Never Too Old to Learn or Rebel. Two Old Ladies (Twee oude vrouwtjes) by Toon Tellegen
by Aagje Swinnen, Maastricht University, The Netherlands [1]All original Dutch quotes from Two Old Ladies are translated to English by Aagje Swinnen.)
Introduction
1 Two Old Ladies, published in 1994, is a short story composite written by Toon Tellegen, a contemporary Dutch author. It precedes Tellegen’s series of modern fables about a squirrel and its animal friends, which made his writings immensely popular. Like the fables, the short stories of Two Old Ladies both entertain and challenge the reader. On the one hand, the strange events about different pairs of old women, which remind of the grim reality of the fairy tale world, raise a laugh. The playful turns of the seemingly uncomplicated tales catch the innocent reader by surprise. On the other hand, the reading experience of Two Old Ladies can be quite frustrating since the form of the composite persistently counters the possibility of discovering an underlying coherence. One keeps wondering what these tales are about and where they lead to. In the first short story for instance, two old ladies try to ruin their love by taking draconian measures like drinking to excess, eating teaspoons of shoe polish, and hiding behind room dividers. But it is no use. They cannot stop loving one another no matter how hard they try. The whole chain of events is rather comic until one arrives at the end of the story and the women start crying: “Old people must not love each other […] No!” (Tellegen 5). Where do these harsh words suddenly come from and what do they imply?
2 In this article, I study the literary representation of age and gender in Two Old Ladies. Tellegen’s short story composite does not mirror reality, but creates an intriguing alternative that invites a critical text analysis. The question arises if and how common assumptions about women’s old age are rewritten in Tellegen’s tales. To answer this question, I present an intertextual reading process. First, I investigate how Two Old Ladies refers to the narrative structure of the fairy tale and its stereotypical depiction of old women as antagonistic hags or helpful grannies. I substitute a referential reading method for a poetic one in order to arrive at a better understanding of Tellegen’s fiction. Second, I look into the conventions of the grotesque as an art form that resists dominant modes of representation and interpretation. Also, in the theories of the grotesque, the body of an old woman often functions as the prototypical grotesque body. Third, I use the genre characteristics of the short story composite to illuminate the dialogical encounter between Tellegen’s different stories. The closure of every single story gets undermined by the act of collecting them. The form of the short story composite turns out to be compatible with theories of performativity. In my analysis, I call on the important insights of gender and age studies to deepen the understanding of Tellegen’s critical practice as a writer in Two Old Ladies.
1. Bedtime/Deathtime Stories
3All the short stories of Tellegen’s composite, with the exception of the 18th tale, begin with the words two old ladies in capitals. The identity of these elderly women, however, is no more than lightly touched upon. The ladies remain nameless and their past is never revealed so that it is difficult to distinguish them from one another. Only details of their physical appearance are explicitly mentioned. In general, the old ladies are fragile, tiny, stiff, grey, bony, bent, wrinkled and wobbly. They wear wide skirts or dresses with large pockets in which they hide handkerchiefs, soaked in cologne. In order to stay warm, the women wrap embroidered shawls around their delicate shoulders. Whether the homes they live in are big or small, in the city or the countryside, up in the sky or low to the ground, they always testify of past glory. Their rooms store up paintings, solid chandeliers, plush fauteuils, heavy curtains, oak tables, etc. In short, both the typification of the protagonists and the depiction of the setting of the events are characterized by the adjective old, used as an epithet with women in the opening phrases of the stories. Old does not seem to refer to old age in its chronological sense in Two Old Ladies. It is of no importance if the characters are in their sixties or nineties. The epithet rather calls attention to the state of isolation that comes with old age. The two old ladies live in a world that the young(er) readers do not recognize as familiar.
4Seldomly, narratives are centered on the adventures of old ladies, as is the case in Tellegen’s short story composite. As characters with a specific function in a schematic plot, they mostly form a part of fairy tales (Dingeldein and Ranke). In fairy tales, too, elderly women do not get a name nor have a past. They live in isolation and embody magic art. On the one hand, old women can use this magic art negatively. In the narrative function of marplots, they do everything that lies in their power to sabotage the hero in the achievement of his/her quest. As wicked witches or vice stepmothers, they are incarnations of evil – a denotation that results from Christianity. The prototypical, dangerous hag in fairy tale land is the witch from “Hansel and Gretel.” She fattens up the imprisoned little boy in order to eat him for dinner, but ends up in the oven herself. She is outright malevolent by nature and only death can put an end to her power. On the other hand, old women can make use of their magic art in a positive way. In the function of helpers, they may facilitate the mission of the hero by offering him/her guidance. In the shape of kind granny or wise crone they use their witch craft to provide for a miraculous instrument that will help solving the initial conflict of the tale – a reference to women herbalists in pre-Christian, popular belief. A famous example of the wise old granny is Mother Holle who rewards the diligent girl with a layer of gold while her lazy sister will never be rid of the indelible pitch she is covered in.
5The prominence of the characters of the old ladies already raises the anticipation of reading fairy tales. In addition, other characteristics of Tellegen’s short stories remind of fairy tale conventions. First, the events of the short stories often balance between the real and the surreal. In the 10th tale, for instance, the one old lady creeps in a waste disposal bag waiting for the refuse cart to come. That way, she wants to give the other old woman her freedom back. Or, in the 29th story, the one elderly woman persistently pretends to be a bumble-bee as the other lady had requested at her deathbed. Second, the characters have no psychological depth. You only get to know them by the actions they are involved in. Since Vladimir Propp published his morphology of the folktale in 1928, there is no discussion about the crucial importance of events for the definition of the genre. Fairy tales are exciting because spectacular and predictable actions occur at a high pace. A change of character only happens under influence of external circumstances. Third, the recurring opening formula two old ladies, reminiscent of once upon a time, and the uncomplicated plot structure of the short stories suggest that Tellegen’s composite is meant for readers of all ages. That impression is even reinforced by the illustrations of André Sollie that accompany the tales. But do all these familiar features of the fairy tale genre suffice to get a better understanding of Two Old Ladies? And do the old ladies in Tellegen’s stories conform to the stereotyped roles of elderly women in fairy tales? I will elaborate on these questions by means of the 36th story.