romance notes

111 Pages·2011·1.44 MB·English

ROMANCE NOTES
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VOLUME 50, NUMBER 2 2010
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CONTENTS
Adumbrative Allusion in Balzac’s Illusions perdues
Allan H. Pasco 145
L’échec c’est moi et ce n’est pas moi:Paludes ou l’angoisse de la
réception
Matthew Escobar 153
Quand l’art assure la survie... ou La nécessité de l’art dans les pam-
phlets de Louis-Ferdinand Céline
Agnès Hafez-Ergaut 165
What’s in a Name? The Power of Austin’s Performative Applied to
Changes in Identity in Ruy Blasand Cyrano de Bergerac
William Bradley Holley 173
Not Man Apart: The Dialogue between Nature and Art in François
Cheng’s Le Dit de Tianyi
Annette Sampon-Nicolas 181
The French Jorge Amado
Alain-Philippe Durand 191
Portrait of a Turning Point: Ana Miranda’sO retrato do rei
Thomas P. Waldemer 203
Dealing with Time in Carmen Laforet’s Nada
Craig N. Bergeson 211
Para reformar un símbolo del ser mexicano: El Banco Mundial y
Carlos Monsiváis confrontan al Metro de la Ciudad de México
Sean Knierim 219
Constantes temáticas en tres novelas peruanas sobre la época del te-
rrorismo
Manuel Prendes Guardiola 229
Las escritoras del 27 y los cometas
Isabel Navas Ocaña 241
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Other publications of the Department: Estudios de Hispanófila, Hispanófila, North
Carolina Studies in the Romance Languages and Literatures.
Impreso en España
Printed in Spain
Artes Gráficas Soler, S. L. www.graficas-soler.com
Valencia, 2010 Depósito Legal: V. 963 - 1962
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ADUMBRATIVE ALLUSION IN BALZAC’S
ILLUSIONS PERDUES
ALLAN H. PASCO
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B
ALZAC was a master of allusion. He usually embedded his allusive
patterns so seamlessly that, although they may work on the reader’s
subconscious, they only call attention to themselves with great subtle-
ty. While in most cases, as for example when he alludes to the female
novelists Mme Girardin, Mme Guizot, and others in La muse du
département, he forms simple parallels that make his adventures seem
more forceful and pertinent for contemporary readers, in some cases
the allusions establish antitheses. In Splendeurs et misères des cour-
tisanes, for example, the clear references to the biblical story of Esther
and Mordecai create an obvious opposition to Balzac’s Esther, for the
latter serves not the sovereign God of the Hebrews but the maleficent
Jacques Collin or Vautrin. Occasionally, the allusions create surprising
complexity, encompassing entire works. I think of Eugénie Grandet,
an instance where the author’s references to the Bible and church his-
tory establish dueling religions that oppose Mammon to love. In all
cases, Balzac’s allusions add complexity and richness to the tapestry
he weaves.1
The allusions in Illusions perdues (1837-43) serve to adumbrate
Lucien’s fate. In 1819, shortly before the period when Illusions perdues
was set, the writer and critic Henri de Latouche had revealed André
Chénier to the French public. Balzac refers to the revolutionary poet a
number of times and, as the Pléiade editor, Roland Chollet, notes, asso-
ciated him with “toute une atmosphère morale de jeunesse, d’exaltation,
d’idéalisme forcené” (5.147n2). Certainly, for Balzac, Chénier was
1 Pasco, Balzacian Montage49-50, 110-13; Allusion1111-20.
145
146 ROMANCE NOTES
unquestionably one of the great poets of France. He tried early on to
pastiche him, he cited his poems in his letters, he took various passages
to serve as epigraphs in his pre-Comédie humaine novels by Lord
R’hoone, and what Chollet terms his delicate appreciation of Latouche’s
preface to the 1820 edition of Chénier leaves no doubt of the novelist’s
appreciation: “Un poète retrouvé par un poète,” Lucien says (5.147 and
n2). As Balzac put it in one of his letters to Madame Hanska, Chénier
was for him “le poète de l’amour, le plus grand des poètes français”
(Lettres à Madame Hanska 1.71).
The text of Illusions perduesrefers to Chénier repeatedly in connec-
tion with the two enthusiastic young men, Lucien and David, and casts
long shadows of meaning forward, in particular relationship to Lucien.
Such reiterations always indicate importance in La Comédie humaine.
