The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five
Encyclopedia
The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five is a 1980
science fiction novel by Nobel Prize in Literature
-winner Doris Lessing
. It is the second book in her five-book Canopus in Argos
series.
The story is narrated by the Chroniclers of Zone Three and concerns two ordained marriages that link the patriarchal
and militaristic
Zone Four with the matriarchal
and egalitarian
Zone Three, and the tribal
and barbaric
Zone Five. It focuses on the "struggles between men and women and the dimensions of sex and love", which, according to Time
Lessing has never written "with more sweetness, compassion and wisdom." The story is told largely from the point of view of the utopian
Zone Three, which places the novel in the category of feminist
utopias or feminist science fiction
.
The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five can be read as a stand-alone book, although it does take place in Zones introduced in Shikasta
(1979), the first book of the Canopus series.
, six metaphysical Zones (akin to cosmological planes
) encircle the planet Shikasta (an allegorical Earth
). These "concentric shells" (numbered One to Six) each represent different "levels of spiritual being." Shikasta only deals with Zone Six, the innermost and least pure of the Zones which is "...a kind of purgatory
in which humans wait out the time between incarnation
s on earth..."
In The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five, Lessing describes some of the higher Zones as self-contained "countries", each with their own "societies" that have evolved independently of the others over time. Adjacent Zones in the sequence border each other, from Zone Six (the lowest) up to Zone One (the highest and purest), each with "increasingly mountainous topography
."
Crossing the frontiers from one Zone to another is possible, but generally avoided as straying too close to the border leaves one feeling ill-at-ease and sometimes even physically sick. For those who need to move into another Zone, special shields are provided for protection against the debilitating effects of the foreign atmosphere (both physical and ideological).
The marriage bears a son, Arusi, the future heir
to the two Zones. Some of the women of Zone Four, led by Dabeeb (wife of Jarnti, Ben Ata's commander-in-chief), step in to help Al•Ith. Suppressed and downtrodden, these women relish being in the presence of the queen of Zone Three. But soon after the birth of Arusi, and just when Al•Ith and Ben Ata are growing fond of each other, the Providers order Al•Ith back to Zone Three and Ben Ata to marry Vahshi, the queen of the primitive Zone Five. Both are devastated by this news.
Back in Zone Three, Al•Ith finds that not only have her people forgotten her, her sister, Murti• has taken over as queen. Disturbed by the changes she sees in Al•Ith, Murti• exiles her to the frontier of Zone Two. Al•Ith, drawn by its allure, tries to enter Zone Two, but finds an unworldly and inhospitable place and is told by invisible people that it is not her time yet. At the frontier of Zone Five, Ben Ata reluctantly marries Vahshi, a tribal leader of a band of nomad
s who terrorise the inhabitants of Zone Five. But Ben Ata's marriage to Al•Ith has changed him and he disbands most of his armies, sending the soldiers home to rebuild their towns and villages and uplift their communities. He also slowly wins over Vahshi's confidence and persuades her to stop plundering Zone Five.
When Arusi is old enough to travel, Dabeeb and her band of women decide to take him to Zone Three to see Al•Ith. This cross-border excursion is not ordered by the Providers and Ben Ata has grave misgivings about their decision. In Zone Three the women are shocked to find the deposed Al•Ith working in a stable
near Zone Two. While Al•Ith is pleased to see her son, she too has misgivings about Dabeeb's action. The bumptious women's travels through Zone Three evokes feelings of xenophobia
in the locals.
After five years of silence, the Providers instruct Ben Ata to go and see Al•Ith. But at the border he is surprised to find a band of Zone Three youths armed with crude make-shift weapons blocking his way. Clearly they want no more incursions from Zone Four. Ben Ata returns with a large army and enters Zone Three unchallenged. While he is not well received, he discovers that Al•Ith has a small but growing band of followers who have moved to the frontier of Zone Two to be close to her. When Ben Ata finds Al•Ith they are reunited like old lovers. He tells her of the reforms he has introduced in Zone Four and his taming of the "wild one" from Zone Five.
One day, and not unexpectedly, Al•Ith visits Zone Two and does not return. But the changes set in motion by the two marriages are now evident everywhere. The frontiers between Zones Three, Four and Five are open and people and knowledge are flowing between them. Previously stagnant, the three Zones are now filled with enquiry, inspiration and renewal.
