Sonia Jaworska, 1st year M.
A
CLIL
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF "THE TRIALS OF ARABELLA" IN ATONEMENT BY IAN McEWAN
Only during the first reading of Atonement one realizes that "The Trials of Arabella",
Briony's play, may serve some higher purpose in the Ian McIwan's novel. It is due to the fact that
the preparations and rehearsals for the performance occupy most of the pages in Part One, but also
because many characters are involved in the making of the play. After finishing the book the reader
is certain that „The Trials...”, being a frame for the narrative, must have some deeper meaning
indeed. What they still may not apprehend, however, is that the play itself- not only the plot, but the
cast choice and the rehearsals, works as a cipher thanks to which one may decode and foresee future
events and characters' fates.
The presence of the play within the novel provides insight into Briony's mind and therefore
allows to foresee her future actions. She wrote a play 'to provoke [Leon's] admiration, and guide
him away from his careless succession of girlfriends' (Atonement 4) Briony was a girl who needed
to be adored. To fulfil this need she wrote a play and probably for the same reason she did not say
the truth during the investigation: she wanted everybody to praise her courage, she wanted to feel
important but even more than that- not to cause dissapointment. Briony attempted to influence other
people's lives and did not want to limit herself only to Leon. As the author of a play she had the
power over the imaginary characters and she would love to extend that power over all people
around. But Briony was not only the author of "The Trials", she also wrote a book within which the
play works. When the reader acknowledges this fact he or she immediately starts to wonder whether
the story of Robbie and Cecilia is fiction just the same way as Arabella's story is. Eventually, Briony
admits that although the story of Robbie and Cecilia is true, she changed the ending for a happy
one.
The plot within „The Trials...” is extremely revealing. For one thing, the story of Arabella as
such is very schematic: the bad and the good are easily distinguished and the events follow certain
logical order, a pattern of romance. It is because Briony as a child perceived the world as governed
by cause and effect. That sort of thinking was the reason she misunderstood Robbie's intentions and
drew wrong conclusions. For Briony, "The Trials of Arabella" was an ultimate love story and
therefore Robbie was positioned as a bad count whereas Cecilia was a lead part. It would fit
logically and chronologically into the story. Briony expected Robbie to be evil and to be replaced
eventually by a good prince. However, it happens that Robbie was a prince in disguise (Robbie
wanted to be a doctor and the noble prince in "The Trials..." was one too) while Marshall turned out
to be a bad count. Arabella is desribed as stubborn and proud and Cecilia may be characterised by
these features as well. What's more, she even run away from home, just like Arabella did. "The
Trials..." foreshadows the hardships that are to be encountered by Cecilia and Robbie in their short
lives, although, for them the story did not end well.
The interesting issue is the cast choice and the play production that tells the reader more
about Lola and the Quincey's twins. Firstly, Lola wants to be Arabella and manipulates Briony into
agreeing to that. That shows she is not innocent but rather more independent and stronger than
anyone would suspect. While rehearsing, she refuses to lie on the ground in fear of making her
dress dirty (Atonement 55). She cares about appearences. That would explain why she did not tell
the truth about the evening encounter with Marshall: she seduced him or let herself be seduced and,
after the fact, was afraid of losing reputation. Secondly, the twins did not want to play. It is
important when one sees the play as an intrigue: the only innocents, the twins, wanted to stay away
from, as one of them says, "showing off". If Lola and Briony had done the same in their lives, the
tragedy wouldn't have happened at all. Thirdly, the choice of the role may have somehow
influenced the lives of the Quincey's twins, Jackson finally chooses to play a prince role while
Pierrot prefers an evil character and at the end of the novel it is Jackson who is dead and Pierrot
who is still alive. It mirrors in a perfect way the fate of Robbie and Marshall.
To sum up, there is much to be said about how "The Trials of Arabella" influences and
foreshadows the main events in the Atonement. The act of choosing roles, rehearsals, the attitude of
the actors towards the play and obviously the plot itself is an enormous source of information. The
play becomes a key factor in revealing and understanding fundamental truths about the characters
and even allows the reader to find the answers to the questions concerning issues not entirely
clarified in the book. In the novel that leaves the reader with so many understatements a theatrical
play that serves as a way of finding the truth is an invaluable device.
Works Cited (normally on the separate piece of paper)
McEwan, Ian. Atonement. London: Vintage Books, 2007.
