What does the title Nightwood refer to (or imply)?

Djuna Barnes was a contemporary of Anais Nin, and, like that writer, also very interested in writing about the emotional lives of characters with descriptive and evocative language. Her novel Nightwoodcaused a sensation in 1937 when it was published; poet T. S. Eliot called the author's use of language "astonishing." The novel's plot and characters seem to be secondary in impact to the use of language, which is full of imagery and symbolism. The...

Djuna Barnes was a contemporary of Anais Nin, and, like that writer, also very interested in writing about the emotional lives of characters with descriptive and evocative language. Her novel Nightwood caused a sensation in 1937 when it was published; poet T. S. Eliot called the author's use of language "astonishing." The novel's plot and characters seem to be secondary in impact to the use of language, which is full of imagery and symbolism. The novel is about a stormy relationship between two women and the people in their lives who become entangled in their difficulties. In one scene Doctor O'Connor, a complex character who has a sexual identity crisis, goes on a bit of tirade and says to Nora Flood, the protagonist: "Ho, nocturnal hag, whimpering on the thorn, rot in the grist, mildew on the corn." This kind of language, full of somewhat disturbing imagery, allows an understanding of the title's meaning.

The image of a "night wood" or a forest in darkness seems to refer to the shadowy places in our minds and souls that can obsess us when we are unhappy or confused in relationships or when contemplating our own purpose or identity. Carl Jung, whose works were beginning to be popular around the time this novel was written, referred to the forest as one of many archetypes, or ancient symbolic ideas that help us understand human thought and emotions. Forests can be dark, mysterious, tangled, frightening and dangerous. The words "nocturnal hag" conjure an image of an old woman who goes about by night, a sort of witch figure, and witches are also associated with the forest. The title refers overall to the sometimes confusing and frightening state of the human psyche, and the ways in which relationships can feel like a journey into the unknown and unfamiliar.