"Arts, Faculty of"@en . "English, Department of"@en . "DSpace"@en . "UBCV"@en . "Cartlidge, Francis Roy"@en . "2010-02-26T04:42:24Z"@en . "1978"@en . "Master of Arts - MA"@en . "University of British Columbia"@en . "This thesis is a study of the ways in which the fear of death, and its natural consequence, the desire for immortality, is manifested in the major characters of three post-Romantic works. In each case, the fear of death is unconscious, and has to \"be interpreted from the dreams and illusions of the characters, which may not appear to have any immediate connection with death or immortality.\r\nIn Madame Bovary, the blind man is the symbolic antithesis of Emma's dreams of finding a means of transcendence within the world itself. He is the embodiment of the horrifying vision of biological process that lies at the heart of her flight from reality. The pharmacist, Homais, is also considered to be attempting to establish a symbolic form of immortality for himself through the glorification of his reputation and his sentimental belief in scientific progress.\r\nIn Niels Lyhne, the young hero attempts to free himself from the romantic influences of his childhood by proclaiming a new philosophy that is based, on atheism. However, his temperamental attachment to the idea of \"infinity\", and his inability to accept the physical nature of human beings betray his unconscious desire for a state of being in which he will be invulnerable to the forces of aging and death.\r\nIn John Gabriel Borkman the three major characters attempt to find a means of denying the inevitability of their approaching deaths. Borkman tries to gain control over the forces of life through the exercise of power\r\n\r\nand through an identification with rocks and metal that seem to hold the promise of conferring their immutability onto him. Borkman's wife wants her son to devote his life to the glorification of the name of Borkman, that her husband has dishonoured. She hopes that her idealized self-image will live on\"in the \"monument\" that Erhart will \"erect\" to the family name. Ella Rentheim, her sister, also plans to use Erhart for the establishment of a symbolic form of immortality, by trying to persuade him to adopt her family name after she has died.\r\nThe method of this thesis could be applied to works from any age of literature, but I have chosen the nineteenth century because of the particular social and intellectual influences that existed in Europe after the Enlightenment'. All the artistic movements of the nineteenth century were conditioned by the legacy of metaphysical uncertainty that the religious skepticism of the Age of Reason had bequeathed to the future. In these three works, the characters devote the same religious fervour to the worldly objects of their desires as, formerly, man had devoted to God. The unconscious hope in all their attempts is that they will discover a means of being delivered from death."@en . "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/21084?expand=metadata"@en . "SYMBOLIC FORMS OF IMMORTALITY IN MADAME BOVARY, NIELS L Y M E , AND JOHN GABRIEL BORKMAN FRANCIS ROY CARTLIDGE B . A . , U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Co lumbia , 1973 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS i n THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES i n the Program of Comparative L i t e r a t u r e We accept t h i s t h e s i s as conforming t o the r e q u i r e d s tandard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA June , 1977 (\u00C2\u00A7) Roy Francis Cartlidge 1978 In p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s in p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t o f the r e q u i r e m e n t s for an advanced degree at the U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Co lumb ia , I agree that the L i b r a r y s h a l l make i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r reference and study. I f u r t h e r agree t h a t p e r m i s s i o n f o r e x t e n s i v e c o p y i n g of th i s thesis f o r s c h o l a r l y purposes may be g r a n t e d by the Head of my Department or by h i s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . It i s u n d e r s t o o d tha t copying or pub l i ca t ion of t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l g a i n s h a l l not be a l l o w e d w i thout my w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . Program Comparative Literature B ?XH??SPft o f The U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Co lumbia 2075 Wesbrook Place Vancouver, Canada V6T 1W5 January 27 1978 ABSTRACT T h i s t h e s i s i s a study of the ways i n which the f e a r of d e a t h , and i t s n a t u r a l consequence, the d e s i r e f o r i m m o r t a l i t y , i s m a n i f e s t e d i n the major c h a r a c t e r s of th ree post -Romant ic works. In each c a s e , the f e a r of death i s unconsc ious , and has t o \"be i n t e r p r e t e d from the dreams and i l l u s i o n s of the c h a r a c t e r s , which may not appear t o have any immediate connect ion w i t h death or i m m o r t a l i t y . In Madame Bovary , the b l i n d man i s the symbol ic a n t i t h e s i s of Emma's dreams of f i n d i n g a means of t ranscendence w i t h i n the w o r l d i t s e l f . He i s the embodiment o f the h o r r i f y i n g v i s i o n of b i o l o g i c a l p rocess t h a t l i e s at the heart of her f l i g h t from r e a l i t y . The p h a r m a c i s t , Homais, i s a l s o c o n s i d e r e d t o be a t tempt ing t o e s t a b l i s h a symbol ic form of i m m o r t a l i t y f o r h i m s e l f through the g l o r i f i c a t i o n of h i s r e p u t a t i o n and h i s s e n t i m e n t a l b e l i e f i n s c i e n t i f i c p r o g r e s s . In N i e l s Lyhne, the young hero attempts t o f r e e h i m s e l f from the romant ic i n f l u e n c e s of h i s ch i ldhood by p r o c l a i m i n g a new ph i losophy t h a t i s based, on a the i sm. However, h i s temperamental attachment t o the i d e a o f \" i n f i n i t y \" , and h i s i n a b i l i t y t o accept the p h y s i c a l nature of human be ings b e t r a y h i s unconsc ious d e s i r e f o r a s t a t e o f be ing i n which he w i l l be i n v u l n e r a b l e t o the f o r c e s of ag ing and death . In John G a b r i e l Borkman the t h r e e major c h a r a c t e r s attempt t o f i n d a means of denying the i n e v i t a b i l i t y o f t h e i r approaching deaths . Borkman t r i e s t o g a i n c o n t r o l over the f o r c e s of l i f e through the e x e r c i s e o f power and through an i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h rocks and m e t a l t h a t seem t o h o l d the promise o f c o n f e r r i n g t h e i r i m m u t a b i l i t y onto h im. Borkman's w i f e wants her son t o devote h i s l i f e t o the g l o r i f i c a t i o n of the name of Borkman, t h a t her husband has d ishonoured. She hopes tha t her i d e a l i z e d s e l f - i m a g e w i l l l i v e o n \" i n the \"monument\" t h a t E rhar t w i l l \" e r e c t \" t o the f a m i l y name. E l l a Rentheim, her s i s t e r , a l s o p l a n s to use E rhar t f o r the es tab l i shment of a symbol ic form of i m m o r t a l i t y , by t r y i n g t o persuade him t o adopt her f a m i l y name a f t e r she has d i e d . The method of t h i s t h e s i s c o u l d be a p p l i e d t o works from any age of l i t e r a t u r e , but I have chosen the n i n e t e e n t h century because o f the p a r t i c u l a r s o c i a l and i n t e l l e c t u a l i n f l u e n c e s t h a t e x i s t e d i n Europe a f t e r the Enlightenment' . A l l the a r t i s t i c movements o f the n i n e t e e n t h century were c o n d i t i o n e d by the legacy o f m e t a p h y s i c a l u n c e r t a i n t y t h a t the r e l i g i o u s s k e p t i c i s m of the Age of Reason had bequeathed t o the f u t u r e . In these t h r e e works , the c h a r a c t e r s devote the same r e l i g i o u s f e r v o u r t o the w o r l d l y o b j e c t s of t h e i r d e s i r e s a s , f o r m e r l y , man had devoted t o God. The unconscious hope i n a l l t h e i r attempts i s t h a t they w i l l d i s c o v e r a means of b e i n g d e l i v e r e d from d e a t h . - i v -Abstract Epigraph Introduction Madame Bovary Interchapter 1 Ni e l s Lyhne Interchapter 2 John Gabriel Borkman Conclusion Footnotes Bibliography TABLE OF CONTENTS page i i v 1 7 26 32 50 54 79 83 85 - V \u00E2\u0080\u00A2-Nun gehort aber vor A l l e m zu den Wunschen des Menschen, wenigstens des Menschen, der se ine Wiinsche n i c h t durch d i e Naturnothwendigkei t b e s c h r a n k t , der Wunsch n i c h t zu s t e r b e n , ewig zu l e b e n ; j a , d i e s e r Wunsch i s t der l e t z t e und hochste Wunsch des Menschen, der Wunsch a l l e r Wiinsche, wie und w e i l das Leben der I n b e g r i f f a l l e r Guter i s t . Ludwig Feuerbach - 1 -In Le Bovarysme ^ ( 1 9 0 2 ) , J u l e s G a u l t i e r at tempts t o d e f i n e the nature o f the romant ic impulses t h a t p r o p e l the dreams and d e s i r e s of F l a u b e r t ' s t r a g i c h e r o i n e . He concludes t h a t she i s d r i v e n by the d e s i r e t o become \"o ther than she i s \" ; t h a t the a t t r a c t i v e n e s s of her f a n t a s i e s d e r i v e s p u r e l y from the f a c t t h a t they are u n r e a l . He r e s t s h i s case on the c o n v i c t i o n t h a t i f Emma were ever t o r e a l i z e her d e s i r e s , she would r e j e c t them because of the r e a l i t y t h a t they would then assume. La haine du r e e l est a v r a i d i r e s i f o r t e chez Mme Bovary , q u ' e l l e p o u r r a i t l a c o n t r a i n d r e a r e p u d i e r son propre r e v e , s ' i l v e n a i t , par i m p o s s i b l e , a prendre lui -meme l a forme d'une r e a l i t e . (p. 3 2 ) A c l o s e r e a d i n g of Madame Bovary does not support t h i s o p i n i o n , however. She i s happy w i t h Rodolphe and Leon as l o n g as she can make h e r s e l f b e l i e v e t h a t her dreams have been a c t u a l i z e d , and i t i s o n l y when the r e a l f a c t s of e x i s t e n c e invade her dreams t h a t her f a n t a s i e s c o l l a p s e . I f she i s not p e r f e c t l y content w i t h L e o n , i t i s because she has never seen him as her i d e a l l o v e r , and i f she i s d i s c o n t e n t w i t h t h e i r apartment i n Rouen, i t i s because her r e a l dream i s t o v i s i t a l a n d such as the one t h a t Rodolphe promised t o t a k e her t o . G a u l t i e r ' s t h e s i s i m p l i e s a randomness i n the cho ice of i d e a l s and i l l u s i o n s . I f u n r e a l i t y were the e s s e n t i a l q u a l i t y of the o b j e c t s of m e t a p h y s i c a l d e s i r e , then s u r e l y any ob jec t would be as e f f e c t i v e as any o t h e r . Emma's d e s i r e s are a combinat ion o f her l o n g i n g f o r r e l i g i o u s - 2 -f u l f i l l m e n t , of her a t t r a c t i o n t o the a r i s t o c r a t i c way of l i f e , and of dreams of romant ic and sensual exper ience . These dreams are f a r from random: her p reoccupat ions are the p reoccupat ions of m i l l i o n s of o t h e r s . What i s remarkable i n her i s the way i n which these dreams are mixed t o g e t h e r . No one f a n t a s y seems t o dominate the o t h e r s . The u n i t i n g f a c t o r i n a l l these f a n t a s i e s i s t h a t they seem t o c o n t a i n the promise of t ranscendence away from l i f e as i t i s : t h a t l o v e , or acceptance i n t o the a r i s t o c r a c y , or r e l i g i o u s e x p e r i e n c e , w i l l l i b e r a t e her from the normal r u l e s of. human l i f e . G a u l t i e r attempts t o ana lyze man's d e s i r e t o become \"what he i s no t \" wi thout spending any t ime d e f i n i n g what he i s . I propose t h a t r o m a n t i c , m e t a p h y s i c a l d e s i r e has i t s o r i g i n s i n a r e j e c t i o n o f those s p e c i f i c f a c t s of human e x i s t e n c e t h a t d e f i n e our m o r t a l i t y : we are b o r n , we grow o l d , and we d i e . T r a d i t i o n a l l y , God was the power th rough which man c o u l d f i n d t ranscendence (escape from m o r t a l i t y ) and h i s d e f i n i t i o n ( i m m o r t a l , a l l -knowing, c h a n g e l e s s , a l l - p o w e r f u l ) , i s the a n t i t h e s i s of man's fundamental c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s as a human b e i n g . In t h i s sense , God can be seen t o be the e x p r e s s i o n of a w i s h ; he i s what man i s n o t , and he seems t o have the power o f c o n f e r r i n g some of h i s e s s e n t i a l l y n o n - m o r t a l a t t r i b u t e s upon man. Man i s not a t t r a c t e d t o the i d e a of God because he i s e s s e n t i a l l y u n r e a l , but because of the promise t h a t he r e p r e s e n t s : the p o s s i b i l i t y of t r a n s c e n d i n g d e a t h . - 3 -In t h i s t h e s i s I s h a l l put forward the argument t h a t the f e a r of d e a t h , and i t s n a t u r a l consequence, the d e s i r e of i m m o r t a l i t y , not on ly l i e s at the r o o t s of r e l i g i o u s d e s i r e , but can a l s o be shown t o e x p l a i n romant ic d e s i r e . The t r a d i t i o n a l q u a l i t i e s of God, e x p l a i n e d out of e x i s t e n c e by the En l ightenment , o f t e n reappear i n some ob jec t t h a t has no m a n i f e s t l y r e l i g i o u s content whatsoever , nor i s the person who i s caught i n the g r i p of h i s i l l u s i o n aware t h a t he has a t t r i b u t e d t h e s e q u a l i t i e s t o the ob ject of h i s d e s i r e . Th is ob jec t may be an i d e a l i z e d l o v e r , a faraway p l a c e , or a disembodied i d e a such as p r o g r e s s , \" T r u t h \" , or \" t h e I n f i n i t e \" . Whatever form i t may t a k e , the ob jec t of romant ic d e s i r e r e p r e s e n t s the promise of a symbol ic v i c t o r y over l i f e and d e a t h : a form of i m m o r t a l i t y . For the purposes of t h i s t h e s i s , I s h a l l c o n s i d e r any form of behaviour t h a t has as i t s ob jec t a d e n i a l or evas ion of the i n e v i t a b i l i t y of death t o be an attempt t o set up a s u b s t i t u t e form of i m m o r t a l i t y . I t may be o b j e c t e d t h a t the term \" i m m o r t a l i t y \" i s a l l owed too b r o a d ' a connota t ion h e r e , s ince i t depar ts so f a r from the i d e a of the cont inued e x i s t e n c e o f the s o u l a f t e r death . Yet the same o b j e c t i o n c o u l d be l e v e l l e d at anyone who has proposed an i d e a such as \" s o c i a l \" , \" h i s t o r i c a l \" , or \" c o s m o l o g i c a l \" i m m o r t a l i t y . The n o t i o n t h a t men may l i v e on through t h e i r works , \"and i n the memory of f u t u r e g e n e r a t i o n s , has been cur rent s i n c e the t ime o f the Romans, and i s an i d e a t h a t was p a r t i c u l a r l y a t t r a c t i v e _ h -t o the a r t i s t s of the Romantic p e r i o d . Goethe 's c o n v i c t i o n t h a t \" t h e t r a c e s of our e a r t h l y days can never be erased by t i m e \" c e r t a i n l y d i f f e r s from the i d e a l of a c t u a l death lessness t h a t i s c e n t r a l t o C h r i s t i a n t h e o l o g y . S c h i l l e r ' s v iew of i m m o r t a l i t y , whereby the l i f e - f o r c e of man u n i t e s w i t h the U n i v e r s a l Sou l or Mind a f t e r d e a t h , might j u s t i f i a b l y be argued not t o be i m m o r t a l i t y at a l l , s ince i t would e n t a i l the o b l i t e r a t i o n of the i d e n t i t y of the i n d i v i d u a l . For most of u s , c o n t i n u i t y o f i d e n t i t y i s the minimum requirement f o r a s t a t e t h a t we would be w i l l i n g t o c a l l i m m o r t a l i t y . That 'Romanticism was a r e a c t i o n t o , r a t h e r than a r e j e c t i o n o f , t h e r a t i o n a l i s m of the En l ightenment , i s p a r t i c u l a r l y apparent i n the p r e -occupat ion of the romant ic w r i t e r s w i t h the c o n f l i c t between the f i n i t e nature of the w o r l d and the immorta l a s p i r a t i o n s of the s o u l . B lake may have h o t l y d i s p u t e d the \" t r u t h s \" t h a t \"Reason\" p r o p o s e s , yet the f a c t t h a t he found i t necessary t o c o n s t r u c t a new c o s m o l o g i c a l mythology a t t e s t s t o h i s t a c i t r e c o g n i t i o n t h a t a f t e r V o l t a i r e , i t was no longer p o s s i b l e t o conce ive of God i n the t r a d i t i o n a l way. S i m i l a r l y , the a t t r a c t i o n of Goethe and S c h i l l e r t o pantheism was a consequence of a s k e p t i c i s m towards t r a d i t i o n a l r e l i g i o n t h a t they i n h e r i t e d from the age of Hume, Locke , B a y l e , F o n t e n e l l e and V o l t a i r e . Wordsworth hoped t o f i n d p roo fs f o r the i m m o r t a l i t y of the s o u l i n e a r l y c h i l d h o o d r e c o l l e c t i o n s r a t h e r than i n the message of the G o s p e l s , and a l though Chateaubr iand - 5 -proc la imed h i m s e l f t o be a C h r i s t i a n , h i s works are remembered f o r t h e i r evocat ion of an \" i n f i n i t e \" t h a t i s f a r more a b s t r a c t and p e r s o n a l i z e d than t h a t conta ined i n the t e a c h i n g s of the C a t h o l i c church . The. attempt t o d i s c o v e r a means of a l l e v i a t i n g the a n x i e t y t h a t the thought of death i n s t i l s i n man i s common t o a l l c u l t u r e s and t o every stage of c i v i l i z a t i o n , and i s by no means e x c l u s i v e l y the concern \\ of the r o m a n t i c s . Yet the i r r e v e r e n t r a t i o n a l i s m of the En l igh tenment , which chose as i t s t a r g e t s some of the most endur ing and c o m f o r t i n g f i c t i o n s i n our c u l t u r e , i n s t i g a t e d a c r i s i s of m e t a p h y s i c a l a n x i e t y t h a t i s p robab ly u n e q u a l l e d i n the h i s t o r y of the West. Th is a n x i e t y can be detec ted i n every aspect of the romant ic movement, and l i e s at the heart of the f e e l i n g of uneas iness and d e s p e r a t i o n t h a t t y p i f i e s the romant ic c h a r a c t e r . The t h r e e post- :Romantic works I have chosen a l l c o n t a i n an a p p r a i s a l of romant ic c h a r a c t e r s t h a t shows t h e i r i l l u s i o n s t o o r i g i n a t e i n a r e j e c t i o n of t h e f a c t s of m o r t a l i t y . The hat red of l i f e may be s h a r e d , as i n the case of F l a u b e r t and Madame Bovary , by the author and h i s c h a r a c t e r . Emma i s c r i t i c i z e d , not f o r her d e s i r e f o r t ranscendence , but f o r her attempt t o s a t i s f y i t through the w o r l d , r a t h e r than through a r t . N i e l s Lyhne seems l e s s capable of a c c e p t i n g the r e a l i t y , and a p p r e c i a t i n g the beauty of the wor ld than Jacobsen , nor does he succeed as a w r i t e r . John G a b r i e l Borkman i s a d e p i c t i o n of a man who attempts t o conquer h i s - 6 -unconsc ious f e a r of death through the a c q u i s i t i o n of power, and shows the d e s t r u c t i v e consequences of the d e s i r e not t o l i v e i n the w o r l d . I b s e n , l i k e F l a u b e r t and Jacobsen , ho lds on t o t h e i d e a t h a t a form of i m m o r t a l i t y i s p o s s i b l e t o man through a r t . T h i s i s an important par t of I b s e n ' s f i n a l statement on h i s l i f e and work t h a t i s conta ined i n When We Dead Awaken. In each of the t h r e e works , we s h a l l d i s c o v e r a symbol ic framework t h a t i s t i e d t o the s p e c i f i c i l l u s i o n s of the c h a r a c t e r s t h a t w i l l a l l o w us t o see t h a t t h e i r dreams are p r e d i c a t e d on a w ish f o r exemption from the process t h a t c a r r i e s every human b e i n g i n e v i t a b l y towards death : an unconsc ious d e s i r e f o r i m m o r t a l i t y . - 7 -F l a u b e r t ' s n o v e l i s p r i m a r i l y remembered, at l e a s t among those who have taken care t o read i t w i t h the s e n s i t i v i t y and i n t e l l i g e n c e t h a t i t d e s e r v e s , as a remarkable a e s t h e t i c achievement. Indeed, the a u t h o r ' s l o n g and p a i n s t a k i n g d e d i c a t i o n t o the i d e a l s of p e r f e c t and complex symmetry on the one hand, and p r e c i s e use of he ightened language on the o t h e r , r e s u l t e d i n h i s p roduc ing an almost t a n g i b l e a e s t h e t i c exper ience i n a work of l i t e r a t u r e . He f e l t t h a t h i s duty as a w r i t e r was t o evoke, t o b r i n g i n t o b e i n g , an imaginary c i r c u m s t a n c e , not so t h a t the reader would understand i t t o be a r e f l e c t i o n of something i n the r e a l w o r l d , but i n order t h a t he would respond t o i t as an autonomous c r e a t i o n . Th is techn ique i s s i m i l a r t o t h a t of the Japanese w a t e r -c o l o u r i s t , who does not b e l i e v e t h a t he i s d e s c r i b i n g a branch of c h e r r y - b l o s s o m , but t h a t he i s c r e a t i n g another branch t h a t w i l l augment the sum t o t a l of r e a l i t y . \"Ce qu i me semble b e a u , \" F l a u b e r t wrote i n a l e t t e r t o Lou ise C o l e t , \"ce que j e v o u d r a i s f a i r e , c ' e s t un l i v r e sur r i e n , . . . un l i v r e ou l e s u j e t s e r a i t presque i n v i s i b l e , s i c e l a se p e u t . \" 1 A l though Madame 2 Bovary .might be s a i d t o have no p l o t , and be a l l but devo id of ; a c t i o n , i t cannot c l a i m t o be about n o t h i n g , nor does F l a u b e r t ' s use of \" a complete ly o b j e c t i v e n a r r a t o r \" leave us w i t h the f e e l i n g t h a t the work was w r i t t e n by no one. Throughout the work, we are aware of an i n t e l l i g e n t and power fu l mind t h a t c o n t r o l s the events and c o n s t a n t l y i n v o l v e s the r e a d e r ' s consc iousness i n a p p r e c i a t i o n and e v a l u a t i o n . T h i s sympathy and - 8 -judgment does not extend mere ly t o the language or t o the beauty of the c reated e f f e c t , but even as f a r as our i d e n t i f y i n g w i t h the c h a r a c t e r s whenever