The Myth of Baucis and Philemon : a new reading of the ending of George Sand's Indiana (1832)

Abstract

In George Sand’s various examinations of the couple, passionate lovers are often thwarted by patriarchal society, whose model of marital union is sadly wanting. The idealised harmonious couple, Ralph and Indiana, in the utopian dénouement of Sand’s first novel therefore merits a closer reading, which this paper will undertake using the myth of ‘Baucis and Philemon’ in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, particularly its portrayal of conjugal felicity in old age as a reward for hospitality. The first part of the paper will analyse Sand’s couple in the light of the myth to show how her dynamic treatment of love, reward and harmony is based on equality. The final solution of Indiana is in fact highly political in its endorsement of gender equality and utopian socialism as alternative to the patriarchal model. The second part of the paper will then address the concept of xenia (ritualised guest-friendship) in the myth. The important introduction of the (disguised) stranger within the couple relationship serves to highlight the difference between inward-looking, possessive patriarchs who refuse entry of the outside world into their conjugal relations, as opposed to the open, outward-looking couple exemplified in the dénouement, who invites the young man -- subsequently identified as the narrator -- into the heart of their household and their story. By drawing on the importance of the visiting guests as gods in disguise in ‘Baucis and Philemon’ as well as on Derrida’s work on hospitality (as a potentially galvanising or destructive practice), this paper will offer a new reading of the utopian ending of Indiana that focuses on Sand’s opening up of alternative spaces and politics of the couple in 19thc France.