Most obviously, Lucien resembles Chénier as a great promise that was
never fulfilled, however different the reasons for this lack of success. As
Latouche put it, “André Chénier n’avait en mourant . . . qu’un nom
promis à la célébrité.”2 Likewise, Balzac leaves no doubt that Lucien is
an eagle, although young (5.147, 173), at least until his repeated failures
reveal him as at most an “aiglon” (e.g., 5.577). Eagles are characterized
by their daring flight, speed, and close association with thunder, fire,
intelligence, and action (Cirlot 87, 321; Chevalier 750). Appropriately,
given his desire for “gloire” and his love of flashy attire, his name
derives from the etymon lux or “light” (Hanks 212-13). The text makes
it clear that the young man could have established himself as an out-
standing poet had he been stronger and capable of refusing easy paths to
success, first as a journalist, then as a corrupt socialite. David, on the
other hand, is “ce bœuf.” He wonderfully characterizes ox’s symbolic
qualities of patience, submission, and self-sacrifice (5.147, 559; Cirlot
236, 321, 750).
For some three years David and Lucien had enjoyed getting together
to read great, recent works of art and science. On one day in particular,
David has just received a small 18mo volume of Chénier’s poems, pub-
lished in 1820, and he reads several: “Néère, puis celle du Jeune
Malade, puis l’élégie sur le suicide, celle dans le goûte ancien, et les
deux derniers ïambes” (5.147). Unquestionably, the readings emphasize
2 Latouche i. By mentioning the size, “in-18” (5.147), Balzac indicates the 1820 edi-
tion, which I shall cite (rather than the original of 1819).
ADUMBRATIVE ALLUSION IN BALZAC’S ILLUSIONS PERDUES 147
the young men’s enjoyment of the poetic moment. Both are at the begin-
ning of their adult lives, and neither has had any real success. Further-
more, other that the baseless optimism of youth, neither has yet reason
for hope. The references to Chénier are perfectly aligned in tone and
context with the rest of the Illusions perdues.
Those who know Chénier’s work might well be struck by curious
parallels between the poet’s and the novelist’s characters. Perhaps the
most notable is the revolutionary poet’s mention on a number of occa-
sions of the abandonment of a mother, especially on recalling that
Lucien also left his mother behind.
Cette Néère, hélas! qu’il nommait sa Néère,
Qui pour lui criminelle abandonna sa mère[.] (“Néère” 68)
Néère (Neaera), Chénier’s persona, is feminine, and Balzac insists on
the femininity of Lucien’s beauty. For example, he had a woman’s deli-
cate feet, and, moreover, “il avait les hanches conformées comme celles
d’une femme” (5.145). Perhaps only on recalling such descriptions will
the reader sense the foreshadowing and see the parallel: like Chénier’s
Néère, Lucien abandoned his mother. The theme of maternal abandon-
ment is emphasized when it is picked up again in “Malade” (called the
“Jeune malade” in most editions), this time with a masculine hero.
[Apollon, p]rends pitié de sa mère aux larmes condamnée,
Qui ne vit que pour lui, qui meurt abandonnée,
Qui n’a pas dû rester pour voir mourir son fils. (“Malade” 37)
Enfant [dit la mère], tu veux mourir? Tu veux, dans ses vieux ans,
Laisser ta mère seul avec ses cheveux blancs? (ibid. 37-38)
The reason for this abandonment is, of course, romantic love for anoth-
er, the kind of extreme love that leaves the lover without choice, help-
less before his mistress. However much he feels and anticipates the pain
that comes to himself and others from uncontrollable passion, he must
pursue the young woman of his dreams.
O portez, portez-moi sur les bords d’Erimanthe,
Que je la voie encor, cette vierge charmante!
O que je voie au loin la fumée à longs flots
S’élever de ce toit au bord de cet enclos . . . (ibid. 39-40)
148 ROMANCE NOTES
– Ah! mon fils, c’est l’amour! c’est l’amour insensé
Qui t’a, jusqu’à ce point, cruellement blessé? (ibid. 40)
As the poet tells his mother, he recognizes that such a love will inev-
itably lead to his death.
Jette tout à ses pieds; apprends-lui qui je suis.
Dis-lui que je me meurs, que tu n’a plus de fils.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pars; et si tu reviens sans les avoir fléchis [Dieux, temple, autel, déesse],
Adieu, ma mère, adieu, tu n’auras plus de fils. (ibid. 41)
It is certainly no accident that in Balzac’s text the poem alludes not only
to Lucien’s mother and to the love that leads him away from home, but
also to his repeated threats to commit suicide, as well as to his eventual
death in Splendeurs et misères by his own hand.
