Short stories
Clarimonde
La Morte amoureuse
Théophile Gautier · 1836
Opening lines
Vous me demandez, frère, si j’ai aimé ; oui.
You ask me, brother, whether I have loved; yes.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from fr.wikisource.org
Synopsis
Grown old, the priest Romuald tells of the adventure that marked his youth. On the day of his ordination, he glimpses in the church a woman of dazzling beauty, Clarimonde, who seems to promise him her love, and he takes his vows nonetheless. Sent to a country parish, he cannot forget her. He comes to lead a double existence: a priest by day, by night he lives in Venice at her side.
Context
The story appeared in 1836 in La Chronique de Paris, a year after the preface in which its author had upheld the doctrine of art for art's sake. It takes the form of a confession: an elderly priest recounts, in the first person, what he lived through on leaving the seminary. Counted among the author's great fantastic tales, it pits desire against faith, sensuality against the life of the mind, and stays on the edge of dream. Several English translations appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century, including that of Lafcadio Hearn.
Who it is for
A short story, read in one sitting; best approached without knowing anything about what Clarimonde is.
Prizes and reception
It ranks among the author's major fantastic tales, and among the founding texts of the genre in the West.
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