170970 20260430151736.0 doi 10.24162/EI2026-14092 sideral 149088 ART-2026-149088 eng Jiménez-Pérez, Natalia Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0009-0008-0657-6242 The Haunting Legacy of Mother Ireland: Transcending the Madonna-Whore Binary in Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo (2024) 2026 As national-Catholicism became central to the construction of national identity in a post-independence Ireland, the notion of woman was restricted to a “static creature […] iconized by her connection with spirituality into a secular Irish Madonna [who] barely exists in her own right” (ap Hywel 1991: 25), and whose identity is inextricably linked to her (a)sexuality. In this sense, Sally Rooney’s latest novel constructs her main female characters around their sexuality, both through the perspective of a rural middle-aged divorcée, Margaret, and through the eyes of one of the protagonists, Peter, whose complicated relationship with Sylvia and Naomi will revolve around their roles as platonic and sexual partner, respectively. Haunted by their desire and how it transgresses the sexual and social norms embodied in Mother Ireland through the “traditional Madonna/Eve split” (Valiulis 2001: 154), both Peter and Margaret repress themselves to the edge of mental breakdown and psycho-emotional martyrdom. It is my contention that Intermezzo will place desire as its characters’ lifeline, erupting in one way or another from their self-imposed constrictions, and allowing for them to deconstruct their views on female sexuality in a narratorial game of sorts – externally for Peter and internally for Margaret – and thus be able to form a new identity based on relationality and mutual care instead of the exploitation of others or themselves. Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA-FSE/H03-23R info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICIU/PID2021-124841NB-I00 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by-nc https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.es info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 3004 345 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Filolog.Inglesa y Alema. Área Filología Inglesa 21 (2026), 117-130 Estud. irl. Estudios irlandeses 1699-311X The Haunting Legacy of Mother Ireland: Transcending the Madonna-Whore Binary in Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo (2024) 10.24162/EI2026-14092 412364 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/170970/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 1984630 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/170970/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:170970 articulos driver 2026-04-30-13:58:08 ARTICLE