p o s s i b l e , and a s s e s s i n g them as human be ings i n accordance w i t h a s u r p r i s i n g l y s t r i n g e n t mora l framework t h a t emerges as the nove l p r o g r e s s e s . A l though F l a u b e r t was f o r c e d t o defend h i s book a g a i n s t the charge of o b s c e n i t y by a rgu ing t h a t h i s h e r o i n e ' s death was the r e s u l t of her f l o u t i n g .contemporary m o r a l i t y , many s e r i o u s c r i t i c s have a s s e r t e d t h a t the work ve ry d e f i n i t e l y c o n t a i n s a profound moral l e s s o n . Lamart ine complained i n a l e t t e r t o F l a u b e r t t h a t he cons idered Emma's \"punishment\" r a t h e r too severe f o r the \" s i n s \" she had committed , yet at the same t i m e , he was ve ry e f f u s i v e i n h i s p r a i s e of the \" h i g h moral q u a l i t y \" of the n o v e l . C e r t a i n l y i t has t o be s t r e s s e d t h a t the work appears t o be about something other than a sequence of v e r y o r d i n a r y events t h a t occur i n the most t y p i c a l and u n i n t e r e s t i n g of s e t t i n g s . B a u d e l a i r e was conv inced t h a t at the hear t o f the work was a \" p s y c h o l o g i c a l m y s t e r y \" , embodied i n Emma, which c o n s t i t u t e d i t s \" c e n t r a l s u b j e c t \" . ' 4 Not o n l y i s t h e r e i n the book a w e a l t h o f r e a l i s t i c d e p i c t i o n o f sur roundings and t h e d e t a i l s o f human l i f e , but a l s o an acute o b s e r v a t i o n of human a c t i o n s , and a p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y c o n v i n c i n g account of why these people a re a c t i n g i n the way they do , t h a t i s s u b s t a n t i a t e d by the nature of t h e i r a m b i t i o n s , t h e i r i d e a l s and t h e i r f a n t a s i e s . - 9 -The author never d i r e c t l y d e s c r i b e s the nature of the d i sease t h a t a f f l i c t s p r a c t i c a l l y a l l of h i s c h a r a c t e r s , nor do any of t h e s e c h a r a c t e r s ever reach a meaningfu l a p p r a i s a l of t h e i r predicament . Yet through a p r e c i s e system of imagery and suggest ion we are l e d i n t o acknowledging a p s y c h o l o g i c a l framework t h a t l i e s beneath the s u r f a c e , and p e r s i s t s throughout the work. The symbol ic po les of Madame Bovary are the a c t u a l and p h y s i c a l na tu re of l i f e and death on the one hand, and the s p i r i t u a l i s a t i o n o f l i f e and death i n the form of p s y c h o l o g i c a l evas ion on the o t h e r . S t a t e d more s i m p l y , the book i s about a s t r u g g l e between m o r t a l i t y and i m m o r t a l i t y , i n which m o r t a l i t y appears t o w in the d e c i s i v e v i c t o r y . Whether or not she c o u l d ever admit i t , Emma i s p a t h o l o g i c a l l y a f r a i d of d e a t h , and t h i s f e a r d r a s t i c a l l y a f f e c t s her behav iour d u r i n g her l i f e , and i s even r e s p o n s i b l e f o r the nature o f her own end. Emma's s e n t i m e n t a l educat ion began w i t h her c h i l d h o o d r e a d i n g of P a u l ;et V i r g i n i e which seemed t o her t o con jure up a wor ld of be ings whose concerns were fundamenta l l y d i f f e r e n t from those of o ther peop le . When she was t h i r t e e n , she had at tended a convent schoo l and had l o s t h e r s e l f i n the m y s t i c r i c h n e s s of church symbology t h a t t r a n s p o r t e d h e r , i n her i m a g i n a t i o n , t o a wor ld f a r more b e a u t i f u l t h a n the one she knew. I t was at the convent t h a t she became enchanted by the sensuousness inherent i n C a t h o l i c mythology which taught t h a t a woman might become the \" b e t r o t h e d \" , t h e \" w i f e \" and the \" c e l e s t i a l l o v e r \" of C h r i s t . She was p a s s i o n a t e l y devoted t o the works of Chateaubr iand and L a m a r t i n e , and t o - 10 -s t o r i e s about the l i v e s of b e a u t i f u l and i l l u s t r i o u s women o f the p a s t . Yet her romant ic r e a d i n g d i d not awaken i n her a l o v e f o r the b e a u t i e s of n a t u r e , f o r she had a l r e a d y c o n t r a c t e d an a n t i p a t h y towards the c o u n t r y s i d e as a r e s u l t of her l i f e on her f a t h e r ' s fa rm: C ' e t a i t , pendant l a semaine, quelque resume d ' H i s t o i r e s a i n t e ou l e s Conferences de l ' a b b e F r a y s s i n o u s , e t , l e dimanche, des passages du Genie du C h r i s t i a n i s m e , par r e c r e a t i o n . Comme e l l e e c o u t a , l e s premieres f o i s , l a l amenta t ion sonore des m e l a n c o l i e s romantiques se repetant a tous l e s echos de l a t e r r e et de 1 ' e t e r n i t e ! S i son enfance se f u t ecoulee dans l ' a r r i e r e - b o u t i q u e d 'un q u a r t i e r marchand, e l l e se s e r a i t p e u t - e t r e ouver te a l o r s aux envahissements l y r i q u e s de l a n a t u r e , que, d ' o r d i n a i r e . , ne nous a r r i v e n t que par l a t r a d u c t i o n des e c r i v a i n s . Mais e l l e c o n n a i s s a i t t r o p l a campagne; e l l e s a v a i t l e belement des t r o u p e a u x , l e s l a i t a g e s , l e s c h a r r u e s . (p. 71) The l i f e at l e s B e r t a u x , w i t h i t s drudgery and i t s p r o x i m i t y t o the e t e r n a l c y c l e of b i r t h , l i f e and death i s i n s u f f e r a b l e t o Emma, but we do not get any r e a l i n s i g h t i n t o her f e e l i n g s at t h i s e a r l y s tage . U n t i l Char les has come t o know Emma as much as he ever w i l l , t he n a r r a t i v e f o l l o w s h i s consc iousness and remains p r i m a r i l y h i s s t o r y . Yet at the b a l l , a f t e r Char les has s e t t l e d i n t o a s t a t e of g r a t e f u l worsh ip o f h i s w i f e , and Emma i s a l r e a d y f e e l i n g d i s s a t i s f i e d w i t h her husband, the memory of her l i f e at the farm breaks r u d e l y through her i l l u s i o n s of acceptance i n t o the a r i s t o c r a t i c w o r l d : - 11 -Un domestique monta sur une c h a i s e et cassa deux v i t r e s ; au b r u i t des e c l a t s de v e r r e , Mme. Bovary t o u r n a l a t e t e et apergut dans l e j a r d i n , c o n t r e l e s b a r r e a u x , des faces de paysans qu i r e g a r d a i e n t . A l o r s l e souveni r des Bertaux l u i a r r i v a . E l l e r e v i t l a ferme, l a mare bourbeuse, son pere en b louse sous l e s v p o n n i e r s , et e l l e se r e v i t e l l e - m e m e , comme a u t r e f o i s , ecremant avec son d o i g t l e s t e r r i n e s de l a i t dans l a l a i t e r i e . M a i s , aux f u l g u r a t i o n s de l ' h e u r e p r e s e n t e , sa v i e p a s s e e , s i n e t t e j u s q u ' a l o r s , s ' e v a n o u i s s a i t tou t e n t i e r e , et e l l e d o u t a i t presque de l ' a v o i s X vecue. E l l e e t a i t l a ; p u i s , autour du b a i , i l n ' y a v a i t p l u s que de 1'ombre, e t a l e e sur t o u t l e r e s t e . (pp. 85 - 86) Emma's dreams of d i s c o v e r i n g a means o f c u t t i n g h e r s e l f o f f from her past have been i n t e r r u p t e d by the unexpected appearance o f people who be long t o the wor ld t h a t she i s t r y i n g t o l e a v e b e h i n d . Her attempt t o d i s s o c i a t e h e r s e l f from her peasant background i s t h e outward m a n i -f e s t a t i o n of an unconscious d e s i r e t o e s t a b l i s h a d i s c o n t i n u i t y between h e r s e l f and o r d i n a r y human b e i n g s , i n order t o f u l f i l a profound w i s h t h a t her u l t i m a t e f a t e w i l l not be the same as t h e i r s . She must not admit t o h e r s e l f t h a t these memories are r e a l , b a s i c . They were j u s t a dream. But i n many ways she s t i l l has ve ry much i n common w i t h the peasants who are gaping i n o u t s i d e the windows. A l though the V i scount i n v i t e s her t o the w a l t z , she does not know how t o dance. Her c h i l d l i k e and ingenuous a b s o r p t i o n w i t h the s m a l l e s t d e t a i l s o f her surroundings resembles the dumb awe of the c o u n t r y - f o l k from whom she wishes t o d i s s o c i a t e h e r s e l f . - 12 -She i s impressed by every gesture of these a r i s t o c r a t i c c r e a t u r e s ; by t h e i r noncha lance , t h e i r seeming i n v u l n e r a b i l i t y t o the i n f l u e n c e s of o r d i n a r y l i f e , even by t h e i r c r u e l t y . There does not seem t o be any p o i n t of resemblance between these a r i s t o c r a t s and o r d i n a r y human b e i n g s , and her embarassment at hav ing t o a t tend the b a l l w i t h her husband, who i s d a i l y becoming more b a n a l and l e s s a t t r a c t i v e t o h e r , u n d e r l i n e s her deep d e s i r e t o break f r e e from the l i m i t a t i o n s of o r d i n a r y exper ience A l though she i n s i s t s t o h e r s e l f t h a t t h i s b a l l i s r e a l , her a c t u a l s t a t e of mind i s bet rayed by the menta l t o r p o r t h a t s e i z e s her when she dances w i t h the handsome nobleman. She i s so overwhelmed by the n o v e l t y of the sensat ions t h a t are f l o o d i n g through her t h a t she becomes d i s t a n c e d from her s u r r o u n d i n g s , and t o t a l l y confused and d i s o r i e n t e d , she has t o be l e d back t o her c h a i r . Emma i s not a t r u e p a r t i c i p a n t i n the b a l l , f o r she i s i n t h e p o s i t i o f someone who i s seek ing \" p r o o f s \" i n her present s i t u a t i o n t h a t the i d e a l i s e d wor ld o f her f a n t a s i e s , which she has gleaned from her b o o k s , a c t u a l l y e x i s t s . Une dame, pres d ' e l l e , l a i s s a tomber son e V e n t a i l . Un danseur p a s s a i t . \u00E2\u0080\u0094Que vous s e r i e z b o n , mons ieur , d i t l a dame, de v o u l o i r b i e n ramasser mon e v e n t a i l , qu i est d e r r i e r e ce c a n a p e ' . Le monsieur s ' i n c l i n a , e t , pendant q u ' i l f a i s a i t l e mouvement d 'e tendre son b r a s , Emma v i t l a main de l a jeune dame qu i j e t a i t dans son chapeau quelquechose de b l a n c , p l i e en t r i a n g l e . Le monsieur ramenant 1 ' e v e n t a i l , l ' o f f r i t a l a dame, respectueusement; e l l e l e remerc ia d 'un s igne de t e t e et se mi t a r e s p i r e r son bouquet. (p. 86) - 13 -She i s determined t h a t the memories of her c h i l d h o o d , and her da i ly -e x i s t e n c e at Tostes w i l l not be synonymous i n any way w i t h the new i d e n t i t y t h a t she i s s t r u g g l i n g t o c l a i m f o r h e r s e l f . The par t of h e r s e l f t h a t she hopes t o l o s e i s c l o s e l y i d e n t i f i e d w i t h the w o r l d , and what she s t r i v e s f o r i s symbol ised by o b j e c t s and memories t h a t seem t o h o l d the promise o f an e x i s t e n c e whose very essence w i l l be fundamenta l l y d i f f e r e n t from any th ing t h a t she has known. She i s not so n a i v e e i t h e r , as t o b e l i e v e t h a t the w o r l d t o which she seeks e n t r a n c e , which she has p ieced together from her books , i s synonymous w i t h the w o r l d of h i g h s o c i e t y , but she cannot h e l p f e e l i n g t h a t her i d e a l count ry i s somehow a c c e s s i b l e through i t . So w i t h i n her t e d i o u s e x i s t e n c e she a f f o r d s an almost r e l i g i o u s s i g n i f i c a n c e to . the o b j e c t s and memories t h a t might p r o v i d e a key t o t h i s f a n t a s t i c w o r l d , a c i g a r b o x , a dance w i t h a handsome nobleman. . . . e l l e s e r r a pieusement dans l a commode sa b e l l e t o i l e t t e et j u s q u ' a ses s o u l i e r s de s a t i n , dont l a semel le s ' e t a i t j a u n i e a l a . c i r e g l i s s a n t e du parquet . Son coeur e t a i t comme eux; au f ro t tement de l a r i c h e s s e , i l s ' e t a i t p l a c e dessus quelque chose qu i ne s ' e f f a c e r a i t pas . (p. 8 9 ) We have a l r e a d y seen t h a t Emma never s e n t i m e n t a l i s e d the l i f e of t h e c o u n t r y s i d e , f o r she had w i tnessed i t every day at l e s B e r t a u x , where the crude f a c t s of e x i s t e n c e were too c l o s e t o the s u r f a c e not t o d i s t u r b her hear t w i t h i t s dreams of i v o r y c a s t l e s and f o u n t a i n s f u l l o f j e w e l s . - 14 -Rodolphe would come and take her t o t h i s fabu lous and sensua l l a n d where music and happiness r e i g n e d f o r e v e r ; a f a n t a s t i c w o r l d , yet p o s s i b l e , thanks t o the f a c t t h a t Emma e x i s t e d always at the l e v e l of i m a g i n a t i o n , t o which reason i s a very i n f r e q u e n t v i s i t o r . Au galop de quatre chevaux, e l l e e t a i t emportee depuis h u i t j o u r s ve rs un pays nouveau, d 'ou i l s ne r e v i e n d r a i e n t p l u s . I l s a l l a i e n t , i l s a l l a i e n t , l e s bras e n l a c e s , sans p a r l e r . Souvent , du haut d'une montagne, i l s aperceva ient tou t a coup quelque c i t e sp lend ide avec des. domes, des p o n t s , des n a v i r e s , des f o r e t s de c i t r o n n i e r s et des c a t h e d r a l e s de marbre b l a n e , dont l e s c l o c h e r s a igus p o r t a i e n t des n i d s de c igognes . On marchai t au pas a cause des grandes d a l l e s , et i l y a v a i t par t e r r e des bouquets de f l e u r s que vous o f f r a i e n t des f e m e s h a b i l l e e s en co rse t rouge. On entenda i t sonner des c l o c h e s , henn i r des m u l e t s , avec l e murmure des g u i t a r e s et l e b r u i t des f o n t a i n e s , dont l a vapeur s ' e n v o l a n t r a f r a x c h i s s a i t des t a s de f r u i t s , d i sposes en pyramides au p i e d des s t a t u e s p a l e s , qu i s o u r i a i e n t sous l e s j e t s d ' e a u . (p. 223) Rodolphe, who i n Emma's mind has become a s t range mix tu re of Wal ter Scot t hero and weal thy a r i s t o c r a t l o v e r who knows a l l the s e c r e t s of c o u r t - l i f e (and hence must be f a m i l i a r w i t h the l o c a t i o n of h e a v e n - o n -e a r t h , the country of her dreams) f a i l s t o appear on the day o f elopement. A l though Emma i s s h a t t e r e d by t h i s t u r n of e v e n t s , which plunges her i n t o a s t range malady i n which her l i f e i s despa i red o f , she i s at l e a s t saved the d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t of d i s c o v e r i n g t h a t no such count ry e x i s t s . I t i s of c r u c i a l impor tance , I b e l i e v e , t h a t the reader understands t h a t Emma not o n l y l i k e s t o b e l i e v e i n such a f o r e i g n l a n d , but t h a t she a c t u a l l y t h i n k s t h a t i t does e x i s t somewhere on t h e f a c e of t h i s e a r t h . - 15- -Emma i s not s a t i s f i e d t o devote h e r s e l f t o a p ious e x i s t e n c e i n the s e r v i c e of God, w i t h the promise of p a r a d i s e and e t e r n i t y at the end of her days . She belongs t o t h a t r a c e o f p e o p l e , who, as S a r t r e s a y s , \"veu lent e x i s t e r t o u t a l a f o i s et t o u t de s u i t e \" ^ , d e s i r i n g e v e r y t h i n g from . every moment. Only when Emma reaches the c l i m a x o f her s t range i l l n e s s , and i t i s f e a r e d t h a t she w i l l d i e , does she t u r n her d e s i r e s back t o God. In her f e v e r , she i s v i s i t e d by an h a l l u c i n a t i o n of c e l e s t i a l j oy i n which she yearns t o be r e c e i v e d once more by C h r i s t , as though by a l o v e r she has n e g l e c t e d , w h i l e God the F a t h e r , throned i n m a j e s t y , sends down h i s messengers t o c a r r y her o f f t o immortal b l i s s . A l o r s e l l e l a i s s a retomber sa t e t e , croyant entendre dans l e s espaces l e chant des harpes seraphiques et a p e r c e v o i r en un c i e l d ' a z u r , sur un t r o n e d ' o r , au m i l i e u des s a i n t s tenant des palmes v e r t e s , D ieu l e Pere t o u t e c l a t a n t de m a j e s t e , et qu i d 'un s igne f a i s a i t descendre vers l a t e r r e des anges aux a i l e s de flamme pour l ' e m p o r t e r dans l e u r s b r a s . Cet te v i s i o n sp lend ide demeura dans sa memoire comme l a chose l a p l u s b e l l e q u ' i l f u t p o s s i b l e de r e v e r . (p. 239) I t i s t h i s memory t h a t l e a d s her t o po ison h e r s e l f a f t e r her f i n a l d isappointment w i t h l i f e , i n t h e hope t h a t C h r i s t w i l l b r i n g about the m i r a c l e t h a t she has v a i n l y sought i n the wor ld of r e a l i t y : a s t a t e of t ranscendance i n which she w i l l f i n d a r e p r i e v e from t h e c o n d i t i o n of m o r t a l i t y . But a l though she t r i e s t o devote h e r s e l f f o r a w h i l e t o a - 16 -l i f e of r e l i g i o u s p i e t y a f t e r her r e c o v e r y , she l a t e r repeats her attempt t o f i n d a w o r l d l y r e a l i s a t i o n of her immorta l l o n g i n g s i n her l i a i s o n w i t h Leon. Emma Bovary p o s s e s s e s , i n almost l i m i t l e s s q u a n t i t i e s , a l l t h a t i s necessary t o ensure t h a t her heart w i l l be f i n a l l y , u t t e r l y s h a t t e r e d . A l l her dreams and d e s i r e s are d i r e c t e d towards one end o n l y : t o f i n d a means of d i s s o c i a t i n g h e r s e l f f rom a l l t h a t i s commonplace and s o r d i d i n l i f e , i n order t h a t she may exper ience h e r s e l f as a b e i n g perhaps w i t h more s i m i l a r i t i e s t o the f a b l e d q u a l i t i e s of the gods than t o o r d i n a r y mankind. Th is r a d i c a l v iew of \"Bovarysme\" can be s u b s t a n t i a t e d , I t h i n k , by a study o f F l a u b e r t ' s use of themat ic j u x t a p o s i t i o n w i t h i n the s t o r y . J u s t as Emma's l o n g i n g f o r an e a r t h l y s t a t e o f i m m o r t a l i t y i s represented throughout the book by an i d e a l i s e d and f a n t a s t i c a l p i c t u r e o f p o s s i b l e r e a l i t y , so F l a u b e r t symbol ises the phantom of m o r t a l i t y i n a way which c h a r a c t e r i s e s i t as p a i n f u l , u g l y , decay ing and obscene. Th is i s not t o say t h a t the a u t h o r ' s v iew of l i f e i s n e c e s s a r i l y t o be i d e n t i f i e d w i t h these images from the \" r e a l w o r l d \" , but t h a t through them, we are a b l e t o i d e n t i f y the h o r r o r of l i f e t h a t i s the profound cause of Emma's f l i g h t i n t o f a n t a s y . As Emma and Rodolphe beg in t h e i r l o v e a f f a i r , the author p rov ides a tawdry b a c k c l o t h of the a g r i c u l t u r a l f a i r . Rodolphe 's promises o f l o v e are echoed by t h e empty phrases of c i v i c o f f i c i a l s p r o m i s i n g a g l o r i o u s f u t u r e f o r the w o r l d . As the two lovers .move c l o s e r t o g e t h e r , a p r i z e f o r a s u p e r i o r q u a l i t y of manure i s announced i n the market p l a c e . - IT -\"Ensemble de bonnes c u l t u r e s ! c r i a l e p r e s i d e n t . \u00E2\u0080\u0094 T a n t o t , par exemple, quand j e s u i s venu chez vous . . . \"A \"M. B i z e t , de Quincampoix . \" \u00E2\u0080\u0094 S a v a i s - j e que j e vous accompagnerais? \" S o i x a n t e et d i x f r a n c s ! \" \u00E2\u0080\u0094 C e n t f o i s meme, j ' a i v o u l u p a r t i r , et j e vous a i s u i v i e , j e s u i s r e s t ! . \" F u m i e r s . \" (p. 178) Emma's l o n g i n g t o be c a r r i e d o f f i n t o a m a g i c a l w o r l d by a superhuman hero i s accompanied by an image from the wor ld o f b i o l o g i c a l r e a l i t y t h a t not on ly f u r n i s h e s an i r o n i c comment on the nature of her dreams, but i s an exact symbol of t h e hated aspec ts of l i f e t h a t makes those dreams so a t t r a c t i v e . The appearance o f the b l i n d man i n the n o v e l occurs at the p o i n t at which Emma i s most i n v o l v e d i n the events which w i l l b r i n g about her d e s t r u c t i o n . A l though she i s at the he ight o f her r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h Leon , she i s a l r e a d y h o p e l e s s l y entangled w i t h her debts t o Lheureux. The b l i n d man i s her ange l o f d e a t h , j u s t as he i s a l i v i n g symbol of human decay and u g l i n e s s . The p i c t u r e t h a t he p resents i s v i v i d l y obscene, f o r here i s a b l a t a n t express ion of e v e r y t h i n g , t h a t \"decent\" bourgeo is s o c i e t y would most l i k e t o deny the e x i s t e n c e of i n the w o r l d . The e f f e c t t h a t he has on Emma i s e s p e c i a l l y p r o f o u n d , and t h e very sound o f h i s v o i c e c a r r i e s her away t o \" l e s espaces d'une m e l a n c o l i e sans b o r n e s \" . ( p . 