The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five was adapted for the opera
in 1997 by composer Philip Glass
with story-libretto
by Doris Lessing
. The two-act opera, for orchestra, chorus and soloists first premiered in Heidelberg
, Germany
, in May 1997 under the direction of Thomas Kalb (music) and Birgitta Trommler (stage). The first United States
premier was in June 2001 at the Merle Reskin Theatre
in Chicago
, Illinois
, and was directed by Harry Silverstein.
In 1986, Glass had adapted another of Lessing's books from this series for the opera, The Making of the Representative for Planet 8
.
Reviews
Analysis / Criticism
1980 in literature
The year 1980 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Marguerite Yourcenar becomes the first woman to be elected to the Académie française....
science fiction novel by Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
-winner Doris Lessing
Doris Lessing
Doris May Lessing CH is a British writer. Her novels include The Grass is Singing, The Golden Notebook, and five novels collectively known as Canopus in Argos....
. It is the second book in her five-book Canopus in Argos
Canopus in Argos
Canopus in Argos: Archives is a sequence of five science fiction novels by Nobel Prize in Literature-winning author Doris Lessing which portray a number of societies at different stages of development, over a great period of time...
series.
The story is narrated by the Chroniclers of Zone Three and concerns two ordained marriages that link the patriarchal
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination...
and militaristic
Militarism
Militarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
Zone Four with the matriarchal
Matriarchy
A matriarchy is a society in which females, especially mothers, have the central roles of political leadership and moral authority. It is also sometimes called a gynocratic or gynocentric society....
and egalitarian
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether persons or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality...
Zone Three, and the tribal
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
and barbaric
Barbarian
Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...
Zone Five. It focuses on the "struggles between men and women and the dimensions of sex and love", which, according to Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
Lessing has never written "with more sweetness, compassion and wisdom." The story is told largely from the point of view of the utopian
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
Zone Three, which places the novel in the category of feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
utopias or feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction which tends to deal with women's roles in society. Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society constructs gender roles, the role reproduction plays in defining gender and the unequal political and...
.
The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five can be read as a stand-alone book, although it does take place in Zones introduced in Shikasta
Shikasta
Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta is a 1979 science fiction novel by British Nobel Prize in Literature-winner Doris Lessing, and is the first book in her five-book Canopus in Argos series. It was first published in the United States in October 1979 by Alfred A. Knopf, and in the United Kingdom in...
(1979), the first book of the Canopus series.
Zones
First described in ShikastaShikasta
Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta is a 1979 science fiction novel by British Nobel Prize in Literature-winner Doris Lessing, and is the first book in her five-book Canopus in Argos series. It was first published in the United States in October 1979 by Alfred A. Knopf, and in the United Kingdom in...
, six metaphysical Zones (akin to cosmological planes
Plane (metaphysics)
In esoteric cosmology, a plane, other than the physical plane is conceived as a subtle state of consciousness that transcends the known physical universe....
) encircle the planet Shikasta (an allegorical Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
). These "concentric shells" (numbered One to Six) each represent different "levels of spiritual being." Shikasta only deals with Zone Six, the innermost and least pure of the Zones which is "...a kind of purgatory
Purgatory
Purgatory is the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment in which, it is believed, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven...
in which humans wait out the time between incarnation
Incarnation
Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial....
s on earth..."
In The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five, Lessing describes some of the higher Zones as self-contained "countries", each with their own "societies" that have evolved independently of the others over time. Adjacent Zones in the sequence border each other, from Zone Six (the lowest) up to Zone One (the highest and purest), each with "increasingly mountainous topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
."
Crossing the frontiers from one Zone to another is possible, but generally avoided as straying too close to the border leaves one feeling ill-at-ease and sometimes even physically sick. For those who need to move into another Zone, special shields are provided for protection against the debilitating effects of the foreign atmosphere (both physical and ideological).
Plot
The story opens when the Providers, the invisible and unidentified rulers of all the Zones, order that Al•Ith, queen of the peaceful paradise of Zone Three, marry Ben Ata, king of the militarized and repressive Zone Four. Al•Ith is repulsed by the idea of consorting with a barbarian, and Ben Ata does not want a righteous queen disturbing his military campaigns. Nevertheless, Al•Ith descends to Zone Four and they reluctantly marry. Ben Ata is not used to the company of women he cannot control, and Al•Ith has difficulty relating to this ill-bred man, but in time they grow accustomed to each other and gain new insights into each other's Zones. Al•Ith is appalled that all of Zone Four's wealth goes into its huge armies, leaving the rest of its population poor and underdeveloped. Ben Ata is astounded by the fact that Zone Three has no army at all.The marriage bears a son, Arusi, the future heir
Inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
to the two Zones. Some of the women of Zone Four, led by Dabeeb (wife of Jarnti, Ben Ata's commander-in-chief), step in to help Al•Ith. Suppressed and downtrodden, these women relish being in the presence of the queen of Zone Three. But soon after the birth of Arusi, and just when Al•Ith and Ben Ata are growing fond of each other, the Providers order Al•Ith back to Zone Three and Ben Ata to marry Vahshi, the queen of the primitive Zone Five. Both are devastated by this news.
