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    The L-Shaped Room

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    Bethany
    - Lynne Reid Banks did not plan The L-Shaped Room and instead wrote it organically as she explored her own personal struggles through the character of Jane. - The novel was shocking for its realistic portrayal of an unmarried pregnant woman in 1960s England and helped spark a new era of more raw, less restrained fiction. - Banks drew inspiration from a real room in Chepstow that was oddly divided, just as the family within the novel becomes divided. - Though the novel touches on themes of feminism, prejudice, and the pursuit of identity, Banks regrets not more explicitly pioneering feminism given when the book was written in the 1960s.

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    The L-Shaped Room

    Uploaded by

    Bethany
    11K views5 pages
    - Lynne Reid Banks did not plan The L-Shaped Room and instead wrote it organically as she explored her own personal struggles through the character of Jane. - The novel was shocking for its realistic portrayal of an unmarried pregnant woman in 1960s England and helped spark a new era of more raw, less restrained fiction. - Banks drew inspiration from a real room in Chepstow that was oddly divided, just as the family within the novel becomes divided. - Though the novel touches on themes of feminism, prejudice, and the pursuit of identity, Banks regrets not more explicitly pioneering feminism given when the book was written in the 1960s.

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    - Lynne Reid Banks did not plan The L-Shaped Room and instead wrote it organically as she explored her own personal struggles through the character of Jane. - The novel was shocking for its realistic portrayal of an unmarried pregnant woman in 1960s England and helped spark a new era of more raw, less restrained fiction. - Banks drew inspiration from a real room in Chepstow that was oddly divided, just as the family within the novel becomes divided. - Though the novel touches on themes of feminism, prejudice, and the pursuit of identity, Banks regrets not more explicitly pioneering feminism given when the book was written in the 1960s.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    11K views5 pages

    The L-Shaped Room

    Uploaded by

    Bethany
    - Lynne Reid Banks did not plan The L-Shaped Room and instead wrote it organically as she explored her own personal struggles through the character of Jane. - The novel was shocking for its realistic portrayal of an unmarried pregnant woman in 1960s England and helped spark a new era of more raw, less restrained fiction. - Banks drew inspiration from a real room in Chepstow that was oddly divided, just as the family within the novel becomes divided. - Though the novel touches on themes of feminism, prejudice, and the pursuit of identity, Banks regrets not more explicitly pioneering feminism given when the book was written in the 1960s.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 5

    • Lynne Reid Banks didn’t plan the book at all, situation merely grew organically as she wrote.

    • Sparked a new era of fiction, RAW, less withheld from the reader in the name of decency –
    real life below the surface of middle class calm. Indeed it was SHOCKING for an unmarried
    woman to be pregnant in the 60’s a fact that is particularly important to remember as a reader.
    • Banks had troubles herself and ended up portraying this in Jane’s as a form of escapism.
    • Room was a real room in Chepstow, something odd about how it was divided stayed with
    Banks and triggered something within her. Room divided just as the family divided.
    • So real people assumed it was an autobiography.
    • In terms of the changes from then to nowadays Banks states that as PC intervened she would
    never had written so freely and possibly naively about race and class as she did then. Regarded
    races as completely different and prejudices are indeed evident.
    • Film completely shattered Banks as the transformation of the room was supposed to show
    the transformation of Jane, not portrayed in film.
    • Feminism is subconsciously present within the novel, Banks regrets that she did not pioneer
    the need for feminism in the 60s however managed to write a book that was the ultimate
    display of independence.
    • Old Fashioned Prejudice – black and white, homosexuality, Jewish people, single
    mothers etc.
    • Playing a Role – When speaking about her past she never mentions people’s
    names only stating; “The actor” or “The doctor”. This changes when she enters her
    new home in the “L-shaped room” as Toby sees right through her “mystery-
    woman” act and opens her up, however, she still likes to categorise her work from
    home life.
    • Refuge (in unlikely places) – Doris seems to house all those who have otherwise
    been rejected from society, “Prostitutes in the basement”, and Jane in turn finds
    refuge in the people there.
    • Pursuit of Love – “that poor half-baked little bitch is going to have a baby,
    without ever having understood what love really means.”
    In terms of the struggle for identity – Jane seemed submersed within society’s
    views and fights to detach herself from the label created for her. By choosing to
    live in the L shaped room she seems at first to be accepting her fate and allowing
    herself to be dragged down with other minorities. However being with these
    minorities seems to solidify her own sense of self and she no longer labels, uses
    people’s names.
    • Toby – Her first enjoyable experience of sex, giving her the meaning as to what
    love and desire are all about. Helps her grow as a woman.
    • John – Could easily be described as a father-figure in the absence of Jane’s own
    father and although being disgusted at her actions with Toby (much like her
    father would have been) he forgives her and continues to be a shoulder to lean on.
    Also destroys the stereotype of a black man as he is, although on the exterior
    hard, a soft and gentle person.
    • James – Connection to normality and a sense of independence.
    • Mavis – Not what she seems.
    • Addy – A non-judgemental mother figure whom provides inspiration for Jane.
    Though dying she remains busy and ensures that she leaves something of herself
    behind. Sought and spoke of love in character just as Jane is an actress, searching
    and then stumbling upon love in the darkest of places.
    •New resident of the L Shaped Room– Jane sees herself as she was in this girl
    and it’s almost as if the story has become a cycle, the birth of David being a new
    beginning for Jane and the start of this new girl’s journey.
    • L Shaped Room – “L” portrays an inability to see the entirety of the picture, may
    represent society’s blindness when it comes to minorities and also how one’s path
    rarely stays in one direction. Rather than trying to conform to the sterility of
    expectation we should embrace the unexpected and the unknown of what lies
    around the corner.

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