248). There i s something about the d e s c r i p t i o n o f the b l i n d man's f a c e t h a t somehow r e c a l l s the d e s c r i p t i o n of the schoolboy C h a r l e s ' hat i n the opening pages of the book. - 18 -C ' e t a i t une de ces c o i f f e u r s d ' o r d r e compos i te , ou l ' o n r e t r o u v e l e s elements du \"bonnet a p o l l , du chapska , du chapeau r o n d , de l a casquet te de l o u t r e de du bonnet de c o t o n , une de ces pauvres choses , e n f i n , dont l a l a i d e u r muette a des profondeurs d ' e x p r e s s i o n comme l e v i s a g e d 'un i m b e c i l e . (p. 38) T h i s hopeless o b j e c t , so f u l l o f c o n t r a d i c t i o n s , i s p resented as a symbol o f l u d i c r o u s p r e t e n t i o u s n e s s and chaos , and p rov ides the p e r f e c t symbol f o r t h e w h o l l y f a n t a s t i c a l manner i n which Emma's dreams have been patched t o g e t h e r from the a s s o r t e d read ings o f her g i r l h o o d , from her r e l i g i o u s e d u c a t i o n , from the t h e a t r e , and from adver t isements i n women's j o u r n a l s . The t r u t h t h a t these f a n t a s i e s are in tended t o concea l i s the s u b j e c t i o n of a l l l i v i n g t h i n g s t o the laws of b i o l o g i c a l p r o c e s s , whose u l t i m a t e symbol i s death . When the b l i n d man p u l l s o f f h i s o l d beaver h a t , h i s f a c e i s r e v e a l e d as a huge, d e c a y i n g , open wound. He has r e v e a l e d the d i s g u s t i n g secre t which l i e s beh ind a l l p re tense and e v a s i o n . quand i l l e r e t i r a i t , i l decouv ra i t a l a p l a c e des p a u p i e r e s , deux o r b i t e s beantes t o u t ensang lantees . La c h a i r s ' e f f i l o q u a i t par lambeaux r o u g e s ; et i l en c o u l a i t des l i q u i d e s qu i se f i g e a i e n t en g a l e s v e r t e s j u s q u ' a u n e z , dont l e s n a r i n e s n o i r e s r e n i f l a i e n t convu ls ivement . Pour vous p a r l e r , i l se r e n v e r s a i t l a t e t e avec un r i r e i d i o t ; \u00E2\u0080\u0094 a l o r s ses p r u n e l l e s b l e u a t r e s , r o u l a n t d 'un mouvement c o n t i n u e , a l l a i e n t se cogner , ve rs l e s tempes, sur l e bord de l a p l a i e v i v e . (p. 291) Jus t as the t r a p p i n g s of a r i s t o c r a t i c l i f e a r e , i n a s e n s e , a complex dev i ce t o h i d e from the a r i s t o c r a t h i s b a s i c s i m i l a r i t y of b e i n g t o t h a t - 19 -of the p e a s a n t , so are Emma's dreams above a l l t h r e a t e n e d by the presence of the b l i n d man. Her dreams o f a s t a t e i n which she w i l l be i n v u l n e r a b l e t o the f o r c e s which a f f l i c t o r d i n a r y m o r t a l s have conf ronted the ve ry phenomenon t h a t gave them impetus . Her l o n g i n g f o r an i d e a l s p i r i t u a l and s e n s u a l l i f e has at l a s t found i t s own s p e c i a l nemesis : a b r u t a l and depraved v i s i o n of the f l e s h . Homais i s , to a l a r g e e x t e n t , a p a r a l l e l c h a r a c t e r t o Emma w i t h i n the n o v e l . He too seeks i m m o r t a l i t y , but at l e a s t h i s symbol o f t h i s s t a t e i s a t t a i n a b l e i n the w o r l d . He i s content t o seek r e c o g n i t i o n i n the wor ld o f men and a f f a i r s , whereas Emma seems on ly t o be s a t i s f i e d i f she can r e c e i v e a form of r e c o g n i t i o n t h a t no human b e i n g i s capable of bestowing . Perhaps she seeks the r e c o g n i t i o n of the gods. The pharmacist succeeds i n g e t t i n g h i s C r o i x d 'Honneur, but the d o c t o r ' s w i f e w i l l never f i n d what she i s seek ing i n t h i s w o r l d . Homais shares Emma's d i s g u s t f o r t h e i n e s c a p a b l e p r o o f s of m o r t a l i t y p r o v i d e d by t h e s i c k and t h e p o o r , yet h i s r e a c t i o n t o the s i t u a t i o n i s fundamenta l l y \" w o r l d l y \" . Homais sees s c i e n c e as a panacea f o r a l l s o c i a l i l l s . , which w i l l remove a l l u g l i n e s s and pover ty from t h e face of the e a r t h . He sees i n s c i e n c e a qu ick and mi racu lous s o l u t i o n to e v e r y t h i n g i n the w o r l d t h a t o f fends h i s s e n s i b i l i t i e s . Emma f e e l s t h a t t h i n g s must s u r e l y get b e t t e r as t ime p r o g r e s s e s , and can o n l y imagine t h a t t h i n g s must improve w i t h a mere change of scenery . L i f e , f o r h e r , i s always j u s t around the c o r n e r . - 20 -The pharmacist shares t h i s romant ic hope, yet f o r him i t i s always the s c i e n t i f i c U t o p i a t h a t i s fo reve r imminent , j u s t beyond the h o r i z o n . Homais' unconscious f e a r of death i s the f o r c e t h a t d r i v e s him t o act as though the human c o n d i t i o n were an a c c i d e n t a l malady t h a t w i l l one day be \" c u r e d \" by the m i r a c l e of modern m e d i c i n e . Yet as Emma's f a n t a s i e s r e s u l t i n t r a g e d y , so do Homais' l u d i c r o u s p r o j e c t s meet w i t h hopeless f a i l u r e , and added misery for . t h e i r u n f o r t u n a t e r e c i p i e n t s . The f i a s c o of H i p p o l y t e ' s o p e r a t i o n i s the r e s u l t of Homais' d e s i r e t o t h r u s t h i s f a n t a s t i c n o t i o n of s c i e n c e onto the w o r l d . H i s r e a c t i o n t o the b l i n d man i s t o suggest a preposterous cure of a \" p h l o g i s t o n s a l v e \" and c a r e f u l d i e t i n g . When he d i s c o v e r s some t ime l a t e r t h a t h i s cure was u s e l e s s , he i s f o r c e d t o d i s p l a y h i s r e a l h a t r e d of the s i c k by i n s t i g a t i n g a campaign aga ins t the b l i n d man w i t h the i n t e n t i o n of hav ing him f o r e v e r hidden from h i s , and s o c i e t y ' s , eyes , i n an asy lum. The cont inued presence of the b l i n d man t h r e a t e n s Homais w i t h the p o s s i b i l i t y of a d m i t t i n g t o h i m s e l f t h a t he i s sub ject t o the same laws of p h y s i c a l process t h a t are v i s i b l y r a v a g i n g the poor beggar . Sommes-nous encore a ces temps monstreux du moyen age , ou i l e t a i t permis aux vagabonds d ' e t a l e r par nos p l a c e s pub l iques l a l e p r e et l e s s c r o f u l e s q u ' i l s ava ient rappor tees de l a c r o i s a d e ? (p. 36l) F l a u b e r t makes a d i r e c t judgment on such men as Homais at t h i s p o i n t i n the n a r r a t i v e , when he comments t h a t the p h a r m a c i s t ' s a c t i o n \" d e c e l a i t l a profondeur. de son i n t e l l i g e n c e et l a s c e l e r a t e s s e de sa v a n i t e \" (p. 36l). - 21 -Homais i s a s e l f - s t y l e d enemy of the c h u r c h , and l i v e s i n the i l l u s i o n t h a t he i s c a r r y i n g the s p i r i t of V o l t a i r e i n t o the n i n e t e e n t h century . When he f i n d s h i m s e l f i n the company o f the v i l l a g e , p r i e s t , when Emma i s d y i n g , he compares the c l e r g y t o ravens who are a t t r a c t e d by the s m e l l of death . A g a i n , F l a u b e r t breaks the s i l e n c e of h i s p ro fessed i d e a l of \" impersona l n a r r a t i o n \" , and g i ves us a h i n t of h i s own c o n v i c t i o n s about t h e o r i g i n s of Homais' h a t r e d of p r i e s t s T l a vue d'un e c c l e s i a s t i q u e l u i e t a i t personnel lement d e s a g r e a b l e , car l a soutane l e f a i s a i t rever au l i n c e u l , et i l e x e c r a i t l ' u n e un peu par epouvante de 1 ' a u t r e . (p. 3^2) The author never passes any s i m i l a r judgement on h i s h e r o i n e , but she , u n l i k e Homais, d i e s as a consequence of her \" s i n s \" . C h a r l e s ' d e a t h , and B e r t h e ' s b e i n g sent t o work i n c h i I d - l a b o u r , are a l s o i n d i r e c t l y a t t r i b u t a b l e t o Emma's a c t i o n s . Apart from the importance o f r e a l i s i n g the s p e c i f i c nature o f Emma's f a n t a s i e s , i t i s a l s o important t o note t h a t F l a u b e r t does a l l o w her a few p e r i o d s of happiness i n h i s n o v e l . As l o n g as she b e l i e v e s t h a t her c o n t r a d i c t o r y no t ions have momentar i ly found r e a l i s a t i o n i n the w o r l d , and t h a t her l o v e r i s the i m p o s s i b l e hero of her dreams, she i s t o t a l l y , b l i s s f u l l y happy, and she g i v e s h e r s e l f c o m p l e t e l y , body and s o u l , t o him. - 22 -When she i s i n l o v e w i t h Rodolphe: Jamais Mme Bovary ne f u t a u s s i b e l l e q u ' a c e t t e epoque; e l l e a v a i t c e t t e i n d e f i n i s s a b l e beaute qu i r e s u l t e de l a j o i e , de 1'enthousiasme, du s u c c e s , et q u i n ' e s t que l ' h a r m o n i e du temperament avec l e s c i r c o n s t a n c e s . Ses c o n v o i t i s e s , ses c h a g r i n s , 1'experience du p l a i s i r et ses i l l u s i o n s t o u j o u r s j e u n e s , comme font aux f l e u r s l e f u m i e r , l a p l u i e , l e s vents et l e s o l e i l , l ' a v a i e n t par g r a d a t i o n developpee, et e l l e s ' e p a n o u i s s a i t e n f i n dans l a p l e n i t u d e de sa n a t u r e . (p. 222) When she i s i n l o v e w i t h Leon: Ce fu ren t t r o i s j o u r s p l e i n s , e x q u i s , s p l e n d i d e s , une v r a i e lune de m i e l . I l s e t a i e n t a 1'Hotel de Boulogne, sur l e p o r t . Et i l s v i v a i e n t l a , v o l e t s fe rmes , por tes c l o s e s , avec des f l e u r s par t e r r e et .des s i r o p s a l a g l a c e , qu'on l e u r a p p o r t a i t des l e m a t i n . (p. 280) But these p e r i o d s o f happiness are always s h o r t - l i v e d . Her a f f e c t i o n s f o r her men cease comple te l y the moment t h a t she d i s c o v e r s t h a t t h e r e are l i m i t s on the c a p a b i l i t i e s t h a t she imagines t h a t they possess . As soon as she d i s c o v e r s t h a t Leon w i l l not s t e a l f o r h e r , she h u r l s him comple te l y out of her h e a r t . But the i d e a t h a t he w i l l s t e a l f o r her i s an i n v e n t i o n of her own, complete ly f a l s e , yet w h o l l y necessary t o t h e s a t i s f a c t i o n of her enormous d e s i r e s . Perhaps t h e r e i s an unconsc ious connect ion between Emma's f e a r of death and,her c h o i c e of a doctor f o r a husband, f o r i t i s a f t e r the ca tas t rophe of the o p e r a t i o n on H i p p o l y t e ' s l e g t h a t she l o s e s her l a s t - 23 -atom of respec t f o r him. She can no longer imagine t h a t her husband possesses any superhuman powers, and she f e e l s bet rayed by the r e v e l a t i o n . Comment done a v a i t - e l l e f a i t ( e l l e qu i e t a i t s i i n t e l l i g e n t e . ' ) pour se meprendre encore une f o i s ? Du r e s t e , par q u e l l e d e p l o r a b l e manie a v o i r a i n s i abime son e x i s t e n c e en s a c r i f i c e s c o n t i n u e l s ? E l l e se r a p p e l a tous ses i n s t i n c t s de l u x e , t o u t e s l e s p r i v a t i o n s de son ame, l e s bassesses du m a r i a g e , du menage, ses reves tombant dans l a boue comme des h i r o n d e l l e s b l e s s e e s , tou t ce q u ' e l l e a v a i t d e s i r e , tou t ce q u ' e l l e s ' e t a i t r e f u s e , tou t ce q u ' e l l e a u r a i t pu avo i r . ' Et p o u r q u o i , pourquoi? (p. 213) E l l e se r e p e n t a i t , comme d'un c r i m e , de sa v e r t u p a s s e e , et ce qu i en r e s t a i t encore s ' e c r o u l a i t sous l e s coups f u r i e u x de son o r g u e i l . (p. 213) When she d i s c o v e r s tha t Rodolphe does not have enough ready money t o g ive her the t h r e e thousand f r a n c s , she f e e l s complete ly b e t r a y e d , f o r she needs a man w i t h u n l i m i t e d w e a l t h i n order t o t r a n s p o r t her t o p a r a d i s e , t o save her from d e a t h . She has i n s t a l l e d a w a l l o f f a n t a s y between h e r s e l f and the w o r l d so t h a t she may not see i t s r e a l i t y , a w a l l which has t h e temporary power t o soothe h e r , but when i t i s f i n a l l y and i n e v i t a b l y d e s t r o y e d , t h a t r e a l i t y overwhelms h e r , and c a r r i e s her o f f i n t o anguish and d e s p a i r . Emma never c r i t i c i s e s h e r s e l f , never attempts t o ana lyse her d e s i r e s , f o r to s p l i t up her composite and i m p o s s i b l e demands i n t o r e c o g n i s a b l e and commonplace d e s i r e s would e n t a i l her s i m u l t a n e o u s l y r e c o g n i s i n g h e r s e l f as an o r d i n a r y human b e i n g sub ject t o the same p h y s i c a l laws as - 24 -everyone e l s e . Love , a r t , r e l i g i o n and sex are f o r her ming led together i n a f a n t a s t i c manner, and she makes no r e a l d i s t i n c t i o n between them. She wants t o make a god out of Rodolphe and a l o v e r out of J e s u s . She wants t o run headlong i n t o the arms of a hero who i s i n f i n i t e l y brave and compassionate , ab le t o do any deed f o r h e r , and ab le t o weep r i v e r s of t e a r s when n e c e s s a r y ; t o go t o him s h o u t i n g , \" E n l e v e - m o i , emmene-moi, p a r t o n s ! A t o i , a t o i l t o u t e s mes ardeurs et tous mes r e v e s ! \" (p.. 251) Emma's profound f e a r of l i f e demands t h a t her l o v e r be some k i n d o f s a v i o u r , i n whose arms she w i l l f i n d the m i r a c l e t h a t her s o u l s e c r e t l y yearns f o r : a r e p r i e v e from the human c o n d i t i o n . . A l though Homais f i n a l l y gets h i s medal , Emma w i l l never f i n d \"un e t r e , f o r t et b e a u , une nature v a l e u r e u s e , p l e i n e a l a f o i s d ' e x a l t a t i o n de de r a f f i n e m e n t s , un coeur de poete sous une forme d 'ange , l y r e aux cordes d ' a i r a i n , sonnant vers l e c i e l des epi thalames e lega iques . . . \" (p. 306) When she f i n a l l y sees no way out o f the h o r r i d web of debt and l i e s t h a t she has spun, Emma dec ides t o commit s u i c i d e . Yet her dreams about the a c t u a l nature of her d y i n g are as f a r removed from the r e a l i t y of d e a t h , as her dreams about p a r a d i s e on e a r t h are from the w o r l d i t s e l f . Tout et el le-meme l u i e t a i e n t i n s u p p o r t a b l e s . E l l e a u r a i t v o u l u , s 'echappant comme un o i s e a u , a l l e r se r a j e u n i r quelque p a r t , b i e n l o i n , dans l e s espaces immacules. (p. 271) S i m i l a r l y , the means t h a t she chooses t o p rov ide h e r s e l f w i t h t h i s romant ic death i s as u n s u i t e d t o her purpose as i t c o u l d p o s s i b l y be. - 25 -Her innocent cho ice of a r s e n i c as the agent of a p a i n l e s s and dreaml ike depar ture i s the f i n a l c l a s h i n the nove l between Emma's v iew of the w o r l d and the a c t u a l f a c t s of e x i s t e n c e . Her death i s unbearably l o n g , h o r r i b l y p a i n f u l , and ve ry u g l y . A l l her pretences have f lown away, and she i s t ransformed i n t o the i n c a r n a t i o n o f the s p e c t r e of hideous m o r t a l i t y , that she had spent her l i f e t r y i n g t o escape. As she l i e s d y i n g , she hears the b l i n d man's song d r i f t i n through the window. I I s o u f f l a b ien f o r t ce j o u r - l a , Et l e jupon court s 'envo la . ' (p. 303) The song i s a profane r e f e r e n c e t o the f l e s h l y r e a l i t i e s t h a t p r e t t y young g i r l s ' c l o t h i n g i s in tended to c o n c e a l . At the moment of her d e a t h , Emma has recogn i zed the b l i n d man as the symbol ic menace t o her i l l u s i o n s of i m m o r t a l i t y . - 26 -In the n o v e l we have j u s t s t u d i e d , the f e a r o f death t h a t p r o p e l s the main c h a r a c t e r i s not made e x p l i c i t i n the n a r r a t i v e , but has t o be i n f e r r e d from the nature of her dreams, i d e a l s , and i l l u s i o n s . Emma's f e a r of death i s w h o l l y u n c o n s c i o u s , and t h e r e i s ve ry l i t t l e e v i d e n c e , w i t h i n the book or e lsewhere , t h a t F l a u b e r t in tended us t o conclude t h a t h i s h e r o i n e ' s f a t e i s the r e s u l t of any th ing more than a n a i v e attempt t o break away from the s u f f o c a t i n g ted ium of her bourgeo is e x i s t e n c e . The \" p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y c o n v i n c i n g account\" t h a t I c l a i m t o be con ta ined i n the work i s r e v e a l e d through an i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of s u r f a c e s igns t h a t p o i n t toward a concealed s t r u c t u r e i n the t e x t . I do not t h i n k i t presumptuous t o a s s e r t t h a t F l a u b e r t was h a r d l y more aware of the profound causes of h i s h e r o i n e ' s f a t e than she was h e r s e l f , and i t seems t h a t the o n l y hypothes is t h a t we can j u s t i f i a b l y d e r i v e from the s u r f a c e n a r r a t i v e i s the one t h a t G a u l t i e r o f f e r s i n Le_ Bovarysme: I I semble en e f f e t p a r f o i s que l a f a u s s e concept ion q u ' e l l e prend d 'e l le -meme et des choses s u f f i s e a causer son a v e r s i o n pour t o u t e r e a l i t e . ^ -Yet i n Madame Bovary , F l a u b e r t at l e a s t o f f e r s us a p o r t r a i t of the . \" r e a l i t y \" t h a t G a u l t i e r f a i l s t o d e s c r i b e i n h i s account of the work, and i t i s i n the manner o f vits~ ' d e p i c t i o m t h a t we are a b l e to f i n d the c lue t o the unconscious causes of Emma's a c t i o n s , and perhaps , t o F l a u b e r t ' s own a n t i p a t h y towards everyday r e a l i t y . In order t o c l a r i f y my c l a i m t h a t F l a u b e r t p r o v i d e s us w i t h the means - 27 -to a r r i v e at the o r i g i n s of Emma's f a n t a s i e s wi thout b e i n g aware t h a t he i s do ing s o , I f i n d i t h e l p f u l t o r e f e r the reader t o a d i s t i n c t i o n employed by the l i t e r a r y t h e o r i s t , Rene G i r a r d . In h i s b r i l l i a n t a n a l y s i s of m e t a p h y s i c a l d e s i r e , Mensonge Romantique et V e r i t e Romanesque , G i r a r d d i v i d e s the authors whose works demonstrate the \"mechanics\" of d e s i r e i n t o two c a t e g o r i e s : the romantique ( r o m a n t i c ) , and the romanesque ( n o v e l i s t i c ) . The romantique authors are those whose works show the mechanism of d e s i r e and i l l u s i o n , yet who remain unaware of t h i s , s i n c e t h e i r i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h t h e i r c h a r a c t e r s ' d e s i r e s i s too c l o s e . From t h i s p o i n t of v i e w , Chateaubr iand 's Rene can be s a i d t o be romant ique , s i n c e a l though we are ab le t o deduce the genes is and development o f the h e r o ' s dreams and d e s i r e s from i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t i s i n h e r e n t i n the t e x t , h i s dreams, f o r the most p a r t , seem t o be synonymous w i t h those of the author . In c o n t r a s t t o Rene, S t e n d h a l ' s Le Rouge et l e N o i r i s c l e a r l y romanesque, s i n c e the author demonstrates t h e laws govern ing t h e f o r m a t i o n o f h i s h e r o ' s ambi t ions i n accordance w i t h a scheme t h a t d i f f e r s markedly from J u l i e n ' s way o f t h i n k i n g about h i m s e l f . I n s o f a r as F l a u b e r t ' s n o v e l has l e d me t o a v iew o f h i s c h a r a c t e r s ' a c t i o n s t h a t seems t o be more p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y r e v e a l i n g than h i s own, I t h i n k I can i n c l u d e him among the authors who, f o r the purposes of t h i s t h e s i s , I s h a l l c a l l romant ique. F l a u b e r t ' s n o v e l can be cons idered an example of p s y c h o l o g i c a l r e a l i s m i n the sense t h a t he observes h i s h e r o i n e ' s thoughts w i t h the same - 28 -p a i n s t a k i n g care t h a t he devotes t o her a c t i o n s . Yet he i s not a \" p s y c h o l o g i s t \" i n the same way as Stendhal or D o s t o i e v s k y , nor does he seem t o care t o d i s c o v e r the u n d e r l y i n g f o r c e s i n human behav iour . G a u l t i e r i s h i m s e l f aware of the seeming c o n t r a d i c t i o n i n d i s c o v e r i n g a \" p s y c h o l o g i c a l law\" i n the work of an a r t i s t l i k e F l a u b e r t , and c l a i m s t o have based h i s own ideas on what he c a l l e d an \" a r t i s t i c i n t u i t i o n \" t h a t he l o c a t e s i n Madame Bovary. F l a u b e r t f u t , dans t o u t e l a f o r c e du te rme, un a r t i s t e . I I f a u t done se garder de penser q u ' i l a i t e c r i t ses l i v r e s dans l e but de demontrer 1'exact i tude d'une l o i psycho log ique et de l a f o r m u l e r . I I fau t garder de c r o i r e qu'on l u i p r e t e i c i c e t t e i n t e n t i o n . Aucun s o u c i sans doute ne f u t p l u s e l o i g n e de son e s p r i t et son p a r t i p r i s d ' a r t p u r , e x c l u a n t , comme s u b a l t e r n e , t o u t e p reoccupat ion morale ou ; , s c i e n t i f i q u e , .est une g a r a n t i e de son i n d i f f e r e n c e a cet egard.3 L i k e G a u l t i e r , I owe F l a u b e r t a t r i b u t e of thanks f o r the f a c t t h a t h i s n o v e l seems t o have been , almost a g a i n s t h i s w i s h e s , \"about\" something. In Madame Bovary , F l a u b e r t ' s v i s i o n of m o r t a l i t y i s communicated t o us by a r e c u r r e n t p a t t e r n o f imagery t h a t has p rov ided me w i t h the key t o an unders tand ing o f the deeper causes o f h i s c h a r a c t e r s ' a c t i o n s . In N i e l s Lyhne ( l 8 8 0 ) , the p reoccupat ion w i t h death i s man i fes ted i n an e x p l i c i t form i n the n a r r a t i v e , and i s l i n k e d by the author t o the fo rmat ion of the h e r o ' s dreams and a m b i t i o n s . The n o v e l occup ies a middle p o s i t i o n , bo th t h e m a t i c a l l y and c h r o n o l o g i c a l l y , between the o ther - 29 -two works s t u d i e d i n t h i s t h e s i s , and Jacobsen 's t reatment of N i e l s ' c h a r a c t e r ba lances p e r f e c t l y between F l a u b e r t ' s - r o m a n t i q u e p o r t r a y a l o f Madame Bovary and I b s e n ' s w h o l l y romanesque h a n d l i n g o f John G a b r i e l Borkman. L i k e h i s h e r o , Jens Pete r Jacobsen (1847-85) was a w r i t e r d e d i c a t e d to the i d e a l of a the i sm. U n l i k e N i e l s , however, Jacobsen was s u c c e s s f u l as an a u t h o r , and c o n s i s t e n t i n h i s a t h e i s t i c b e l i e f s . H i s d e c i s i o n t o devote h i m s e l f e n t i r e l y t o a r t came c o m p a r a t i v e l y l a t e i n h i s short l i f e , and h i s f i r s t n o v e l l a , Mogens. (l872 ) , was f o l l o w e d by h i s t r a n s l a t i o n o f Darwin 's O r i g i n of the Spec ies i n t o Dan ish . Whi le he was a student o f p h i l o s o p h y and botany he was i n v o l v e d , f o r a w h i l e , w i t h the l i b e r a l and r a d i c a l movements i n Copenhagen, and i t i s p robable t h a t he at t h a t t ime became acqua in ted w i t h the ph i losophy of Ludwig Feuerbach. Feuerbach was foremost among the few t h i n k e r s i n the h i s t o r y o f the West who have i n s i s t e d on a c a u s a l l i n k between man's f e a r of death and h i s d e s i r e f o r i m m o r t a l i t y . Indeed, Feuerbach 's whole p h i l o s o p h y i s founded on the b e l i e f t h a t the \" i n v e n t i o n \" o