Every journey conceals another journey within its lines: the path not taken and the forgotten angle.
Jordan explains that for each choice that one makes on their path through life, there are infinite other options they could have chosen. Moreover, the novel argues that these alternatives are not necessarily less real. By often leaving it ambiguous as to what is real, and what is imaginary, and to what extent those categories are even meaningful, Winterson disrupts the idea of making choices that will define one's "real life." The quotation also introduces the key motif of journeys, which will occur both literally (for example, Jordan and Tradescant's journeys) and as metaphors for exploration and escapism.
In my petticoats I was a traveller in a foreign country. I did not speak the language. I was regarded with suspicion.
This quotation is spoken by Jordan when he disguises himself as a woman, and interacts with other women. During this time period, Jordan gains a different perspective from the one he previously held. He realizes that women often hide their true feelings and experiences from men, and only reveal their authentic selves to other women. The quotation uses a metaphor in which Jordan compares the experience of living in a different gender to visiting a foreign land; the metaphor connects the quotation to Jordan's subsequent experiences of traveling to many different places. Jordan is able to gain somewhat unique insights because of his openness to new experiences. The quotation also shows Winterson's interest in exploring themes of gender and sexuality.
I am too huge for love. No one, male or female, has ever dared to approach me. They are afraid to scale mountains.
Dog Woman speaks this quotation when she reflects on why no one has ever shown romantic or sexual interest in her. Dog Woman is gigantic, and her huge size gives her a somewhat grotesque appearance. She believes that people are repulsed and intimidated by her size, and therefore do not feel love or desire for her. Dog Woman's size defies conventional expectations of feminine beauty, since women would stereotypically be expected to be small and dainty. It also functions as a metaphor for her outspoken, blunt, and assertive personality. Both these physical and personality traits might be considered unattractive in a woman. The quotation is also significant because it shows that Dog Woman is disdainful of the people who feel intimidated by her: she does not think there is anything wrong with her, and sees it as pathetic that people are intimidated by her.
Was I searching for a dancer whose name I did not know or was I searching for the dancing part of myself?
Jordan speaks this quotation as he becomes more and more obsessed with finding Fortunata, and begins to wonder why. After only catching a brief glimpse of Fortunata, Jordan pursues her all over the world; he doesn't know if Fortunata will return his feelings, or if the two of them will be compatible. Jordan is astute enough to wonder if he is being driven by his own psychology; Fortunata's free and joyful spirit might represent his desire to have those qualities in his own life. While Jordan does question why he has to find the dancer, he feels compelled to pursue her nonetheless. This shows that individuals can recognize that desire may be illogical, or even destructive, and yet be compelled to pursue it anyways.
We were all given in marriage, one to each brother, and as it says lived happily ever after. We did, but not with our husbands.
One of the dancing princesses speaks this quotation to Jordan as she explains to him what happened after their marriage. This comment becomes the frame for the different narratives that the individual princesses speak about their lives. The quotation subverts a traditional "happy ending" and reflects the themes of critiquing marriages and heterosexual relationships. Many narratives, including fairy tales, would end with a heterosexual marriage to signal a happy resolution, but Winterson's novel points out that many women are not happy living in these relationships. Significantly, the princesses do end up being happy but only once they reclaim their lives, by either living independently, or finding new partners.
He couldn't be expected to make himself homeless because he was in love. "Medea did," I said. "And Romeo and Juliet, and Cressida, and Ruth in the Bible."
This quotation occurs in one of the tales told by the dancing princesses. She recounts how her husband fell in love with someone else, but expected her to be the one to leave the home they had shared. When he objects that it would be unreasonable for him to leave his home because he has fallen in love with someone, she counters with famous figures from literature and history who did exactly that. The quotation reveals how Winterson uses allusions and intertextuality to add depth to her novel. It also features an episode where a woman outwits a man, and challenges a patriarchal narrative; the implication is that the princess's husband can't fathom leaving his home to be with his new love, because men are typically not called upon to make these kinds of sacrifice.
Language always betrays us, tells the truth when we want to lie, and dissolves into formlessness when we would most like to be precise.
This quotation is an example of the philosophical meditations that Winterson embeds throughout the novel. Digressing from the main plot, the narrator explores ideas of time, identity, memory, and language. The quotation reflects on how language both constrains and creates the ability to explore ideas and emotions; it also forces us to organize experiences within time, which might belie the complexity of how experiences are occurring. The quotation also serves as a kind of meta-commentary on how language functions in the novel: it is not always clear on the sequence of events in the plot, and whether events are meant to be interpreted as "actually" happening, or happening within the world of a character's imagination. Winterson also incorporates aspects of magical realism, which further shows that the role of language is not merely to document events in straightforward or linear ways.
The scene I have just described to you may lie in the future or the past. Either I have found Fortunata or I will find her. I cannot be sure. Either I am remembering her or I am still imagining her.
This quotation represents a moment where Winterson makes it explicit that events in the novel are not always presented as objectively accurate. Jordan describes a scene with Fortunata, but then muses that he might be either imagining something that has not yet happened, or recalling something that has already taken place. This quotation shows that the categories of memory, fantasy, and observation are not necessarily clear-cut, especially when emotions are involved. Because Jordan feels so much love and longing for Fortunata, it becomes even harder for him to discern what is real and what he is imagining.
They all want to be heroes and all we want is for them to stay at home and help with the housework and the kids. That's not the kind of heroism they enjoy.
This quotation is spoken by the woman in the modern-day portion of the novel, as she muses on ideals of masculinity. She is somewhat sympathetic to the masculine desire for exploration and heroism; at other points in the novel, both Jordan and Nicholas Jordan become fixated on this type of heroism and achievement. However, she points out that greater equality would be achieved between men and women if men were open to pouring their energy and ambition into domesticity. The quotation highlights how tension and lack of connection can arise between men and women because they are socialized into different roles, and men often undervalue the contributions women make in the domestic world.
The future lies ahead like a glittering city, but like the cities of the desert disappears when approached.
This quotation occurs at the end of the novel, as Dog Woman and Jordan sail away from London. The possibility of a future and a new life that they might establish in a different location is presented using the metaphor of comparing it to a city that they can faintly glimpse in the distance. The metaphor adds complexity, because Dog Woman and Jordan are fleeing from a city, and thus the future might actually be a new city. Winterson develops the metaphor by comparing the future to a city which is actually a mirage; this extended metaphor reveals that the idea of a future is not necessarily real, highlighting how the text has unsettled traditional ideas of how time functions.
