Susanna Clarke’s Cautionary Tale of Re-enchantment in: Religion
Susanna Clarke’s 2020 award-winning novel Piranesi serves as a thought-provoking exploration of the complex interplay between religion, enchantment, and disenchantment. Rather than a straightforward affirmation of re-enchantment, as some have interpreted, the novel acts more as a cautionary tale, highlighting the inherent tensions and potential pitfalls within efforts to re-enchant the modern world.
Religious Themes in Clarke’s Work
At the heart of Piranesi lies a rich tapestry of supernatural and religious elements. The protagonist, Piranesi, inhabits a fantastical, labyrinthine House that is imbued with a sense of the divine, where he engages in rituals and contemplates the nature of the “God-like” forces that seem to govern his world. This evokes a palpable sense of the sacred, harkening back to premodern, enchanted worldviews.
However, the narrative’s ambiguity surrounding the true nature of Piranesi’s reality—is it a psychological construct, a spiritual realm, or something else entirely?—introduces a layer of uncertainty that undermines simplistic assumptions about the religious or spiritual nature of the story. This ambiguity challenges readers to grapple with the complex and often elusive nature of belief, inviting them to consider the limitations of human understanding when it comes to the supernatural.
Moreover, the novel’s portrayal of characters like the Prophet and the Other, who each pursue their own agendas within the House, serves as a critique of religious dogmatism and the dangers of unchecked spiritual power. Their actions and motivations complicate any straightforward interpretation of the novel’s religious themes, suggesting that Clarke is less interested in affirming a particular set of beliefs than in exploring the ethical dilemmas and practical realities that arise when the supernatural and the mundane collide.
Enchantment and Disenchantment
At the core of Piranesi’s narrative is the tension between enchantment and disenchantment—a tension that mirrors the ongoing debates within contemporary scholarship on the subject. The novel’s protagonist, Piranesi, embodies a state of original participation, to borrow Owen Barfield’s term, in which he experiences the world as imbued with meaning, order, and the presence of the divine. This stands in stark contrast to the disenchanted perspective of the Other, who sees the world in purely instrumental and materialistic terms.
However, as the story progresses, Piranesi’s enchanted worldview begins to unravel, and he is forced to confront the harsh realities of his situation—a process that resembles the loss of innocence described in Charles Taylor’s account of secularization. This raises profound questions about the desirability and feasibility of attempts to re-enchant the modern world. Can the kind of enchantment Piranesi experiences ever truly be recovered, or is it inherently tied to a premodern, pre-skeptical mode of consciousness that is ultimately irrecoverable?
Moreover, the novel suggests that efforts to re-enchant the world may, paradoxically, reinforce the very boundaries between inner and outer world that characterize disenchantment. The Other’s desperate attempts to reclaim some lost power or meaning through occult practices, for example, seem to mirror the instrumental, manipulative approach to nature that Barfield and others have critiqued as underlying the disenchantment of the modern world.
Mythological Influences
Piranesi draws upon a rich tapestry of mythological and folkloric motifs, further complicating its engagement with religious and spiritual themes. The novel’s evocation of classical mythology, through both its title character and the various statues that populate the House, creates a sense of timelessness and universality that transcends the bounds of any single religious tradition.
Moreover, the novel’s incorporation of pagan and folkloristic elements, such as the albatross that appears to Piranesi, invites readers to consider the ways in which religious belief and mythological imagination have long been intertwined. This suggests that Clarke’s exploration of enchantment and disenchantment is not confined to the Judeo-Christian tradition, but rather engages with a broader, cross-cultural understanding of the human experience of the sacred and the mysterious.
At the same time, the novel’s use of archetypes and symbolic resonance, such as the labyrinth and the House itself, gestures toward a more universal, perhaps even Jungian, understanding of the human psyche and its relationship to the numinous. This further complicates any simplistic reading of the novel’s religious themes, inviting readers to consider the ways in which the sacred and the profane, the enchanted and the disenchanted, are inextricably intertwined.
Ethical Considerations
Underlying Piranesi’s exploration of religious and spiritual themes are profound ethical considerations. The novel’s portrayal of the Prophet and the Other, whose pursuit of magical power and secret knowledge leads to dire consequences, serves as a cautionary tale about the perils of unchecked spiritual ambition and the need for responsible, ethically grounded engagement with the supernatural.
Moreover, the novel’s ambiguity regarding the true nature of Piranesi’s reality, and the potential for that reality to be manipulated or even fabricated, raises profound questions about the nature of truth, the limits of human understanding, and the responsibilities that come with navigating the blurred boundaries between the material and the metaphysical.
In this sense, Piranesi can be seen as an exploration of the moral and ethical implications of re-enchantment, challenging readers to consider the ways in which efforts to recover a sense of the sacred or the mysterious must be tempered by a clear-eyed understanding of the potential for abuse, delusion, and the erosion of individual agency and responsibility.
Ultimately, Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi emerges as a rich and thought-provoking exploration of the complex interplay between religion, enchantment, and disenchantment. Rather than offering a simple affirmation or rejection of re-enchantment, the novel invites readers to grapple with the inherent tensions and ethical dilemmas that arise when the supernatural and the mundane collide. In doing so, it provides a powerful cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked spiritual ambition, while also hinting at the possibility of a more nuanced, ethically grounded approach to the enchantment of the modern world.