The means of Lucien’s death is indicated by the next poem he and
David read, “Elégie XVIII,” which Latouche labeled an elegy and
described as “dans le goût ancien” (ibid. 128-29; other editions title it
“La jeune Tarentine”). Although Chénier did not commit suicide, as did
Lucien, his repeated desire for death rings forth in a number of his
poems and looms over the revolutionary poet’s entire volume. For those
who have read Illusions perdues’ sequel, Splendeurs et misères des
courtisanes, the laments recall the vision of Lucien’s lonely, miserable
death in prison. As Chénier says, for example,
Aujourd’hui qu’au tombeau je suis prête à descendre,
Mes amis, dans vos mains je dépose ma cendre.
Je ne veux point, couvert d’un funèbre linceuil,
Que les pontifes saints autour de mon cercueil,
Appelés aux accens de l’airain lent et sombre,
De leur chant lamentable accompagnent mon ombre. . . .
Je meurs. Avant le soir j’ai fini ma journée (Elégie VI: 92-93)
Or in one of the iambes that David and Lucien read aloud: “Vienne,
vienne la mort! que la mort me délivre!” (Iambe III: 267), and in the last
iambe, Chénier recognizes that his death approaches: “Le sommeil du
tombeau pressera mes paupières” (Iambe IV: 270).
Some of Chénier’s verses seem to describe a place very much like
the young poet’s final jail cell where he killed himself in Splendeurs et
misères des courtisanes.
ADUMBRATIVE ALLUSION IN BALZAC’S ILLUSIONS PERDUES 149
Accoutumons-nous à l’oubli.
Oubliés comme moi dans cet affreux repaire,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Que pouvaient mes amis? Oui, de leur main chérie,
Un mot à travers ces barreaux. . . (Iambe II: 265-66)
As one would expect, during Lucien’s reading at Madame de Barge-
ton’s lusterless gathering of her acquaintances, Chénier’s masterful
poem, “L’Aveugle” elicited widespread boredom (5.199). Earlier, David
and Lucien could scarcely contain their enthusiasm. The latter “baisa
le livre, et les deux amis pleurèrent, car tous deux aimaient avec ido-
lâtrie. . . . La Camille d’André Chénier était devenue pour David son
Eve adorée, et pour Lucien une grande dame qu’il courtisait” (5.147). In
reading and rereading Chénier’s “L’Aveugle” about Homer, Lucien
leaves no doubt he aspired to the Greek poet’s greatness.
With the repeated references to the poems celebrating “Camille,”
where Chénier expresses his passionate love for his mistress, Balzac’s
allusion becomes very certain. Chénier’s Camille is generally consid-
ered to be the beautiful, bourgeois Mme Bonneuil [1748-1829]. Despite
her class and appearance, for Lucien she parallels the unattractive Mme
de Bargeton, whom Paris sees as “une femme grande, sèche, coupe-
rosée, fanée, plus que rousse, anguleuse, guindée, précieuse, préten-
tieuse, provinciale dans son parler, mal arrangée surtout!” (5.273).
Nonetheless, both women are considerably older than their lovers, both
are unfaithful, and both eventually break with the impoverished poets.
In 1791, Le Brun called Mme de Bonneuil a “coquette surannée,” an
“adroite friponne,” who “trompe l’Amour et croit tromper le Temps.”
Perhaps even more to the point, for Le Brun, Chénier’s Camille is a
“berceuse douairière” with aristocratic pretentions, whose “l’antique
jeunesse / Plaît encore à l’amour dupé” (Buisson 1.401-07, for Lebrun,
v 404-05). Lucien’s friend Vernon calls Mme de Bargeton “l’os de
Seiche” (5.447). Both revolutionary and Balzacian poets are beguiled
(bercés) with false hopes and illusions by their pretentious mistresses.
Before leaving Angoulême for Paris, Mme de Bargeton was intense-
ly interested in the young poet Lucien. On at least one social occasion
where she was attempting to highlight his talent, the text portrays her in
a turban (5.191), perhaps modeling Madame de Staël, who affected tur-
bans, sponsored Benjamin Constant, and avidly sought prominence and
150 ROMANCE NOTES
attention. And like Madame de Staël, Madame de Bargeton was accus-
tomed to “dominer ce monde de toute la hauteur de son intelligence”
(5.203). When Lucien returns and attempts to regain his position as
favorite, the narrator will term her “la Corinne d’Angoulême” (5.455).
Although many years older than Lucien, she saw herself as someone
who, similar to the famous novelist, could guide and form an artist.
