The developing of regressive and matriarchal structures in opposition to a patriarchal and authoritative society in 'The Cement Garden' by Ian McEwan

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,7, Humboldt-University of Berlin (Anglistik), course: Ian McEwan, language: English, abstract: Ian McEwan's The Cement Garden (1978) deals with the children Jack, Julie, Sue and Tom, who after the death of both their parents, slowly develop a microcosm. It shows signs of a matriarchal society and also creates independent authorities. In the following I will analyse the way in which McEwan transports this political novel and in doing so I will put a focus on the "kultur-und zivilisationskritischen Aspekte," who earn the main respect of the novel. By the establishing of matriarchal structures on an individual and also societal level, the children find a way of rediscovering the possibilities of interpersonal communication and by experiencing erotical sensuality, a relationship not only to the outer but also to the inner nature can be newly built, and by this they free themselves of limiting conventions temporarily, nevertheless, the excitement felt at the beginning won't be of long duration. McEwan already topicals the "sexuelle- sich-gewahr werden, den erotischen Lustgewinn und die problematische psychische Disposition von Jugendlichen und Kindern" in his first two short story-collections First Love, Last Rites (1975) and In Between The Sheets (1978). In the early literature of the Romanticism and the 19 th century children often functioned due to their uncorrupted moral as a mirror of the society and would show the adults their mistakes. McEwan shows the children neither unguilty nor passive - they are immoral and do not represent abstract moral values; they indexicalize the societal depravity. After a short examination and analysis of the main characters under the portent of the later offing regression I will in the second part be more concrete regarding causes and effects of the "matriarchal dreamtime."