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Stphane Mal l a rm ' s Symboli c HeadTh e Molding of H ro dia de ' s Scne

a s D i a lo g ic Re a d e r Re sp on se

Noriko T KED

To wa rd herrneneutical synthesis of HrodiadeThe French sym bolist , Stphane Mallarm 's (1842 98) poetic

d r a ma , Hrodiade feat ures a scene of cap ita l punishment, th a t is, be-heading. It occurs in the work 's seven concluding sta nz as , entitledCantique de sa in t Jean. The number seven represents the Sab bath ,the grand res t fo r the hum an consciousness th a t created God. Thescene of decapitation may be designated a s the finale of the whole work,though rendered in a metaphoric indirectness which compares the headto the Sun, just as in the ending speech of Romeo nd Juliet . Theclimactical Cantique was, however, unpublished during the au tho r'slifetime.

The crim inal heroine H rodia de, well-known by the e thnic na m eSalome, which was popularized by Oscar Wilde,' asks her father-kingfo r Joh n the Ba ptist 's head a s remun eration fo r her dance. Her requestis gran ted, whereas the m ar ty r may have been her pote ntial lover. Thelegend of the cruel princess is origin ally presented in the New Te stam ent

Mat thew N , 1-11) and M ark V I , 17-28). According t o these an-ecdotes, a princess of Galilee demanded Joh n's head in compliance w iththe wishes of her m oth er, named Herodias. The mo ther intended t obe married with the king, Herod, a broth er of her husband, an ac t

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154 Noriko T X K E D X

which Joh n th e Baptis t disparaged a s being incest.With miscellaneous man uscr ipts surviving, bIal larm 's ada pta t io n

of the legend is consum mated by th e Scne in it s dialogic constella-tion of speeches of the heroine and her confidante, th e nurse-mother.The speeches ar e wit h poetic weight by f igu rativ e indirectness leading t oRacine's preciosity. The Scnen is a classical work, following th e ruleof the three unit ies regarding the place, t ime , and s to ry. hla l la rm 'sheroine is successively comp ared t o lily, rose, gold, diam ond,and star s w ith dazzling ray s of preciousness, embo dying theMa lla rm an a r t of abstractio n and refinement. The gra nd Scne(1871) , the only p ar t t h a t w as published in t he poet ' s l i fe t ime,2 focuseson the evocation of the pr incess 's a t trac t iv e bu t f rus tra ted f igure . Sheconceives an overcharged psychological complex that provokes the out-rageous demand an d the crime, viz., t he beheading, a sim ula crum of cas-t r a t i ~ n . ~

The images of the heroine become al1 the m ore comp licated, a s sheoverlaps wi th her name sake, the incestuous mot her Herodias.Though M alla rm 's heroine is marked by the autho r ' s o r ig ina l i ty , ac tu-alizing h is i n t e n t i ~ n , ~he readers a re pushed t o superimpose the biblicalimage of Herodias on the Ma l la rm an Hrodiade , a s i s ind ica tedby M ar ia Assad (46) . The New Testam ent is, in fa ct , th e canonizedinter text fo r Ma lla rm 's drama.5 The poster ior ima ge of Wilde'sSalom e (1893), a s well a s the precursory im age of Stendhal ' s M athilde(1830) , who gave her las t kiss t o Julien Sorel 's bloody head, a lso hauntMa llar m 's heroine. The inf luence of Flauber t ' s Salam m b (1863) , a swell as th a t of Banville 's D iane a u Bois (1863) , is a lso pointed ou t(Mo ndor and Jean-Aubry 1441) . The readers ar e under the inter textualcomplexity and i t s weight , which wa s s tra te gically used by Ma lla rm himself t o achieve m ax im al enrichment of his work.

Am ong 1 3 speeches of the heroine, except fo r fo ur connective one-lines, th e oth er nine speeches t r y t o include cosmic wholeness, th e im-ages of which are presented by the mov ing sun ( L e blond t or ren timmor te l , the ear th t o be conquered in i t s en t i re ty ( joyaux du mu r

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Stphane Mallarm s Symbolic Head:The Molding of Hrodiade s Scne as a Dialagic Reader Response 155

n a t a l , / Arm es, vases depuis m a s ol i ta i re enfance ), polar circles uneombre lo in ta ine (dans ton cadre ge le) ), unmeasurab le fu t u re unjour Qu i ne f i n i r a p a s n ) , ky ( to i l e s pu re s ) , pa r ad i s ( e ) , n igh tand day ( Nuit blanche ) , sea and sky l 'azur ; Des ondes ) , and theimagin a t ive human mind ( rveries ) . The t r i log ic fo rm of Hrodiadeseen in the 1945 Plia de vers ion which wa s edi ted by Henri M ond or , a t -ta i ns perfect ibi l i ty with the centra l scene guarded by a com binat ion ofthe tw o wings : a monologue Ouver ture and a so lo Cant ique de sa in tJean . The t r i log ic fo rm fo llows the au t hor ' s in ten t ion expressed in1896 regarding his f i r s t comp lete poems t o be published by Deman in t henear future . According t o his inten t ion, a prelude and a f inale shouldbe a t t ached t o t he cne. ^ Simula t ing the cen t ra l cosmic head , theSun, the second Scne dom inate s the whole tex t in the consecut ivetr io , foregrounding the heroine 's beauty. If favored wi th capablevoices of actres ses, th e speeches of the cosmic Scne could tr an sf or mthe thea tr ical space in to a myster ious explosion. Hrodiade 's costumeshould be violet , the color th a t mingles red w ith blue, because her bodyis compared t o a com bina t ion of gardens covered wi th ameth ys t , o rv io le t qua r t zn ( j a rd in s d ' am thys t e ) . D i f fe r en t f ro m t ex tua l r ead -ing, thea tr ical experience res ides in incarn at ing th e ar t is t i c effect givenby th e recognized wo rds thro ugh the audience 's ent i r e body w ith the helpof spectacular s t im ulat io n. Mem bers of the audience give themselvest o th e imag es grasped by l inguis t ic consciousness a nd expanded in accor-dance w ith sensuous impressions, jus t a s in the occasion f o r preach-men t s i n Ca thol ic ca thed ra l s . M a l l a rm ' s amb i t ion a s a poe t can beseen in t he fu l l incarn a t ion of a r t i s t i c e f fec t s when he imposes the maxi -m al weight of images, which i s realized only by tex tua l reading.Hence , the success of the Ma l la rm an dr am a i s p red ic tab le bu t imm ea-surable . Moreo ver , the dialogued Scnen made by the androgyn ouspair , H rodiade and her nurse , produces i tsel f in incessant self - renewalt o keep the heroine 's f igu re a lw ays fresh. The Scne seeks t o s te pin to the a re a beyond language th rough hum an bodies, t h a t i s , the en-t i re t y of the wor ld and beyond, which i s fa thomles s .

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156 Noriko T A K E D A

As th e ti tl e Scne suggests, the cen tral piece fo r th e dialogue be-tween th e heroine and her nurse-m other represents a scene, Le., a disputet h a t indicates t h e equa li ty of t h e t ~ oeminine f igures: the princesswi th her you thful b eauty, and the nurse wit h her w eight of experience.lW ith f igurativ e embell ishment, their speeches c irculate around the hero-ine 's secret in the pr i vat e set t in g of her roo m, a s if , i ronically , behindthe scene. The word secrets appea rs a t the central pa r t of the

Scne. The ter m scne came fr om th e Greek skn meanin g bot hthe s tag e and i t s behind. The dispute-quarrel shows the break betweenthe tw o, tak ing place in a break before the trag ic event of beheading.The break a lso cor responds t o the in i t i a t ion for feminin i ty. Neverthe-less , the speech act s of both characters cooperate t o m ake up t he hero-ine's f igure. Hrodia de only speaks of herself , while th e nurse allowsand author izes the continua tion of the heroine 's speech w ith her sho r t

herefore al1 the m or e ironical esponses. Fo r instance, whenth e heroine as ks her nurse if she is really beautiful, th e n urse answers,say ing: Un as t re , en vr i t Ma is ce t te t r esse tom be..., whichchallengingly induces th e am bit ious heroine t o announce th e tra gic day

Qui ne f ini ra pas san s malheur sur la tour . The nurse 's second-to-la st speech, Ma dam e, allez-vous donc mo urir ? is tr ip ly bounded : theword mo urir signifies t h a t the heroine's previous speech representsthe c l imax of t he whole piece, t h a t th e heroine can now withdra w fromthe s ta ge, and t h a t th e piece s t i l l leaves som e space fo r ending words .The f inal pa r t proceeds to descr ibe the emp ty, blue sky, which a sho r tl i ly a s the pr incess herself canno t reach, though she has th e incumbentpot ent ial of reaching th e sky. She is an angelic f igu re on the verge ofdea th and l ife .

