Fantastic Dream-Quests : George MacDonald's "Phantastes" and David Lindsay's "A Voyage to Arcturus"

Abstract

This thesis studies the adult high (or other-world) fantasy of two pioneers in the genre: George MacDonald, who enjoys some reputation still, and David Lindsay, whose fame has remained very limited. Lindsay acknowledged MacDonald as his greatest literary influence; focusing on MacDonald s "Phantastes" and Lindsay s "A Voyage to Arcturus", this thesis tries to identify formal and thematic parallels which may be due to that influence. The parallels are summed up in the term dream-quests , which draws attention to a number of characteristics that make the works resemble dreams, and to the quest for truth and an otherworldly ideal that the works share. The thesis looks to George MacDonald s poetic beliefs for the rationale behind this kind of fantasy, arguing that Phantastes was intended as a dramatisation of his views on the nature and role of the imagination and of symbolism. Lindsay, it is argued, fell heir to the theory and practice of such fantastic dream-quests, though he adapted it to fit a set of spiritual teachings that are in some respects very different from MacDonald s.