the éclat of a new era about to take off” (11). “Fevvers,” we are told in the opening chapter, “has all.

This is hardly surprising considering that the novel features as its principal protagonist a woman with wings ushering in the twentieth century. It has received a lot of critical attention, the majority of it feminist. Newly discovered ways of communication challenge the notion of the loss of agency as they demonstrate that the body itself has the power of creative and intentional capacities and self-expression.Ĭare-related narratives offer new insights into aging, dementia and subjectivity that can help pursue a better analysis of the 'deep' old age, strengthen collective solidary and manage increasing ageism, especially pronounced during the Covid-19 pandemic.Īngela Carter’s most ambitious novel, Nights at the Circus (1984), took her almost ten years to write (Carter “Sweet” 44).

It shows how the experience of parental care leads to the discovery of new ways of human interaction and expressions of personhood.įramed within literary-cultural age studies, the article shows how humanities-based inquiry can illuminate important aspects of aging and care of the oldest old, which are significant and revealing, but often hidden under the dark shadow of dementia. This article addresses the representations of dementia and caregiving in the fourth age as depicted in Erica Jong's later-life work.

Fear of Flying by Erica Jong