An analyse of the story The Phoenix, from Stories of Ourselves, by Sylvia Townsend Warner

1. “The Phoenix”
by Sylvia Townsend Warner

2. Author’s biography: Sylvia Nora Townsend warner
● Middlesex, 1893-1978 (died at 84)
● home-schooled by his dad, who died early in life
● from a very young age she had to fend for herself
● she worked in an ammo factory (during WW1) - had
insight into mass-production / mass-consumerism /
capitalism
● leftist ideology / wrote anti-fascist articles for
communism
● her writings evince a social critique of capitalism

3. Genre: The macabre
● dwells on the gruesome (i.e. extremely unpleasant
and shocking, usually connected with death) in an
upsetting way
● has death as the central subject
● it tends to produce horror in the beholder
● has a grim / gloomy atmosphere
● involves death or violence in a strange way

4. The Macabre in “The Phoenix”
- ageing of the phoenix
- ending

5. Elements of analysis / Focus
- Characterisation (Lord Strawberry / Poldero)
- Symbolism: the phoenix as a symbol of nature
- Themes:
- greed of man
- man (Poldero) vs. nature (phoenix)
- intervention of man upon nature
- nature strikes back (revenge)
- human gore / attraction to the grotesque
- Ending: twist in the tale / abrupt
- Point of view

6. Characterisation: Lord strawberry
aviary owner - travelled to Arabia to get the phoenix
died after war - devoted to his animals
representative of nobility: his name and title give him
social prestige; yet, he has no money.
he shows respect for and interest in nature
he dies in the story because the order of things in business
has changed (having a title was not enough in the capitalist
world). economic problems (that’s when Poldero appears)

8. Characterisation: Poldero
aged the phoenix so as to make a spectacle of it
representative/metonymical of neoimperialism
he uses / abuses / imprisons / exploits nature to gain a
profit
capitalist-minded / freeloader / greedy
he “burns” his chance of making money / he would go any
length to make money
his name sounds “foreign”, which indicates the introduction
of capitalism and global businesses (author’s criticism)

10. Symbol: The Phoenix
- “one of a kind”
- Specular of Poldero and Lord Strawberry - the way they
treat the bird / the attitudes they have with it reveal
aspects of who they are.
- It represents nature - and its revenge against man’s
abusive intervention.
- It symbolises nature in the sense that while the phoenix
burns to ashes (death), it can always be born again (life
- cycle of nature). This contrasts with man in the story
(as it becomes extinct)

11. Theme 1: Greed of man
-Man’s desire for power and wealth over the important and
valuable things, like nature
-Capitalist-minded, selfish with nature
-In the story, Poldero represents the capitalist man on his
run towards making profit at the expense of life / morality
-Man as freeloader (to earn money by taking advantage of
others)
-Men don’t care about destroying nature as long as they get
what they want (money)

12. Theme 2: man vs nature
-Men try to manipulate nature, but they don’t understand
that nature is more powerful than them, and that they are
insignificant in the eyes of nature
-At the end, the attempt of men to exploit nature backfires
on them. No matter how hard men try to control nature,
nature will always prevail / survive.
-While nature will be reborn after it is destroyed (cycle of
life), if men die they won't recover.

13. Theme 3: Human intervention upon nature
-Men exploit, use, and abuse nature to make profits and to
gain money/ for business and don’t care about the
consequences that their intervention brings
-No matter what men do, the cycle of nature will continue
-If men attack nature, nature will strike back and the
effect will be stronger / more destructive.
-Men think they are superior to nature and that they can
control it, without bringing any consequences. However, they
are not. They are, in fact, insignificant.

14. theme 4: nature strikes back (revenge)
-No matter to what extent will men abuse and exploit nature,
it will always strike back and the actions of man will
backfire on them.
-When men trespass nature’s limits by using and exploiting
it, it will strike back
-Even in nature’s biggest moment of weakness, it will take
revenge

15. Theme 5: human gore
-Human gore: This term refers to man’s indulgence in
watching the suffering of others, or man’s attraction to
what is morbid / repulsive / gruesome
-Man’s violent and aggressive actions against nature (this
is perfectly portrayed in Poldero’s constant attempts to
belittle the phoenix)
-As a consequence of human gore, human blood ends up being
spilled at the end, when the phoenix is exploited to the
edge, Poldero’s plan backfires. The phoenix burns and kills
every human being who was present at the event, watching the
phoenix’s act of burning and “dying”.

16. Theme 6: Responsibility
Society is responsible for exploiting (and destroying)
nature, as well as being responsible for feeding the
capitalist system
The theme of responsibility is an uncanny elemnt in the
story, as while it is meant to protect nature, it actually
uses, exploits and abuses of it to get what they want.
(money)
Human beings are free to choose what to do, so in that sense
we are responsible for our decisions.

17. ending
- PYRRHIC VICTORY: Poldero goes any length to get what he
wants, his effort was for a very low profit, though he
get what he wanted, to what extent? Was it worthy?
- POETIC JUSTICE: At the end of the story, justice is shown
in a poetic way, as the burning of the phoenix symbolises
that man finally pays the consequences of his wrong
doing/ abusive and destructive deeds towards nature
- TWIST (You expect something to happen, and the results
are different of what you expected at the ending)
- Abrupt: Tension is left on the readers to resolve.

18. point of view- Extradiegetic, omniscient narrator (we expect the
narrator to be neutral /objective. Yet, at some points,
the narrator adopts a critical stance.)
- Tone:
- ironic/sarcastic/cynical “Daily he stationed himself in front of the
cage to jeer at the bird and abuse it.” The use of the word “abuse”
is contradictory because it is never a “good idea” to destroy nature.
- sarcastic: “...eagles did not find it uncomfortable.”Animals should
be in their own habitat. No cage is a suitable place for a bird to
live. Using the double megative in this fragment precisely higlights
this point.
- critical/judgemental: when Poldero abuses the bird, the narrator
describes Poldero’s acts objectively, in a neutral tone. Nonetheless,
there is a point in which the narrator foregrounds the destructive
nature of those acts, such as his putting dirty straw in the
Phoenix’s cage, thus belittling the bird.

19. point of view (2)
- Tone:
- cynical: “This is the thrilling moment the world has breathlessly
awaited.” Human beings are presented in a negative light. Their
attitude is clearly appalling as their desire is to see the suffering
of Nature. As a consequence, humans have to be punished and the
burning of the Phoenix is the suitable revenge.

20. Essay Questions
1.​ ​Explore how Warner makes the ending of ‘The Phoenix’ so
effective for ​you.
​2.​ ​Explore in detail the way Warner memorably portrays
greed in ‘The ​Phoenix’.​
3.​ ​How does Warner make the character of Poldero
particularly unpleasant ​for you in ‘The Phoenix’?
​4.​ ​What does Warner make you feel about human nature in
‘The Phoenix’?