The Portrayal of Alexandria in Lawrence Durrell’s The Alexandria Quartet Anonymous College

The city of Alexandria has always been alluring to writers, like a mystical figure which has been used differently every time it is presented. And this specific mystical figure, that is Alexandria, has been the inspiration of numerous arts of work including novels, poems, short stories, movies, and paintings. Lawrence Durrell’s The Alexandria Quartet is among these works however differently it portrays Alexandria than usual, often relying on memory and imagination to conjure his narrative's most powerful effects.

Memory plays a key narration technique in the work as the protagonist of The Quartet’s Darley relies on their memory to tell his story. Darley, however, admits he cannot remember but he forces imagined images and passes them as true, as he says in Balthazar, “The city, half imagined, yet wholly real.” This is paramount as it shows how the writer plans the narration. The narration is unbound by time or linear narrative, he is connecting his memories with the city. The half-imagined city of Darley changes as his perception of the characters changes. Durrell, then, does not portray Alexandria as a place but rather as a character that plays a part in his novel who has flaws and who affects the story. She is portrayed as a...