f the C h r i s t i a n God was a d i r e c t consequence o f the f e a r o f death . i n der R e l i g i o n sucht der Mensch z u g l e i c h d i e M i t t e l gegen d a s , wovon er s i c h abhangig f i i h l t . So i s t das M i t t e l gegen den Tod der U n s t e r b l i c h k e i t s g l a u b e ^ ( i n r e l i g i o n man l o o k s f o r defenses a g a i n s t what he f e e l s dependent on. Thus h i s defense aga ins t death i s t h e b e l i e f i n i m m o r t a l i t y . ) 5 - 30 -In Das Wesen des Chr istenthums ( l 8 4 l ) , Feuerbach argues t h a t God i s a w h o l l y a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l c o n c e p t ; t h a t f o r c e n t u r i e s man has p r o j e c t e d h i s best q u a l i t i e s , l o v e , c h a r i t y , u n d e r s t a n d i n g , c r e a t i v i t y , onto an i l l u s o r y e x t e r n a l be ing i n the v a i n hope t h a t t h i s b e i n g w i l l confer on him h i s most c h e r i s h e d hope: freedom from the c o n d i t i o n of m o r t a l i t y . The r e s u l t of t h i s , Feuerbach c l a i m s , i s t h a t man's concept ion o f h i m s e l f has become impover ished . He devotes much of h i s book t o p roofs of the n o n - e x i s t e n c e of God, and concludes t h a t s i n c e man's d e s i r e f o r i m m o r t a l i t y can never be f u l f i l l e d , he must t u r n t o a new \" r e l i g i o n \" which c e l e b r a t e s the f i n i t e nature of a l l t h i n g s i n n a t u r e : der R e l i g i o n , i n w i e f e r n s i e n i c h t s Anderes a u s d r u c k t , a l s das Gefuh l der E n d l i c h k e i t und Abhangigke i t des Menschen von der N a t u r . ^ (the r e l i g i o n t h a t expresses n o t h i n g o ther than man's f e e l i n g of f i n i t e n e s s and dependency on nature . )T Feuerbach 's enthusiasm i s d e f i n i t e l y echoed by N i e l s Lyhne 's c l a i m s f o r the f u t u r e of a the ism i n Jacobsen 's n o v e l , ye t the s t r a i n t h a t i s c o n s i s t e n t l y m i s s i n g from N i e l s ' apostrophes i s the emphasis t h a t Feuerbach p l a c e s on the i d e a o f f i n i t e n e s s . We s h a l l see i n the f o l l o w i n g chapter t h a t N i e l s c o n s i s t e n t l y dreams t h a t a s o r t o f i n f i n i t e expansion of the s p i r i t w i l l r e s u l t from man's f r e e i n g h i m s e l f from romant ic and r e l i g i o u s i n f l u e n c e s ; t h a t the new d o c t r i n e o f \" r e a l i s m \" w i l l confer \"bound less\" p o s s i b i l i t i e s on those who - 31 -b e l i e v e i n i t . L i k e Emma Bovary , N i e l s ' dreams o f becoming, t o use G a u l t i e r ' s p h r a s e , \"o ther than he i s \" , are founded on the d e s i r e t o t ranscend the l i m i t s of human e x i s t e n c e . Jacobsen p o r t r a y s h i s hero as a young man t o r n between h i s romant ic temperament, t h a t has i t s r o o t s i n the p a s t , and h i s a t h e i s t i c and a r t i s t i c c o n v i c t i o n s t h a t have as t h e i r ob jec t the moulding of a new w o r l d f o r the f u t u r e . The p a r t o f N i e l s t h a t u n c o n s c i o u s l y yearns f o r i m m o r t a l i t y - the Romantic \" i n f i n i t e \" - i s symbol ized by h i s a l l e g i a n c e t o h i s mother , B a r t h o l i n e B l i d , a woman who so c l o s e l y resembles Emma Bovary t h a t we cannot avo id the thought t h a t Jacobsen i n t e n t i o n a l l y based her on F l a u b e r t ' s h e r o i n e . N i e l s ' temperamental a l l e g i a n c e to the past stands as an o b s t a c l e between h i m s e l f and h i s i d e a l of the f u t u r e i n the same way t h a t h i s unconscious d e s i r e s f r u s t r a t e the r e a l i z a t i o n o f h i s consc ious a m b i t i o n s . I f the n a t u r a l outcome of the f e a r of death i s the d e s i r e f o r i m m o r t a l i t y , then the n a t u r a l consequence of an unconscious f e a r o f death i s t h a t the i n d i v i d u a l w i l l s t r u g g l e , aga in u n c o n s c i o u s l y , t o f i n d an ob jec t t o f u l f i l l h i s d e s i r e f o r i m m o r t a l i t y . Feuerbach seems t o have b e l i e v e d t h a t i t would be s u f f i c i e n t f o r men t o r e j e c t the i d e a of God f o r them t o be f o r e v e r f r e e d from the i l l u s i o n t h a t he might escape death . He d i d not suspect t h a t t h i s d e s i r e might be so f i r m l y rooted i n a par t o f our consc iousness o f which we are not aware t h a t the quest f o r i m m o r t a l i t y might s t i l l be s y m b o l i c a l l y enacted i n the l i f e of a man who f e r v e n t l y b e l l h i m s e l f t o be an a t h e i s t . N i e l s Lyhne i s the s t o r y of such a man. - 32 -J a c o b s e n ' s n o v e l ends w i t h h i s y o u t h f u l h e r o ' s d y i n g \" t h e d i f f i c u l t d e a t h \" a f t e r b e i n g wounded i n b a t t l e i n the s e r v i c e o f h i s c o u n t r y . He g r a c i o u s l y r e f u s e s Dr . H j e r r i l d ' s o f f e r t o b r i n g him a p r i e s t , choos ing t o meet h i s end d e f i a n t l y , w i thout the i l l u s o r y comfor ts a f f o r d e d by the r i t e s of the c h u r c h . He has d i e d a c c o r d i n g t o h i s own v i s i o n o f an a t h e i s t i c i d e a l , the i d e a l t h a t he had o n l y f a l t e r i n g l y obeyed d u r i n g h i s l i f e . A f t e r the death of h i s mother , N i e l s had met H j e r r i l d i n a c a f e i n Copenhagen on Chr is tmas Eve. N e i t h e r H j e r r i l d nor N i e l s have any remain ing r e l a t i v e s , no l i n k w i t h the past t h a t can g i v e the y e a r l y r i t u a l any p e r s o n a l meaning. In a sudden f i t o f e n t h u s i a s m , perhaps born of d e s p e r a t i o n , N i e l s r e l a t e s t o h i s f r i e n d h i s dream of a s h i n i n g f u t u r e f o r mankind , a new age i n which humanity w i l l be at l a s t f r e e d from the t y ranny o f r e l i g i o n . In h i s f a n t a s y N i e l s imagines t h a t u l t i m a t e meaning w i l l r e v e r t t o the human r a c e i t s e l f , and t h a t t h i s E a r t h w i l l be seen to be the Heaven t h a t men have b e l i e v e d t o e x i s t beyond l i f e . H j e r r i l d admires N i e l s ' enthusiasm f o r his i d e a l , ye t he cannot h e l p remark ing the i r o n y i n the s p e c t a c l e o f a young man's n e a r - r e l i g i o u s f a n a t i c i s m brought t o the s e r v i c e o f a t h e i s m : Og hvor i a l Verden s k a l han b l i v e f a n a t i s k f o r noget N e g a t i v t ? F a n a t i s k f o r den I d e , a t der ingen Gud er t i l ! - og uden F a n a t i s m e , ingen S e j r , . . Troen paa en s t y r e n d e , dSmmende Gud det er Mennesliehedens s i d s t e s t o r e I l l u s i o n , og hvad s a a , naar den har t a b t den? Saa er den b leven k l o g e r e ; men r i g e r e , l y k k e l i g e r e ? Jeg ser det i k k e . (pp. 149-150) - 33 -(And how i n the w o r l d can he get f a n a t i c about a negat ion? F a n a t i c f o r the i d e a t h a t t h e r e i s no God.1 - But w i thout f a n a t i c i s m t h e r e i s no v i c t o r y . . . The b e l i e f i n a God who r u l e s e v e r y t h i n g i s humani ty 's l a s t great i l l u s i o n , and when t h a t i s gone, what then? Then you are w i s e r ; but r i c h e r , happier? I c a n ' t see i t . ) [pp. 144-1451 N i e l s r e p l i e s by s k e t c h i n g out the a n t i c i p a t e d progress o f h i s i d e a l . He imagines a great b a t t l e o f f a i t h l a s t i n g through many g e n e r a t i o n s , and h i m s e l f t o be one o f the s p i r i t u a l ances to rs of the a t h e i s t i c l e g i o n s of tomorrow. H i s f e r v o u r i s r e l i g i o u s . , yet i t aims f o r the overthrow of r e l i g i o n . H i s i d e a l i s a romant ic one, yet i t i s t o be fought f o r i n the name of \" l i f e as i t i s \" . C o n s i d e r i n g these c o n t r a d i c t i o n s i n N i e l s ' b e h a v i o u r , H j e r r i l d very shrewdly dubs h i s young f r i e n d ' s cause , \" p i e t i s t i c a l a t h e i s m \" . Georg Brandes c a l l e d N i e l s Lyhne \" a s t range anachronism\" (en u n d e r l i g A n a c h r o n i s m e ) \ and N i e l s i s h i m s e l f haunted by the f e e l i n g t h a t he was born out o f t h i s t i m e : Under t iden syntes det ham, han var fod t et h a l v t Aarhundrede f o r s e n t , sommetider igen ogsaa , at han v a r kommet a l t f o r t i d l i g t . T a l e n t e t nos ham stod med s i n Rod i noget Forbigangent og havde kun L i v i d e t , kunde i k k e drage Naer ing a f hans Meninger , hans O v e r b e v i s n i n g , hans Sympat ie r , kunde i k k e tage det pp i s i g og g i v e det Form. (pp. 236 - 237) (Sometimes i t seemed to him t h a t he had been born h a l f a century too l a t e , sometimes t h a t he had come a l t o g e t h e r too e a r l y . H is t a l e n t was r o o t e d i n some-t h i n g o f the p a s t ; i t c o u l d not draw nourishment from h i s o p i n i o n s , h i s c o n v i c t i o n s , and h i s sympath ies , cou ld not absorb them and g i v e them fo rm. ) Cp. 2191 - 34 -N i e l s ' mother had tho rough ly i n d o c t r i n a t e d her son i n t o her romant i n o t i o n of l i f e , ye t i t was a l s o she who had f i r s t communicated t o him the hopelessness of seek ing the o b j e c t s of fancy i n t h i s w o r l d . L i k e Emma Bovary , B a r t h o l i n e B l i d had f i r s t b e l i e v e d the m a g i c a l r e a l i t y o f the romant ic w r i t e r s t o e x i s t somewhere on the face o f t h i s E a r t h , and when the f a c t s of exper ience c o n t r a d i c t her l o n g i n g s , she f e e l s cheated and b e t r a y e d . Even when N i e l s takes her t o C larens i n S w i t z e r l a n d , t o the a c t u a l l o c a t i o n d e s c r i b e d by her \"beloved Rousseau, she does not recogn i ze the beauty of the s e t t i n g as hav ing any r e l a t i o n s h i p t o the p o e t i c evocat ions o f her books . E v e r y t h i n g i s too d e f i n i t e , too s p e c i f i to match the e t h e r e a l t e x t u r e of her dreams. Her profound d e s i r e f o r a s t a t e of b e i n g i n which she w i l l f i n d a r e p r i e v e from the c o n d i t i o n of m o r t a l i t y i s f r u s t r a t e d by the f a c t t h a t the t r e e s and water and rocks of S w i t z e r l a n d are fundamenta l ly the same as those she ha.d known i n Denmark. Her deepest need i s to c ross a m a g i c a l t h r e s h o l d i n t o a w o r l d t h a t i s w h o l l y d i s c o n t i n u o u s w i t h the wor ld of r e a l i t y . Nor i s she s a t i s f i e d w i t h dreaming, f o r she demands the i m p o s s i b l e : the d i r e c t apprehension o f the wor ld of u n r e a l i t y e x i s t i n g i n the r e a l w o r l d . Only f o r a few f l e e t i n g minutes does she g l impse a r e f l e c t i o n o f her l ong ings Da var d e t , naar g u l t b e l y s t e A f t e n t a a g e r s k j u l t e de f j a e r n e J u r a b j e r g e , og Soen, rod som et K o b b e r s p e j l , med gyldne Flammer tunget i n d i S o l r o d t s g l o d e n , syntes gaa sammen med Himmelskaeret t i l et s t o r t , l ysende Uendel ighedshav , da var det en e n k e l t Gang i m e l l e m , som om Laengslen forstummed og S j a e l e n havde fundet Landet , som den sog te . (p. 119) - 35 -(Then, when the b r i g h t y e l l o w m i s t s o f evening v e i l e d the d i s t a n t J u r a Mounta ins , and the l a k e , l i k e a copper m i r r o r from which tongues o f golden f lame shot i n t o the red sunset g low, seemed t o melt w i t h the sky i n t o one v a s t , s h i n i n g i n f i n i t y , - then i t would seem, once i n a great w h i l e , as though the l o n g i n g were s i l e n c e d , and the s o u l had found the l a n d i t sought . ) Cpp. 118 - 1193 When she i s u n a b l e , f i n a l l y , to f i n d her mi racu lous h e a v e n - o n - e a r t h , she beg ins t o l o o k forward t o death i n the hope t h a t she w i l l f i n d the l a n d she i s seek ing beyond the g rave . L i k e Werther , she i s the possessor of a s o u l t h a t cannot endure t h e i d e a of l i m i t a t i o n , and she sees death as the inst rument t h a t w i l l r e l e a s e her from the wor ld o f f i n i t e r e a l i t y . Yet death i s the very c o n d i t i o n t h a t d e f i n e s the l i m i t e d nature o f human e x i s t e n c e , and her unconsc ious f e a r o f d e a t h , whose outward m a n i f e s t a t i o n i s her d e s i r e f o r t ranscendence , i s the . f o r c e t h a t l i e s at the heart o f her profound f e a r o f l i f e . L i k e h i s mother , N i e l s has t r i e d t o t u r n h i s back on h i s dreams, yet he can never r i d h i m s e l f of the constant f a s c i n a t i o n w i t h f a n t a s i e s t h a t have n o t h i n g t o do w i t h the w o r l d as he a c t u a l l y p e r c e i v e s i t . H i s sec re t l o n g i n g f o r t ranscendence cannot be s a t i s f i e d by the o b s t i n a t e p a r t i c u l a r i t y o f the t h i n g s o f the w o r l d , which r e f u s e t o mould them-se l ves a c c o r d i n g t o h i s d e s i r e s . L i k e Emma Bovary , l i k e Homais, l i k e h i s mother , he f e e l s t h a t the r e a l i z a t i o n of h i s dreams i s f o r e v e r imminent; t h a t \" l i f e \" i s always \" j u s t around the c o r n e r \" . He i s o f t e n f i l l e d w i t h e x u l t a t i o n at the thought of some v a g u e l y - c o n c e i v e d a r t i s t i c - 36 -p r o j e c t , but h i s p u r e l y emot iona l c o n v i c t i o n s r a r e l y come t o a n y t h i n g , and soon he f i n d s h i m s e l f immersed once more i n h i s r e v e r i e s : N i e l s Lyhne var t r a e t ; d i s s e i d e l i g e T i l l o b t i l et S p r i n g , der a l d r i g b l e v sprunget , havde mattet ham, A l t i n g b l e v h u l t og v a e r d l o s t f o r ham, fo rv raenget og f o r v i r r e t , og saa smaat desuden; det syntes ham n a t u r l i g t at stoppe s i n e Oren og stoppe s i n Mund, og saa saenke s i g ned i S t u d i e r , der i k k e havde noget med Verdenskvalmet at g o r e , men var som et s t i l l e Havdyb f o r s i g s e l v , med f r e d e l i g e Tangskove og k u r i o s e Dyr . (p. 179) ( N i e l s Lyhne was t i r e d . These repeated runnings to a l e a p t h a t was never leaped wear ied h im. E v e r y -t h i n g seemed t o him h o l l o w and w o r t h l e s s , d i s t o r t e d and c o n f u s e d , and o h , so petty . ' He p r e f e r r e d t o stop h i s ears and stop h i s mouth and t o immerse h i m s e l f i n s t u d i e s t h a t had n o t h i n g t o do w i t h the everyday w o r l d , but were l i k e an ocean a p a r t , where he cou ld wander p e a c e f u l l y i n s i l e n t f o r e s t s o f seaweed among c u r i o u s a n i m a l s . ) Cp. IJll N i e l s f u r t h e r resembles h i s mother i n t h a t h i s d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h r e l i g i o n , l i k e her attempt t o t rample on her dreams, stems not from a reasoned a p p r a i s a l of h i s b e l i e f , but from the f e e l i n g of b e t r a y a l he exper ienced when h i s demands upon the God he had imagined were not f u l f i l l e d . When Edele Lyhne d i e s , he spurns God i n h i s hear t f o r not p roduc ing the m i r a c l e he had prayed f o r . H i s atheism t h e n , i s not a u t h e n t i c , but r a t h e r a p o s i t i o n of d e f i a n c e . Jacobsen comments t h a t N i e l s has merely chosen t o change a l l e g i a n c e s , l i k e a \" v a s s a l who t a k e s up arms a g a i n s t h i s l i e g e - l o r d ; f o r he s t i l l b e l i e v e d , and cou ld not d r i v e out h i s f a i t h by d e f i a n c e . \" Cp. 621 - 37 -The death of h i s b e a u t i f u l cous in i s the d e c i s i v e , though not the o n l y , - f a c t o r i n the fo rmat ion of N i e l s ' i n a u t h e n t i c a t h e i s m . When he hears Edele r e p r o v i n g Bigum w i t h the words \" t h e r e i s n ' t a s i n g l e o b s t a c l e t h a t can be dreamed out o f the w o r l d \" Cp. 531, something w i t h i n the young N i e l s r e c o i l s as he grasps the meaning of her words. Han havde f o r f o r s t e Gang f o l t F ryg t f o r L i v e t , f o r f o r s t e Gang v i r k e l i g b e g r e b e t , at naar det havde domt En t i l at l i d e , saa var denne Dom hverken d i g t e t e l l e r t r u e t , men saa b l e v man s l a e b t t i l Pinebaenken og saa b l e v man p i n t , og der kom i det s i d s t e O j e b l i k ingen a e v e n t y r l i g B e f r i e l s e , ingen p l u d s e l i g Opvaagnen som f r a en ond Drom. Det v a r d e t , han f o r s t o d i a n e l s e s f u l d Angs t . (p. 4 6 ) (For the f i r s t t ime he was a f r a i d o f l i f e . For the f i r s t t ime h i s mind grasped the f a c t t h a t when l i f e has sentenced you t o s u f f e r , the sentence i s n e i t h e r a fancy nor a t h r e a t , but you are dragged t o the r a c k , and you are t o r t u r e d , and t h e r e i s no marvelous rescue at the l a s t moment, no awakening as from a bad dream. He f e l t i t as a fo rebod ing which s t r u c k him w i t h t e r r o r . ) Cp. 5^ -3 Al though N i e l s i s a p p a l l e d by the s i g h t o f h i s t u t o r , Mr. Bigum, debasing h i m s e l f and h i s b e l i e f s i n a hopeless attempt t o win E d e l e ' s l o v e , t h i s scene t h a t has such a profound impress ion on h i s young mind i s d e s t i n e d t o be r e p e a t e d , t o a c e r t a i n measure, i n h i s own l i f e . When h i s c h i l d i s d y i n g , N i e l s b reaks the d e f i a n t s i l e n c e t h a t he has kept up a g a i n s t God, and o f f e r s to s a c r i f i c e h i s whole b e i n g i n r e t u r n f o r the - 38 -t h i n g t h a t he l o v e s more than any th ing i n the w o r l d . Yet j u s t as Bigum's p l e a s are r e j e c t e d by Edele Lyhne, so are N i e l s ' p l e a s t o God unanswered f o r the second t i m e . L i k e Bigum, he has bet rayed h i s i d e a l , s a c r i f i c e d h i s i n t e g r i t y , and has r e c e i v e d n o t h i n g i n r e t u r n . A f t e r t h i s , N i e l s Lyhne i s s p i r i t u a l l y dead; h i s dreams have f a i l e d h i m , he has l o s t h i s f a i t h \" i n the a b i l i t y o f human be ings t o bear the l i f e they had to l i v e \" Cp. 2401, and the w o r l d o f r e a l i t y i n which he had hoped t o f i n d the a n t i d o t e t o the s i c k n e s s of h i s s o u l now seems t o be the b i t t e r e s t p i l l o f a l l : t h i det Nye, A the ismen, Sandhedens h e l l i g e Sag , hvad Maal havde det Altsammen, hvad v a r det Altsammen andet end F l i t t e r g u l d s n a v n e f o r det ene S i m p l e : at baere L i v e t , som det v a r ! baere L i v e t , som det v a r , og lade L i v e t forme s i g om L i v e t s egne Love! Det kom ham f o r , som om hans L i v var s l u t t e t a f h i n k v a l f u l d e Nat ; d e t , der kom e f t e r , kunde a l d r i g b l i v e Andet end i n t e r e s s e l o s e S c e n e r , der var h a e f t e t bag t i l femte A k t , e f t e r at Handl ingen var s p i l t t i l Ende. (p. 2 6 2 ) ( f o r a f t e r a l l , the new i d e a l , a t h e i s m , the sacred cause of t r u t h - what d i d i t a l l mean, what was i t a l l but t i n s e l names f o r the one s imple t h i n g : t o bear l i f e as i t was! To bear l i f e as i t was and a l l o w l i f e t o shape i t s e l f a c c o r d i n g t o i t s own laws.' I t seemed t o him as though h i s l i f e had ended i n t h a t n igh t of agony. What came a f t e r was no more than meaningless scenes t a c k e d on a f t e r the f i f t h ac t when the a c t i o n was a l r e a d y f i n i s h e d . ) Cp. 2411 - 39 -In h i s d e s p a i r , N i e l s has enunc iated h i s a c t u a l f e e l i n g s about the w o r l d : i t i s a t h i n g to be borne r a t h e r than accepted . He i s i n c a p a b l e o f s u r r e n d e r i n g h i m s e l f t o the r e a l i t y of e x i s t e n c e because he c o n s i d e r s t h a t t h e r e i s a b a s i c d i s c r e p a n c y between what the s o u l yearns f o r , and what the wor ld has t o o f f e r . A l though he has adopted a creed t h a t f l a t l y r e j e c t s any form of t ranscendence , h i s i n s t i n c t i v e d e s i r e i s f o r a s t a t e i n which he w i l l be i n v u l n e r a b l e t o the process of l i f e and d e a t h . L i k e h i s mother , he i s t o r n between the f i n i t e and d e f i n i t e aspect o f e x t e r i o r r e a l i t y whose symbol i s d e a t h , and the l o n g i n g of the s p i r i t towards some u n d i f f e r e n t i a t e d i n f i n i t y t h a t seems t o i n c l u d e the promise of i m m o r t a l i t y . As a p roo f o f what he f e e l s t o be the i r r e v o c a b l y s o l i t a r y s t a t u s of the human i n d i v i d u a l , he r e f l e c t s t h a t he has n e v e r , i n h i s l i f e , managed t o merge h i m s e l f w i t h another : N e j , det var i k k e d e t . Det var det s t o r e T r i s t e , a t en S j a e l er a l t i d ene. Det var en Logn, hver Tro paa Sammensmeltning mellem S j a e l og S j a e l . Ikke den Moder, der t o g En paa s i t Skod, i k k e en Ven, i k k e den Hus t ru , . der h v i l e d e ved Ens H j a e r t e . . . (p. 2 6 5 ) (No, i t was not t h a t . I t was the dreary t r u t h t h a t a s o u l i s always a l o n e . Every b e l i e f i n the f u s i n g of the s o u l was a l i e . Not your mother who took you on her l a p , nor your, f r i e n d , . n o r yet the w i f e who s l e p t on your heart . . . ) Cp. 2433 So , i n terms o f h i s uncompromising demands f o r t o t a l i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h aaiother, he even c o n s i d e r s h i s marr iage t o Gerda to have been a - 40 -f a i l u r e . Yet he had known the g r e a t e s t happiness o f h i s l i f e w i t h h i s young w i f e , but a l though she shared i n h i s b e l i e f s and dreams, she c o u l d not b r i n g h e r s e l f t o d i e w i t h o n l y the c o n s o l a t i o n o f h i s l o v e , and i n her l a s t hours she t u r n s away from him and back t o her God. She t e l l s N i e l s t h a t she c o u l d bear to d i e i f he were t o d i e w i t h h e r , but t h a t she dares not