Embodying the tex tu a l in ten t iona l i ty t o mold the hero ine 's f igurea s a r t - b e a ~ t y , ~l1 of her speeches foc us on hig hli gh tin g t h e essence. Inot he r words, each speech of Hrodiad e con stitu tes a poem a s a com-pressed uni t of aestheticized verbal expression. The f i r s t speech ele-vat es her body a s lys, which imm aculately overcomes her golden hair .The second foregrounds her blond hair as the shining crown

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immacul (a te ) , beautifu l , and adm irable , representing a y outhful ,aur ora l beauty a s a hidden lys in the promising 'gardens of ame-thys t ; th i s bir ths tone fo r February wa s a symbol of happiness in theMiddle Ages.1 She is, however, offensive a s a dan gero us, if indi rect,cause of th e murder t o be definitely persecuted within th e authorizedframew ork of the Bible. W ith her remarkable appearance in the HolyW ri t , Sa lome-Hrodiade ha s been ascr ibed t o the m ar ty r of Sa in t John .As a f laming dancer , she is the real cause of the cr ime. According t oMalla rm's intentio n, th e heroine f l ings herself in to the assass ina tionbecause the regard of John the Baptist violated her virginity,ll thoughi t is not indicated in th e Scne fo r the prel iminary dialogue betweenth e heroine an d her nurse-confidante. In th e fi rs t speech of the Scneby Hro diade, her golden ha ir i s dissolved i nt o the enveloping darknesst o be eventually transf igure d t o sunlig ht , suggesting her sado-mas-ochist ic a t t r ac t ion

Reculez.FLe blond to rre nt de mes cheveux imm acu lsQuand i l baigne m on corps so li ta ire le glaceD'horreur, e t mes cheveux que la lum ire enlaceSont im mortels . .

Horreur represents blackness in th e ant ithe sis between Le blond to r-rent and glace D'horreur . Moreover , the i m mo rt (a l i ty ) of theblond, the Sun, involves the metamorphosed night taki ng turns wi thi ts shining half . The dynam ic picture of th e cosmic sh if t i s evoked byth e beginning im pera tive Reculez. The Ori ent al blackness representsthe p otentia l fo r th e heroine's refined beauty in Occidental expressivity .The principal feminine cha ract er Reine de Jude wa s born in th e judi-c ia l t r ibe of the Testam ent. The textual inten tionali ty directs the real-life reader t o recognize th e heroine's insufficient, limited self.Fur the rmore , the reader is expected to consider t he ter r i tor i a l i t y of theego t o be endlessly expanded in the co ntin uou s life-line.

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Stphane Mallarm's Symbolic Head:The Molding of Hrodinde s 'Sene a.s Dialogic Reader Response 159

Edited and published by Gardn er Dav ies in 1959, th e poe t's ma nu-scr ip ts suggest th a t th e beheading represents a camouflaged castra t ion .The heroine fulfi l ls her Freudian desire of the unification w ith the oth erfo r self-multiplication and development in a childish way, seemingly byca rry in g th e severed head between her legs.12 As a collection of th edr af ts , the 1959 Davies version hich is enti t led Les Nocesd'Hrodiade: M ystre - ha s been evaluated a s a m ajo r clue fo r eluci-dat in g the revising process of Malla rm 's grand work. Davies pointsou t th a t the project of wri t ing Hrodiad e obsessed the aut ho r for abo ut35 years (10). The miscellanea legit im ates r rath er requiresthe reader's imaginat ive part icipat ion t h a t includes th e inte rpre tat ionof the 1945 Pliad e version w ith b oth tria dic completeness and unendingcircularity. His or her creativ e reading is necessitated fo r the perfec-tio n, o r Hegelian, hermeneutical s ynthe sis of t he complexed fig ure ofth e virg in princess.2 ntra intertextual mystery

The suspicious personality of M alla rm 's heroine is justified by theheroic qua lification using the word l ion under the blinding heap ofmetonym ies th a t leave tex tua l fissures. In the polyvalent fi rs t speechof the Scne, Hrodiade identifies herself with an insatia ble anim al-king with th e blood fro m her ancestral conquerors ( Le blond torre nt ...le glace D'ho rreur mes cheveux que la lum ire enlace / Sontimmorte l s ) She is led Mene ) by the reminiscences of ance storst o her bedroom in an old castle, which corresponds t o the actress 's ap-pearance on the s tag e ( Entr er ). In her f ir st speech, her ro om is com-pared t o the cage of l ions, la lourde prison de pierres et de fer, inwhich hau nt t he souls of dead kings, viz., me s vieux lions.

As the sicle belliqueux ( Ou ve rtu re ) h as already ended, thegif ted pr incess only fru str ate s her amb it ion in a s tabil ized kingdom indecline represented by to ur cinraire Ou verture ), the symbol ofdomestication. The king, o r the princess's fath er, is now on expedi-t ion. It is, nonetheless, vainly up no rt h: le glacier in the barre n

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pays cisalpins, a s is relate d by the nurse in the Ouverture. In thetex tu al anachronism, there i s no p romising land f o r th e ta rd y conquerorbeyond the southern, o r I tal ia n Eldorado. I t should be noted th a torig inal ly the st or y was deployed in th e second world of the New T esta-ment . The king seems, o r pretends, t o be simply optimi st ic. Accord-ing t o the bet ray ing nurse in the f i r s t , mapping Ouver ture , Il ne sa i tpas ce la le ro i qu i sa lar ie / Depuis longtemps la gorge ancienne esttar ie . He cannot comm emorate the fa l len so ld iers ( un t a s g isa n t decadavres sans coff re ) w i th a valuable t rophy ; he only uses th e ancientt reasure : i l o f f re / Ses tro m pe tte s d 'arge nt obscur aux vieux sapins "

Pursu ing c iv il iz ing oppress ion , the nurse s t rugg les t o e xpa t r ia te thehero ine a s a b ride fo r ano ther t r ibe , whether f ru i t fu l o r barren. As acapable prophet t o be a min isteria l adviser , the beheaded Joh n m ay beviewed as one of th e desirable candidates on pi lgrimage searching f orhis set t le me nt. The Bibles were wri t ten fo r establishing a n ideal k ing-dom of God. The heroine conceals, in fa c t, th e pot ent ial of productivemotherhood. She is bo th a l i lyn in her corporeal desert in v irgini ty , a swell a s a group of sleeping butter f l ies, v iz., la m yrrhe ga ie en sesbouteilles closes, / De l'essence rav ie a ux vieillesses de roses, accordingt o her nurse in the Scne. The pr in ce s is a d ivided Venus, o r b lackVenusn (Fowlie 136). Bo th an imal an d f lo ra l mer i t s a re sup pressed t obe frozen in to a diamond. In the fi rs t speech, she pinpoin ts her corein superla tive, dazzling invisibleness, symbolically strip pin g herself t oth e nude by th e poetized wo rd s: et j'effeuille, / Comme prs d 'unbassin dont le jet d'eau m'accueille, / Les ples lys qui sont en moi.Incidentally, th is self-exposing speech of th e heroine, which M. E. Wolfqualif ies a s metaphorical s tr ip-tease 36), i s chal lenging fo r theat r i -cal production. The opera , which foregrounds and incarna tes words byth e huma n voices, can be a working solution. The lon g speech ischarged w i th i t s musical p o ten t ia l , w i th t he conso ling s t r i ng o f sounds[ e l , [ce] and nasal vowels , accen tuated by th e acu te , s t im ulat i ve [ i l inlys and I t i s na tu r a l th a t her in terna1 qu in tessence shou ld

seek fo r i t s los t half in the Edenic sky, the sun. Hrodiade's no stalg ia

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Stphane Slallarm s Symbolic Head: The hIolding of Hrodiade s Scne5s a Dia logic Reader Response 161

t ow a rd he r p r ena t a l co sm os t r ansg re s se s geo log ica l c a t ego r i e s m ade byth e segm enta t ion in Genes is , which i s , i n rea l i ty , i n over l apping con-f l ic t s - an i ma l , f lo r a l , mine ra l , l i qu id , o rgan ic , phys ica l , me nta l , an i -m a t e , a n d i n a n i m a t e.

The conf l i c t s represen t the inner psycho-phys ica l d rama of H-rod iade i n t he Scne t h a t i s appa ren t l y w i t ho u t any even t. A m e t a -pho r ica l con t i nu i t y t h read s l i on , ha i r , m i r ro r , and t he f i r i nggolden ba l1 in th e sky , whi le the gardens of am eth ys t a re connec ted t oocean, j us t a s the l ion , i den t if i ed wi th go ld , which he igh tens the hero-i ne 's f a t a l beau ty . T he i r r a d i a n t bu t ea r t h l y ga rdens fo r p roduci ngc lay s t an d fo r t he hero ine 's corpo rea l i ty wi th b ibl ica l impl i ca t ions .T he p l u ra l i ty o f t he ga rdensn deno te s bo t h t he hero ine 's body p a r t sand her ance s t ra l connec t ions v ia a n expans ive l ife -l ine . The gardensi nc lude r , f ro m ano t h e r ang le , t r ans fo rm t hem se lves t o s t r a -tu m of go ld , Ors ignors , represen t ing Hrodiade ' s musc les and or -gans . The go ld , which i s sa id t o be bur ied under th e ea r th ( Sous l esom bre som m ei l d 'une t e r r e p rem i ren , a l so sugges t s the cor respon-dence be tw een hum an i t y and na t u re . When bu ri ed a t t he dep t h o f t hehero ine 's body , the v io le t s tones , am th ys te , represen t f rozenwomb , th e c rys t a ll i zed resources o f e ro t i c i sm. The s tones re f l ec t t hec o lo r o f t h e s e a , t h i s b a p t i s m a l v a s t w a t e r , a s w ell a s t h e h id de n f i r i n gdayl igh t . The omnipresen t s ton es show the co lor o f th e hero ine ' s cos-t um e t h a t h ides he r body.