Especially if Lucien were the genius she thought him to be, as his men-
tor/muse her position in society would be reinforced. Although Madame
de Bargeton’s relations with the young man were entirely chaste, it does
not seem that she planned to keep her distance always. When she
decides to discard Lucien, she thinks, “Quel bonheur pour moi d’avoir
tenu ce petit drôle à distance et de ne lui avoir rien accordé!” (5.283). In
his poetry, at least, Chénier pretends to be a similarly unsatisfied aspi-
rant to the beautiful Creole’s attentions, rather than that of the successful
lover he was thought to be for a time (Buisson 405-06).
Balzac’s Lucien was the son of a dead pharmacist and a well-born
woman (née Rubenpré) who was déclassée by her marriage to a com-
moner and now by her occupation as a nurse (she cares for pregnant
women). Lucien’s family name of Chardon, or “thistle,” is itself
ridiculous, and he will expend an enormous amount of energy attempt-
ing to adopt his mother’s name officially. In the social circles the
young poet would like to penetrate, substituting the name Lucien de
Rubempré for Lucien Chardon would be a distinct advantage. Madame
d’Espard made that very clear, “[I]l me serait très dur de m’appeler
madame Chardon” (5.480). It was an unrefined, course country name,
after all. “Le chardon, est généralement considéré comme d’un abord
revêche, désagréable; et aussi comme la nourriture des ânes” (Cheva-
lier 174).
As another foreshadowing of Lucien’s eventual fate, Balzac turned
to a Biblical allusion. Although Lucien has no legal right to the name
of his mother’s Rubempré family, he nonetheless assumes it, hoping
futilely that it will be regularized by the authorities. Like the biblical
Ruben who, by sleeping with his father’s concubine, asserted a right
that was not lawfully his, and thus lost his birthright (Genesis 35.22,
49.3-4), Lucien illegitimately affects his mother’s name. In Illusions
perdues, he will be disappointed in his attempt to legitimate the name
and become M. de Rubempré. Certainly, when the faubourg’s aristo-
crats deny him the use of the maternal name, they accompany this
ADUMBRATIVE ALLUSION IN BALZAC’S ILLUSIONS PERDUES 151
refusal with rejection, leaving him in a world of prostitutes, journal-
ists, and criminals.
By foreshadowing, adumbration constitutes an important means of
giving order to works of art. Stendhal would use various prophesies in
La chartreuse de Parme and a newspaper clipping in Le rouge et le
noir to hint of the final outcome. In fact, the very title of the former
novel (that Balzac admired) has no other function than to prepare Fa-
brice’s withdrawal from society, an event that is not even mentioned
until he actually accepts his calling to a charterhouse in the last few
pages of the novel. The title can hardly fail, however, to remain in the
reader’s consciousness, giving the promise of a certain direction, if not
structure, to the apparently meandering plot. Similarly, given the
generic tradition of the popular musical, West Side Story, spectators
are encouraged to expect a joyous ending, but the musical also implic-
itly prepares the reader for an eventual tragic fate by the allusion to
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliette. For a final example, Huysmans
was partial to dreams, so much so that he organized an entire novel,
En rade, around the progression of three complex dreams related to
late nineteenth-century occultists and leading to the foreshadowed
ending. These are just a few of the devices that expert writers use to
prepare future events and, indeed, even the culmination of characters’
fates and of the story.
Any allusion, whether to myth, legend, the Bible, history, or cur-
rent events may consciously or unconsciously remind knowledgeable
readers of patterns that will enhance their experience of a text, since
they often support or highlight the essential, textual movements and
structures. An allusion may, as with the Balzac’s reference to the bibli-
cal Ruben, be a simple indication of where the hero is heading and
how he will end. It could, like the allusion to Mme de Staël, be a limit-
ed reminder of one or more traits that have occurred elsewhere, thus
emphasizing Madame de Bargeton’s pretentiousness. Or it may sug-
gest a complex image sufficiently intricate to tie many pages and sev-
eral books together, as with the allusion to Chénier. In Illusions per-
dues, the allusions work together to emphasize the events of the
hapless poet’s experience. We know that Lucien will follow Mme de
Bargeton to Paris, where, as he learns, she becomes ashamed of his
country airs and drops him “dans la boue de Paris” (5.291) for the
attentions of another admirer who can initiate her into the ways of
152 ROMANCE NOTES
capital city. The actual events are not the same in the case of Lucien
and Chénier, no more than with Lucien and Ruben, or Madame de
Bargeton and Madame de Staël, but the general outline of Lucien’s
failure to measure up to the dashing young men that people theatre and
society is clear from the various allusions Balzac exploits.
UNIVERSITYOFKANSAS
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