face i t a l o n e . N i e l s sees h i s w i f e ' s death as the b e t r a y a l of the i l l u s i o n of an i n s e p a r a b l e bond between a man and a woman, and perhaps she sees the f a c t o f h i s cont inued e x i s t e n c e as a s i m i l a r b e t r a y a l . Un less N i e l s has u n w i t t i n g l y f a n c i e d t h a t l o v e has the power to fo rge a necessary l i n k between two i n d i v i d u a l s , t h a t w i l l i n some myster ious way d e l i v e r them from the c o n t i n g e n c i e s o f e x i s t e n c e , i t i s d i f f i c u l t to imagine why he i s so l e d t o d e s p a i r by the thought t h a t he i s , and has always been , \" a l o n e \" . In \"Les Hommes de l a Percee Moderne\" , F r e d e r i c Durand t r a c e s the atheism expressed by Jacobsen t o the w r i t i n g s of Feuerbach. In Das Wesen des Chr i s ten thums^ , Feuerbach develops the i d e a of the immense p r o f i t t h a t mankind may reap from r e c o n v e r t i n g the energy t h a t has t r a d i t i o n a l l y been wasted on r e l i g i o n , i n t o the p e r f e c t i o n o f human c i v i l i z a t i o n . Durand sees N i e l s Lyhne's own brand o f atheism t o be an express ion o f the same b a s i c hope: \"ramener a t e r r e t o u t e s . c e s v a l e u r s s p i r i t u e l l e s que l'homme d ispense par c r a i n t e de l a mort a l a face d 'un c i e l i nva r iab lement v i d e depuis t o u j o u r s , pour l e s amenager au b e n e f i c e de l'homme et de l a s o c i e t e \" ^ . ' N i e l s may b e l i e v e t h a t the f e a r o f death - 41 -i s the motive f o r man's hav ing invented a God who w i l l p rov ide a heavenly home f o r the f a i t h f u l , yet h i s theory does not e x p l a i n the connect ion between the f e a r of death and a l l romant ic i l l u s i o n s , i n c l u d i n g h i s own. N i e l s ' l i f e has c o n s i s t e d l a r g e l y of a s u c c e s s i o n o f attempts t o f i n d a r e p r i e v e from e x i s t e n c e through an i n t i m a t e attachment t o a woman. The language t h a t he uses t o d e s c r i b e h i s i d e a l of femin ine \" p u r i t y \" be t rays the r e l i g i o u s mot ives t h a t l i e behind h i s search f o r a woman w i t h whom he can share h i s l i f e . A l though he i s an a t h e i s t , he r e t a i n s the C h r i s t i a n p r e j u d i c e t h a t the f l e s h i s the c o r r u p t e r of the i d e a l , and t h a t a u t h e n t i c l o v e i s i n c o m p a t i b l e w i t h sensua l d e s i r e . N i e l s ' p rud ishness i s a m a n i f e s t a t i o n of h i s need t o d i s c o v e r a m a g i c a l be ing who seems t o have t ranscended the o r d i n a r y , p h y s i c a l p rocesses of human l i f e , and who w i l l , presumably , confer i t s \" d i v i n e \" essence on h im. As w i t h a l l the c h a r a c t e r s s t u d i e d i n t h i s t h e s i s , N i e l s ' romant ic ism c o n s i s t s i n h i s a c t i n g r e l i g i o u s l y towards an ob jec t i n the r e a l w o r l d i n the unconsc ious hope t h a t t h i s ob jec t w i l l confe r on him the b e n e f i t s t h a t f o r m e r l y on ly a god cou ld bestow. A l though he complains about the d i f f i c u l t y o f \" f u s i n g \" h i m s e l f w i t h another , he has done much t o f r u s t r a t e t h e at ta inment o f r e a l communication between h i m s e l f and those he l o v e s . In h i s f r i e n d s h i p w i t h E r i k , t h e i r d i s c u s s i o n s never went so f a r as t o penet ra te i n t o the \"bedrooms, bathrooms, and other p r i v a t e p l a c e s i n the mansions o f t h e i r s o u l s \" Cp. 106l. Mrs . Boye t e l l s N i e l s t h a t she i s t i r e d o f hav ing men p l a c e her on an - 42 -imaginary p e d e s t a l , t h a t she longs to be l o v e d f o r what she r e a l l y i s , not as the r e f l e c t i o n of some \" b l o o d l e s s i d e a l \" . N i e l s can o n l y r e p l y lamely t h a t he b e l i e v e s i n . t h e i d e a l of \" f e m i n i n e p u r i t y \" . men han f i k da s v a r e t , at han s y n t e s , det var det s t o r s t e B e v i s p a a , hvor s t o r Mandens K a e r l i g h e d v a r , at han , f o r at f o r s v a r e det over f o r s i g s e l v at e l s k e et Menneske saa u s i g e l i g t h o j t , maatte omgive d e t t e Menneske med et Skaer a f Guddommelighed. \" J a , det er netop d e t , der er det F o r n a e r m e l i g e , \" sagde F r u e n , \" v i er j o guddommelige nok, som v i e r . \" (p. 90) (but he managed t o answer t h a t he thought t h a t a man cou ld not g i v e a f i n e r p roo f of h i s l o v e than t h i s -t h a t he had t o J u s t i f y h i m s e l f t o h i m s e l f f o r l o v i n g a human b e i n g so u n u t t e r a b l y , and t h e r e f o r e set her so h i g h and surrounded her w i t h a nimbus o f d i v i n i t y . \"But t h a t i s j u s t what I f i n d so i n s u l t i n g , \" s a i d Mrs . Boye, \"as i f we were not d i v i n e enough i n o u r s e l v e s . \" ) Cp. 931 H is a f f a i r w i t h Fennimore beg ins w i t h t h e i r l i v i n g t o g e t h e r i n an invented d ream-wor ld , i n which every t r e e and stone has a name, and i t s d e c l i n e i s marked by a \" s i n i s t e r f r a n k n e s s \" i n which \" they c a l l e d t h i n g s by t h e i r r i g h t names\" Cp. 2051. Again and aga in i n the n o v e l , Jacobsen u n d e r l i n e s h i s c h a r a c t e r ' s w i l l f u l b l i n d n e s s t o the r e a l i t y t h a t i s a c t u a l l y present by p r e s e n t i n g us w i t h scores o f d e s c r i p t i v e passages t h a t ove r f low w i t h a joyous r e a c t i o n to - . the beauty of t h e . . n a t u r a l w o r l d , w h i l e emphasis ing i t s p a r t i c u l a r and p h y s i c a l n a t u r e . - k3 -og hvad l a a og sad der i k k e rundt omkring af s i r l i g t Fro og f a r v e r i g e B a e r , brune Nodder, b lanke Agern og n y d e l i g e Agernkopper , Duske a f K o r a l paa B e b e r i s s e n , b l a n k s o r t e V r i e t o r n s b a e r og Hybenrosens skar lagensrode Urner . De b l a d l o s e Boge var P r i k ved P r i k a f piggede Boghuse, og Ronnen luded tung a f rode K l a s e r , s y r l i g e a f Duft som Most a f A e b l e r . (pp. 210 - 211) (What t r e a s u r e s on the ground and on the b r a n c h e s , d a i n t y seeds and b r i g h t - c o l o r e d b e r r i e s , brown n u t s , s h i n i n g acorns and e x q u i s i t e acorn cups , t a s s e l s o f c o r a l on the b a r b e r r y , p o l i s h e d b l a c k b e r r i e s on the b u c k t h o r n , and s c a r l e t urns on the dogrose. The bare beeches were f i n e l y do t ted w i t h p r i c k l y beechnuts , and the roan bent under the weight o f i t s red c l u s t e r s , a c i d i n f rag rance l i k e apple c i d e r . ) Cpp. 196 - 1973 Yet N i e l s cannot respond t o the p a r t i c u l a r and p h y s i c a l natu re o f t h i n g s and of p e o p l e , s i n c e the p r o o f s of n a t u r a l process t h a t are eve r -p resent i n the w o r l d t h r e a t e n h i s s e c r e t d e s i r e t o escape the l i m i t s of r e a l i t y . In a l l these i n s t a n c e s , the a c t u a l t r u t h s of l i f e are a t h r e a t to N i e l s ' dreams of p u r i t y . Mrs . Boye and Ede le and Fennimore are f a r more aware than N i e l s o f the d i s s i m i l a r i t y between t h e i r r e a l natures and the f a s h i o n a b l e i d e a l of womankind. I t i s d i f f i c u l t to assess the d i s t a n c e between Jacobsen ' s own c o n v i c t i o n s i n N i e l s Lyhne and those o f h i s hero . H i s s t y l e of n a r r a t i o n i s perhaps more impersona l than t h a t o f F l a u b e r t i n t h a t he t r e a t s a l l h i s c h a r a c t e r s w i t h equa l sympathy, and never passes a d i r e c t judgment on any of them. We might e a s i l y be l e d i n t o assuming t h a t N i e l s ' o p i n i o n s - hh -are i d e n t i c a l t o those of the a u t h o r , i f we were t o over look the f a c t t h a t N i e l s ' concept ion o f l i f e and a r t cou ld never have produced a n o v e l such, .as the one we have r e a d . I t i s i n the d i s c r e p a n c y \"between Jacobsen ' s sensua l d e s c r i p t i o n s of nature and women and N i e l s ' i d e a l s o f p u r i t y t h a t we are ab le t o p e r c e i v e the i r o n i c d i s t a n c e t h a t e x i s t s between the author and h i s hero . O f t e n , i n the book, Jacobsen r e l a t e s N i e l s ' i nner r e f l e c t i o n s on an occurence w i thout p r o v i d i n g us w i t h any a u t h o r i a l comment whatsoever . When Fennimore pours out her d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n over her marr iage t o E r i k , N i e l s can o n l y imagine t h a t her i n s i s t e n c e on her p h y s i c a l nature must be the r e s u l t of her b e i n g d i s a p p o i n t e d i n an i d e a l t h a t she has not been ab le t o r e a l i z e . h v o r f o r s k a l I saa med den ene Haand kas te os op imod S t j a e r n e r n e , naar I dog med den anden maa t r a e k k e os ned. Kan I i k k e lade os gaa paa Jorden ved S iden af J e r , Menneske ved Menneske, og i k k e det mindste mer. Det er j o umul ig t f o r os at t r a e d e s i k k e r t t i l paa P r o s a e n , naar I gor os b l i n d e med j e r e s Lygtemaend a f P o e s i . Lad os v a e r e , l a d os f o r Guds S k y l d v a e r e ! Hun s a t t e s i g ned og g raed . N i e l s f o r s t o d meget, Fennimore v i l d e have vaere t u l y k k e l i g ved at v i d e hvor meget. (p. 199) (Why f l i n g us up t o the s t a r s w i t h one hand , when you have t o p u l l us down w i t h the other. ' Can ' t you l e t us walk the e a r t h by your s i d e , one human b e i n g w i t h a n o t h e r , and n o t h i n g more at a l l ? I t i s i m p o s s i b l e f o r us t o s tep f i r m l y on the prose of l i f e when you b l i n d us w i t h your p o e t i c w i l l - o ' - t h e - w i s p s . Let us a l o n e ! For God's s a k e , l e t us a l o n e ! - ^5 -She sat down and wept. N i e l s understood much. Fenimore would have been m i s e r a b l e had she known how much.) Cp. 1873 N i e l s Lyhne understood ve ry l i t t l e of what Fennimore had been t r y i n g t o t e l l h im. H is r e f l e c t i o n s , i f they have any t r u t h at a l l , r e f e r t o h i m s e l f , f o r he has missed the p o i n t t h a t the i d e a l o f femin ine p u r i t y has been invented by men and t h r u s t upon women. Knowledge o f her own \" t r u e n a t u r e \" does not h e l p Fennimore not t o f e e l g u i l t y about her s e n s u a l i t y , nor do Mrs . Boye 's l i b e r a l i d e a l s prevent her from b e i n g a t t r a c t e d i n t o r e s p e c t a b l e bourgeois l i f e . Yet the women i n J a c o b s e n ' s n o v e l p r o v i d e a f a r more r e a l i s t i c p o r t r a i t o f human be ings as they a c t u a l l y a r e , and seem t o possess g rea te r i n s i g h t s i n t o the t r u e nature of dreams and r e a l i t y , than any of the male c h a r a c t e r s . Above a l l , N i e l s i s a f r a i d of the s e x u a l i t y of women, which he cannot d e t a c h , i n h i s mind , from crudeness , d e g r a d a t i o n , and perhaps , base a n i m a l i t y . A l l p o i n t s of s i m i l a r i t y between human be ings and o ther \" l o w e r \" forms of l i f e are c a r e f u l l y s e l e c t e d out o f h i s f a n t a s i e s about l o v e and the \" g l o r i o u s f u t u r e \" o f s o c i e t y . H i s i d e a l , u l t i m a t e l y , i s a non-human one; i t i s as i f he w i l l o n l y be s a t i s f i e d when men a t t a i n the mode.of b e i n g t h a t has t r a d i t i o n a l l y been a t t r i b u t e d to the Gods. H i s consc ious i d e a l does not i n c l u d e the i l l u s i o n t h a t men might become immortal i n the sense t h a t they w i l l never d i e , f o r he i s o n l y too aware of the i n e v i t a b i l i t y of death . U n c o n s c i o u s l y , however, h i s dreams are - I n -formed upon a sh r ink ing -away from the p roo fs of human m o r t a l i t y , from p a i n , i m p e r f e c t i o n , c o r r u p t i o n , p r o c r e a t i o n and death . The \" n o b l e \" heroes of the f u t u r e w i l l , presumably , l i v e t h e i r l i v e s i n the same exaggerated e l a t i o n , and f e e l themselves t o be as d i v i n e l y l i m i t l e s s as N i e l s when he f a l l s i n l o v e w i t h Fennimore: hver a f dem var en Aabenbare l se , t h i paa hver af dem fandt han s i g s e l v s t o r r e og s t a e r k e r e og mere s t o r i S t i l e n . Han havde a l d r i g kendt en saadan F o l e l s e n s I n d e r l i g h e d og V a e l d e , og der var O j e b l i k k e , hvor han syntes s i g s e l v t i t a n i s k , l a n g t mer end Menneske, saadan en Uudtommelighed fornam han i s i t I n d r e , saa v ingebred en Omhed svulmed f r a hans H j a e r t e , saa v i d t var hans Syn , saa Kaempemilde var hans Domme. (p. 217) (With each day t h a t p a s s e d , he f e l t s t r o n g e r , g r e a t e r , and n o b l e r . He had never known such s t r e n g t h and f u l l n e s s of f e e l i n g ; t h e r e were moments when he seemed t o h i m s e l f t i t a n i c , much more than man, so i n e x h a u s t i b l e was the w e l l s p r i n g o f h i s s o u l , so broad-winged the tenderness t h a t s w e l l e d h i s h e a r t , so wondrous the sweep of h i s v i s i o n , so i n f i n i t e the gent leness o f h i s judgments. ) Cp. 2021 N i e l s c l a i m s t o l o v e humanity , yet he i s happiest when he f e e l s h i m s e l f t o be \"more than a man\" , i n d e e d , he seems t o be more content the l e s s he f e e l s h i m s e l f t o be human, the more l i k e a God. The language t h a t Jacobsen uses t o d e s c r i b e h i s hero i n t h i s passage evokes the tone of a hymn t o the g l o r y of God, f o r s e c r e t l y , N i e l s can o n l y f i n d s a t i s f a c t i o n f o r h i s l o n g i n g s i n the i l l u s i o n t h a t he has t a k e n onto h i m s e l f the q u a l i t i e s of the God t h a t he has d e n i e d . - 47 -H j e r r i l d t e l l s N i e l s t h a t he must have a great f a i t h i n human nature i f he b e l i e v e s t h a t h i s v i s i o n a r y f u t u r e of mankind w i l l ever come t o p a s s . On h i s d e a t h - b e d , however, N i e l s c o n t r a s t s the beauty of Nature unfavourab ly w i t h h i s f e e l i n g s about human b e i n g s : Der havde dog vaeret meget Skont i L i v e t , t a e n k t e h a n , naar han mindedes det f r i s k e Pust ved Stranden hjemme, det s v a l e Sus i S j a e l l a n d s Bogeskove, den rene B j a e r g l u f t i C larnes og Gardasoens b lode A f t e n b r i s e . Men t a e n k t e han paa Menneskene, b l e v han saa syg igen i S i n d e t . Han k a l d t e dem f o r s i g en f o r e n , og Allesammen g i k de ham f o r b i og l o d ham ene, og i k k e en b l e v der t i l b a g e . (pp. 2 6 4 - 2 6 5 ) ( A f t e r a l l , t h e r e had been so much i n l i f e t h a t was b e a u t i f u l , he t h o u g h t , as he remembered the f r e s h breeze a long the shores at home, the c o o l soughing of the wind i n the beech f o r e s t s of S j a e l l a n d , ( ) But when he thought o f human b e i n g s , h i s s o u l s i ckened a g a i n . He summoned . them i n rev iew b e f o r e h i m , one by one , and they a l l passed and l e f t him a l o n e , and not one s tayed w i t h h im. ) [pp. 242 -243H In h i s l a s t few hours on E a r t h , N i e l s Lyhne l o o k s back w i t h b i t t e r n e s s on the f a i l e d i l l u s i o n s of h i s l i f e . He r e c a l l s t h a t he never managed t o forge a l a s t i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h anyone, t h a t no-one e l s e accepted what he thought t o be h i s humanis t i c v i s i o n . But N i e l s r e f u s e s t o see t h a t h i s l i f e was f i l l e d w i t h o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o sur render h i m s e l f up t o l i f e as i t r e a l l y i s , and t o people as they r e a l l y a r e . I t i s h i s dream of l i f e as i t ought t o b e , which s p r i n g s from h i s f e a r of l i f e , which i n t u r n s p r i n g s from h i s f e a r of d e a t h , t h a t has p l a c e d the g u l f between - 48 -h i m s e l f and o t h e r s , between h i s \" s o u l \" and the e x t e r i o r w o r l d . A l o n e , and f e e l i n g h i m s e l f misunderstood by mankind, and cheated by f a t e , N i e l s Lyhne s t e e l s h i m s e l f aga ins t the death t h a t he has a n t i c i p a t e d f o r so l o n g . A l l h i s l i f e he has been i n c a p a b l e o f imag in ing a mode of l i f e t h a t cou ld be founded upon a r e a l i s t i c acceptance of the a c t u a l phenomena o f e x i s t e n c e . The great dreamer, the man who spoke so f e r v e n t l y about the need f o r h e r o i c a c t i o n t o b r i n g about t h e great brotherhood of man, spent the g rea te r par t of h i s days i n \"lame r e f l e c t i v e n e s s \" . S p i r i t u a l l y u n w i l l i n g t o l i v e i n the immediate w o r l d , and t o r n between the romant ic ideas of the past t h a t he t r i e s c o n s c i o u s l y t o r e j e c t , and the new age of r e a l i s m t h a t he i s temperamental ly i n c a p a b l e of a c c e p t i n g , N i e l s Lyhne i s a t r u e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of the t r a n s i t i o n between the two great movements i n the A r t of the n i n e t e e n t h centu ry . Nye var d e , f o r b i t r e t nye , nye i n d t i l O v e r d r i v e l s e , og det maaske i k k e m i n d s t , f o r d i der i n d e r s t inde var en saelsom i n s t i n k t s t a e r k L a e n g s e l j der sku lde overdoves , en L a e n g s e l , det Nye i k k e kunde s t i l l e , v e r d e n s s t o r t som det Nye v a r , A l t omfat tende, A l t i n g m a e g t i g t , A l t op lysende. (p. 76) (They were modern, b e l l i g e r e n t l y modern, modern t o e x c e s s , and perhaps not the l e a s t because i n t h e i r inmost h e a r t s t h e r e was a s t r a n g e , i n s t i n c t i v e l o n g i n g which had t o be s t i f l e d , a l o n g i n g which the new s p i r i t cou ld not s a t i s f y - w o r l d - w i d e , a l l - e m b r a c i n g , a l l -p o w e r f u l , and a l l - e n l i g h t e n i n g though i t was . ) Cp. 8lH - h9 -The \" s t r a n g e , i n s t i n c t i v e l o n g i n g \" t h a t N i e l s can n e i t h e r s a t i s f y i n h i s dreams, nor i n \" l i f e as i t i s \" , i s the t i m e l e s s c o n f l i c t between the immorta l yearn ings of the s o u l and the f i n i t e r e a l i t y of human l i f e . - 50 -The p l a y s o f Henr ik Ibsen are f i l l e d w i t h c h a r a c t e r s who, l i k e N i e l s Lyhne, b e l i e v e t h a t they have a great m i s s i o n i n l i f e . They range from B r a n d , the f a n a t i c a l i d e a l i s t who r e f u s e s t o compromise h i s v i s i o n , t o the w h o l l y i n e f f e c t u a l Hjalmar E k d a l , whose \" i n v e n t i o n \" does not even e x i s t . The i d e a l s of these c h a r a c t e r s are never r e a l i z e d w i t h i n the p l a y s , and i f we are l e f t w i t h any hope f o r t h e i r p r o j e c t s \" a f t e r the p l a y has ended\" , i t i s u s u a l l y because the o r i g i n a l p l a n has been abandoned, and a new, more r e a l i s t i c p l a n has taken i t s p l a c e . A l l m e r s and Stockmann w i l l perhaps succeed i n educat ing the c h i l d r e n of the p o o r , yet the f a t e of...most o f I b s e n ' s i d e a l i s t i c c h a r a c t e r s i s sea led by the end of the p l a y . They e i t h e r d i e , l i k e Rosmers, or cont inue p a t h e t i c a l l y i n t h e i r d e l u s i o n s , l i k e Gregers Wer le . To a ve ry great e x t e n t , I b s e n ' s p l a y s are concerned w i t h the f a i l u r e of i d e a l s t h a t do not match the r e a l i t y of exper ience . We might be tempted t o see an analogy between Gregers Werle and N i e l s Lyhne, yet Gregers ' i d e a l i s m i s founded on f a r l e s s r e a l i s t i c premises than t h a t o f Jacobsen{s h e r o , and whereas N i e l s , f o r the most p a r t , o n l y b r i n g s unhappiness t o h i m s e l f , Gregers causes m i s e r y t o the people t h a t he attempts t o change. Rosmers i s perhaps more l i k e N i e l s i n s o f a r as he i s temperamental ly u n s u i t e d t o c a r r y out the i d e a l s he has adopted , and a l s o because h i s i d e a l s are the m a n i f e s t a t i o n of an unconsc ious i n t e r n a l c r i s i s . - 51 -These c h a r a c t e r s are a l l t r u e romant ic t ypes i n t h a t they c l i n g t o an i d e a l i z e d s e l f - i m a g e t h a t i s des igned t o s h i e l d them from the t r u t h about themselves as human b e i n g s . Only when Nora f o r s a k e s her dream of a permanent i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h her husband, i s she capable o f d i s c o v e r i n g her t r u e s e l f . Hedda G a b l e r . d i e s as a r e s u l t of her r e f u s a l t o compromise her a r i s t o c r a t i c s i d e a l s w i t h the m e d i o c r i t y of bourgeois l i f e . There are many p o i n t s of comparison t h a t c o u l d be drawn between Emma Bovary and Hedda, and s e v e r a l c r i t i c s have a l r e a d y noted the s i m i l a r i t i e s i n t h e i r i d e a l s and t h e i r eventua l s u i c i d e s . Yet the p l a y s of I b s e n ' s midd le p e r i o d are not t h e m a t i c a l l y concerned w i t h death and the f e a r o f death as an u n d e r l y i n g f o r c e i n the fo rmat ion o f human i l l u s i o n s . In L i t t l e E y o l f (1894) Ibsen p i c k s up a theme t h a t he had not touched on s ince Peer Gynt , h i s l a s t great dramat ic poem t h a t he wrote i n 1867. Lost i n the mounta ins , A l f r e d A l l m e r s f e e l s t h e presence o f another who i s w a l k i n g bes ide h im. T h i s \" r e i s e k a m a r a t \" - t r a v e l l i n g companion - i s death i t s e l f , and A l l m e r s r e a l i z e s t h a t h i s l o n g devot ion to h i s book on \"human r e s p o n s i b i l i t y \" has kept him away from h i s r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o h i s own son. For