Urth Net
The Haunted Boardinghouse
Robert Borski · 23 Jun 2000, 22:12
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From: "Robert Borski" <rborski at charter.net> Subject: (urth) The Haunted Boardinghouse Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 22:12:54 Message-ID: <urth-v0029-0071 at digest.urth.net> X-Urthmirror-Source: http://www.urth.net/urth/archives/v0029/0071.shtml MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0072_01BFDD60.2E08F0C0" This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0072_01BFDD60.2E08F0C0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I've been wanting to write an in-depth analysis of "The Haunted = Boardinghouse" for some time. Unfortunately, it does not now look like I = will have the temporal wherewithal to do the necessary research and = cognitive digging involved (to say nothing of the fact that I'm = currently between airports), so forgive me if the following version = seems somehow cobbled together from notes and is not particularly = cohesive. It has been and isn't. In my opinion, the key to understanding a big part of THB can be found = on p. 232 of STRANGE TRAVELERS: "Hell was a labyrinth like the = Minotaur's." This makes Seely both Hades and Minos, and his wife = Persephone/Pasiphae (recall that Mrs. Seely is usually called "the = maiden," which is also what Kore means in Greek; also that Pasiphae = bewitched Minos so that he would give his illicit lovers a terrible = venereal disease; cf. Mrs. Seely's remark, "Paul Snyder [a chemist, so = probably Daedalus] swears you can't infect me.") The fighting bull or = buffalo encountered at the end is obviously both minotaur and horned = devil, while the boy who falls to his death from a height as he tries to = escape the labyrinth is almost certainly Icarus; Enan does find "an = irregular clump of wilted feathers," remember, and "Wade" may be some = sort of wordplay by Wolfe since Icarus drowns. As for Enan himself, if = he's not Theseus, he may well be Aeneas, another harrower of = hell--Aeneas/Enan (note again the nested name) is also more than likely = an ancestral link back to Marcus Junius Pera and the Army of Rome. How = this relates to the varied architectural faces of the boardinghouse I'm = not sure--either hell is timeless or the labyrinth is both temporal = *and* spatial; this at least would help to explain how Enan is later = able to see Wade climbing out a window after he's already supposedly = fallen to his death. Also worth mentioning, if must needs briefly so, are the bevy of = literary works and authors Wolfe mentions throughout THB. W.H. Hudson = seems particularly important, as is John Ruskin, whose cited QUEEN OF = THE AIR (1869) is itself about Greek Myth (Gratutious quote: "A myth, in = its simplest definition, is a story with a meaning attached to it, other = than it seems to have at first; and the fact that it has such a meaning = is generally marked by some of its circumstances being extraordinary, = or, in the common use of the word, unnatural"). Two of Ruskin's works = were also translated into French by one Marcel Proust after he gave up = on JEAN SANTEUIL--yet another reason Wolfe may have chosen to = incorporate him. So will that do you for now, normal bean of jizma? Robert Borski ------=_NextPart_000_0072_01BFDD60.2E08F0C0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" = http-equiv=3DContent-Type> <META content=3D"MSHTML 5.00.2919.6307" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2> <P>I've been wanting to write an in-depth analysis of "The Haunted=20 Boardinghouse" for some time. Unfortunately, it does not now look like I = will=20 have the temporal wherewithal to do the necessary research and cognitive = digging=20 involved (to say nothing of the fact that I'm currently between = airports), so=20 forgive me if the following version seems somehow cobbled together from = notes=20 and is not particularly cohesive. It has been and isn't.</P> <P>In my opinion, the key to understanding a big part of THB can be = found on p.=20 232 of STRANGE TRAVELERS: "Hell was a labyrinth like the Minotaur's." = This makes=20 Seely both Hades and Minos, and his wife Persephone/Pasiphae (recall = that Mrs.=20 Seely is usually called "the maiden," which is also what Kore means in = Greek;=20 also that Pasiphae bewitched Minos so that he would give his illicit = lovers a=20 terrible venereal disease; cf. Mrs. Seely's remark, "Paul Snyder [a = chemist, so=20 probably Daedalus] swears you can't infect me.") The fighting bull or = buffalo=20 encountered at the end is obviously both minotaur and horned devil, = while the=20 boy who falls to his death from a height as he tries to escape the = labyrinth is=20 almost certainly Icarus; Enan does find "an irregular clump of wilted = feathers,"=20 remember, and "Wade" may be some sort of wordplay by Wolfe since Icarus = drowns.=20 As for Enan himself, if he's not Theseus, he may well be Aeneas, another = harrower of hell--Aeneas/Enan (note again the nested name) is also more = than=20 likely an ancestral link back to Marcus Junius Pera and the Army of = Rome. How=20 this relates to the varied architectural faces of the boardinghouse I'm = not=20 sure--either hell is timeless or the labyrinth is both temporal *and* = spatial;=20 this at least would help to explain how Enan is later able to see Wade = climbing=20 out a window after he's already supposedly fallen to his death.</P> <P>Also worth mentioning, if must needs briefly so, are the bevy of = literary=20 works and authors Wolfe mentions throughout THB. W.H. Hudson seems = particularly=20 important, as is John Ruskin, whose cited QUEEN OF THE AIR (1869) is = itself=20 about Greek Myth (Gratutious quote: "A myth, in its simplest definition, = is a=20 story with a meaning attached to it, other than it seems to have at = first; and=20 the fact that it has such a meaning is generally marked by some of its=20 circumstances being extraordinary, or, in the common use of the word,=20 unnatural"). Two of Ruskin's works were also translated into French by = one=20 Marcel Proust after he gave up on JEAN SANTEUIL--yet another reason = Wolfe may=20 have chosen to incorporate him.</P> <P>So will that do you for now, normal bean of jizma?</P> <P>Robert Borski</P></FONT><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D2> <P> </P></FONT><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D2> <P></P></FONT><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D2> <P> </P> <P> </P> <P> </P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_0072_01BFDD60.2E08F0C0-- *More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/
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