Sweet Old things and Dirty Old Men: The Vices and Virtues of Old Age in Muriel Spark's Memnto Mori

Abstract

Inspired by William F. May’s writings on the vices and virtues of the elderly we offer our reflections on his ideas as they are revealed by Muriel Spark’s novel, Memento Mori.. May argues that exempting the old from moral criticism positions them as “moral nonentities” and relieves the old, their caretakers, and society of moral responsibility. We, the coauthors of this paper, are from two different disciplines, namely Renaissance and medieval literature (Martha Rust), and social work and critical gerontology (Suzanne England). We offer our individual readings of the ways the novel illustrates May’s ideas, and conclude with our thoughts about how our collaboration opened up space in our own thinking and for continuing cross-disciplinary dialogue.