Auguste Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, 1838-1889
The French contes cruels (cruel tale) is characterized by an abrupt, unexpected twist at the end. And there wasn’t a writer alive back during the nineteenth century, the heyday of the cruel tale, who took to this literary form more naturally than the outlandish French author pictured above.
A true eccentric with an imagination on fire, Auguste Villiers de L'Isle-Adam was one of the most inventive literary artists of his own time or of any time. Over two dozen cruel tales collected here and every single one displays a different facet of the author’s vision and sensibility - in turn ironic, playful, sharp, cynical, fantastic.
Oh, that Villiers – he was of aristocratic stock and aristocratic temperament but since his father squandered the family fortune, he spent the lion's share his life in poverty. He loathed pragmatism and science, cable cars and technology and anything smacking of the bourgeois rabble. Did I mention eccentric? Fueled by inspiration and passion most intense, this author of novels, plays and tales was willing to go for days without food in order to devote himself exclusively to literature and writing. As a way of sharing a taste of Villiers storytelling flair and flames, I’ll focus on two tales from the collection I count among my personal favorites.
SENTIMENTALITY
The Romantic Couple: Springtime in Paris with love in the air. Lucienne and Comte Maximillien sit under a majestic tree of the Champs-Élysées - Lucienne, flawless pale complexion set off by her usual black attire, beautiful as always; Maximillien, intelligent, handsome, charming, elegant, a touch cold but such a talented poet – all before his tragic end, that is.
Signature Auguste Villiers de L'Isle-Adam opening: a sense of impending doom. There's also an allusion to angelic Lucienne's hidden past.
Quizzical Query: Lucienne probes Maximillien on what she detects as an aloofness toward the ordinary pleasures and torments of everyday living; like other artists and poets, he appears a step removed from the commonplace.
Similar to many other French writers, musicians and artists of the period, Villiers was greatly influenced by the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. The German thinker judged aesthetic experience as a release from the mundane into a higher, more rarefied realm, an exalted state most appreciated by those blessed individuals dedicating themselves to the arts.
Dashing Dandy: Judging Lucienne in need of a true education, Maximillien launches into a detailed exposé on the nature of feelings, how those unfortunates of low character dulled by animal instincts appear to be expressing themselves spontaneously but, in fact, they are simply reacting in their predictably violent, empty way out of nothing more than habit.
The dark humor of Villiers at work here. Repeating almost verbatim the words of Schopenhauer, Maximillien aspires to be Charles Baudelaire's ideal dandy - a flâneur and aesthete who, in maintaining a cool disposition, is forever above even a hint of the vulgar. But for any man attempting to explain the nature of feelings to a woman - outrageous!
Curious Confab: Lucienne continues to ask the man of superior feelings to clarify and detail exactly why he is so far above the common run of mortals such as herself. Not even catching a trace of Lucienne's irony, Maximillien is only too eager to provide the needed ingredients of what sets himself apart.
End of an Affair: Lucienne interrupts Max's subtle analysis to ask what hour the bells are chiming. Why, ten o'clock, he notes and inquires, in turn, why the sudden anxiety about the time. Lucienne replies, "Because our love affair has one more hour to go, my friend! I have a rendezvous with Monsieur de Rostanges at eleven-thirty this evening. I have put off telling you this till the last moment - Are you angry with me? , , , Please forgive me." Forever the artiste and ideal dandy, Max keeps his cool.
Parting Shot: Before they bid adieu, Lucienne poses one final question: "What is it that gives great artists the right to be so scornful of the behavior of ordinary mortals?" Again, Max is more than happy to expatiate on exactly why he is so special.
Cruel Twist: Back home on the Avenue Rond-Point, Max polishes the ends of his fingernails, writes several lines of poetry, reads a few pages from one of his recently acquired books, listens to the clock chime 2:00 a.m., murmurs something about his unbearable heartbeat, opens his desk and takes out a small hand-pistol.
Contes Cruels, French Style: Villers concludes his tale thusly: "Since that time, when they ask Lucienne why she wears such mourning colors, she answers her lovers gaily:
"Oh, I don't know! Black suits me so well."
But then her dark fan starts to tremble on her breast, like the wing of a moth over a gravestone."
THE VERY IMAGE
Autumn Ambiance: An unnamed narrator I’ll call Jules hurries along by the Seine one damp, cold morning. All the passersby are wearing black and protecting themselves against the drizzle with umbrellas. The wind kicks up prompting those walking along on the bridges to clutch at their hats “with those convulsive gestures which are always such a painful sight for artists’ eyes.”
By this one line, Villiers lets us know Jules counts himself an artist and has a developed aesthetic sense. The author also informs us such an artistic perception is not without its sense of irony – “always such a painful sight for artists’ eyes” can be interpreted in a number of ways, and not all of them favorably.
Unexpected Revelation: Nagged by an upcoming business engagement, Jules decides to take shelter under the porch of a doorway where he can signal a cab. But then he notices the entrance to a large building that looks inviting. He decides to put on his friendliest face and enter with the prospect of sharing a few cheerful words with the host. Immediately upon entering, he finds himself in a room with a ghastly light coming from a glass roof, marble tables on all sides and jackets, mufflers and hats hanging on pillars.
Villiers’ language here is exact, each word carrying weight on what Jules has encountered. Here’s a snatch: “Some people were there with legs outstretches, heads raised, staring eyes, and matter-of-fact expressions, who appeared to be meditating. And their gaze was devoid of thought, their faces the color of the weather.”
Jules observes a few more telling details and concludes: “I realized that the mistress of the house, on whose courteous welcome I had been counting, was none other than Death.” Before leaving, Jules makes other weighty philosophic observations.
Revelation Repeated: Jules takes a cab to the building where he is to have his business appointment. When he enters, he observes an exact repetition of what he confronted in the first house. Again the author’s language is precise at each point of his protagonist’s perception. Before leaving this second room, Jules’ concluding observation is everything in the house of business is the same as what he found in the house of death - with one exception: the house of business is more sinister! Thus, Jules resolves to accept whatever might befall him as a consequences of never again having anything to do with the world of business.
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