years he has been s p i r i t u a l l y dead , and t r a g i c a l l y , when he r e t u r n s home t o t u r n h i s a t t e n t i o n t o E y o l f , the c h i l d d ies s h o r t l y a f t e r . A l l m e r s , Borkman and Rubek, the p r i n c i p a l c h a r a c t e r s o f I b s e n ' s l a s t t h r e e p l a y s have a l l s u f f e r e d the deadening e f f e c t s of f o c u s s i n g t h e i r e n e r g i e s onto an i d e a l t h a t t h e y c l a i m i s f o r the b e n e f i t of mankind, yet d i v o r c e s them from l i f e , and t u r n s them i n t o \"dead men\". - 52 -In John G a b r i e l Borkman (1896), Ibsen shows t h a t the f e a r of death not o n l y e x p l a i n s t h e a c t i o n s o f h i s ag ing h e r o , but a l s o l i e s at t h e hear t o f the dreams t h a t he formed as a young man, and which he spent h i s e n t i r e l i f e t r y i n g t o r e a l i z e . Borkman i s a tremendous dramat ic c r e a t i o n , and r e f l e c t s the e n e r g e t i c f a n a t i c i s m of B r a n d , and t o a l e s s e r degree, of Stockmann. Yet a l though we:. jare tempted t o agree w i t h h i s own assessment o f h i m s e l f as a Napoleon, he has much i n common w i t h the l u d i c r o u s pharmacist Homais. In Madame Bovary , Homais r e p r e s e n t s the attempt t o set up a s u b s t i t u t e form of i m m o r t a l i t y through the g l o r i f i c a t i o n of h i s name and r e p u t a t i o n , which he hopes w i l l \" l i v e on\" a f t e r he has d i e d . Borkman and Homais both b r i n g t e c h n o l o g i c a l p rogress t o the s e r v i c e of the monument t h a t they hope t o e r e c t t o t h e i r own s e l f - i m a g e . When Homais f e a r s t h a t he may not r e c e i v e the c r o i x d'honneur f o r h i s c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o the s c i e n c e of m e d i c i n e , he c r e a t e s a f l o r a l r o c k e r y i n h i s back garden i n the shape of the c ross t h a t he f e e l s he deserves . Both men seek f o r the es tab l i shment of a permanent mark on the wor ld t h a t seems t o have the power o f t r a n s c e n d i n g the f i n i t e n e s s o f t h e i r e x i s t e n c e , and both men are t o t a l l y r u t h l e s s w i t h the human be ings t h a t they need t o he lp them b r i n g about t h e i r dreams. Whereas Emma's and N i e l s ' dreams are \" r e l i g i o u s \" i n t h a t they are u n c o n s c i o u s l y d i r e c t e d towards an i d e a l of s p i r i t u a l t ranscendence , Homais and Borkman s t r i v e f o r a \" s e c u l a r \" v e r s i o n o f i m m o r t a l i t y t h a t i s t o be a t t a i n e d through the a c q u i s i t i o n of power and fame. - 53 -In t h i s p l a y , Ibsen not o n l y r e v e a l s the mechanism of m e t a p h y s i c a l d e s i r e , but demonstrates the power fu l f o r c e t h a t p rope l s i t . The f e a r of death i s shown t o e x p l a i n the i d e a l s of the t h r e e major c h a r a c t e r s , which a l l c o n t a i n the i l l u s i o n t h a t they w i l l somehow cont inue t o e x i s t a f t e r they have d i e d . The framework of imagery i n the p l a y i s so c a r e f u l l y b u i l t around the e v e r - p r e s e n t spect re of d e a t h , and the dreams of the c h a r a c t e r s are so e x a c t l y cent red on d i s c o v e r i n g a means o f denying i t , t h a t I have t o conclude t h a t I b s e n ' s assessment o f h i s c h a r a c t e r s ' a c t i o n s i s the same as the one I am propos ing i n t h i s t h e s i s . John G a b r i e l Borkman i s a t o t a l l y romanesque t reatment o f the theme of romant ic i l l u s i o n i n the form of a great work of t h e a t r e . The connect ion between the f e a r of d e a t h , and the attempt t o c r e a t e a symbol ic form of i m m o r t a l i t y , t h a t we a re ab le t o deduce from F l a u b e r t ' s n o v e l , and whose o u t l i n e s are s u b s t a n t i a l l y sketched out i n N i e l s Lyhne, i s c o n s c i o u s l y demonstrated i n John G a b r i e l Borkman. - 54 -In John G a b r i e l Borkman , which was p u b l i s h e d i n I b s e n ' s s i x t y - f o u r t h y e a r , the theme of an e a r t h l y v i s i o n of i m m o r t a l i t y i n c o n f l i c t w i t h the present r e a l i t i e s of o l d age and the prospect of d e a t h , i s t r e a t e d even more d i r e c t l y than i n When We Dead Awaken, I b s e n ' s l a s t p l a y . Both p l a y s move from s t a r k r e a l i s m , through symbol ism, i n t o u t t e r a b s t r a c t i o n , t o a scene i n which the main c h a r a c t e r i s over taken by death i n the snow and among the mounta ins , s t r o n g l y r e c a l l i n g the f a t e o f B rand , the hero o f I b s e n ' s most i n t e n s e l y p o e t i c a l , p l a y , which appeared t h i r t y years e a r l i e r . But whereas Brand and P r o f e s s o r Rubek meet t h e i r deaths e x p e r i e n c i n g a p a r t i a l r e j u v e n a t i o n t h a t f l ows from a f i n a l act of s e l f - k n o w l e d g e , Borkman d i e s w h o l l y g r ipped by the d e l u s i o n t h a t has r u i n e d h i s l i f e , and the l i v e s of hundreds of o t h e r s . The p l a y begins w i t h F r u Borkman c r o c h e t i n g on a s o f a , a w a i t i n g the a r r i v a l of E r h a r t , her son. Every d e t a i l . i n the p l a y w r i g h t ' s s t a g e -d i r e c t i o n s serves t o focus the a t t e n t i o n o f the audience onto the p o r t r a i t of t h i s woman who i s r i g i d l y b r a c i n g h e r s e l f a g a i n s t the c o l d touch of death t h a t she f e e l s a l l around h e r . O u t s i d e , through the window, \" a ' snow storm i s d r i v i n g i n the dusk\" Cp. 2873. The d e c o r a t i o n s i n the room are \" f a d e d \" , whatever l i v e l i n e s s they may have had has l e f t them. Ibsen t e l l s us t h a t F r u Borkman h e r s e l f i s \" c o l d \" , t h a t age has f i r m l y l a i d i t s hand upon h e r ; her h a i r i s \" s t r o n g l y marked w i t h g r e y \" , her hands are \" t r a n s p a r e n t \" , as though she were a l r e a d y a ghost ; the handsomeness of her c l o t h e s , l i k e t h a t o f the f u r n i s h i n g s , has o b v i o u s l y passed away. - 55 -The m e t a l l i c chime of s l e i g h - b e l l s o u t s i d e announces t h a t a v i s i t o r has a r r i v e d , and she i s momentar i ly e n l i v e n e d . b y the hope t h a t i t i s her son , through whom she d e s p e r a t e l y seeks a symbol ic form of v i c t o r y over the o b l i v i o n t h a t death t h r e a t e n s her w i t h . In her f a n t a s y , E r h a r t w i l l immor ta l i ze and r a i s e up the f a l l e n name of Borkman, t h a t she c a r r i e s , and o b l i t e r a t e the shame connected w i t h i t , f o r eve r . FRU BORKMAN: J a , E r h a r t , - min h e r l i g e g u t t ! Han s k a l nok v i t e a oppre i se s l e k t e n , h u s e t , navnet . A l t det som kan o p p r e i s e s . - Og kanskje mer t i l . (p. 523) (MRS. BORKMAN: Y e s , E r h a r t , - my s p l e n d i d son. ' . He w i l l be ab le t o r a i s e up the fami l y . , the house, the name. E v e r y t h i n g t h a t can be r a i s e d up . And perhaps more b e s i d e s . ) Cp. 2923 But i t i s not E r h a r t t h a t has come t o v i s i t h e r . I t i s her t w i n s i s t e r , E l l a Rentheim. E l l a i s another whose l i f e has been p ro found l y a f f e c t e d by the f a n a t i c a l ambi t ions o f John G a b r i e l Borkman. Many years ago, she had l o v e d h i m , and as f a r as i t was p o s s i b l e f o r such a man, he had l o v e d her t o o . Yet Borkman had chosen t o sur render h i s \" l o v e \" f o r E l l a to the man who had the power t o h e l p him w i t h h i s schemes t o convert the money he had embezzled from the bank i n t o the \"new s o c i e t y \" o f h i s obsess i ve dream. When E l l a and Gunh i ld conf ront each o ther i n the f i r s t ac t o f the p l a y , i t i s the f i r s t t ime t h a t the two s i s t e r s have been t o g e t h e r f o r e igh t y e a r s , and the b i t t e r n e s s of t h e i r o l d r i v a l r y f o r the l o v e f o r - 56 -John Gabriel Borkman s t i l l stands between them. Gunhild i s also r e s e n t f u l towards E l l a f o r having had to r e l y on her c h a r i t y for so long, and also because E l l a took her son \"away from her\". The most c h i l l i n g f a c t of a l l that the audience learns about t h i s unnatural household, i s that Fru Borkman has not set eyes on her husband since the day of h i s sentence, she has only heard the sound of h i s footsteps above her, as he \"prowled\", endlessly about, \" l i k e a s i c k wolf\" Cp. 296H. Besides very rare v i s i t s from Erhart, Borkman only ever sees Vilhelm F o l d a l , an aged c l e r k who s t i l l nourishes- hopeless dreams of becoming a successful poet, and h i s f i f t e e n - y e a r o l d daughter, F r i d a who sometimes plays to him on the piano. Erhart l i v e s i n the town, \"because of his studies\", and comes to v i s i t his mother every day. He has recently c u l t i v a t e d a f r i e n d s h i p with Fanny Wilton, a lady seven years older than himself, who i s separated from her husband, and she has v i s i t e d the house once or twice. Apart from the \"company\" of a maid, t h i s has been the sum of the commerce between the Borkman household and the rest of humanity for t h i r t e e n years. The house i s not only a place of shame, but a kind of s u f f o c a t i n g tomb whose inhabitants go about a grim d e a t h - i n - l i f e existence i n which they plot to gain c o n t r o l over a r e a l i t y which has long since been turned remorselessly against. them. However much they may want to claim that they desire to l i v e , they are s o l e l y concerned with gaining power over l i f e , as a weapon against the deathly forces that move within them and around them. - 57 -Again and aga in i n the p l a y , I b s e n . s t r e s s e s the f a c t t h a t both Borkman and h i s w i f e are not concerned w i t h l i v i n g i r i the w o r l d , but t h a t they merely have c e r t a i n uses f o r i t . T h e i r common aim- appears t o be the es tab l i shment o f some outward symbol of i m m o r t a l i t y , t h a t w i l l have the magic p r o p e r t y o f i n s u l a t i n g them from the t r u t h of t h e i r own l i v e s and t h e i r profound f e a r o f death . E l l a sees c l e a r l y t h a t G u n h i l d ' s \" p l a n s \" f o r E rhar t do not i n c l u d e any c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f what the young man may want f o r h i m s e l f : FRU BORKMAN: Ingen v i n n i n g , det a beholde en mors makt over E r h a r t ! ELLA RENTHEIM: N e i ; f o r det er bare makten over ham du v i i h a . FRU BORKMAN: Og du da ! ELLA RENTHEIM .Cvarmt.3: Jeg v i i ha hans k j a e r l i g e s i n n , - hans s j e l , - hans he le h j e r t e - ! FRU BORKMAN Cutbry te r l l : Det f a r . du a l d r i mer i denne ve rden ! (p . 528) (MRS. BORKMAN: Not w in a n y t h i n g , by keep ing a mother ' s c o n t r o l over E r h a r t ! ELLA RENTHEIM: No, because it'Ts' o n l y c o n t r o l over him t h a t you want. MRS. BORKMAN: And y o u , then? ELLA RENTHEIM [warmly : : I want h i s a f f e c t i o n - h i s s o u l - h i s whole hear t - ! MRS. BORKMAN [ p a s s i o n a t e l y ] : You won't ever get t h a t aga in i n t h i s w o r l d ! ) Cp. 301H When E l l a i s t a l k i n g t o Borkman i n h i s room, the man g l i d e s e f f o r t l e s s l y i n h i s d i s c o u r s e , from r i d i n g roughshod over the f e e l i n g s of the woman who s t i l l l oves h i m , i n t o t a l d i s r e g a r d f o r her as a human b e i n g , t o t a l k i n g l o v i n g l y of t a k i n g c o n t r o l over the dead r i c h e s of - 58 -the ear th . With the power that he dreams of ga ining from hi s mastery of the m a t e r i a l wor ld , he hopes to found a miraculous kingdom i n which he w i l l contr ibute to the \" w e l l - b e i n g \" of thousands of g r a t e f u l , but f a ce l e s s , subjects . BORKMAN: Men du far huske pa at jeg er en mann. Som kvinne var du meg det dyreste i verden. Men nar. endel ig sa ma vaere , sa kan dog en kvinne er s ta t te s av en annen -ELLA RENTHEIM Dser pa ham med et smil l l : Gjorde du den e r f a r i n g da du hadde Gunhild t i l hustru? BORKMAN: N e i . Men mine oppgaver i l i v e t h j a lp meg t i l a baere det ogsa. A l l e maktens k i l d e r i dette l and v i l l e jeg gjore meg underdanige. A l t hva j o r d og f j e l l og skog og hav rommet av rikdomme - det v i l l e jeg underlegge meg og skape herredomme for meg se lv og derigjennem velvaere for de mange, mange tusen andre. (p. 544) .(BORKMAN: But you must remember that I'm a man. As a woman, you were the dearest t h i n g i n the world to me. But i f i t has to come to t h a t , then one woman can be replaced by another. ELLA RENTHEIM Elooking at him with a smile 3: Was that your experience, when you had taken Gunhi ld as your wife? BORKMAN: No. But. the tasks of my l i f e helped me to bear that t o o . . A l l the sources of power i n t h i s land - I wanted to make them subject to me. Every-t h i n g that earth and f e l l and wood and sea contained and a l l t h e i r r i c h e s , - I wanted to subdue i t a l l and create a kingdom for myself and through i t the w e l l -being o f many, many thousands of o thers . ) [p.3323 Borkman e f f e c t i v e l y puts the l i e to h i s c la im that he only seeks power \" to create human happiness f ar and wide about me\", when he reveal s to F o l d a l the scorn that he a c t u a l l y fee l s for the human race : - 59 -BORKMAN Cmork, ser hen f o r seg og trommer pa bordet3: Det er saken. Det er fo rbanne lsen som v i e n k e l t e , v i u t v a l g t e mennesker har a baere p a . . Massen og mengden, - a l l e de g j e n n o m s n i t t l i g e , - de f o r s t a r oss i k k e , V i l h e l m . (p. 536) (BORKMAN E . looking g l o o m i l y ahead and drumming on the t a b l e ' ! : No, t h a t ' s the t r o u b l e . T h a t ' s the curse t h a t we o u t s t a n d i n g p e o p l e , we men of d e s t i n y have t o endure. The common h e r d , a l l those average people \u00E2\u0080\u0094 they don ' t , understand u s , V i l h e l m . ) Cp. 318: I t might be argued t h a t he genu ine ly f e e l s some s o r t o f a f f e c t i o n f o r \"humani ty \" , conce ived of i n the most a b s t r a c t s e n s e , yet h i s l a t e r remarks t o F o l d a l prove t h a t one h a l f of humankind, p resent or a b s e n t , i n s p i r e s no f e e l i n g s o f warmth i n h im: BORKMAN G h a r m f u l l l : l , . d e k v i n n e r ! De f o r d e r v e r og fo rvansker l i v e t f o r o s s ! F o r v a k l e r he le var sk jebne , - he le var s e i e r s g a n g . FOLDAL: Ikke a l l e , du ! BORKMAN: Sa?. Nevn meg noen eneste en som duer d a ! (p. 539) (BORKMAN t i n d i g n a n t l y j : Oh, these women! They p e r v e r t and cor rupt l i f e f o r u s ! Ruin the whole of our d e s t i n y , our march t o v i c t o r y ! FOLDAL: Not a l l o f them, you know! BORKMAN: No?, Name me a s i n g l e one who's worth a n y t h i n g ! ) Cp. 323: The t r u t h about John G a b r i e l Borkman i s t h a t he cannot exper ience l o v e f o r another human b e i n g because t o do so would e n t a i l h i s s t r i p p i n g away the armour t h a t s h i e l d s him from h i s g r e a t e s t enemy: l i f e i t s e l f . A l l - 6o -t h a t arouses h i s s t rongest , emot ions , the m e t a l t h a t l i e s b u r i e d i n the ground, s teamships , f a c t o r i e s , w h i r l i n g . w h e e l s and f l a s h i n g c y l i n d e r s , i s c o l d , h a r d , and i n t r i n s i c a l l y l i f e l e s s . H i s i n s i s t e n c e t h a t he f e e l s a l i f e w i t h i n these forms t h a t . o n l y needs h i s hand to b r i n g i t o u t , i s a mere act of s e l f - d e l u s i o n through which he hopes t o s h i e l d h i s r e a l mot ive from h i m s e l f . That motive may be seen t o . b e the t o t a l d i s s o c i a t i o n o f h i m s e l f , as a human b e i n g , from the r e s t of humanity. Borkman's l o v e f o r \" h a r d \" t h i n g s u n d e r l i n e s an unspoken, yet e q u a l l y important theme i n the p l a y : h i s avoidance and n e a r - h a t r e d of e v e r y t h i n g t h a t might be c h a r a c t e r i z e d as \" s o f t \" . H i s d i s l i k e f o r F o l d a l ' s s e n t i m e n t a l i t y , which he d i s m i s s e s as \" p o e t i c nonsense\" , i s m i r r o r e d i n h i m s e l f by a b l i n d a f f e c t i o n . . f o r the \" i r o n - h a r d r e a l i t y \" of h i s dream. I f we understand s e n t i m e n t a l i t y t o mean an unreasonable t r a i t t h a t seeks to reduce the r e a l i t y o f t o t a l exper ience t o e x c l u s i v e l y emot iona l t e r m s , then we may f a i r l y cons ide r Borkman's v iew o f the wor ld as t y r a n n i z e d by a s o r t o f \" b l a c k s e n t i m e n t a l i t y ' ! ' . He c o n s t a n t l y d i s m i s s e s the r e a l i t y t h a t p r e s e n t l y c o n f r o n t s him by c a l l i n g a t t e n t i o n t o an i l l u s o r y w o r l d of the past or the future . , i n which h i s i n f a t u a t i o n w i t h power has the a b i l i t y t o shape the w o r l d t o h i s s a t i s f a c t i o n . O O O Nar. oppre isn ingens t ime s l a r . f o r meg - . War. de i n n s e r at de i k k e kan unnvaere meg- . Nar .de kommer her opp t i l meg pa s a l e n og k ryper t i l k o r s e t og t r y g l e r meg om a t a bankens t o y l e r i g j e n - I Den nye bank, som de har grunnet - og i k k e kan makte - [ s t i l l e r seg ved s k r i v e b o r d e t l i k s o m f o r og s l a r , s e g f o r b rys te tD -Her v i i j e g s t a og t a imot dem! Og det s k a l hores og sporres v i d e n om i l andet hva b e t i n g e l s e r John G a b r i e l Borkman s t i l l e r . . . (p. 537) - 61 -(When the hour o f r e h a b i l i t a t i o n s t r i k e s f o r me -when they r e a l i z e t h a t they cannot do w i thout me -when they come up here t o me i n t h i s room and humble themselves and beseech me t o take the r e i n s of the bank a g a i n - ! The new bank t h a t they have founded -and c a n ' t manage-. CHe stands by the w r i t i n g - t a b l e as he d i d be fo re and s t r i k e s h i s b r e a s t . 1 Here I w i l l s tand and conf ront them! And i t s h a l l be known a l l over the l a n d what c o n d i t i o n s John G a b r i e l Borkman l a y s down f o r . . . ) Cp. 3 l 8 l I s not t h i s speech every b i t as s e n t i m e n t a l as F o l d a l ' s p a t h e t i c c o n v i c t i o n t h a t \"somewhere or o ther around u s , f a r away - t h e r e the t r u e woman i s t o be found\" Cp. 2 3 2 H ' The o n l y d i f f e r e n c e i s i n the nature o f the emotion t h a t forms i t . Borkman's p a r t i c u l a r , brand o f s e n t i m e n t a l i t y i s , however, the more dangerous of the two , f o r at some t ime i n the past h i s d e l u s i o n had been p a r t i a l l y t r a n s l a t e d i n t o r e a l i t y , and the e f f e c t s of t h a t p e r i o d p e r s i s t as a poisonous i n f l u e n c e on h i m s e l f and a l l those around him. The \" f r i e n d s h i p \" that , he has w i t h F o l d a l i s founded on a mutual d e s i r e f o r s e l f - d e c e p t i o n . Both men have s i l e n t l y agreed not t o r e v e a l the obvious t r u t h s about each o t h e r ' s d e l u s i o n s of genius as l o n g as the same i s done for>them. I t i s s m a l l wonder that . Borkman cons ide rs the g r e a t e s t cr ime t o be the b e t r a y a l , by a f r i e n d , of a s e c r e t t h a t has been e n t r u s t e d t o h im. What H i n k e l d i s c l o s e d t o the w o r l d , was, e s s e n t i a l l y , the t r u t h about Borkman's d e c e p t i o n , t h a t h i s great p lans f o r the w o r l d depended on money t h a t he had embezzled from those who had put t h e i r t r u s t i n h im. - 62 -BORKMAN.Ei kvalt raseriH: Og sa kom for r a e d e r i e t over meg.' Nettop l i k e midt i avgjorelsens dage! [ser pa ham.1 Vet du hva jeg holder f o r den infameste forbry-t e l s e et menneske kan bega?. FOLDAL: Nei, s i meg det. BORKMAN: Det er ikke mord.. Ikke r o v e r i e l l e r n a t t l i g innbrudd. Ikke f a l s k ed engang. For a l t s l i k t noe, det oves jo mest imot f o l k som en hater, e l l e r som er en. l i k e g y l d i g e og ikke kommer en ved. FOLDAL: Men det infameste, da, John Gabriel? BORKMAN Cmed eftertrykkD: Det infameste er venns misbruk av venns t i l l i t . (p. 538) (BORKMAN [with suppressed rageD: And then the betra y a l came upon me! At the very moment of achievement. Do you know what I regard as the most infamous crime a man can commit? FOLDAL: No, t e l l me. BORKMAN: I t ' s not murder. Not robbery or housebreaking. Not even perjury. For' those sorts of things they're done as a r u l e to people one hates or i s i n d i f f e r e n t to and who don't count.' FOLDAL: But the most infamous thing, John Gabriel? BORKMAN [with emphasis]: The most infamous i s a friend's abuse of a friend's t r u s t . ) [p. 320D This l a s t remark of Borkman's i s direc t e d to F o l d a l as a kind of warning, and underlines the one-sidedness of t h e i r r e l a t i o n s h i p . Borkman i s i n no way s e n s i t i v e to Foldal's f e e l i n g s , yet the cl e r k i s constantly phrasing his words i n the most d e l i c a t e manner'so as not to inj u r e his friend's pride. The o l d poet i s assured that his tragedy i s \"good\", but Borkman i s not interested i n hearing i t read to him. Yet F o l d a l i s expected to l i s t e n to John Gabriel's endless apostrophes on the subject of h i s imaginary greatness, hardly daring to speak for fear of saying \"the wrong thing\". This - 63 -s e n s i t i v i t y t o h i s f e e l i n g s t h a t F o l d a l d i s p l a y s i s , however, not a p p r e c i a t by Borkman, and he t a k e s i t as a k i n d o f \" s o f t n e s s \" , . , t o be d e s p i s e d . Borkman dea ls w i t h h i s o n l y f r i e n d as he has done w i t h everyone i n the p a s t : He t r i e s t o exert a r u t h l e s s c o n t r o l over them. To r e a c t t o anyone o ther than through the e x e r c i s e o f power would be analogous t o s u r r e n d e r i n g h i m s e l f to f o r c e s g reate r than the i n d i v i d u a l t h a t he f e a r s w i l l c rush h im. Those f o r c e s are the f o r c e s o f l i f e , the same f o r c e s t h a t Fanny W i l t o n t a l k s of t o an 'uncomprehending F r u Borkman: FRU BORKMAN: Har de i k k e g j o r t d e t , s i e r De! FRU WILTON: N e i . Jeg har hverken daret e l l e r f o r l o k k e t ham. F r i v i l l i g er E r h a r t kommet imot meg. Og f r i v i l l i g har j e g mott ham pa h a l w e i e n . FRU BORKMAN Cser h a n l i g nedad henneD : J a De_, j a ! Det t r o r j e g sa g j e r n e . FRU WILTON CbehersketH: F ru Borkman, - der g i s makter i mennesk l i vet som De_ i k k e synes a. k jenne s y n d e r l i g t i l . FRU BORKMAN: H v i l k e makter , om j e g t o r spor re? FRU WILTON: De makter. som byder t o mennesker a k n y t t e s i n l i v s g a n g u l o s e l i g - og hensyns los t sammen. (p. 554) (MRS. BORKMAN: You've done t h a t , you say ! MRS. WILTON: No, I ' ve n e i t h e r bewitched nor i n f a t u a t e d him. E r h a r t has come t o me o f h i s own f r e e w i l l . And o f my own f r e e w i l l I ' ve met him h a l f - w a y . MRS. BORKMAN [ l o o k i n g her s c o r n f u l l y up and down: : Y e s , you indeed ! I can w e l l b e l i e v e i t ! MRS. WILTON [ c o n t r o l l i n g h e r s e l f : : Mrs . Borkman, t h e r e are f o r c e s i n human l i f e t h a t you seem not t o know very w e l l . MRS. BORKMAN: What f o r c e s , may I ask? MRS. WILTON: The f o r c e s t h a t c a l l two people t o b i n d themselves t o g e t h e r for . l i f e , i n s e p a r a b l y - and wi thout f e a r . ) [p . 