gnaw away at

最近、カワードのBlithe Spiritに興味を持って来ました。そこでThe Guardianの劇評を観てみることにしました。日本じゃあそんなに上演されない劇だけれども、イングランドでは毎年のように上演され、改めて人気の作品なのだなと思います。

gnawは「《前歯で》かじる、(骨を)しゃぶる」という意味ですが、赤字のgnaw away atは、『リーダーズ英和辞典』では、gnaw atのかたちで「むしばむ；弱らせる、絶えず苦しめる、悩ます」という訳が与えられています。一方LDOCEでは、 “to make someone feel worried or frightened, over a period of time ”という定義が与えられています。 この劇では、チャールズとエルヴィラ、チャールズとルースという両方の関係が過去の浮気(正確には浮気ではないけど)ということに対しエルヴィラとルースの幽霊が互いに不信感を募らせます。(Othello)

Blithe Spirit – review | Stage | The Guardian

Fortunately, the play still fascinates for what it reveals about Coward himself: not least his suspicion of entangling personal commitments. His hero, Charles Condomine, is a novelist who finds himself haunted by his ghostly first wife, Elvira, and emotionally dominated by his second, Ruth. Marriage, in fact, is seen largely as a series of ratty exchanges in which couples gnaw away at past infidelities: even a makeweight couple, the Bradmans, who pop in periodically to provide ballast to the plot, scratch away at each other's failures. And as Charles, like so many Coward protagonists, finally escapes the domestic chaos, you feel he represents Coward's ideal of a life of work and travel unimpeded by demanding relationships.