Th i s express ion on th e ind iv idua l co ll ect ive minera1 an d m eta l cor -r e sponds t o v i sua l abs t r a c t i on fo r thea t r i ca l sym bo l i sm , w h ich shou ldbe cha ll eng ing f or t he producers o f pos tmodern exper imenta l s t a ges o fa m a l g a m a t i o n . T h e p r e s e n ta t io n of h er i nn e r d r a m a t h a t s im u l a t es a nX - ray pho t og raph m a y add a new aspec t. T he he ro ine i s a t t r ac t i ve be-cause she app ro p r i a t e s a l1 t he e l em en t s in t h e w or l d r ep re sen t ed by t hescrambled iden t i t i es t h a t i nvolve th e mo the r , nurse , and hersel f. V iathe Scne , t he a u t h o r a i m s a t th e t o ta l iz i n g l iq u i d a ti o n o f t h e c on -vent iona l European t r i pa r t i t e d ivi sion of l i t e ra tu re in to ly r i c , ep ic anddra ma t i c ( \\ 'o r ton and S t i l l 22 . O n t h e o t he r hand , t h e he roi ne

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oriko T A K E D A

a t t a i n s t o o u r s y mp a t hy , conveyi ng he r ea r nes t w i sh f o r s e lf -r eal iza ti onw ith both sel f -respect an d mo des ty throug h her speeches . Th is evokest he au t hor ' s f r u s t r a t i on caused by h i s unaccompli shed w or k HrodiadeThe heroine degrades herse lf t o th e va luable , though nonhuman, sym-bols ( i.e ., l ion, l i ly , an d jewels( -gold) ) al1 of which a re displayedi n t he f i r s t comprehensi ve s peech of Hr od i ade t h a t m ay be qua li fi ed a sa big bibl ical Word. She cher ishes the me mo ry of th e mi lk given byher nurse , t o who m she show s her a f fec t ion , saying pardonne ce curdur . Her f ru s t r a t e d indom i table unconsciousness i s expressed a s themed i a t e bu t an i m a t e r ep ti le I nv io l . The s ymbol s f r o m t he t h r eeca tegories - an im al , f lora l , and minera l - seek fo r t e t r a log ic synthe-s i s s humani za t i on . O n t he s t age i n s qua r e s hape, t he s yn t hes i s co r -r e sponds t o t he pe r son i fi ca ti on o f t he he ro ine by a n ac t r e s s f r om whomt he wor ds f l ow and b loss om. The p r ob lem i s where t o f i nd s u i t ab leac t res s for th e compl ica ted hero ine 's pa r t .

T he d r a m a Hrodiade i s f o r ma l l y and s eman t i ca l l y t r ansg r ess ive ,t hough i n t he f r u s t r a t i ng f r amewor k o f ve rba l expr es si ons. The l i gh tf looding f ro m th e se lf -r efl ex ive t ex t dazz les , bu t d i r ec t s th e wa tchingreader by present ing branche d wa ys t o proceed. The ref lect ive devicescrambles the t e x t , which i s decons t ruc ted t o a n in toxica t ing ebul lienceof the in ter sec t ing ray s of l igh t , m ul t ip ly ing the l ion 's golden m anes .In con t r a s t t o t he abs ence o f t he en t i r e s t r uc t u r e o f t he Ma l l a r m anwo rk, bes ides the obsc ur i ty of th e bibl ical m odel , th e heroine symbol izesp resence w i t h he r i mpos i ng name o f f ou r s y ll ab le s in s ym m et r y :Hr od iade . Accor di ng t o t he au t ho r , he chos e t h i s nam e ove r t hepopular Sa lome because th e form er i s fu l l of poeti c r esonances( M a l l a r m , Correspondance 226). Through dream ing, des i ring , ima g-in ing , a l lur ing , she mu l t ip l i es an d revives wi th her mi r rored doubles a sth e wint ry pr incess of d iamond aw ai t in g the spring.14 The cent ra lscene, cons is t ing of th e d ia logue be tween the tw o fem ale charac ter s , i s ,in f a c t , dominated by mi r r or s : f ro m th e expressed one , i .e . , t he pr in-cess ' s dres ser loca ted before her in the f i r s t speech , to the imaginarymi r ror mad e f ro m t he t ex t ' s sound repet i t ions fo r se lf -r eferent ia l ity .15

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Stphane hfa l ia rm 'sSymbol ic Head:The bloldig of Hrodinde s 'kne aas a Dialogic Reader Response 63

Through tex tua l supplement by im ag ina t ion , the readers , inc lud ing theau th or h im se l f , a re l ed t o coopera te in the feed ing of the l i t t l e p rincess.The textu al doubleness i s re inforced by the a t tache d piece Don du Po-me placed before the next long poem, Hrod iade , in th e 1887 f i r s tcollec ted poems of M al l arm , jus t l ike a d edicat ion , the sonne t a l ludest o t h e a u t h o r ' s w r i t in g p r oc es s o f t h e g r a n d wo r k , a s we ll a s t o i t se lf a san a r t if ac t .16 The sonne t m ay be v iewed as Hrodiade s prelude forP.R. suggest ing auto-reproduct ion in the country named Idume. l

In con t ras t t o th e poe t ' s l a te sonne t s in semant ic absence includingth e ser ies of Tom beaux, h is ear ly Scne represents double posi t ivew i th i t s ex i s ten t ia l we igh t of t ex tua l fo rm al i ty and m ean ingfu l in te ll i -g ib i l i ty g iven by the hum an po r t ra i t of th e princess .18 The poem m akest h e o u tmo d e d , if e s se n t ia l mo r a l i ss ue f o r g o t t e n , a s t h r o wn b y t h e s t a r -princess l a f r an a is e . F r o m a n o t h e r a n g le , a n e n g a gi n g c u l t u r a lp rob lem, a r t o r l i f e, wh ich m ay be reduced t o consumpt ion o r p ro-duct ion , res ts buried a t the text ua l core , jus t l ike t reasured resourcesfo r the readers ' f ina l in te rp re ta t ion .

The sad i s t i c pr incess in th e Bib le s t imu la ted ma ny a r t i s t s of thefin-de-sicle. They actua lized a series of repre senta tions, such a s G.

M oreau 's f rozen Queen- to-be in h is decora t ive pain t in g , A. Beardsley'ssymbol ic manequ in w i th i t s de l i ca te and s t r a ined l ines in th e book i l lus -t r a t io n , and W i lde 's pa the t i c b u t s t e reo typed enamored lack ing in innercomplex. Fr om a fema le reader 's eye , garm ented in ex tr a ref inemen t ,t h ey al1 l ac k wi l l f o r r a t l e a s t s y mp a t h y wi t h r o d u ct io n o rcreat ive ac tu al iza t ion of the i r own l ives . Those representa t ions ar eno t 'hu m an , thu s no t women . The wi l l has , however , no connec t ionw ith th e bib l ica l model 's physical condi t ion , v irg in o r pregn ant , whichis to be tes ted and liquidated by a dance before the k ing. The seques-t ra ted v i rg in heroine , Hrodiade o r Salom e, m ay wel l be a chal lengingta rg e t fo r f rus t ra te d aggressors , whe the r m a le o r f emale , engaged inthe in te rp re ta t ion o f the re t i cen t ambiguous fa b le in th e Scr ip tu re .h Ia l l a rm ' s ad ap t a t io n covers it sel f w i th symbols and p rec ios ity , fo -cusing on the fo rm ula t ion o f the acous t ic scu lp t (u re ) o f the w in t ry

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pr incess th a t evokes bo th Greek and Rom an a r t : "Oui , c ' e s t pour moi ,pour moi , que je f leur is , ds er te " Centered on the o ld an d new, cul-tu ra l apor ia , "beau ty o r l i fe , " M al la r m ' s modernized i ron ica l "Scne"anachron ist i ca lly demands o f th e in te rp re te r , f rom i t s p ro foundes tdep th , a cla ss ica l a t t e m p t t o make reconc il ia tion o f a r t and mo ra l i ty .These conf l ic t ing extre m it ies ar e represented by a uni t of i so la ted bu tnodal ego. In her f i r s t speech fo r her own in t roduct ion, the heroine de-p lo res : "O f e mme , u n b a is e r m e t r a i t S i l a b e a u t n ' t a i t l am o r t .... The tw o cha racte rs ' i so la t ion is embodied by each of the i rf loa t ing bu t connec tive speeches uch a s "M ain tena n t? " "Pou rm oi ," and "Adieu" h ich ar e p laced spar se am ong the long a lexan-dr ines . The demoniac her i t age f ro m B audela ire , which fermented th edecaden t tendency o f a r t a t the end o f the 19 th cen tu ry , needed t o be su r -passed. The gran d source fo r modern poe try , es leurs d u mal onse-cra te s on one hand a n ideal is t ic prayer w i th i t s cha pter named "Spleene t Ida l ." S imul taneous ly , the M al la r m an au to -deconst ruc tive worka s a dazzl ing cosmic luminos i ty d i rec ts the reader t o a ss im i la te the in -complete heroine a s h is o r her d iv ided supplem enta l sel f fo r to ta l i -za t ion .

