Angel of Light (novel)


Angel of Light is a novel by Joyce Carol Oates first published in 1981 by E. P. Dutton and reprinted by Warner Books in 1986.
The novel is an allegorical reimagining of the ancient Greek myth concerning the House of Atreus, dramatized by Aeschylus in his Oresteia.
The title of the novel is an explicit reference to the sobriquet that author Henry David Thoreau conferred on abolitionist John Brown

Plot

Angel of Light is told from a first-person point-of-view by Nick Martens. The story is set in Washington, D. C. in 1980.
The story explores the aftermath of the death of Maurice "Maurie" Halleck, a justice commissioner, in an automobile accident. His children, Owen and Kirsten, believe that his death was not a suicide, but rather a homicide arranged by their mother, Isabel. In a revenge pact, they murder Isabel and attempt to kill her lover, Nick Martens.

Reception

Reviewer Thomas R. Edwards in the New York Times acknowledges the ancient Greek antecedents for the novel adding, "But here the myth is updated, and altered, by the terms in which power is now exercised in America..." Edwards adds this praise: "Miss Oates achieves a fresh and frightening picture of a desire that exceeds any available attainment."

Retrospective appraisal

Angel of Light is thematically representative of Oates's novels of the late 1970s and early 1980s, concerning "the hunger to transcend human limitations through the redemptive powers of love."
Though Oates frames the story with an allusion to Aeschylus's tragedy, literary critic Joanne V. Creighton finds that the author fails to render her contemporary portrayals of Orestes and Electra convincingly. Creighton offers the following composite passage - a profile of Kirsten/Electra - as evidence of Oates's tendency to confront readers with "too much unassimilated information.":

Theme

In addition to the "implicit parallel" to the Greek drama Oresteia, Oates draws a thematic element from Henry David Thoreau's spirited defense of abolitionist John Brown in 1859.
The novel's title is based on Thoreau's characterization of Brown as "an angel of light" who sacrificed his life in the name of righteous justice. Creighton writes: "Oates picks up a dominant strain in American character and history. Maurice Halleck is a modern-day angel of light, with affinities to John Brown and Thoreau."