3 5 2 : - 64 -N e i t h e r Borkman nor h i s w i f e have any t r u s t i n the p o s s i b i l i t y of meeting anyone \" h a l f - w a y \" , yet b o t h . o f them are outraged when t h e i r n o t i o n o f someone e l s e ' s duty to them i s b e t r a y e d . F r u Borkman t o t a l l y r e j e c t s her son when she sees t h a t she no longer has him i n her power, and her husband t e l l s F o l d a l t h a t he has no more \" u s e \" f o r him when he r e a l i z e s t h a t the c l e r k e n t e r t a i n s doubts about h i s a b i l i t y t o r i s e aga in i n the w o r l d . Borkman's anger a g a i n s t F o l d a l beg ins t o r i s e whenever the s m a l l e s t degree o f s k e p t i c i s m i s in t roduced , i n t o t h e i r d i s c o u r s e . True;\" i n t r o s p e c t i o n i s t o t a l l y a l i e n to Borkman's n a t u r e , and f o r him t h e r e i s no d i s t i n c t i o n between honest s e l f - a p p r a i s a l and l o s s of b e l i e f i n one 's s e l f . I n t r o -s p e c t i o n i n another i s e q u a l l y as t h r e a t e n i n g , f o r Borkman hears everywhere the v o i c e s o f h i s own g u i l t , , which he. attempts to convince h i m s e l f are the consc ious i n s i n u a t i o n s o f o t h e r s . BORKMAN [ t i e r l i t t D : Du g jorde v i s s t et d a r l i g v a l g da du g i f t e t deg . FOLDAL: Der var j o omtrent i n t e t v a l g f o r meg. Og d e s s u t e n , - g i f t e seg v i i en j o g jerne nar. en begynner a t r e k k e p a arene . Og sa r e d u s e r t , sa . dypt pa knaerne som j e g dengang v a r -BORKMAN Cspr inger opp i . v redeH: S k a l d e t t e her vaere en s i k t e l s e t i l meg? En b e b r e i d e l s e - . ' FOLDAL Cengs.tel igH: . N e i , f o r guds s k y l d , John G a b r i e l - . ' BORKMAN:. J o , du s i t t e r og t e n k e r pa a l l den u l y k k e som bro t i n n over banken - . ' (p. 536) (BORKMAN C a f t e r a moment's s i l e n c e H : I'm a f r a i d you made a bad cho ice when you m a r r i e d . FOLDAL: There p r a c t i c a l l y wasn ' t any cho ice f o r me. And b e s i d e s - one does want t o mar ry , when one begins t o get on i n y e a r s . And I was so l o w , so down on my l u c k at t h a t t ime -- 65 -BORKMAN [ s p r i n g i n g up i n angerD: I s t h i s a r e f e r e n c e t o me? A reproach? FOLDAL CnervouslyH: No, f o r heaven's s a k e , John G a b r i e l ! BORKMAN: Yes i t i s ; y o u ' r e t h i n k i n g about a l l t h a t m i s f o r t u n e t h a t f e l l on the bank -I) Cp. 3173 L i k e B rand , John G a b r i e l Borkman r e f u s e s to . c o n s i d e r any compromise w i t h the w o r l d . Yet Borkman i s not concerned w i t h the i d e a of do ing what i s \" r i g h t \" , o n l y w i t h the desperate n e c e s s i t y of p r e s e r v i n g an i d e a l i z e d v i s i o n o f h i m s e l f . Whenever Borkman t a l k s about \" h i m s e l f \" , he i s r e f e r r i n g not t o a human b e i n g , but to the r o c k - h a r d symbol o f power over l i f e and death t h a t he so e a r n e s t l y wishes t o become. S tone , m e t a l , these are the symbols of i n v u l n e r a b i l i t y t h a t Borkman has chosen t o i d e n t i f y w i t h h i s whole b e i n g . To become l i k e them would be t o f u l f i l a profound d e s i r e t o r i d h i m s e l f o f h i s humani ty , t o become, as i t were , i m m o r t a l . I t i s thus t h a t Borkman's p e r s o n a l i t y does not a l l o w f o r the n o t i o n of \" s p i r i t u a l g rowth\" , o f deve lop ing h i s i d e n t i t y i n c o n t i n u a l i n t e r c o u r s e w i t h the wor ld and w i t h humanity. In h i s own i m a g i n a t i o n , he has always been John G a b r i e l Borkman, the man who had t o do as he d i d because he was \"who he was\" . Borkman dare not see h i m s e l f as a man i n the process o f d e f i n i n g ' h i s p e r s o n a l i t y i n r e l a t i o n s h i p t o the w o r l d , f o r t h a t wor ld i s h i s b i t t e r e s t enemy. He can o n l y defy the w o r l d i n p r o c l a i m i n g that ihe e x i s t s , t o t a l l y , and independent l y o f any other r e a l i t y . - 66 -FRU BORKMAN Cdrar et b i t t e r t s u k k : : J a , det er et sant o r d . A l l verden k jenner d e t . BORKMAN: Men den k jenner i k k e h v o r f o r j e g har f o r g a t t meg. Hvor for j e g matte f o r g a meg. Menneskene skjonner i k k e at j e g matte det f o r d i j e g var meg s e l v , - f o r d i j e g var John G a b r i e l Borkman, - og i k k e noen annen. Og det er det j e g v i i prove pa . a g i deg en f o r k l a r i n g ove r . Tp- 549) (MRS. BORKMAN [ w i t h a b i t t e r s i g h : : Y e s , t h a t ' s t r u e enough. A l l the w o r l d knows i t . BORKMAN: But i t d o e s n ' t know why I d i d i t . Why I had t o do i t . People d o n ' t r e a l i z e t h a t I had t o do t h a t because I was myse l f - because I was John G a b r i e l Borkman - and no one e l s e . And i t ' s t h a t I want t o t r y and . e x p l a i n t o you . ) Cp. 3 4 2 : So' i t i s t h a t Borkman e x o n e r a t e s . h i m s e l f from any blame. For t h i r t y e a r s , i n h i s c e l l , and \"up t h e r e i n the g a l l e r y \" , the great dreamer has c o n s t r u c t e d an immense e d i f i c e of s e l f - d e c e p t i o n . He has been h i s own judge , h i s own j u r y , h i s own d e f e n c e , h i s own w o r l d . H i s c o n c l u s i o n , \" t h a t the o n l y person I have s inned a g a i n s t i s m y s e l f \" Cp. 3 4 2 : , i s a w i l l f u l negat ion of the concept of r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . Those o thers whom he has s inned a g a i n s t \" d o n ' t c o u n t \" ; he has o b l i t e r a t e d them from h i s w o r l d , and he does not cons ide r t h a t he can be brought t o account f o r people who do n o t , so t o speak, e x i s t . P a r t of Borkman's s t r a t e g y i n escap ing the consequences o f h i s a c t i o n s , i s t o wage a p s e u d o - p h i l o s o p h i c a l war a g a i n s t the r e a l i t y of e x p e r i e n c e . Borkman's c r e d o , almost h i s l a s t l i n e o f d e f e n c e , r e s t s on a k i n d o f s o l i p s i s m through which he argues t h a t the a c t s o f men can be changed by a s u p e r i o r form of p e r c e p t i o n . T h i s d e v i c e , the r e s o r t of a - 67 -moral coward, Borkman e x a l t s as an almost sacred t e n e t . Faced w i t h the onslaught of h i s w i f e ' s c r u e l , yet s u b s t a n t i a l l y accura te a p p r a i s a l o f him as \" a man who has never l o v e d a n y t h i n g o u t s i d e o f h i m s e l f \" Cp. 3441, as \" a dead man\" Cp. 3 4 5 ] , he has no a l t e r n a t i v e but t o a c q u i t h i m s e l f i n h i s own s i g h t by p o s i t i n g t h a t h i s v iew of r e a l i t y i s so fundamenta l l y d i f f e r e n t from anyone e l s e ' s t h a t no other person can understand h i s m o t i v e s . BORKMAN Crys te r pa hodet og ser be laer rende pa\u00C2\u00B0henne3: Der s k j e r i n g e n t i n g n y t t . Men det som er_ s k j e d d , -det g j e n t a r seg h e l l e r i k k e . Det er oyet som f o r v a n d l e r hand l ingen . Det g jenfodte oyet f o r v a n d l e r den gamle h a n g l i n g . Cavbry te r .3 N a , . d e t f o r s t a r du i k k e . FRU BORKMAN C k o r t l : N e i , j e g f o r s t a r det i k k e . BORKMAN: N e i , det er j u s t fo rbanne lsen at j e g a l d r i har funnet f o r s t a e l s e hos noen eneste menneskes je l . (p. 550) (BORKMAN Cshaking h i s head and l o o k i n g at h e r , as though i n s t r u c t i n g h e r 3 : Noth ing new happens. But t h e t h i n g t h a t has happened, - i t d o e s n ' t repeat i t s e l f e i t h e r . I t ' s the eye t h a t changes the deed. The new-made eye changes t h e o l d deed. CBreaking o f f . 3 But you don ' t understand t h a t . MRS. BORKMAN C s h o r t l y 3 : No, I don ' t understand t h a t . BORKMAN: No , t h a t i s j u s t the c u r s e , t h a t I never have found unders tand ing i n a s i n g l e human s o u l . ) Cp . .3433 Borkman complains t h a t he i s \" c u r s e d \" w i t h never hav ing found u n d e r s t a n d i n g , yet h i s whole e x i s t e n c e has been c a r e f u l l y c o n s t r u c t e d so as t o make h i m s e l f i n a c c e s s i b l e to. u n d e r s t a n d i n g . By \" u n d e r s t a n d i n g \" , he s u r e l y means the b l i n d worship of h i s own s e l f - i m a g e , the same i d o l a t r y w i t h which F r u Borkman i s s u f f o c a t i n g her son. - 68 -F r u Borkman, l i k e E l l a Rentheim, i s a broken woman, because she dreamed of hav ing her l i f e ' s dream f u l f i l l e d through be ing m a r r i e d t o John G a b r i e l . Through c a r r y i n g the name o f - a great and famous man, she had hoped t o ach ieve happiness i n the r e f l e c t e d g l o r y of t h a t name. A l though Borkman has. r u i n e d h i s r e p u t a t i o n f o r ever., Gunh i ld s t i l l c l i n g s t o her o r i g i n a l f a n t a s y , and endeavours t o t r a n s f o r m her son i n t o a monument t o an i d e a l i z e d image of h e r s e l f t h a t has no r e l a t i o n s h i p t o the t r u t h of her own c h a r a c t e r . E r h a r t ' s \"pure and l o f t y and r a d i a n t \" l i f e , t h a t e x i s t s o n l y i n her i m a g i n a t i o n , i s the a n t i t h e s i s o f her mean and debased e x i s t e n c e . BORKMAN Chest og s k j a e r e n d e l : Og det k j a e r l i g h e t s v e r k v i i du ove? FRU BORKMAN: Ikke ved egne k r e f t e r . Det t o r j e g i k k e tenke p a . . Men j e g hag oppdrat t en h j e l p e r t i l a . s e t t e s i t t l i v i n n pa d e t t e e n e v Han s k a l l e v e l i v e t i renhet og hoyet og l y s , sa ledes at d i t t eget g r u b e l i v b l i r som u t s l e t t e t her oppe pa j o r d e n ! (p. 551) (BORKMAN Choarsely and c u t t i n g l y ! : And t h i s work o f l ove - you w i l l perform i t ? MRS. BORKMAN: Not i n my own s t r e n g t h . I wou ldn ' t dream of t h i n k i n g t h a t . But I ' ve bred up a h e l p e r to d e d i c a t e h i s l i f e t o t h i s one a im. He_ s h a l l l i v e a l i f e so l o f t y and pure and r a d i a n t , t h a t your own l i f e under -ground s h a l l be o b l i t e r a t e d up here on e a r t h . ) Cp. 3453 To acknowledge the t r u t h about, o u r s e l v e s as human be ings i s equated , by both Borkman and h i s w i f e , w i t h an act o f s e l f - a n n i h i l a t i o n . To be depr i ved of t h e i r f a n t a s i e s i s t o be depr i ved o f the means o f conquer ing - 69 -an unbearable l i f e , and of n e g a t i n g the f i n a l i t y of d e a t h : E r h a r t ! E r h a r t ! , - vaer t r o . i m o t meg! A\" kom hjem og h j e l p d i n mor! For j e g baerer i k k e d e t t e l i v l e n g e r ! (p. 533) ( E r h a r t ! E rha r t be t r u e t o me! 0, come home and h e l p your mother! I c a n ' t bear t h i s l i f e any l o n g e r ! ) Cp. 311H BORKMAN C s e t t e r seg i g j e n i sofaenH: J e g t r o r det sa f a s t . Vet det sa u r y g g e l i g v i s s t - at de kommer. -Hadde j e g i k k e ha t t den v i s s h e t , - sa hadde j e g f o r lenge s i d e n s k u t t meg en k u l e gjennem hodet . (p. 537) (BORKMAN C s i t t i n g down aga in on the sofaD: I f i r m l y b e l i e v e i t . I know i t - w i t h unshakeable c o n v i c t i o n -t h a t t h e y ' l l come. I f I hadn ' t had t h a t c o n v i c t i o n , I should have put a b u l l e t through my head l o n g ago . ) Cp. 3193 Ibsen shows q u i t e c l e a r l y i n the p l a y t h a t i t i s the f e a r o f death t h a t l i e s at the bottom of the t o r t u r e d ' a c t i o n s o f the t h r e e major c h a r a c t e r s . A l though F r u Borkman. t a l k s o f her l i f e as b e i n g \" u n b e a r a b l e \" , and her husband c l a i m s t h a t he has contemplated s u i c i d e , n e i t h e r of them can bear t o face the prospect o f d e a t h ' s q u a r e l y and r e a l i s t i c a l l y . F r u Borkman does not r e a c t w i t h the l e a s t t r a c e o f sympathy when she l e a r n s t h a t her own s i s t e r o n l y has a few months, l e f t t o l i v e , i n f a c t , she seems t o have no r e a c t i o n t o the news at a l l , as i f the words had never been u t t e r e d . P s y c h o l o g i c a l d e n i a l , s e l e c t i v e amnes ia , these are the methods t h a t the \"maimed Napoleon\" and h i s w i f e r e s o r t to when every - T O -other subter fuge has f a i l e d . Both Borkman and h i s w i f e t r y t o b e l i t t l e E l l a ' s i l l n e s s , and t r y t o ward o f f the phantom of t h e i r own m o r t a l i t y t h a t i s concealed i n the death of another human b e i n g , , by e i t h e r s topp ing t h e i r e a r s , or c o n t r a d i c t i n g the ev idence o f t h e i r eyes . When E l l a goes t o v i s i t John G a b r i e l i n . h i s room, he f i r s t of a l l seems not t o recogn i ze h e r , then t r i e s , t o deny t h a t her age and her i l l n e s s have a l t e r e d her ve ry much. F i n a l l y , when E l l a ' s emphasis on the f a c t s c o n f r o n t i n g him becomes so i n s i s t e n t t h a t even he_ cannot f i n d a means o f denying them, he snatches at h i s o n l y p o s s i b l e means of escape , and promptly changes the t o p i c of c o n v e r s a t i o n : ELLA RENTHEIM: Kan du kjenne meg i g j e n ? BORKMAN: J a , nu. begynner j e g a -ELLA RENTHEIM: I r e n e har t a t t hardt og h o s t l i g pa . meg, Borkman. Synes du i k k e det? BORKMAN [tvungentH: Du er b l i t t noe f o r a n d r e t . Sann i f o r s t e o y e b l i k k -ELLA RENTHEIM: Jeg har i k k e de morke k r o l l e n e nedover o o nakken nu . De som du en gang h o l d t sa av a sno om dine f i n g r e . BORKMAN Chur t igD: R i k t i g ! Nu ' se r j e g d e t , E l l a . Du har f o r a n d r e t f r i s y r e n . ELLA RENTHEIM [med et t r i s t . s m i l l : A k k u r a t . Det. e r f r i s y r e n som g j o r d e t . BORKMAN [ a v l e d e n d e l : Jeg v i s s t e e l l e r s i k k e av at du v a r her pa d i s s e k a n t e r av l a n d e t . (p. 5kl) (ELLA RENTHEIM: Do you know me again? BORKMAN: Y e s , now I beg in t o -ELLA RENTHEIM: Y e s , and the y e a r s have been hard on me, John G a b r i e l , and i t ' s autumn now. Don ' t you t h i n k so? BORKMAN [ w i t h c o n s t r a i n t ! : You are a l i t t l e changed. At l e a s t , at f i r s t g lance -ELLA RENTHEIM: I have no dark c u r l s hanging down my back now. Those c u r l s you used t o love t o t w i s t around your f i n g e r s . - 7 1 -BORKMAN [ q u i c k l y ] : T h a t ' s i t ! I see i t now E l l a . You've done your h a i r d i f f e r e n t l y . ELLA RENTHEIM [ w i t h a sad s m i l e ! : Qui te r i g h t . I t ' s the h a i r t h a t makes the d i f f e r e n c e . BORKMAN [changing the s u b j e c t ] : I ' d no i d e a t h a t you were i n t h i s par t of the c o u n t r y . ) [p . 3 2 6 ] E l l a ' s \"sad s m i l e \" u n d e r l i n e s the p r e p o s t e r o u s , near - comic c h a r a c t e r -i s t i c s o f Borkman's desperate f l i g h t from t r u t h . The man who dreamed o f becoming a new Napoleon has been reduced t o a Harpagon, a p a t h e t i c miser o f h i s own l i f e . One o f Borkman's methods o f deny ing the imminence o f h i s own d e a t h , and t h a t o f h i s s i s t e r - i n - l a w , i s t o exaggerate , i n h i s i m a g i n a t i o n , the d u r a t i o n o f t ime t h a t remains f o r them. In h i s . c o n v e r s a t i o n w i t h F o l d a l , Borkman seeks comfort f o r h i m s e l f by e n v i s i o n i n g an i l l u s o r y f u t u r e i n which he w i l l have more than enough t ime t o b r i n g about h i s p l a n s . Yet even the contemplat ion of an u n r e a l f u t u r e l e a d s h im, a g a i n s t h i s w i l l , t o the l o g i c a l c o n c l u s i o n t h a t one day , even'he w i l l have to d i e . Borkman handles t h i s t roublesome thought i n the c rudest p o s s i b l e way: he s t r u g g l e s to o b l i t e r a t e i t from h i s memory: BORKMAN Choverendel : Men de kommer! De kommer nok! Pass p a ! . Hver d a g , hver t ime kan j e g vente r dem her . Og du ser j e g ho lder meg para t t i l a t a imot dem. FOLDAL Cmed et s u k k ] : Bare de v i i komme r i k t i g s n a r t . BORKMAN C u r o l i g ] : J a d u , t i d e n g a r ; arene g a r ; l i v e t , -uh n e i - det t o r j e g i k k e tenke p a ! (p. 5 3 7 ) (BORKMAN [ e x u l t a n t l y ] : But t h e y ' l l come! T h e y ' l l come a l l r i g h t ! You watch! Any day , any moment, I can expect them h e r e . And you see I h o l d myse l f prepared t o conf ront them. FOLDAL [ w i t h a s i g h ] : I f o n l y t h e y ' d come q u i c k l y . BORKMAN [ u n e a s i l y ] : Y e s , my f r i e n d , t ime p a s s e s ; the years p a s s ; l i f e - ah no - I d a r e n ' t t h i n k o f t h a t ! ) [p . 3193 - 72 -Borkman aga in t r i e s t o combat the spec t re o f death when E l l a c o n f r o n t s him w i t h the news o f h e r : . i n c u r a b l e i l l n e s s . H i s f i r s t response i s t o deny t h a t i t can be. r e a l , h i s second, a f t e r b e i n g f o r c e d t o admit t h a t i t may be t r u e , i s c a l l o u s l y t o exaggerate , f o r h i s own peace o f mind , the amount of t ime t h a t E l l a has l e f t t o l i v e : BORKMAN: A, men det kan vare lenge ennu, - t r o du meg. ELLA RENTHEIM: Det kan mul igens vare v i n t e r e n s o v e r , b l e der sagt meg. BORKMAN Cut en a tenke ved d e t 3 : Na j a , - v i n t e r e n er j o l a n g , den. (p . 5 4 6 ) (BORKMAN: Oh, but i t may t a k e a l o n g t ime y e t , b e l i e v e me. ELLA RENTHEIM: I t may p o s s i b l y take the r e s t of the w i n t e r , they t o l d me. BORKMAN [.without t h i n k i n g l l : Oh w e l l , the w i n t e r ' s p r e t t y l o n g . ) Hp. 3 3 6 3 E l l a , whose f a t a l d i s e a s e may have been caused by the emot iona l d i s t r e s s t h a t she exper ienced when Borkman r e j e c t e d h e r , manages t o f a c e up t o the prospect of her own death w i t h more courage and d i g n i t y than the o t h e r s . Yet she can h a r d l y bear t o l e a v e t h i s wor ld w i thout l e a v i n g a symbol of her cont inued e x i s t e n c e behind h e r . Because she never c a r r i e d Borkman's name h e r s e l f , she dreams of hav ing h i s son c a r r y her own name through the w o r l d . L i k e Borkman, the two women have chosen t o i d e n t i f y the whole o f t h e i r b e i n g w i t h a name, a p a t h e t i c r e d u c t i o n of human p o s s i b i l i t y , yet one t h a t seems t o possess the power o f t r a n s c e n d i n g the l i m i t s o f our e x i s t e n c e . - 73 -ELLA RENTHEIM Cser bedende pa ham]: E r h a r t , j e g har i k k e r a d t i l a. m i s t e deg. For du s k a l v i t e at j e g er ensomt, - doende menneske. ERHART: Doende - ? ELLA RENTHEIM: J a , doende. V i i du vaere hos meg t i l det s i s t e ? Knyt te deg h e l t t i l meg? Vaere f o r meg som du var m i t t eget barn - (p. 552) (ELLA RENTHEIM [ l o o k i n g at him w i t h e n t r e a t y ] : E r h a r t , I c a n ' t bear t o l o s e you . For I ' l l t e l l y o u , I am s o l i t a r y - and d y i n g . ERHART: Dying - ? ELLA RENTHEIM: Yes , d y i n g . . W i l l you be w i t h me t i l l the end? J o i n y o u r s e l f t o me e n t i r e l y ? Be f o r me as i f you were my own c h i l d - ? ) Cp. 3^7] Both E l l a and Gunh i ld are t i e d i r r e v o c a b l y t o the p a s t , t o the dreams t h a t they had i n t h e i r y o u t h . E l l a wanted t o win Borkman',s \"whole h e a r t , h i s s o u l \" , and Gunh i ld wanted t o win the g l o r y t h a t comes from b e i n g the w i f e of a great man. L i k e Borkman, E l l a has committed the s i n t h a t she h e r s e l f c o n s i d e r s t o be the gravest s i n o f a l l . ELLA. RENTHEIM: Du h a r d r e p t k j a e r l i g h e t s l i v e t i meg. [naermere mot ham] F o r s t a r du hva det v i i s i ? Der t a l e s i b i b e l e n om en g a t e f u l l synd som der ingen t i l g i v e l s e er f o r . Jeg h a r ' a l d r i f o r kunnet b e g r i p e r hva det hva f o r noe. Nu b e g r i p e r j e g d e t . Den s t o r e nadelose s y n d , det er den synd a myrde k j a e r l i g h e t s -l i v e t i et menneske. (pp. 5^ +3-4) (ELLA RENTHEIM: You have k i l l e d the power to l o v e i n me. [Coming nearer t o h i m . ] Do you understand what t h a t means? I t speaks i n the B i b l e o f a myster ious s i n t h a t t h e r e ' s no f o r g i v e n e s s f o r . I ' ve never been a b l e t o see what i t c o u l d be . Now I do see . The g r e a t , unpardonable s i n - i t ' s the s i n of k i l l i n g love i n a human c r e a t u r e . ) [p . 