The sp l i t "Scne" form ed by the uncommunicat ive d ia logue embod-i es t h e c h a sm b etwe en mo r a l a n d a r t , l i f e a n d c u l tu r e , o r c o mm u n i t yand se lf . The t e x t ma y be compared t o a ce les ti a l sh in ing body th a t ob-jec tive ly wa tches an o f fense indicated in i t se l f . F ro m the t ex t a r i sesGod 's eye , th is concentra ted omnipresence-absolute , taking theHugol ian poem "L a conscience" a s a crucia l in ter text . M al larm 's H-rod iade riva l s th e ances t ra l King Hugo a s wel l a s the Bible a s a b ig"Word ." Because the t ex t i s loaded w i th ray s o f l igh t f ro m the imagesof the Sun and mi r ro r s , a s we ll a s wi th in te r in t ra tex tua l echoes , thet ran sfus ion of subject an d object i s quickly rea lized . The "eye" leads t oth e modern reader 's cr i t ica l eye, though poss ib ly wi t h te ar s caused bythe br i ll iance of the M al l arm a n work. Capable of c los ing and de-s t roy ing the t ex t a t any t im e , the omnipo ten t r eader v is - -vi s theprincess-he ro ine has the ab i l i ty t o su rmou nt any an tagon ism by h i s o r

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Stphane blallarm's Sirnbol ic Head The Moldig of Hirodinde's 'Scne as a Dialogic Reader Respom 65

her own in terpre ta t ion- though wi th in the l im i t of convent ional , cu l-tu ra l consensus in th e speci f ic com mu ni ty a s a col lective self ecausein terpre ta t ion i s reduced t o permiss ion o r prohib i tion , a r esu l t of codi-f i ca t ion . Another l ight f ro m everyday rea l i ty i s expected t o d i s s ipa te ,o r r a t h e r t r a n sf i g u re , t h e textua l apo r ia by addi t ion al and embel li sh ingmol d i ng d i rec ted w i t h t ex t ua l i n t en t iona l i t y . The t ex t r e t a i ns t hereader ' s a t t en t ion by m eans of the r iva l ing pr inc ipa l ima ges of the ani -m al , f lower , and precious s tone s , the in terpre ta t ion of which developsin a cosmogonic en largement involv ing a ser ies of in te rpr e ta nt s : f i re ,

wa t e r , a i r , ea r t h , m agm a , and sun l igh t . The eye i s a l s oHrodiade ' s eye looking a t her se l f, t h i s o the r , in th e m etamorphos ingdresser. In the mag ica l uni f i ca t ion of God, the r eader , an d the doubt -fu l heroine, th e heroine-princess can f in al l y be saved. Before every-th ing , she i s only a f i c t ive f igure , though t he process fo r her sa lva t ioncorr es ponds t o a poe ti c f unc t i on t o p r epa re t he r eade r f o r f ac ing t heharshness of real i ty.

The reader i s a l so g iven sa lva t ion . W i t h t he nu r s e and t he p r i n -cess , the poet ic Hrod iade m ay be viewed a s a nur sery rhyme. The in-t rodu ctory p iece , Don du Pom e, r efer s t o the b i r th and feeding of thepoet ' s daughter . In the 1945 version , Hrodiade begins wi th the word

Abol ien ( Ou ver ture , evoking a M al la rm a n phrase Abol i b ibe lo td ' inan i t sonoren in one of h i s poems of which the or ig in a l vers ion ha sa t i t l e Sonnet al lgor iqu e de lui-mme. 'g Bibelot represen ts to ysam ong which the Sain t ' s ca s t r a t ed head i s included a s a t r ansgress ivef e ti s h . The mi r r o r i ng r hyme t h a t g ives p r es c ri pt ion f o r f i gh t i ng w i t hr ea l i t y s hou ld t r ans f o r m n igh t ma r e t o pa r ad is i ac Eden ic d r eam. H-rodiade thus presupposes t r ansgress ion , the deca pi t a t ion of Sa in t John.As i ns epa rab le , bo t h o f t he men t a l i mages i gh t mar e and d r eam

ha re a sam e mind. Se lf -suff ic iency i s des tined t o hum an l i f e , a s i ss uggest ed by t he s o l a r l una r M al l a r m an work fo r war d i ng i ts e lf i n t ot he ac t ua l wor ld of the readers . The books fo r chi ldren, includingHrodiade , a r e in princ ip le f ina l ized wi th the consola tory m essage : D ono t ivorry , p lay w i th me. The message requires neg at iv i ty to be

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Noriko T A K E D A

posit ively modified.M al l arm 's presenta t ion of v iolence is indirec t in the vei l of poet ic

language. I t i s no t necessary t o be concerned ab ou t any dan gerous ef-fec t on the un in i t i ated readers. Di f fe ren t f rom today ' s v io len t mediaa r t s , M al la rm ' s t ex t i s symbolica l ly soph is ti ca ted . A t f i r s t puzzledby h i s ve rba l l abyr in th , th e readers a re led t o b roaden the i r in te rp re ta -t ive capaci ty through a nour ishm ent by reading, and thu s a re expec tedt o d i scover the p rob lem of soc ia li za t ion , o r cod i f i ca t ion , a t th e t ex tua lcore , a r t o r l if e. M al la rm ' s Hrod iade a l lows the readers' cease lessin te rp re ta t ions .

F ic t ion and rea l i ty commingle a f te r the awaking of th e read ing es-pri t . The word espri t hich mod ernist ically comb ines th ephysical w i th menta l ha l f -and-ha l f, bes ides the so la r ( i l lumina t ion)w ith luna r ( in to xica t ion) lays a crucia l ro le in t r iadica l ly connect-ing th e au tho r , heroine , and readers . The heroine 's n ame, H-rod iade , i s d ra m at ic in i t se l f , symbolizing her inner d ra m a . I t i snegat ively ero t ic because i t s deprived of the let ter s, thus es ( - )p r i t : H ( s ) r o ( s ) d i a d e . M . L. S h a w a l s o p o i n t s o u t t h a t d i a me a n sa s e p a r a t io n ( 1 12 ). F u r t h e r mo r e , t h e t e x t i s b o r n f r o m t h e in t e r p r e ta -t ive and c rea t ive mind , o r e spr i t, fo r segmented sys tem at iza t ion t ogive words . The sunny te xt f lowers f r om a s ingle w ord, espr it .Between the n ightcap of th e Holy W ri t and th e milky nursery rhym es,in tervene detec tive s tor i es , of which th e p rotot ype s a re go thic novels .The pr incess is sequest ra ted in the tower l ike a to m b ( Ou-ver ture .

In the text ' s prevai l ing subvers ion, who could deny the nurse 'sc r ime , the murder o f the l i t t l e p r incess? In the Bib le , th e mo ther in-c i tes her daug hter t o k i ll Jo hn t he B ap t is t , thu s k i ll ing the conscience ofher daughter . A t the beginning of th e Scne, the heroine is qual if ieda s phan tom by the nurse who i s unreasonably t e r r i fi ed and con tinuest o be accused by th e revived princess : Tu vis ou vois-je ici l 'om bred'une princesse? The princess implici tely thr ea ten s th e m urde rer, de-manding a to ta l confession th rough out the Scne, f i r s t by the

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Stphaoe h~al lar m 's Symbolic Head:T he Blolding of Hradiode's 'Scne s a Dialogic Reader Response 67

provoking Reculez. T he nu r se i s su spi ci ous f ro m t he i ncan t a t o ryopening in camouf laged prec ios i ty . She m ay be v iewed as a descendantof the subjuga ted indigenous gods , s iby l les , s im i l a r t o the Greek god-desses degraded t o th e wi t ches by Chr i s t i an i ty . Accord ing t o the lucidpr incess , t he nurse i s a fem me ne en des si cl es mal ins / P o u r l am chance t des an t r e s s iby l l ins . 20 The b ib l i ca l mother ' s backgroundi s a l so dubi ous . A t l e a s t , t he nu r se has a subconsc ious mo t ive t o wi shil1 of the k ing ' s fam i ly . The re l a t ion be tween the k ing an d th e nursem ay be suspec t . Her secret desi re can be, an d should be, perceived underher gar me nt s of euphemism in a l exandr ines . She fee ls a f fec t ion f o r her

ch i ldn Hrodiade , t houg h she i s j ea lous , envieu(se) . The mi lk g ivent o t h e p r inces s shou ld be consum ed a s fuel t o t h e s t e r i le pa s si on o f bo t ht he w om en , t h a t i s , t he w eddi ng w i t h t he Sa i n t ' s severed head . T henurse' s fol low i ng i ncan t a t i on , w i t h t he i m age o f t he consum ed w h i t ecandle , does no t on ly announce th e coming of the eve of the f in a l t ra g-edy : E t b i en t t s a rougeu r de t r i s t e c rpuscu le / P n t r e r a d u c or p s l acire q ui recule " Her ance s tors p rovide her wi t h th e power f or accom-plishing her il1 will :

l 'ongle qu i pa rm i l e v i t r age s ' l veSelon le souve ni r des t rom pe t te s , le vieuxCiel br le , e t chang e un do igt en un cierge envieux.

I t i s na t u ra l t h a t t he nu r se shou l d be d i sappo i n ted t o s ee t he p ri ncess i nl i fe at t h e beginning of th e Scne a f t e r her inc an ta to ry Ouver ture .W i t h a s igh , t h e nurse deplores : T u v i s H e r d i sappo i n t m en t pa ra -doxical ly emphasizes , however, th e som nam bul is t ic pr incess' s e legantappearance on the s t age . The hero ine perceives the nurse ' s unfav orab ledes ire . She re fuses th e appro ach of th e nurse by the f i r s t Reculez, o fw h ich t he cen t r a l chok ing sound [y ] om bi n ing [ i l w i t h [u ]evokes a sc ream of th e beheaded . The cu ln in Reculez l eads t o coumeaning neck. Fr om the beginning , th e sound [y] ha s defami li a r izedi t se l f , p laced in the f i r s t wor d , Tu .