Back in Zone Three, Al•Ith finds that not only have her people forgotten her, her sister, Murti• has taken over as queen. Disturbed by the changes she sees in Al•Ith, Murti• exiles her to the frontier of Zone Two. Al•Ith, drawn by its allure, tries to enter Zone Two, but finds an unworldly and inhospitable place and is told by invisible people that it is not her time yet. At the frontier of Zone Five, Ben Ata reluctantly marries Vahshi, a tribal leader of a band of nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
s who terrorise the inhabitants of Zone Five. But Ben Ata's marriage to Al•Ith has changed him and he disbands most of his armies, sending the soldiers home to rebuild their towns and villages and uplift their communities. He also slowly wins over Vahshi's confidence and persuades her to stop plundering Zone Five.
When Arusi is old enough to travel, Dabeeb and her band of women decide to take him to Zone Three to see Al•Ith. This cross-border excursion is not ordered by the Providers and Ben Ata has grave misgivings about their decision. In Zone Three the women are shocked to find the deposed Al•Ith working in a stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
near Zone Two. While Al•Ith is pleased to see her son, she too has misgivings about Dabeeb's action. The bumptious women's travels through Zone Three evokes feelings of xenophobia
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
in the locals.
After five years of silence, the Providers instruct Ben Ata to go and see Al•Ith. But at the border he is surprised to find a band of Zone Three youths armed with crude make-shift weapons blocking his way. Clearly they want no more incursions from Zone Four. Ben Ata returns with a large army and enters Zone Three unchallenged. While he is not well received, he discovers that Al•Ith has a small but growing band of followers who have moved to the frontier of Zone Two to be close to her. When Ben Ata finds Al•Ith they are reunited like old lovers. He tells her of the reforms he has introduced in Zone Four and his taming of the "wild one" from Zone Five.
One day, and not unexpectedly, Al•Ith visits Zone Two and does not return. But the changes set in motion by the two marriages are now evident everywhere. The frontiers between Zones Three, Four and Five are open and people and knowledge are flowing between them. Previously stagnant, the three Zones are now filled with enquiry, inspiration and renewal.
Characters
- Al•Ith – queen of Zone Three
- Murti• – Al•Ith's sister
- Ben Ata – king of Zone Four
- Jarnti – Ben Ata's commander of Zone Four's armies
- Dabeeb – Jarnti's wife and Al•Ith's attendant in Zone Four
- Arusi – Al•Ith and Ben Ata's son
- Vahshi – queen of Zone Five
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
- The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five (opera, 1997)
The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five was adapted for the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in 1997 by composer Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
with story-libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Doris Lessing
Doris Lessing
Doris May Lessing CH is a British writer. Her novels include The Grass is Singing, The Golden Notebook, and five novels collectively known as Canopus in Argos....
. The two-act opera, for orchestra, chorus and soloists first premiered in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, in May 1997 under the direction of Thomas Kalb (music) and Birgitta Trommler (stage). The first United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
premier was in June 2001 at the Merle Reskin Theatre
Merle Reskin Theatre
The Merle Reskin Theatre is a performing arts venue located in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. Originally named the Blackstone Theatre, it was founded in 1910. The Merle Reskin Theatre is now part of DePaul University, although it is still used for events not affiliated with the...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, and was directed by Harry Silverstein.
In 1986, Glass had adapted another of Lessing's books from this series for the opera, The Making of the Representative for Planet 8
The Making of the Representative for Planet 8
The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 is a 1982 science fiction novel by Nobel Prize in Literature-winner Doris Lessing. It is the fourth book in her five-book Canopus in Argos series and relates the fate of a planet, under the care of the benevolent galactic empire Canopus, that is plunged...
.
External links
Homepage- The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four, and Five at dorislessing.org.
Reviews
- "Soul Mates". TimeTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
review.
Analysis / Criticism
- "The Space of Belonging". Essay on alienation in The Marriages between Zones Three, Four and Five.
- "Doris Lessing, Nobel Laureate, and the XX/YY Axis". Literary criticism of Lessing's works, including The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five.
- "A Complex and Delicate Web". Comparative study of selected speculative novels, including The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five.