331] - lh -I t i s not Borkman who h a s . k i l l e d the power t o l o v e w i t h i n h e r , \"but h e r s e l f . Because she has founded her whole b e i n g upon the premise of b e i n g l o v e d by one p a r t i c u l a r man, she can no. l onger l o v e anyone, except perhaps t h a t man's son. In her i m a g i n a t i o n , E rhar t has become her own s o n , and through him she expresses her l ove f o r the husband she never had. ELLA RENTHEIM: Jeg er domt t i l a ga b o r t . Svar meg, E r h a r t . ERHART Cvarmt, bevegetD: Tante E l l a , - du har v a e r t meg sa u s i g e l i g god. Hos deg har j e g f a t t l o v t i l a . voske opp i a l l den s o r g l o s e l y k k e f o l e l s e som j e g t r o r der kan vaere over noe barns l i v -FRU BORKMAN: E r h a r t , E r h a r t ' ELLA RENTHEIM: A, hvor v e l s i g n e t at du kan se det sa ennu! ERHART: - men j e g kan i k k e o f r e meg f o g deg nu . (p. 552) (ELLA RENTHEIM: I am doomed t o . d i e . Answer me, E r h a r t . ERHART [ a f f e c t i o n a t e l y and moved1: Aunt E l l a , - you 've been so w o n d e r f u l l y good t o me. Wi th you I was ab le t o grow up wi thout any t r o u b l e s , as happy as I t h i n k any c h i l d c o u l d be i n i t s l i f e -MRS. BORKMAN: E r h a r t , E r h a r t ! ELLA RENTHEIM: Oh, what a b l e s s i n g t h a t you can s t i l l see i t l i k e t h a t ! ERHART: - but I c a n ' t s a c r i f i c e myse l f t o you now.) [p . 3 4 7 : A l though E l l a wants E r h a r t to come t o her \"o f h i s own f r e e w i l l \" , she i s j u s t as a s t o n i s h e d as Gunh i ld when she d i s c o v e r s t h a t h i s \" w i l l \" c o u l d p o s s i b l y choose anyone other than one o f the f i g u r e s t h a t have formed the d e a t h l y t r i a n g l e of her e x i s t e n c e f o r so many years,. . A l though she genu ine ly wants h i s l o v e , she has never imagined t h a t he c o u l d love anyone more than h i s mother or h e r s e l f . E l l a and her s i s t e r are both g u i l t y o f - 75 -see ing E r h a r t ' s w o r l d as b e i n g n e c e s s a r i l y bounded by the c l o s e l i m i t s of t h e i r o b s e s s i o n . Fanny W i l t o n r e f u s e s t o have her e x i s t e n c e d e f i n e d by a bond w i t h the p a s t , y e t Gunh i ld reproaches her w i t h her s e p a r a t i o n from her husband, as though i t were a proof of the shal lowness of her d e s i r e f o r E r h a r t . Mrs . W i l t o n and E r h a r t are determined t o exper ience l i f e through s h a r i n g happiness w i t h another p e r s o n , and they are n e i t h e r of them so n a i v e as t o b e l i e v e t h a t s i n c e r e love f o r another i s n e c e s s a r i l y connected w i t h a devot ion t h a t w i l l l a s t \" f o r e v e r \" . FRU WILTON: Jeg har a l d r i f o r v i s s t hva l y k k e var i l i v e t . Og j e g kan da umul ig v i s e l y k k e n f r a meg f o r d i om den kommer sa s e n t . FRU BORKMAN: Og hvor lenge t r o r De den l y k k e n t i l vaere? ERHART CavbrytendeH: Kort e l l e r l e n g e , mor, - det f a r . vaere det damme! FRU BORKMAN Li vredeD: F o r b l i n d e d e menneske, som du e r ! Ser du da i k k e hvor a l t . d e t t e her baerer hen? (p. 555) (MRS. WILTON:. I ' ve never known b e f o r e what happiness was i n l i f e . And I c a n ' t b r i n g myse l f t o t u r n away my happiness j u s t because i t comes so l a t e . MRS. BORKMAN: And how l o n g do you t h i n k t h a t happiness w i l l l a s t ? ERHART [ b r e a k i n g inl: Short or l o n g , mother , - i t d o e s n ' t m a t t e r ! MRS. BORKMAF Cin w r a t h : : You b l i n d c r e a t u r e ! Don' t you see where a l l t h i s i s t a k i n g you! ) Cp. 3533 What F r u Borkman b l i n d l y r e f u s e s t o see i s t h a t E rhar t i s b e i n g l e d away from her deadening i n f l u e n c e , and i n t o l i f e i t s e l f . Because she has wished f o r a s t o n e - l i k e permanence i n her r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h her husband, - 76 -the b e t r a y a l of her f a n t a s y has t ransformed her l i f e i n t o a g h o s t l y monument t o the s h a t t e r e d i l l u s i o n s o f her y o u t h . She has f o r s a k e n the man, but cannot r i d h e r s e l f of the dream of a m a g i c a l permanent at tachment . G u n h i l d , Borkman, and E l l a have a l l f a l l e n v i c t i m t o the gr im consequences of t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e dreams o f an e a r t h l y form of i m m o r t a l i t y . Because t h e i r l i v e s have been centered around a profound w i s h f o r permanence and i n v u l n e r a b i l i t y , not d a r i n g t o enter i n t o the f l o w of r e a l i t y f o r f e a r t h a t they w i l l be consumed'by i t , they have reached the end o f t h e i r days w i thout ever hav ing r e a l l y l i v e d . In the f i n a l a c t , Borkman goes out i n t o the snow vowing never aga in to enter the house t h a t has been h i s refuge from l i f e f o r e i g h t l o n g y e a r s . But Borkman no longer has any re fuge l e f t i n the r e a l w o r l d , f o r i n t h a t house t h a t n i g h t he has been, conf ronted w i t h the b l u n t t r u t h of h i s w i f e ' s a c c u s a t i o n t h a t he i s a . \"dead man\". He f e a r s i f he were to go back i n t o the house , t h a t the c e i l i n g s and w a l l s would c r u s h him l i k e an i n s e c t . He b e l i e v e s t h a t he i s go ing out i n t o the wor ld , o f h i s own f r e e w i l l ; what he cannot b r i n g h i m s e l f t o admit i s t h a t he i s f o r c e d t o l e a v e , f o r i t i s the t r u t h t h a t has been u t t e r e d , and not the house i t s e l f , t h a t th rea tens to c rush h im. His p l a n i s no longer t o b u i l d up the empire t h a t he f e e l s he c o u l d have founded, the dream of a n \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 i n d u s t r i a l u t o p i a , f o r he i s f r a n t i c a l l y seek ing f o r an even more potent a n t i d o t e t o the c h i l l o f d e a t h , the ve ry source of the f o r c e s w i t h which he has s t r i v e n t o defend h i m s e l f from l i f e . - 77 -He t e l l s E l l a t h a t h i s r e a l kingdom l i e s i n the very heart o f the mountains themse lves , t h a t the w o r l d above, g round 'on l y c o n s t i t u t e d \" the outworks of the kingdom\" Cp. 3673- The m i n e r ' s son who became the d i r e c t o r of a bank, has at l a s t fo rsaken h i s dream of c o n v e r t i n g the l i f e - f o r c e w i t h i n him i n t o money and power over e v e r y t h i n g on the face o f the e a r t h . H i s l a s t and most desperate w i s h i s t o b r i n g \" a l l the b u r i e d t r e a s u r e s of the e a r t h \" t o l i f e , j u s t as he f e e l s t h a t t h e meta ls i n the ground have the a b i l i t y t o i n f u s e him w i t h a k i n d o f v i t a l f o r c e . The p a t h e t i c t r u t h beneath t h i s f i n a l c razed ambi t ion i s t h a t Borkman has gone out i n t o the w o r l d t o prove t h a t he i s a l i v e , t o deny h i s w i f e ' s judgment on him as one who i s a l r e a d y dead. Yet he a t t e m p t s , i r o n i c a l l y , to f i n d r e b i r t h through the v e r y i l l u s i o n s t h a t k i l l e d the human impulse i n him many years ago. He seeks r e j u v e n a t i o n through dead t h i n g s , and he wants t o pour h i s own l i f e in to , them, f o r i t i s not i n ; the s o f t n e s s o f human f e e l i n g s t h a t he sees any s a l v a t i o n , but i n the o b s t i n a t e permanence o f the i n s e n s a t e w o r l d of meta l and r o c k , and these t h i n g s a lone s t i r up h i s l o n g - b u r i e d emot ions: Cmed f ramrakte hender.H Men j e g v i i h v i s k e det t i l j e r her i n a t t e s t i l l h e t e n . Jeg e l s k e r e d e r , der I l i g g e r skinndode i dyppet og morket ! Jeg e l s k e r e d e r , I l i v k r e v e n d e v e r d i e r - med a l t eders l ysende f o l g e av makt og a e r e . Jeg e l s k e r , e l s k e r , e l s k e r eder ! (p. 562) (Cwith o u t s t r e t c h e d hands] But I w i l l wh isper i t t o you here i n the s t i l l n e s s o f the. n i g h t . I l o v e y o u , where you l i e as though dead i n the depth and i n the d a r k ! I l o v e y o u , you t r e a s u r e s t h a t crave f o r l i f e - w i t h a l l the s h i n i n g g i f t s o f power and g l o r y t h a t you b r i n g . I l o v e , l o v e , l ove you ! ) Cp. 3681 - 78 -Out i n the snow, p u r s u i n g the t a n t a l i z i n g d e l u s i o n t h a t he hoped would d e l i v e r him from the f a t e of o ther m o r t a l s , John G a b r i e l Borkman d i e s , h i s heart \" c l u t c h e d by a f r e e z i n g meta l hand\" . He has been k i l l e d by the f r e e z i n g w i n t e r a i r from the mountains t h a t seemed t o promise him the hope of a new l i f e . For E l l a and G u n h i l d , t h e r e i s n o t h i n g l e f t t h a t w i l l g i v e any purpose t o t h e i r cont inued e x i s t e n c e , f o r the man who d i v i d e d them i s no longer a l i v e , and they w i l l perhaps never see E rhar t a g a i n . Yet they manage t o p e r c e i v e t h a t t h e r e i s no longer any reason f o r them t o be p a r t e d from each o t h e r . At l a s t they are ab le t o a p p r e c i a t e c l e a r l y what they have s a c r i f i c e d by choos ing t o i d e n t i f y themselves w h o l l y w i t h a l i f e l e s s symbol of v i c t o r y over l i f e . As the c u r t a i n i s f a l l i n g , the two s i s t e r s j o i n hands over the dead man, each speaking the t r u t h s t h a t f o r m e r l y , o n l y the o ther cou ld bear t o u t t e r ; FRU BORKMAN: V i t o t v i l l i n g s o s t r e - over ham v i begge har e l s k e t . ELLA RENTHEIM: V i t o skygger - over den dode mann. (p. 563) (MRS. BORKMAN: We two t w i n s i s t e r s - over the man we both l o v e d . ELLA RENTHEIM: We two shadows - over the dead man.) Cp. 370: - 79 -Each o f the t h r e e post -Romant ic works t h a t I have s t u d i e d i n t h i s t h e s i s c o n t a i n s a d e p i c t i o n o f a romantic charac te r whose l i f e i s spent i n an attempt t o d i s c o v e r a symbol ic ob jec t t h a t w i l l , s a t i s f y an i n n e r l o n g i n g f o r i m m o r t a l i t y . I have t r i e d t o show t h a t t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e i l l u s i o n s are not mere ly based on a d e s i r e t o conceive of themselves \"o the r than they a r e \" , but t h a t they are formed w i t h the aim of n e g a t i n g the s p e c i f i c f a c t s of human e x i s t e n c e t h a t d e f i n e our m o r t a l i t y . For Emma Bovary , t h i s ob jec t i s t o be found i n a m a g i c a l country t h a t she n a i v e l y b e l i e v e s t o e x i s t somewhere i n t h i s w o r l d . Her search f o r a v a l o r o u s and a r i s t o c r a t i c l o v e r i s secondary t o her g r e a t e s t hope: t o f i n d a means of e x i s t e n c e t h a t w i l l l i b e r a t e her from';the l i m i t a t i o n s of o r d i n a r y e x p e r i e n c e . The l o v e r i s necessary o n l y i n s o f a r as he w i l l take her o f f t o the l a n d i n which her dreams w i l l be r e a l i z e d . A lways , i n Madame Bovary , Emma c l i n g s t o the dream t h a t her s i t u a t i o n i s the r e s u l t o f her be ing born i n the wrong l o c a t i o n : t h a t sooner or l a t e r she w i l l f i n d a way of escap ing the f a c t s o f human l i f e , which t o h e r , seem on ly t o apply t o the p a r t i c u l a r people and p l a c e s she has known. That her i l l u s i o n s are founded on a r e j e c t i o n o f the f a c t s o f m o r t a l i t y i s shown i n the a n t i t h e t i c a l r e l a t i o n s h i p t h a t e x i s t s between her dreams o f s e n s u a l and r e l i g i o u s f u l f i l m e n t and the images of b i o l o g i c a l process t h a t e x i s t throughout the n o v e l , o f which the b l i n d mad i s , so t o speak, the i n c a r n a t i o n . N i e l s Lyhne 's ambi t ion t o become a w r i t e r i s subord inate t o , and i s thwarted by , an unconscious quest t o d i s c o v e r an ob jec t t h a t w i l l i n s u l a t e him from h i s profound f e a r of death . T h i s o b j e c t i s a romant ic attachment - 80 -t o a woman which seems t o have the power of f r e e i n g him from the c o n t i n g e n c i e s o f normal exper ience . H is i d e a l of femin ine p u r i t y , i n which the p h y s i c a l , sexua l aspect of womanhood i s i g n o r e d , or reduced t o a minor r o l e , i s i n sharp c o n t r a s t w i t h the s e n s u a l i t y o f the women w i t h whom he attempts t o \"merge\" h i m s e l f . H is atheism cannot h e l p but i n c r e a s e h i s anguished c o n v i c t i o n t h a t he i s u t t e r l y alone i n the w o r l d and under the face of heaven, and he s t r i v e s t o fo rge a necessary l i n k between h i m s e l f and another b e i n g t o whom he has a t t r i b u t e d powers t h a t resemble those of the God he has den ied . A l though N i e l s c o n s c i o u s l y r e j e c t s any i d e a o f t ranscendence , h i s d e s i r e s , l i k e Emma's are t r u l y m e t a p h y s i c a l i n t h a t they are aimed at the at ta inment of a mode of b e i n g t h a t t ranscends the f i r i i t e n e s s of p h y s i c a l e x i s t e n c e . John G a b r i e l Borkman does not seek i m m o r t a l i t y through an ob jec t t h a t seems t o c o n t a i n the promise o f t ranscendence or escape from the w o r l d . On the c o n t r a r y , he desp ises a l l e t h e r e a l i d e a l s , and t u r n s h i s a t t e n t i o n t o the hard r e a l i t y of forms i n t h i s w o r l d t h a t seem t o be i n v u l n e r a b l e t o t ime and b i o l o g i c a l p r o c e s s . H i s d e s i r e f o r power over other human beings i s the outward m a n i f e s t a t i o n o f h i s d e s i r e t o command the f o r c e s t h a t are t a k i n g him i n e v i t a b l y towards death . He hates e v e r y t h i n g t h a t would serve t o remind him of the dynamic processes t h a t d e f i n e our sub jugat ion t o b i o l o g i c a l l a w s . He hates \" s o f t n e s s \" i n any f o r m , and hopes to \" f r e e z e \" t ime i t s e l f by becoming l i k e the rocks and meta l t h a t he c la ims t o love so much. John G a b r i e l Borkman e x e m p l i f i e s i n many ways the - 81 -c l e a r e s t and most p r i m i t i v e e x p r e s s i o n of the wish t h a t l i e s at the hear t of the d e s i r e f o r i m m o r t a l i t y : he wants t o l i v e f o r e v e r , not i n some a b s t r a c t heaven, but i n t h i s w o r l d . Yet the f e a r of death t h a t f o r c e s Borkman i n t o h i s desperate search f o r i n v u l n e r a b i l i t y t o l i f e i s so severe t h a t he can never a l l o w i t t o become c o n s c i o u s , and h i s l i f e becomes a. f u t i l e enactment of a search f o r an i m p o s s i b l e o b j e c t . I t w i l l be ev ident t o the reader t h a t the approach I have used i n t h i s t h e s i s i s p s y c h o l o g i c a l , even p s y c h o a n a l y t i c . Yet a l though the consc ious/unconsc ious r e l a t i o n s h i p I employ owes much t o the F reud ian model , i t w i l l be seen t h a t I have r e p l a c e d the sexua l complex w i t h the f e a r of death as the most important f a c t o r i n the e v o l u t i o n of the p e r s o n a l i t i e s o f the c h a r a c t e r s I have s t u d i e d . 1 S e v e r a l c r i t i c s who have s t u d i e d the theme of death i n western c u l t u r e 2 have u t i l i s e d the i d e a of the F reud ian \"death w i s h \" and have a s s o c i a t e d death w i t h s e n s u a l i t y as an unconscious d e s i r e t h a t s t r i v e s f o r f u l f i l m e n t . Th is t h e s i s f l a t l y r e j e c t s the n o t i o n of the death impulse as a b a s i c component o f the human psyche , and even views the F reud ian concept of the death w ish as a p s y c h o l o g i c a l evas ion of the negat ion t h a t death t r u l y i s . By i m a g i n i n g ' d e a t h t o be a f u l f i l m e n t o f an i n n e r need, Freud attempted t o defuse the h o r r o r of death by t u r n i n g a \" n o t h i n g \" i n t o a \"something\" . T h i s attempt i s not d i s s i m i l a r t o the t r a d i t i o n a l r e l i g i o u s formulas which mere ly c o n s i d e r death as a p a s s i n g i n t o a h igher s t a t e o f b e i n g . F reud c la imed t h a t there was no more h o r r i f y i n g prospect f o r the i n d i v i d u a l than t o b r i n g - 82 -to consc iousness the hidden thought t h a t he d e s i r e d t o k i l l h i s f a t h e r and marry h i s mother. Death , Freud t h o u g h t , would he p r e f e r a b l e t o hav ing t o make, such an a d m i s s i o n . A g a i n , by imag in ing something more t e r r i b l e than the a n n i h i l a t i o n of o u r s e l v e s , F reud managed t o . d i m i n i s h the f e a r of death as a fo rmat i ve i n f l u e n c e i n human p e r s o n a l i t y . The c h a r a c t e r s i n the t h r e e works we have examined are not d r i v e n by a d e s i r e t o f u l f i l an inherent \"death i m p u l s e \" , but are seek ing a form of l i b e r a t i o n from m o r t a l i t y t h a t i s c o n d i t i o n e d by an unconscious f e a r of death . Emma's s u i c i d e and John G a b r i e l Borkman's death are the r e s u l t s of attempts t o deny the f i n a l i t y of human e x i s t e n c e . Emma never l o s e s the idea t h a t she may a t t a i n the heavenly p a r a d i s e a f t e r her dreams of f i n d i n g a h e a v e n - o n - e a r t h have c o l l a p s e d , and Borkman d i e s as a d i r e c t consequence o f h i s t r y i n g t o demonstrate t h a t he i s i n v u l n e r a b l e t o n a t u r a l f o r c e s . The Romantic n o s t a l g i a f o r the i n f i n i t e i s not an e x p r e s s i o n of a F reud ian death w i s h , but i s a m a n i f e s t a t i o n o f a h a t r e d of the c o n d i t i o n s o f t e m p o r a l i t y , s p e c i f i c i t y and b i o l o g i c a l process t h a t de f ine the human c o n d i t i o n . The u n d e r l y i n g cause of t h i s a n t i p a t h y towards the f a c t s o f human l i f e i s the f e a r of death . Not o n l y do these c h a r a c t e r s not want t o d i e , but they d i r e c t a l l of t h e i r energ ies towards the at ta inment o f an ob jec t which seems t o have the power o f c o n f e r r i n g the g i f t o f i m m o r t a l i t y upon them. - 83 -FOOTNOTES I n t r o d u c t i o n 1 J u l e s de G a u l t i e r , Le bovarysme ( P a r i s : S o c i e t e du Mercure de F r a n c e , 1902) . 2 I b i d . , p. 32. Madame Bovary 1 Gustave F l a u b e r t , Correspondances v o l . 2 ( P a r i s : L o u i s Conard , 1926), p. 145. 2 Gustave F l a u b e r t , Madame Bovary ( P a r i s : G a r n i e r - F l a m m a r i o n , 1966). \u00E2\u0080\u00A23 Correspondances, p. 162. ^ Char les B a u d e l a i r e , Oeuvres completes ( P a r i s : B i b l i o t h e q u e de l a P l e i a d e , 196l), p. 654. ^ J e a n - P a u l S a r t r e , R e f l e x i o n s sur l a q u e s t i o n j u i v e ( P a r i s : P. M o r i h i e n , 1.9U7), P- 34. I n t e r c h a p t e r 1 1 G a u l t i e r , p. 23. Rene G i r a r d , Mensonge romantique e t v e r i t e romanesque ( P a r i s : G r a s s e t , 1967). 3 G a u l t i e r , p. 53. 4 .. ' . Ludwig Feurbach , Vor lesungen Uber das Wesen der R e l i g i o n , m Samt l i che Werke i n 13 v o l s . ( S t u t t g a r t - B a d Cannstat : Gunther Ho lzboog , i960 - 4), v o l . 8 F i i n f t e . ' V o r e s l a g , p. 43. ^ Ludwig Feurbach', Lec tu res on the Essence of R e l i g i o n , t r a n s . Ra lph Manheim (New York : Harper and Row, I967), p. 3^+T ^ Vdr lesuhgen , p. 43. \u00E2\u0080\u00A27 L e c t u r e s , p. 34. - 84 -N i e l s Lyhne 1 Jens Pete r Jacobsen , N i e l s Lyhne, i n Samlede S k r i f t e r av J . P . Jacobsen (Copenhagen: Gy ldendalske Boghandels F o r l a g , 1888) v o l . 2 pp. 1 - 268 ( a l l subsequent page numbers r e f e r r i n g t o t h i s book are i n c l u d e d i n parentheses a f t er t he quot at i on ) . 2 Jens P e t e r Jacobsen , N i e l s Lyhne, t r a n s . Hanna A s t r u p Larsen (New York: Twayne P u b l i s h e r s I n c . , 1 9 6 7 ) , p. 245. 3 I b i d . , p. 144 ( a l l subsequent page numbers r e f e r r i n g t o t h i s t r a n s l a t i o n are i n c l u d e d i n square b r a c k e t s i n the t e x t ) . 4 Georg Boandes, B r e w e k s l m g med Nord iske F o r f a t t e r e og Videnskabmaend (Copenhagen: Gy ldendalske Boghandel , 1940) v o l . 3 , p. 117-^ F r e d e r i c Durand, H i s t o i r e de l a l i t t e r a t u r e D a n o i s e , (Copenhagen: Gy ldendalske Boghandel , I 9 6 7 ) , p. 245. John G a b r i e l Borkman 1 Henr ik Ibsen., John G a b r i e l Borkman i n Ibsen : Nut idsdramaer 1 8 8 7 - 9 9 (Os lo : Gy ldendal Norsk F o r l a g , 1 9 6 8 ) ( a l l page numbers r e f e r r i n g t o t h i s book are i n c l u d e d i n parentheses a f t e r the q u o t a t i o n . ) Henr ik I b s e n , John G a b r i e l Borkman i n . Ibsen : The Master B u i l d e r and Other P l a y s , t r a n s . Una E l l i s - F e r m o r (London: Penguin Books , 1 9 6 5 ) . ( A l l page numbers r e f e r r i n g t o t h i s book are i n c l u d e d i n square b r a c k e t s a f t e r the q u o t a t i o n . ) Conc lus ion 1 n o t a b l y : Norman 0 . Brown, L i f e Aga ins t Death (New York : V in tage P r e s s , 1959) Georges B a t a i l l e , Death and S e n s u a l i t y (New York : Wa lke r , I 9 6 2 ) 2 see: Sigmund F r e u d , Beyond The P l e a s u r e P r i n c i p l e t r a n s , and ed . James St rachey (New York: L i v e r i g h t P u b l i s h e r s , 1 9 6 1 ) . 3 c f . E rnes t B e c k e r , The D e n i a l of Death (New York : M a c m i l l a n , 1 9 7 3 ) . - 85 -BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. On Death and I m m o r t a l i t y : B a t a i l l e , Georges. Death and S e n s u a l i t y . New York : W a l k e r , I962. Becker , E r n e s t . The D e n i a l o f Death. New York : The Free P r e s s , 1973. Brown, Norman 0. 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