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168 Nor iko T A K E D A

W ha t t he nu r se w is hes mos t ma y be t he a s s as s ina t i on o f t he k ing byth e pr incess , tho ugh th e pr incess take s displaceme nt ( i.e. , her at - f i r s t -s igh t lover 's beheading) ins tead of k i l ling her f a ther -k ing . In th a tway , she defended the k ingdom, her se lf , and the v i r tu a l par tne r , J oh nth e Bap t i s t . The inces tuous r e l a t ionship be tween the k ing and h i sdaug hter Hro diade , who hys ter i cal ly c l a ims her v i rg in i ty , i s sugges ted ,j u s t a s i n Genes is . F . Chas e po i n t s ou t t h a t t he b ib l ica l Sa lome wasf i r s t mar r i ed t o he r unc le (50). In Wilde's Salome, t he k ing , who re-peatedly shows h i s in teres t in th e hero ine , i s only her s t epfa the r . Never-theless , in th e M al lar m a n symbol ic Scne, th e hero ine-princess' sbackground i s no t c l ar if i ed . S ince the hero ine i s designated a s

princesse in a t e x t a s an ar t i s t i c whole , the k ing should be consideredher f a th er by b lood. Fur the rmore , the or ig ina l anecdote in the Bib ledeal s wi th th e inces t accused by Joh n th e Bap t i s t . Af t er ask ing thein ter locutor i f she i s pregna nt ( Viendra- t- i l par fo i s? ), t h e nurse se-cre t ly inc i t es the heroine in to th e vice of inces t

Com ment , s i non pa r m i d ' obs curesEpouvantes , songer plus implacable encorE t comme s upp l i an t le d ieu que l e t r s o rDe vo t r e g r ce a t t end e t pour qu i , dvor eD'angoi s ses , gardez-vous l a sp lendeur ignor eE t le m y s t r e v a i n d e v o t re t r e ?

Inces t i s a n absolu te t a bo o by modern cul tures . By denying having sucha re la t ionship , t he hero ine escapes in to narc i s s ism. She exi s t s only forhersel f (qu e je f l eur i s ) pour moi , though th e appare nt ly wi l l fu l pr in-cess i s cons tan t ly threa tened by the danger . The repeated French word

e f f ( - ) r o i i n si nuat es bo t h t he p ress ur e f r om t he ki ng and he r po t en ti a lof becoming a co nquering queen like her successful an ce sto rs ; her poten-t i a l i s envied by her degen era ted fa ther -k ing des i r ing re juvenat ion , a swel l a s by th e eg ot i s t mother -queen. The pr incess 's nam e, H-rodiade , conceives t h a t of th e k ing , Herod. She i s a l so ekpl i c it ly

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Stptane hlallarm's Symbolic Head:The hfolding of Hrodiade's 'Scne as Dialogic Reader Response 169

qual i f ied by th e nurse a s re ine. In her f i r s t speech , thoug h she comest o exp l ai n her w or r i e s ( e f f ro i s , she suddenly s top s , say ing Jem 'ar r t e . Though i l lusory , v io len t scene i s sugges ted wi th the

l i onsv - fa t he r s abou t t o und res s he r ( de m a robe ca r t en t l 'i ndo -lence ) . The nurse 's resp ect ful euphemism th a t conveys her meanestin t en t ion i s qua l i fi ed by the pr incess a s i ron ie. The se lf -decons truc ti ve speech quo t ed above em bodi es t he nu r se a s a n i n fec t bu sv i rus . Moreover , she g ives a t reacherous k i ss and poi sonous per fumewi t h her sacr i leg ious hand : Ce ba i ser , ces par fum s of f e r t s and ce t t ema in encore sacri lge.

Never the less , t he t ex t p revent s the reader f ro m problemat i z ing theprincess ' s hol iness . Her innocence i s gua ran teed by her e leventh speechcons t i t u ti ng t he c l im ax t h a t t h re ads ha i r , snake, n i gh t o f i c e and snow ,d r e a m , h e a r t , a n d m i r r o r a s b o m b a r d in g l i ta n i e s. Al1 the e l ement s a reen t ang l ed and qu ick ly f rozen i n t o t he s t a r , t h e d i am ond i n t h e sky :

J ' a im e l ' hor re ur d ' t re v i e rge e t je veuxVivre parm i l ' e f f ro i que me fo n t mes cheveuxPou r , l e so i r , r e t i r e en m a couche , r ep t il eInv io l sen t i r en l a cha i r i nu t i l eL e f ro id s c i n ti ll em en t de t a p l e c l a r t T o i qui t e m eurs , t o i qu i b r l e s de chas t e t ,Nu i t blanche de gla on s et de neige cruelleE t t s ur so l i t a i r e , m a s ur t e rne l leM o n r v e m o n t e r a v e r s t o i : t e l le d j ,R ar e l im pid i t d 'un coeur qu i l e songea ,J e m e c r oi s s eu le en m a m o n o t o n e p a t r i eE t t o u t , a u t o u r d e m o i , v i t d a n s l ' id o l tr i eD 'un m i ro i r qui r e f l t e en son ca l m e do rm an tH rod iade au c l a i r r ega rd de d i a m a n tO charm e dern ie r , ou i je le sen s, je su is seule.

As i t se l f t he charme dern ie r , t he e l eventh speech- th e l a t t e r ha l f o f

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w hich i s quo t ed above onsum m at es t he t ex t ua l c ry s t a l li z a t ion .Th e speech of 3 a lexandr ines begins wi th th e whi t e co lor o f l il y andends wi th th e t ranspa rency of d i amond. The l ength i s , ho ivever, i nsuf -f i c ien t for evoking the hero ine 's f igure in de ta i l , which i s n o t a c tu a l lydescribed. The speech represen ts th e cosm ic whole by present ing th ecom bi na t i on o f t he m e n t a l and phys ica l ( R a re l i m p i d i t d ' un c urn )and t he i n fus i on of a t o t a l i t y i n t o t he he ro ine 's m i c rocosm i c body t ocomple te th e fus ion of sub jec t and objec t i n super l a t ive t ranspar ency( t o u t , a u t o u r d e m o i , v i t d a n s l 'i d o l t r ie D 'u n m i r o i r q u i r e f l t e e ns o n ca lm e d o r m a n t / H r o d i ad e a u c l a i r r e ga r d d e d i a m a n t n .

W ith th i s c l imax mad e only of th e essence , t he cen t ra l Scnen fo-cuses on th e mold ing of the heroine' s head wi th ha i r , sk in , mo uth , andher eyes compared t o j ewels ( p urs b i jouxn and d ia ma nt . Funda-m en t a l l y , m i r ro r s ex i s t fo r m ak i ng faces . E ven w hen t he t e x t i s abo u tt o descr ibe her fu l l body , a f t e r des igna t ing her head s l y sn in he r f i r s tcomprehens ive speech , i t on ly p inpoin t s her l a s t end , p i eds , which em-phas izes her head a s th e cor responding ex t rem i ty . Her body i s j us tn a k ed , t h u s n o t w h oll y s u b s t a n t i a t e d ( n u d i t n ) a n d o u t o f r ea c h, be-cause i t i s a s t a r ( t o i l e ) . H er l ow er body i s negl ect ed ; i t i s com -pa red t o t he unno ted go l d ( O r s igno r s . I t i s a l so escaping , jus t l i kea s l i t hery snake ( rep t i l e / Inv ioln ) . The word Scne punninglyleads t o Se ine , which evokes the f lowing l ines of Hrodiade ' s ha i rwi th waves , hence a l so l ead ing t o f leuve and f l eur a s the head ofplan ts . In th e Scne, the har des t jewel, diam on d, represen ts a subl i -m at io n of the symbol i c head . The f ina l l ine of Hrodiade 's l a s t speechforegrounds the head , which i s reorganized t o jeweled c row n, appa -ren t l y f a l l ing o f f f ro m t he head : Se spa re r en f in s e s f ro i despierreries.

The principal head ha s a l rea dy been molded in the centered piece.T hus , i n t he f i na l poem , C an t ique de sa i n t J ean , t he supe rf l uous headi s cu t o f f . Thi s paradoxica l ly emphas izes the main po in t of th e work ;Sa in t John ' s p recious head i s unnecessary , t hough Do n o t worry .The f i c tive decol l a tion ( -de cora t ion) does no t d i rec tly a f fe c t rea l i ty

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Stphane ii lallarm's Symbolic Head The Molding of Hrodiade s 'Scne as a Dialogic Reader Response 171

and , fu r the rm ore , the a r t i s t i c work , named Hrod iade , pe r fec ts i tse lfby beheading ( i.e. , e l im inat in g redundanc y) . As an inevi table s t im ula-t ion t o everyday, o rd ina ry l i fe , a r t m us t be comple te. Moreover , a r t -head (viz ., the overdeterm inat ion of h um anness) and l i fe-body shouldbe balanced. The beheading scene s im ulate s th e c l imax of t he work be-cause i t i s a sac r i l eg ious shock ing a t t em p t a t neg lect ing th e camou-f la g e d c l ima x t h a t i s t h e t o t a l S c ne a s a h e ad . T h e m o s t s h o ck in gscene p inpo in t s a head, which i s cu t o f f , a s cons t i tu t ing the c l imax .

