Human development and change are inevitable. They are a part of every human’s life and will continue to be forever. The more we become involved with people or things or activities, the more influence they tend to have on who we are as a person and how we choose to live our lives. J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace focuses heavily on the development of a man named David Lurie. One way Coetzee symbolizes David Lurie’s development is through the changes that are made to his piece Byron in Italy. Starting off at the beginning of Disgrace and Byron in Italy, we can quickly see how events in David’s life create changes in the structure of his piece on Byron. David’s original intent and desire was, “…to write music” (Coetzee 4). His piece didn’t start as …show more content…
Instead of Byron being the main character living and engaging in affairs, he appears as a ghost. He “…is long dead” (177). This change can be seen as a reflection of the decrease of Byron’s influence on David’s thinking and way of life. Instead, Teresa becomes the main character. This is an important transition is David’s development for two reasons. The first is that he is placing a woman in a position of power. David is seeing women as more than just an object of sex. He is forcing himself to see from the female perspective. The second reason is that, initially, Teresa’s role was an outlet for the discussion of love and sex in his opera. The first mention of Teresa in Disgrace introduces her as Byron’s “complacent, short-legged mistress” (85). Her role goes from that of a historical reference to that of a main character. She is no longer the young and beautiful mistress we are introduced to at the beginning of Disgrace, The passage of time has not treated Teresa kindly. With her heavy bust, her stocky trunk, her abbreviated legs, she looks more like a peasant, a contadina, than an aristocrat. The complexion that Byron once so admired has turned hectic; in summer she is overtaken with attacks of asthma that leave her heaving for breath.