The use of bodies, both metaphorically and physically, in connection with the art of storytelling in A.S. Byatt’s title story “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye” provides a fascinating and insightful challenge to the narrative of women’s bodies that we find throughout history. It is precisely this mixing of the literal and metaphorical uses of bodies throughout that helps flesh out Byatt’s story, making it become a body in and of itself. Byatt expertly layers stories inside stories, providing “limbs” to the tale. We see throughout the tale that the narrative of what a woman’s body should look like, in particular, is shaped by the storytelling contained within a culture. I assert that Gillian’s body of work in her career as a narratologist challenges those narratives and helps to reshape the way that women’s bodies and stories are perceived. Not only do we witness Gillian’s challenge of those narratives, but we see her challenge the notion she has of her own body. I believe that Byatt, herself, is employing the art of storytelling to comment on the narrative of “women” throughout time.
We see early on that images of bodies are pervasive in the story. Byatt often uses everyday places or items as representative bodies. When Gillian takes a flight from Heathrow airport, the airplane she is in was detached from “it’s umbilical tube,” evoking a connection not only to bodies but specifically to the female form. As a way to change the narrative about women’s bodies, Byatt reveals information about Gillian’s career before we learn that Gillian is a “woman in her fifties, past childbearing”. Byatt expertly flips on its head the idea that we need to describe a woman by her looks first. She creates a narrative that speaks to the intellect first, while still only giving minor information about Gillian’s body. Byatt also makes it clear that Gillian is an “unprecedented being” because she is self-sufficient, respected, and lives a life of luxury. This connection is important in the way that Byatt connects the images and lives of women over the span of history. Byatt also genders many of the uses of bodies in the text. Specifically, she uses the bodies of snakes as a substitute for the male body throughout the story. Many times those references to snakes and their bodies are in relation to femaleness. This comparison is especially important in the first descriptions that Byatt presents of the Djinn. His foot is “like snakeskin” and he is “curled round on himself like a snake”. Byatt ties this in with the fact that he is decidedly male as evidenced by the “strong horripilant male smell” that he emits.  I believe this presentation of snakelike male qualities is a way to validate and contrast both the female and male experience but more importantly, the way that one female body is constantly compared to the idea of female perfection. I think it’s important for readers to note that Gillian looks at the male body and male experience as “The Other” and is drawn to it. Throughout the story, the connection between achievement and the “Other” or maleness is made. Gillian muses several times that she once wished to be male in reference to her career or things that she wished to achieve, the inference being that if Gillian was male gendered that she would be able to achieve a higher level of respect from her peers and the public.