Head l i te ra l ly means a c l imax . Represent ing a mo dern i s t ambi t iont o r e co nc ile a mb iv a le n ce , t h e M a l l a r m a n wo r k t h e r ef o re a i m s a t b o t h

ar t and l i fe , which a re connected but of ten in conf l ic t . The publ ica-t ion o f the Scne a s the represen ta t ive o f Hro d iade was thus su f f i -c ien t. I t i s no t necessary fo r the au th or t o expose o the r manu scr ip t s toth e cur ious error-prone public eyes. Hrod iade , a s a sym bol ic head, infa c t s t an ds fo r a cha rme dernier . In the Scne, which is m et-onym ic (s ince i t fea tu res a po in t) , th e descr ip t ion of the heroine beginsw i th he r corporea l po in t do ig t s ( f ingers ) marked by the r ings

bagues . F u n d a m e n t a l l y , t h e v e rb a l t e x t i s me t o n y mi c, a s i t i s e x -pressed by black l ines of l e t t er s posi ted f or the reader 's in te rpre ta t ion .Mo r e o v e r, t h e t e x t is a me t o n y my f o r th e s t a g e p r o d uc t io n . T h ea u t h o r h ims elf a i m s a t t h e c o mp le ti on o f h i s g ra n d wo r k t o b e s i t u a te da t t h e fo r e f r o n t o f l i t e r a r y h i s to r y .

In a Freudian way, hat red and love are mingled between the t iedcouple, the pr incess and the nurse-m other , under th e am bigu ous speechesof the Racinean precios i ty . The dubious re la t ionship between a fa t he r ,mo ther , and newborn daug h te r i s sugges ted in the a t t ach ed piece, Dondu Pome. A t l eas t , the custod ian nurse i s r e sponsib le fo r physicaland psychological op pression of the child, H rod iade, which preventedthe gi r l ' s des i rable development of sexual order . I t i s conceivable th a the r f rus t ra t i on shou ld have taken the fo rm of the assass ina t ion o f thema r t y r . T h e r ep la ce me nt i s e f fi c ie n t t o a c e r t a in e x te n t , b u t i ta m o u n t s t o s a me n e ss , t h u s n o t h i n g : t h e d e s t ru c ti o n o f t h e a nc ie n tt r ib e . T h e a s s a s s i n a te d J o h n ma y b e a r a r e c a n d i d a t e f o r t h e

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br idegroom of th e enam ored pr incess . Law , rel igion, edu cat ion, pro to-col , for m al i ty , and everyday conventions u l tures r iva l and of fendeach other . Imperfect cu l ture represen ts hum an insuff iciency, whi le , s i -mul taneous ly , denot ing the po tent i a l of the chall enged hum an race.The t ex t a s a mi r r o red ve rs ion o f r ea l i t y i s a cu l t u r a l a l a r m i n t he s el f-s u f fi c ien t wor ld . In o r de r t o nour is h t hough t s , i t o f f e r s a b r eak f o r t hein terpre ter ' s ac t iv i t i es in busy ac tua l l if e. Through d i f f erent i a l s igni -f i ca t ion , the spoi led but v ic t imized heroine 's r eac t ion t o her sur round-ings deconst ruc ts the whole te xt , which represen ts her psychologicalcomplex and f r us t r a t i on , expos ing t he p r es uppos i ti ona l dua l i t y of a r tand mor a l i t y . M or a l i t y i s s ynonymous wi t h humann es s ; th i s i s a com-b i na ti on o f men t a l i t y and phys i ca l it y , o r d i v in i ty and an i ma l i t y . Ont he o t he r hand , a r t embod ies a f us ion o f hum annes s and i nan ima t enes s.The an t agon i s m o f ove r lapped phenomena , a r t and m or a l i t y , r ep res en tsthe connected wholeness, t hu s making up th e t ex tua l s igni f i ca t ion th a tinc ludes the hero ine 's c i r cu lar se l f - ident i f i ca tion f ro m inanimateness t odivini ty.As th e reversed s ol ar vers ion, th e vi rgin pr incess a s a k i l ler -hunteri s a s ub s t i t u t e o f D i ana . The Scne a s t he t o ta l ized te t r a l ogy t o beon t h e s qua r e s t age , o r mapped w or ld , r ep res en ts t he f us i on o f t he B i-b les, nur sery rhymes , de tec t ive s tor i es , and Greek Ro m an mytholo-g ies. Diana-Ap hrodi t e , Mary-Ev a, Poe-Hugo, and Ch r i s t - Juda st hos e a r e t h a t androgynous Hrod i ade w i t h t he B audel ai rean s hadow,s u r pass i ng a r t i s t i c compl e t ion t o be an am al ga m of de f o rmed i mages i na mi r ro r w i th e tches . The defo rma t ion announces pos tmodern dram as .The Janus - faced imagery represent s the cr iminal hero ine, whil e, a t thes ame t i me , s i mul a t i ng t he conf l i c t ua l d i a l ogue wi t h s pa r ks be t weenHr od i ade and t he nu r s e- mot he r . F r o m t he d i s t o r t ed s u r f ace o f t hemi r r o r t ex t , o t he r t ex t s s p r ou t . The ir i mages co rr e spond t o each ang leof var ious r eader s , jus t a s cubi s t pa in t ing s do . Involv ing number les sr eade rs , t ex t u a l mean i ngs con t inue t o g row. The t r i log i c s t a t u s i n t he1945 Pliad e vers ion hich f i l l s up th e psychological ch asm of theheroine a s represented by th e ce nt ra l , dialogic Scne eeks the

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Siphane Slallar m's Symbolic Head: The hlolding of Hro diade's 'Scne as a Dialogic Reader Response 173

aesthe ti cized comple teness a s a square shape fo r bo th the s ta ge and thewo rld , Le ., th e appro pr ia ted wholeness . Publ ished dur ing M al la rm 'sl i fe t im e, the author ized Scne dom inates miscel laneous ma nusc r ip ts .Moreover , th e Hegel ian dia logue repea ts synthes is by a th i rd response ,the i t e ra t iv e coming o f c l imaxes th a t r epresen t s the tw o fem ale f igures 'each la n vi ta l .3 Comprisa l t o a word

The f igure of th e heroine is crea ted f r om the super imposi t ion ofvar iou s levels of dr am as which a re formal ized by t he H egelian dia-l o gu e : t h e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f t h e mi n er a1 t h r o u g h t h e f l o r a l a n d a n i -m al , the sh i f t ing o f da ys and n igh t s invo lv ing th e Sun, moon , and cos-mic darkness , the posi t ioning of ref lexive m irro rs , th e blond l ines of thehero ine 's ha i r en tang led wi th sun l igh t , a s wel l a s the d ra m as o f fami l i e sand love . The sm al l ego-head abso rbs the wholeness , which fol low s th eBaudela i rean Correspondances, represent ing a mo dernis t m ot i f . Thedr am a between the daugh te r -p r incess and the fa the r -k ing re f lec t s th econf li c t be tween the he ro ine an d the c rea t ive and de s t ruc t ive au thor ,M al la rm . The d r am as ins inua te , o r r a the r p roduce, Hrod iade ' s se -cre t a s th e cause of her h is ter ica l se lf -defense .

Since the secre t i s no t spoken and hidden in th e speeches of the t w ofemale f igures , the sec re t equa l s the speeches ; the fo rm er can be com-pared t o the whi te face o f th e he ro ine , and th e l a t t e r t o her go lden ha i rin waves . These two corporea l pa r t s s im ula te the sun a s the symbol o fp resence and a lchemy. Bo th the t ex t and i t s he ro ine a re compared t oth e Sun. The French wo rd soleil puns on seul. The synthes is ofth e tw o fem ale f igures ' speeches, which makes a whole text-w ords ,evokes a pic tu re o f the t w o f igures in k is s t o be asc r ibed t o t he he roine 'smo uth , th i s b ib li ca l Word de live ring smal l words , the t ex tu a l es-sence.

The a t t r ac t iveness o f rodiade resides in the superimposed pic-tu res o f the min im um deve lop ing t o the maxim um. The superimpos i -t ion unif ies the poems, present ing the image of an eff lorescent rose .

