Demons of the Night: Tales of the Fantastic, Madness, and the Supernatural from Nineteenth-Century FranceJoan C. Kessler Demons of the Night is a trove of haunting fiction—a gathering, for the first time in English, of the best nineteenth-century French fantastic tales. Featuring such authors as Balzac, Mérimée, Dumas, Verne, and Maupassant, this book offers readers familiar with the works of Edgar Allan Poe and E. T. A. Hoffman some of the most memorable stories in the genre. With its aura of the uncanny and the supernatural, the fantastic tale is a vehicle for exploring forbidden themes and the dark, irrational side of the human psyche. The anthology opens with "Smarra, or the Demons of the Night," Nodier's 1821 tale of nightmare, vampirism, and compulsion, acclaimed as the first work in French literature to explore in depth the realm of dream and the unconscious. Other stories include Balzac's "The Red Inn," in which a crime is committed by one person in thought and another in deed, and Mérimée's superbly crafted mystery, "The Venus of Ille," which dramatizes the demonic power of a vengeful goddess of love emerging out of the pagan past. Gautier's protagonist in "The Dead in Love" develops an obsessive passion for a woman who has returned from beyond the grave, while the narrator of Maupassant's "The Horla" imagines himself a victim of psychic vampirism. Joan Kessler has prepared new translations of nine of the thirteen tales in the volume, including Gérard de Nerval's odyssey of madness, "Aurélia," as well as two tales that have never before appeared in English. Kessler's introduction sets the background of these tales—the impact of the French Revolution and the Terror, the Romantics' fascination with the subconscious, and the influence of contemporary psychological and spiritual currents. Her essay illuminates how each of the authors in this collection used the fantastic to articulate his own haunting obsessions as well as his broader vision of human experience. |
From inside the book
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Contents
Acknowledgments | ix |
Introduction | xi |
Smarra or The Demons of the Night | 1 |
The Red Inn | 30 |
The Venus of llle | 63 |
The Dead in Love | 91 |
Arria Marcella | 118 |
The Slap of Charlotte Corday | 145 |
Master Zacharius | 224 |
The Sign | 258 |
Véra | 274 |
The Horla | 284 |
Who Knows? | 309 |
The Veiled Man | 322 |
Notes | 327 |
Aurélia or Dream and Life | 172 |
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Common terms and phrases
abbé ancient Andernach appeared Arria asked Aubert Aurélia beautiful began beneath blood body Charles Nodier Charlotte Corday Clarimonde clock cried dark dead death door dream E. T. A. Hoffmann earth eyes face fantastic father fear felt French friends gaze Gérande Gérard de Nerval hair hand head heard heart Honoré de Balzac Horla human imagination light living looked Marcel Schwob Master Zacharius Maucombe Mérimée Méroé mind Monsieur Alphonse Monsieur de Peyrehorade Monsieur Ledru mysterious Nerval never night Nodier o'clock Octavian old clockmaker once opened pale Paris Paul Bowman perhaps Polémon Pompeii priest Prosper Mérimée replied returned Scholastique seemed seen sleep Smarra smile Solange soul spirit strange suddenly Taillefer tale terror Théophile Gautier Thessaly thought tion told tomorrow took turned uttered vampire Venus voice watches window woman words young
References to this book
Apartment Stories: City and Home in Nineteenth-Century Paris and London Sharon Marcus Limited preview - 2023 |