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The Wounding Aurora By Sarah Waters Essay

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The Wounding Aurora Sarah Waters’ Affinity uses the identity, Aurora, to represent a wound for the main character, Margaret Prior. The identity of Aurora haunts Margaret through its representation of her past relationship with her former lover Helen; Aurora’s the nickname Helen had for Margaret during their relationship (Waters 114). Therefore, Margaret’s haunted by the person she used to resemble in her relationship with Helen effectively named Aurora; a person she desperately wants to become again. Essentially, Margaret’s haunted by a ghost of herself in the form of an identity. Throughout the book, Margaret’s actions are either a result of trying to heal the wound of Aurora or out of a desire to become Aurora again; her whole existence is based around an identity of a past relationship. Therefore, Margaret subjects herself to the identity of Aurora. The identity of Aurora first presents itself when Selina asks Margaret to “give me a secret name, a name that has, not the worst of you, but the best…” (Waters 114). Margaret answers Aurora conveying Margaret’s belief of Aurora being the best version of herself. Margaret’s belief is conveyed further through her “flinching” (114) at Selina writing the name Margaret reflecting her own discomfort with the identity of Margaret. Therefore, Margaret rejects the identity of Margaret in favor of the identity of Aurora. Moreover, Margaret’s flinching conveys the Bennett & Royle concept of: “Writing can inflict wounds” (129) through

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