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F or instanc e, the heroine's eleventh speech f o r climax evokes a pictureof her b i r th ( le f r i sson b lanc de m a nudi t ) f ro m the ances t ra l nurse,th is black soi1 of fe rt ili ty antr es sibyllins .By the c irculat ing Scne, M all arm intends t o embody al l-absolu te, th a t i s , a r t ; homonymously , a r t leads t o ex is tence andpresence a s a n old fo rm of the verb be. The heroine Hrod iade sym-bolizes al1 a s a m ixtu re of various figures in t he incestuous connection.The poe t' s eso te r ic works , such a s h is la te Sonne ts, appear t o a im a t se-man t ic ann ih i la t ion a t f i r s t s igh t , co rrespond ing t o the f ina l s t age o fhis poetic career. The layered moldin g representing his ear ly career,from which emerges the superenriched, thus unseized heroine, empha-sizes the comprehensiveness of verbal expression fo r both th e visual andaura l , the imagina t ive and symbolic. Verba l a r t thus appropr ia tes a l1the ar t i s t ic genres . The conventional tool fo r everyday communicationis ironical ly omn ipotent and omniscient a s the sym bol of human cul-tur e. As is declared by th e Bible, In th e beginning was the Word.As the general t i t le , Hrodiade represents both a word and the gigan-tic Word comprising al1 the succeeding verses under the general title,Hrodiade. The Wo rd freezes al1 the work. Simu ltaneously, every-thing flows fr om th e big Word, half frozen and half m elted.Sim ulating the ce ntra l cosmic face, the Sun, th e Word representsthe heroine's mouth in red, from and into which the actress 's voicecomes and goes . For the aut ho r himself , the imag e of t he word H-rodiade represents t h a t of an open pom egrana te in red (Corres-pondance 226). This f low continues t o the Greek s ies ta ful l of eroticdre am s described in L'Apr s-Mid i d 'un Faune a s glogue. In thesumm er of 1865, M al l a rm wrote t he myth ica l poem a s an in ter lude ofHrodiade. In the comical Faune a s the mirrored pair of the tragicalHrodiade, words come fo rt h and continue each local explosion, bur st-ing with images fo r day-dream, desire, shadow, and l ight . In Faune,words ar e a l igned a s the offspring, o r semen of Hrodiad e to be devel-oped by Debussy's orchestration (1894). The work 's symbolic colorsar e green, gold, and whit e , representing a pro pagatio n of pla nts and a

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Stphane hlallarm's Symbolic Head: The LIolding of Hrodiade s 'Scne s Dialogic Reader Response 75

pene t ra t ion of sun l igh t , as concent ra t ed in the express ions such a s ceboi s d 'o r and sur l ' o r g l auq ue de lo in ta ines Verdures . The burs t -ing image s embody th e violence of Fau ne sei z ing th e tw o nymphs , wh oa re nearly raped. Nevertheless , the violence i s f ixed inside the words ;i t i s overcome by language a s i s sugges ted by the fa i led rape . The mu-s i ca l and po l yva l en t w ords a s t he m ono logue o f t he f l u t i s t Faune i m -press upon the reader the predominance of l anguage over v io lence . A r ti s m ag i c , con fusi ng t he iden t i t ie s o f cha rac t e r s such a s t he nym phs andHrodiade . But i t i s ad di t io na l , t hu s pos i t ive . S ince a l1 th e readersa r e l anguage u se rs , t hey can p a r t i c i pa t e i n t he com pl e t ion o f t he poe ti cdr am a. Fur the rmo re , when they recognize t h a t t h e an t i -hero ' s v io lencei s under verba l express ions , t hey a re more encouraged t o jo in the mak -i ng o f t he w ork , because t hey s t a y sa fe , w he t he r i t be t he s t a ge p roduc-t i on o f t he p l ay o r t h e em ergence o f i n t e rp re t an t s w i t h i n i m ag i na t i on .

H rod i ade concen t ra t es i ts e lf i n t o a cen t r a l sym bo l ic w ord , t h a t i s ,Scne , i n the in t e r t ex tua l f ixa t ion by the a t t ached poem Don du

Pom e and the succeeding synecdoche L 'Apr s-Midi d 'un Fau ne.T he gua rds a r e doubled. T he f l ow i ng w ords o f Faune a r e m us i caland escap ing a s f ro m t he g rappe v ide , c i r cu l a t ing w i t h des ir e s a roundt he e s sence r ep re sen ted by t he w o m b o f nym phs , o r by t he m ou t h o fH rod iade a s t he sun and t he W ord , t h i s cong rega t ion o f w ords. C u l-m i n a t i ng w i t h b i g Wo rd , t he poe ti c encha inm en t r e t u rn s t o t he abso -l u t e o r i g i n , i.e ., w ord , t h i s e s sent ia l m a t e r i a l fo r m a k i ng poe try (o fwhich a n example represen t s Hrodiade wi th the imag e of a c rea t ivem ou th ) , t hu s com ple t ing inces tuous poe t i c sel f- suff ic i ency .

By the Scne in red , b lond , and whi t e , Ma l l a rm se t s up a uni -verse of a r t engulfed by word . Language becomes a l l , overcoming i t sow n a r b i t r a r i ne s s , t h a t i s , t he conven ti ona l r e l a t ion a nd d i s t i nc t i on of

w ord and i t s ob j ec t -r e feren t. B y t h i s w i n t ry t hea t r i c a l poem , t heau t ho r i n t ends t o k il l o r beheadU t he conven ti ona l ro l e of ve rba ls igns, th e equivocal cap aci ty of language. A word-sign represen ts ahead c u t o f f f r o m i t s b o d y ; t h e bo dy i s c o m p ar e d t o t h e t h i n g a r b i t r a r -i ly connected t o t he w ord- si gn . T he au t ho r s t rugg l e s t o dem ons t r a t e ,

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176 Nor iko T X K E D A

o r r a t h e r , f i c ti o n al iz e t h e c a p ab i li ty of wo r d s a s a p r i ma r y m a t e r i a l f o ra r t i s t i c expression. Hence , the phan to m(- om bren o f th e th ings -re fe ren t s a s mi r ro r r e fl ec t ions , which a r e supposed ly severed f ro m thewords , hau nts in the Scne w i th the i l lus ion of golden manes .

The f rus t ra ted he ro ine i s iden ti fi ed w i th th e poe t in wr i t ing , w ho i sdoub t fu l o f the success o f h i s work c rea ted t o Save words f ro m the i r de-g rad ing a rb i t r a r iness . In ma k ing the Scne , the au t hor i s s t i l l ha l f -wa y he poem needs t o del iver the succeeding work s including Faune,

Sonnets , and Poem s of Occasions t o sol id i fy h is beliefs in lan-guage . The au t hor i s vac i l l a t ing , bu t overcomes h i s hes i t a t ion by pos -i t ing b lack l e t t e r s fo r ma k ing poe t ry symbolized by th e Or ien ta l Hrodiade This a l so co r responds to the p rob lemat ic decap i ta t ion , theissue of t he work. A t l eas t in words , words a t t a in a v ic to ry . Never-theless , the hum an consciousness tenaciously r ises up f ro m the v erbalf r a me wo r k , t h o u g h u n a b le t o d e ta c h i ts el f f r o m t h a t f r a me w o r k ; t h i sis a p ar t of the hum an consciousness , a s being th e convent ional , l inguis-t i c ru les in r ecogn it ion t h a t d i rec t the consc iousness. Th is i s the f ina l ,se l f -re fe ren t ia l d r am a t h a t the Scne dep loys in the mind of the read-e r s , f o ll o wi ng t h e ma g i c a l o p e r a t i o n o f a r t t h a t b l u rs t h e d i s t i n c t io n be-tween conten t and express ion, o r tenor and vehic le . The anta gon ism ofthe word and menta l i ty - e sp r i tn i s the conf l i c t ins ide the book as

uvre th a t exyrinds i t se l f t o cul ture and the whole world in crea t iv-i ty . Accord ing t o the poe t h imse l f : l e monde es t f a i t pour abo u t i r un beau l ivre . The in ter laced work in se l f - referent ia l m irr or s enr ichesi t s mean ing , r e la ted t o the anc ien t Greek p lay wi th m asks , th e Japanesesymbol ic Noh p lay , a s wel l a s th e K abuk i p lay us ing the sp lash ing o fcolors th a t evokes sunshine for foregrounding mime t ic d ivers i f ica t ion .The d r am a o f the f ru s t ra ted he ro ine 's f am i ly p ropaga tes in eve rydaycon tex t in the mi r ro r r e f l ec t ions mak ing doub les ; Hrod iade i sM a l l a r m h im s el f a n d al 1 t h e r e a d e r ~ . ~ '4 Behead the Fa ther o f f : the author s Baudelairean complex

If the he ro ine co r responds t o the a u th or M al la r m , the nurse can be

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Stphane hlallarm's Sgmbolic Head:The ilolding of Hrodiods 'Scne as a Dialogic Reader Response 177

considered represent ing his l i te rar y m as ter , Baudelaire . In the hero-ine 's speech, " je dte ste , mo i , le bel azur " the an ag ra m of the nam e"Baudelaire ," th a t is , "le bel azu r ," is shown. A t the beginning of the"Scnen ( or in th e third speech of the nu rse) , she ident i f ies herself a s anold , b lack book: "comme un vieux l iv re ou noi r." Accord ing to the"Ouverture," Hrodiade 's bed is a lso a book: " le l i t aux pages devlin."

