The significance of the Janus figure in Beattie's work

¶ … Janus" has its quirks, its metaphors, and its symbolism. This paper will thus aim to answer two questions in regards to Ann Beattie's short story. The first question will relate to the significance of the title, and the second will describe the marriage of Andrea and her husband.

In order to put the questions into context it is important to provide some background on the work. In the short story, Beattie examines the connection between Andrea, a successful real-estate agent, and a simple bowl. Andrea utilizes this glazed bowl when she shows houses, thinking it provides both simplicity and elegance. According to Andrea, the bowl is "both subtle and noticeable - a paradox of a bowl."[footnoteRef:1] The bowl is very special to Andrea, and later the reader finds out that this is because Andrea received it from a former lover, which prompts the question of whether she is dissatisfied with her marriage and her life. In fact, the bowl is so precious to the main character that when she forgets it in a house, she feels as if she has left a person there. More on the specifics of the story will be examine when analyzing the marriage of Andrea. [1: Edwards, Thomas R. "A Glazed Bowl of One's Own." New York Times. 12 Oct. 1986. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. .]

Now, with regards to the title, a simple search reveals the fact that Janus is the name of a Roman god. More specifically, Janus is the god of "gates and doors, of beginnings and endings," according to one blogger. He is represented as "a head with two faces looking in opposite directions." [footnoteRef:2] When one looks at the story this way, one can see that perhaps the title has some significance in Andrea's life. In a way, this could be interpreted as the fact that the woman is being pulled in two directions. One is the direction of her own life, her safe life, with her husband, and the other direction is that she is being pulled into the past, by the bowl and its association with a former lover. [2: "Janus" by Ann Beattie." This to Say about That. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. .]

In that which concerns Andrea's marriage this is not exactly a bed of roses either and is described when she looks at the bowl and calls it "still and safe, unilluminated."[footnoteRef:3] It seems that the story does, as aforementioned, reflect Andrea's condition and her inability to connect with her current life, demonstrating some sort of disappointment that the author feels her generation also feels. [3: Edwards, Thomas R. "A Glazed Bowl of One's Own." New York Times. 12 Oct. 1986. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. .]