The Ring in The Mayor of Casterbridge: Gaze and Voice as Surplus Objects
Like the ring discerned by Henchard on the grassy floor when he wakes up from his drunken sleep, surplus objects are found all along The Mayor of Casterbridge: objects which are disruptive out of place, in excess of reality, Letters, for instance, when read prematurely or by the wrong people, can ca...
Shranjeno v:
| izdano v: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom, |
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| Glavni avtor: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Jezik: | Anglais |
| Izdano: |
FATHOM
2019
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| Teme: | |
| Online dostop: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:fathom_1449 |
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| record_format |
openedition |
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OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
poétique silence lettre Lacan (Jacques) regard voix objet objet-regard anneau bague résonance objet-voix poetics silence letter Lacan (Jacques) gaze voice object object-gaze ring disruption object-voice |
| spellingShingle |
poétique silence lettre Lacan (Jacques) regard voix objet objet-regard anneau bague résonance objet-voix poetics silence letter Lacan (Jacques) gaze voice object object-gaze ring disruption object-voice Ramel, Annie The Ring in The Mayor of Casterbridge: Gaze and Voice as Surplus Objects |
| description |
Like the ring discerned by Henchard on the grassy floor when he wakes up from his drunken sleep, surplus objects are found all along The Mayor of Casterbridge: objects which are disruptive out of place, in excess of reality, Letters, for instance, when read prematurely or by the wrong people, can cause disaster in the lives of the protagonists. But then such objects always involve eye-sight or voice, so I will argue that the “something more” which disrupts reality in this novel is the “object-gaze” or/and the “object-voice” (two Lacanian concepts), the climax in the story being the intrusion in Lucetta’s reality of the two effigies representing herself and Henchard. Lucetta dies of a fit after this scene, killed by a vision of herself seen by others and by the indomitable “uproar” which persecutes her, whatever Elizabeth-Jane may do to shut out sight and sound. Indeed the “roar”, like the “ring”, is a voice that cannot be silenced. Absolute silence is reached when tragedy comes to a resolution: Henchard fails to reply to Elizabeth-Jane, shutting his lips “like a vice”. He will be heard no more. Neither will the “poor little songster”, the bird starved to death in its cage. The rest is silence. But then the literary text is precisely this: a silent voice, “dry and papery” (like the voice of the wind on Egdon Heath), which paradoxically can be a delight to the ear of the reader. Thus the tragic “ring” of the diegesis can be made into a “poetic ring” by Hardy’s pen, which can turn the surplus object into a “surplus enjoyment” (“plus-de-jouir”, in Lacan’s formulation). |
| author |
Ramel, Annie |
| author_facet |
Ramel, Annie |
| author_sort |
Ramel, Annie |
| title |
The Ring in The Mayor of Casterbridge: Gaze and Voice as Surplus Objects |
| title_short |
The Ring in The Mayor of Casterbridge: Gaze and Voice as Surplus Objects |
| title_full |
The Ring in The Mayor of Casterbridge: Gaze and Voice as Surplus Objects |
| title_fullStr |
The Ring in The Mayor of Casterbridge: Gaze and Voice as Surplus Objects |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Ring in The Mayor of Casterbridge: Gaze and Voice as Surplus Objects |
| title_sort |
ring in the mayor of casterbridge: gaze and voice as surplus objects |
| publisher |
FATHOM |
| publishDate |
2019 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/fathom.1449 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/fathom/1449 |
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1877241484128813056 |
| spelling |
openedition-oai:revues.org:fathom_1449 https://doi.org/10.4000/fathom.1449 urn:doi:10.4000/fathom.1449 en https://journals.openedition.org/fathom/1449 2019-09-23T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/gajh All rights reserved The Ring in The Mayor of Casterbridge: Gaze and Voice as Surplus Objects FATHOM Association française sur les études sur Thomas Hardy info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2270-6798 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom Ramel, Annie poétique silence lettre Lacan (Jacques) regard voix objet objet-regard anneau bague résonance objet-voix poetics silence letter Lacan (Jacques) gaze voice object object-gaze ring disruption object-voice Like the ring discerned by Henchard on the grassy floor when he wakes up from his drunken sleep, surplus objects are found all along The Mayor of Casterbridge: objects which are disruptive out of place, in excess of reality, Letters, for instance, when read prematurely or by the wrong people, can cause disaster in the lives of the protagonists. But then such objects always involve eye-sight or voice, so I will argue that the “something more” which disrupts reality in this novel is the “object-gaze” or/and the “object-voice” (two Lacanian concepts), the climax in the story being the intrusion in Lucetta’s reality of the two effigies representing herself and Henchard. Lucetta dies of a fit after this scene, killed by a vision of herself seen by others and by the indomitable “uproar” which persecutes her, whatever Elizabeth-Jane may do to shut out sight and sound. Indeed the “roar”, like the “ring”, is a voice that cannot be silenced. Absolute silence is reached when tragedy comes to a resolution: Henchard fails to reply to Elizabeth-Jane, shutting his lips “like a vice”. He will be heard no more. Neither will the “poor little songster”, the bird starved to death in its cage. The rest is silence. But then the literary text is precisely this: a silent voice, “dry and papery” (like the voice of the wind on Egdon Heath), which paradoxically can be a delight to the ear of the reader. Thus the tragic “ring” of the diegesis can be made into a “poetic ring” by Hardy’s pen, which can turn the surplus object into a “surplus enjoyment” (“plus-de-jouir”, in Lacan’s formulation). Comme l’alliance distinguée par Henchard sur le sol herbeux lorsqu’il s’éveille le lendemain de la soirée de beuverie où il a vendu sa femme, des objets “en trop” se trouvent tout long de The Mayor of Casterbridge : des objets qui dérangent, qui ne sont pas à leur place. Les lettres, par exemple, lues prématurément ou par des gens à qui elles ne sont pas destinées, peuvent amener le désastre dans la vie des personnages.Mais le regard et la voix sont toujours impliqués dans l’effet produit par ces objets. Je vais donc montrer que l’objet en trop qui vient déranger la diégèse est “l’objet-regard” et/ou “l’objet-voix” tels que conceptualisés par Lacan, un point culminant étant atteint avec l’intrusion dans la réalité de Lucetta de deux effigies, l’une la représentant et l’autre représentant Henchard. Lucetta meurt d’une crise d’apoplexie après cette scène, tuée par une vision d’elle même vue par les autres et par le vacarme (“uproar”) qui la persécute, en dépit des efforts d’Elizabeth-Jane pour faire taire cette voix et masquer cette vision. Le vacarme (“roar”), tout comme le bruit des cloches sonnées à toute volée (“ring”), est une voix qu’on ne peut faire taire. On atteint le silence absolu lorsqu’advient la résolution tragique : Henchard ne répond pas à Elizabeth-Jane, il ferme ses lèvres entr’ouvertes comme un étau. On n’entendra plus jamais sa voix, ni celle du “pauvre petit chanteur”, l’oiseau qui meurt de faim dans sa cage – autre objet “en trop”. Le reste n’est plus que silence, mais le texte littéraire est exactement cela : une voix silencieuse, “sèche et parcheminée” (comme la voix du vent sur la lande d’Egdon) qui paradoxalement se donne à entendre et vient régaler notre oreille. “Ring” a pour Henchard une résonance tragique – qu’il s’agisse de l’alliance jetée à terre, du sinistre amphithéâtre romain, ou du bruit odieux des cloches célébrant son malheur. Dans le silence de son écriture, Hardy lui substitue un tintement poétique (“poetic ring”). L’objet en trop est devenu un “plus-de-jouir”, selon la formule de Lacan. |