Unraveling A. S. Byatt's "Racine and the Tablecloth"

Abstract

A. S. Byatt's story "Racine and the Tablecloth" (1987) has received little critical attention, even though it appears at a pivotal moment in her career. Nonetheless, Byatt herself highlighted its importance when she published "Arachne" (2000), a reflection on Ovid that further articulates the inspirations and themes of the earlier story. Considering these two texts as companion pieces, this article sets out to unravel Byatt's metaphor of the text as a fabric woven together from heterogeneous threads, first by setting this concept in the context of Roland Barthes's theories about textuality, then by tracing how "Racine and the Tablecloth" is itself spun from a multiplicity of sources and ideas that exist in dynamic tension: Byatt's own experiences, Euripides, Ovid, and of course, Racine.