THE DEEP ONES: "Omphale" by Théophile Gautier

CharlasThe Weird Tradition

Únete a LibraryThing para publicar.

THE DEEP ONES: "Omphale" by Théophile Gautier

2AndreasJ
Oct 5, 2022, 1:51 pm

I thought this rather nice. Particularly liked the ending, with the narrator's rationalization of the happy(?) end narrowly averted.

It was left rather unclear just how the marchioness got trapped in the tapestry, and just how trapped she was.

3RandyStafford
Oct 8, 2022, 12:48 pm

I liked this story too though it's tone doesn't quite say weird to me.

>2 AndreasJ: Yes, that's unclear. It was also unclear, at least to me, if the marchioness was married to the narrator's uncle or just a mistress. Presumably, with that title, she was. I don't remember it being stated whether she was alive or dead.

4RandyStafford
Oct 8, 2022, 1:19 pm

If you're looking for deeper meaning beyond the fantastic plot, I suppose you could see this as a decadent tale not only in its literal love of the artificial in Omphale, removal from nature in the uncle's rundown garden, and the uncle's attempt to place himself into the mode of Classical times with his version of Hercules. The narrator doesn't try to impose himself on classical mythology. Rather his attractiveness brings the classical world to him. The Uncle has removed himself from the old world by, seemingly, no longer associating with the Marchioness and not too concerned with the tapestry. Yet, he is angered when the narrator connects with that world and his former lover. It is not that he is disbelieving but wants the narrator limited to the real world. That's reflected in his hatred of writers, creators of the fantastic.

Gautier, of course, revels in the sensation of showing invigorating possibilities in the artificial.

5housefulofpaper
Oct 14, 2022, 3:32 pm

I read the translation by Lafcadio Hearn. In this version, at least, the relations between the characters seem different from how they are set out in >4 RandyStafford:. I'll try to set out my understanding, fat least as filtered through Hearn's translation, below.

The narrator (Gaultier himself, or fictionalised-Gaultier) has an uncle, the Chevalier de -. The uncle is, or at least is now, very down-to-Earth and rejects all of what might be summed up as sensuality, or "softness", "unmanliness".

The existence of the rococo pavilion strongly suggests that he once felt differently. Its current dilapidated state signals that he has put such feelings behind him. However, inside the pavilion is more evidence that he was a different man in his youth. It's a painting of one of his mistresses. She is painted as the goddess Diana.

There is also a tapestry depicting Hercules and Omphale. Once we get into the story, we learn that these mythological figures are representations of the Marquis and Marchioness de T-.

The uncle seems to know all about the tapestry but there's no clue from the narrative as to whether the Marchioness was another of his mistresses, or if he became acquainted with her in her tapestry form. Maybe the question is, was she ever his mistress, and if she was, was it (i) in real life (ii) in this ghostly tapestry-form, or (iii) both.

I do not think the Marquis and the uncle are the same person.

I suspect there's a lot to unpack, even though this is at heart a light, spicy (for it's time), fantasy.

What became of the real Marquis and Marchioness? Executed in the Revolution, maybe? Is the Englishman buying the tapestry a satiric touch? I don't know enough 19th Century history to be sure, but obviously France lost the Napoleonic Wars and Britain was one of the winners. Winning militarily and winning economically don't always go hand-in-hand, but Britain had the industrial revolution going on too. Did a lot of French treasures cross the channel, not as loot but because it was being bought up? Not to mention Paris' reputation as a destination for sexual tourism, for better-off Englishmen.