The Disgraced Relationship as Reflected in Blue Angel (2000)

Abstract

In Blue Angel, Francine Prose revolves around the relationship between the protagonist, professor Ted Swenson, and his student, Angela Argo. The novel examines this relationship and its consequences from different perspectives to discuss many issues that strike the world of an American university profoundly and bitterly. In addition, the novel raises some critical questions regarding the identity construction within the campus borders. Through her characters, Prose examines the ability of the university campus to enrich or restrict the personalities of its inhabitants. There are two opposing points of views; the first one considers the university as an academic institution that enriches the personality of both the professors and the students; academically, socially and professionally. The second suggests that this closed world with its high siege of traditions and norms imprison its inhabitants. While the university is considered as a dignified place for learning acquisition, it is also considered as a place of hypocrisy and suspicious relations on the other hand. The reader chooses the suitable point of view according to his/her experience with the university world. Swenson’s character and other university professors shed light on the dysfunctional relations within the university campus and the appalling relationships between the professors and the (female) students. All of these relations are analyzed in the light of the contemporary American culture which is apparently existent through the lines of this novel. Finally, the paper highlights the symptoms of the traumatic experience and midlife crisis to understand the reasons behind his behaviors and to find the answer to the fundamental question of this novel; who is the victim?