs. Space: Analyzes how Zuleika deals with her identity, her fragmented sense of home, and her experiences with race within the narrative.
3. Past vs. Present: Examines the author's use of anachronism through the blending of modern London and ancient Londinium, specifically through language and locations.
4. Marriage vs. Love: Discusses Zuleika's restrictive marriage to Felix contrasted with her emotionally complex and intense affair with the Emperor Septimius Severus.
5. Conclusion: Summarizes how the novel uses a blend of ancient and modern elements to create a timeless reflection on a woman's role in society.
6. Works Cited: Lists the academic sources, interviews, and reviews used to support the analysis of the novel.
Keywords
The Emperor's Babe, Bernardine Evaristo, Zuleika, Londinium, Identity, Home, Race, Anachronism, Social Spaces, Marriage, Poetry, Multiculturism, Septimius Severus, Gender, Postcolonialism
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this academic paper?
The paper examines the literary construction of identity and the utilization of social spaces in Bernardine Evaristo's novel "The Emperor's Babe."
What central themes are explored throughout the text?
The key themes include the search for personal identity, the conflict between social expectations and individual desire, the concept of home, and the intersection of past and present.
What is the core research objective?
The objective is to point out the social spaces and places within Zuleika's world and to describe her development within the fictitious, anachronistic London/Londinium setting.
Which scientific approach does the author use?
The author uses a literary analysis approach, drawing upon text-based evidence, postcolonial theory, and critical reviews to interpret the novel's themes.
What does the main body of the work cover?
The main body covers the thematic analysis of identity, the role of location and language, the critique of societal structures, and the comparison of Zuleika's domestic versus romantic life.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
The work is characterized by terms such as identity, anachronism, Londinium, virtual space, and the synthesis of historical and modern social dynamics.
How does the author define the 'virtual place' Zuleika creates?
The 'virtual place' refers to the mental and creative spaces, such as Zuleika's poetry and intimate conversations, where she can escape the limitations of her physical reality.
In what way does the novel blend history and contemporary life?
The novel employs anachronisms, such as modern language slang and contemporary locations, while maintaining an ancient Roman setting to comment on modern multicultural London.
How does the relationship with Septimius Severus affect Zuleika?
The affair provides Zuleika with a sense of safety, affiliation, and a deeper understanding of desire, while simultaneously acting as an escape from her stifling marriage.
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- Theresa Rass (Autor:in), 2010, A Poetic Journey: "The Emperor’s Babe" in Search of Identity in Virtual Places of Ancient Londinium, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/181515
