The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five (1980)

The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five is a 1980 science fiction novel by Doris Lessing. It is the second book in her five-book Canopus in Argos series, the first being Shikasta (1979). It was first published in the United States in March 1980 by Alfred A. Knopf, and in the United Kingdom in May 1980 by Jonathan Cape.

The novel takes place in three of six metaphysical Zones that encircle the planet Shikasta (an allegorical Earth), and concerns two ordained marriages that link the patriarchal Zone Four with the matriarchal Zone Three, and the tribal Zone Five. The story is told from the point of view of the matriarchal utopian Zone Three, and is about gender conflict and the breaking down of barriers between the sexes. Lessing called the Canopus in Argos series "space fiction", but The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five is generally referred to as feminist science fiction.

The novel is influenced by spiritual and mystical themes in Sufism, an Islamic belief system in which Lessing had taken an interest in the mid-1960s. The zones are said to correspond to Sufism's different levels of consciousness, and symbolise the "Sufi ladder to enlightenment". Lessing was criticised for abandoning her traditional fiction and switching to science fiction in her Canopus in Argos series. Notwithstanding this criticism, The Marriages was generally well received by critics, with some reviewers calling it one of Lessing's best works on the topic of gender conflict.

The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five was adapted as an opera by composer Philip Glass with story-libretto by Lessing, and premiered in German in Heidelberg, Germany in May 1997. The United States premiere in English was performed in Chicago in June 2001. These productions were not very well received by theatre critics.

Zones

In the opening book of the Canopus in Argos series, Shikasta, Lessing introduced six metaphysical Zones (akin to cosmological planes) that encircle the planet Shikasta (an allegorical Earth). These Zones, numbered One to Six, each represent different levels of spiritual being. Shikasta only deals with Zone Six, the innermost and least pure of the Zones, which one commentator described as "a kind of purgatory in which humans wait out the time between incarnations on earth". Adjacent Zones in the numerical sequence border each other, from Zone Six (the lowest) up to Zone One (the highest and purest), each with a terrain more mountainous than the previous.

Three of the Zones in this spiritual landscape feature in The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five, which Lessing describes as self-contained "countries", each with their own "societies". Zone Two, highest in the spiritual hierarchy, is located high in the mountains at the edge of Zone Three, which in turn occupies the hills bordering the lowlands of Zone Four, which is adjacent to the flat desert terrain of Zone Five.

Plot summary

The story opens when the Providers, the invisible and unidentified rulers of all the Zones, order Al•Ith, queen of the peaceful paradise of Zone Three, to marry Ben Ata, king of the militarised and repressive Zone Four. Al•Ith is repulsed by the idea of consorting with a barbarian, and Ben Ata does not want a righteous queen disturbing his military campaigns. Nevertheless, Al•Ith descends to Zone Four and they reluctantly marry. Ben Ata is not used to the company of women he cannot control, and Al•Ith has difficulty relating to this ill-bred man, but in time they grow accustomed to each other and gain new insights into each other's Zones. Al•Ith is appalled that all of Zone Four's wealth goes into its huge armies, leaving the rest of its population poor and underdeveloped; Ben Ata is astounded that Zone Three has no army at all.

The marriage bears a son, Arusi, future heir to the two Zones. Some of the women of Zone Four, led by Dabeeb, step in to help Al•Ith. Suppressed and downtrodden, these women relish being in the presence of the queen of Zone Three. But soon after the birth of Arusi, the Providers order Al•Ith to return to Zone Three without her son, and Ben Ata to marry Vahshi, queen of the primitive Zone Five. Al•Ith and Ben Ata have grown fond of each other, and are devastated by this news.

Back in Zone Three, Al•Ith finds that her people have forgotten her, and her sister, Murti• has taken over as queen. Disturbed by the changes she sees in Al•Ith, Murti• exiles her to the frontier of Zone Two. Al•Ith, drawn by its allure, tries to enter Zone Two, but finds an unworldly and inhospitable place and is told by invisible people that it is not her time yet. At the frontier of Zone Five, Ben Ata reluctantly marries Vahshi, a tribal leader of a band of nomads who terrorise the inhabitants of her zone. But Ben Ata's marriage to Al•Ith has changed him, and he disbands most of his armies in Zone Four, sending the soldiers home to rebuild their towns and villages and uplift their communities. He also slowly wins over Vahshi's confidence and persuades her to stop plundering Zone Five.

When Arusi is old enough to travel, Dabeeb and her band of women decide to take him to Zone Three to see Al•Ith. This cross-border excursion is not ordered by the Providers, and Ben Ata has grave misgivings about their decision. In Zone Three the women are shocked to find the deposed Al•Ith working in a stable near Zone Two. While Al•Ith is pleased to see her son, she too has misgivings about Dabeeb's action. The bumptious women's travels through Zone Three evoke feelings of xenophobia in the locals.