The dra m at ic tex t requi res the reader t o m ake a "concr ti sa t ion"(Pavis 244-521, i e . , the reader ' s contex tua l supplement t o the verba ltex t . Even thou gh t h a t "concrt isat ion" is t o be endlessly cont inued,the elucidat ion of the ambivalent , love-hatred relat ionship betweenMal la rm and Baudela i re i s a necessary and encouraging s tep to thema king of the "Scne." I t covers the surface level of wri t in g involvingthe au tho r ' s consc iousness, in ten t ion , and d i rec t source for h i s tex tua lcrea t ion . The "Scne," a s a po ten t ia l and androgynous " te t ra logy ,"wi ll have an in i t ia t ive "concr ti sa tion" when the f i r s t d i f fe ren t ia ldr am a between the au tho r and h is l i t e ra ry ma s ter i s superimposed onthe textu al dr am a between th e heroine and her nurse. Throug h herspeech, the nurse ident i f ies herself as the heroine 's director : "J 'a i -m e r a i s t r e qui le dest in rserve vos secrets ." W ith the echo of theprevious sounds [ml and [ r ] , the word "t re" puns on "ma t re" (mas-t e r ) .In Hrodiade 's speeches, th e Baudelairean voc abulary ha un ts just a sthe souls of her ancestors : "Funbre," "ombre," "parfums," " ivresse,""noyer ," " languissante ," "horreur ," "s inis t re ," "baiser ," and "f leurs ."The scenic drama between the pr incess and her nurse represents theau tho r ' s s t rugg le wi th h i s i n f luen ti a l ma s t e r , Baude la ir e o whomhe grea t ly owes the crea t ion of his ear ly poems- to estab l ish his or igi-na l i t y (Takeda 104). The overf lowing Baudelairean ph rases direct th ereader t o in te rp re t the hero ine 's curses on her nurse a s a reac tion ofh l a l l a rm to Baude lai r e: fo r in s tance , " imp i t f ameuse ," " ce t t e ma inencore sacr i lge ," and "Quel s r dmon te je t te en le s in i s t re moi ....The princess's crit icism helps t o reconstr uct Bau delaire 's collected

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poems, Les Fleurs du mal a s the in i t ia l monument of the French sym-bolism. As a n am bi t io us chi ld -d isciple, the au tho r b l a l lar m in tendst o ca s t r a t e h is fa th er Baudela i re . He negates Baudela i re 's pat r iarchalau th or i ty , t ransformed a s an oppressed b u t re s is ta n t p r incess : Je veuxque mes cheveux qui ne so nt pa s des f leu rs.... Mal la rm-Hrod iadea t t e m p t s t o c u t h im / herself fr om his an d her poetic source, though ob-sessed wi th i t s nota lg ic a t t rac t iveness : Arr te dan s ton cr ime Quiref ro id i t m on sa ng vers s a source.... His deb t t o Baudela ire remainsa cause o f no s ta lg ia , whereas he t r ies t o overcome the maste r t o be anoriginal poet a s omb re seule e t nouvelle fureur. The predecessorBaudelaire wa s a fr isson nouveau, according t o the quali f icat io n byHugo. The la te comer dream s of his v ictory over his fathe r : unjour / Qui ne f in i ra pas sa ns malheu r su r l a tou r .... In the seesaw-likemovement of ambivalent feel ings, the wri ter invites a Baudelaireanecho ; the verses, Des ondes Se bercent et , l-bas, sais- t u pas unpays, in Hro diade's second-to -last speech evoke Baud elaire's poem

L'Invitat ion a u voyage, which is i tself nostalgic.Fro m the beginning, the ide nti ty of the heroine is scrambled up ; she

is on the marg in o f l i fe and death a s a walk ing phan tom. The t i t l ingnam e Hrodiade includes tw o heroes. Her blond hai r is antag onist ictoward her whi te body , which i s horr if ied by the a t tack ing hai r a s thegolden man e. Ponde ring on her own identific ation, the heroine won-ders where she came f ro m : P a r que l a t t r a i t M e n e.... T he d r a m aof t he heroine's divided self leads t o the scene between th e heroine andher confidante-nurse, a nd simultaneously t o the c onfl ict between Mal-larm and Baudelaire.

The princess Hrodiade, who frus tra tes before the mi rro r present-ing her naked body, represents M all arm 's despair caused by his steri l -i t y in wri t ing vis--vis th e Baudelairean mode1 with i t s enrichm ent ofmirr oring reflect ions. In co ntr as t , M all arm 's work is poorly whitejust like th e heroine's naked body, leaving the emptiness of w hite paper,though he s t rugg les t o a t t a i n his o r ig inal beau ty of ref inement th a tsim ulates the transparency of mirr ors. His in tenti on resides in

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Stphane hlallarm s Symbolic H e a d The Molding of Hrodiade s 'Seine as a Dialogic Reader Response 179

purifying and sublim ating the Baudelairean beauty of ambivalence(Takeda 104). According t o the wintry heroine, je ne veux r iend 'humain e t , scu lp te....

The graph ic s t ru cture o f the Scne a t t em pts t o ou t l ine the hero-ine 's body. The f i rs t pa rt ma de by the juxtaposi t ion of lines representsher golden hair. The ce ntr al pa rt presenting th e quick exchange ofsh or t speeches between t he heroine and her nurse-confidante, whichmakes up four alexandrine^,^^ corresponds t o the mo uth / navel. Thela s t resumes, however , t o make her face, p inpo in ting her m ou th f o r ab-sorbing milk ( to n la i t bu jadis ) , besides her eye a s a d iam ond, byqui t t ing hal fway the descr ip t ion of her lower body , jard ins d 'am -thyste. The jewel am thys te evokes a head, leading t o a st a r , a d ia-mond in the sky. The descrip tion is exceedingly ambigu ous, identifyingthe ind iv idual (Hrod iade) wi th the co l lec tive (na ture) and the minera1( a m t h y s t e ) w i t h t h e m e t a l ( O r s ). The minera1 and the m eta l ar egramm at ical ly equ ivalen t, a s bo th are apposi tions in a con t inuous sen-t e n ~ e . ~ ~he erasu re of t he heroine 's lower body is pursued thro ugh theme tapho ric verbal supe rimp osit ion ; by the f igura t ive speech of t heheroine, her nudity is identif ied with a dazzling and ephemeral mornings t a r in sun l igh t : s i l e t i de azu r d ' t , Vers lu i na t ivemen t l a f emmese dvoile , M e vo i t dan s m a pudeur g re lo t tan t e d ' to i le , J e meurs "The princess 's f igur e dazzlingly haun ts, fo l lowing the qualif icat io n a sth e ombre d 'une princesse in th e nurse's fi rs t speech. The graphic ar -rangement of the verbal te xt fain t ly evokes a combined tw o pieces ofsevered upper bodies. The beheading of Marie -Antoin ette i s also sug-gested in the revolutio nary Scne.

P lacing a lo t of mirrors , Hrod iade ' s inner d r am a in ten t ional ly re-f lec ts the au th or M al lar m 's se l f -asser t ion in h is poet ic t rad i t ion , fo rwhich he const i tu tes a pa r t . F ro m another angle , the au thor ' s eviden tr ival ry wi th h is maste r can be considered h is in ten t ion t o an im ate h is

idol, Hrodiade. She is , in fac t , an ideal do11 th a t the au tho r cre-ated. do11 represents a r t , a s well a s a ma rgin of l i f e and death . Inorder fo r the do11 t o be perfect symbol o f a r t , Ma l larm ha s g iven the

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do11 the sta tu s of th e au tho r 's d ivided self throug h the suggest ive ex-pression t ha t a l lows the reader to perceive h is an tagonism wi thBaudelai re . In sho r t , M al l ar m in tends to g ive l i fe t o h is do ll , s o th a ti t ma y become a transcendental work of ar t . The au tho r 's desire is , be-fore everything, the complet ion of h is poetry .5 omage to humanity

Despite, or rath er , because of i t s imperfectness with jealousy, thehum an race could exist . A suite of paradoxical parables in the two Tes-tam ents demand the in terpre ters ' comm itment t o thei r dai ly ac t iv i tiesin confl icts , thu s m oti va t in g l i fe and presence pushed t o the fore. Uti-l iz ing that re l ig ious t rad i t ion , Mal larm foregrounds the defect iveheroine, who is luckily given a rt fu l and treacherous l igh t by t he sym bol-is t poet. She is dange rous, hence t o be punished. She ha s her excuse,however, fo r co mm itt i ng the crime. Moreover, is she direct ly a m ur-dere r? The ca pit al scene does not show the beheading hands in t hefra m e of a s hor t poem. The reader may wonder i f i t came f ro m God 'swr ath , which somet imes appears a rb i t ra ry and becomes th e cause o fcurses such a s those of Baudelaire and Mal lar m himself . The poetictext condones the growing heroine. The deconstructing l ight , a s fro mthe upper space, and the congregating subversions, a s f ro m the under-ground, real ize the fused wholeness t o be molded in to th e heroine's f ig-ure. Before everything, the st or y is f ict ive. No one witnessed thescene. A t the end of th e Scne, the heroine confesses t h a t she l ies:

Adieu. Vous mente z, fleur nue De me s lvres. Lvres repre-sents words, punningly leading t o l ivres, fr om which f lowers mean-ing. Self-reflexively, th e poetic dr am a discloses i t s func tion for f ict ivecreat ion.

Even af te r closing the te xt , the puzzled reader continuously makesin terpre ta t ions , referr ing to the words in memory . Presen ting theimage of c i rcu lar movement , the poet ic tex t gives t he m essage th at i tdoes no t make any dest ruction t ha t m igh t af fect the human l i fe sys temor the existence of th i s real world . Postponing the judgment on the

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Stphane Mallarm s Symbolic Head: The bIolding of Hrodiade s Scnehs a Dia log ic Reader Response 8

heroine in the encouraging echo of the message, Do not worry , thereader acquires m enta l provis ions , thu s prepar ing him o r herse lf fo r ac-tua1 l if e . W i th the imag e o f the Sun , the M al la rm an wo rk emphas izesadvancement , never o f fe r ing the f ina l so lu t ion , o r e te rna l ha l t . Thereader 's pr iv ilege fo r crea t ive par t ic ipat io n should no t be deprived. Asa new Bible, the poem's ro le tem pora r i ly f in ishes , by con secra t ing a s in-g le word t o the in te rp re te r fo r p roblem-so lv ing , ma y i t be Hrod iade ,

sa lva t ion , o r e spr i t .The poe t ic d rama Hrodiade as doub le pos i t ive represen t s a

to ta l iz a t ion of cul ture , whi le th e scu lptur a l heroine embodies bo th hu-m ani ty and a r t fo r the fo reground ing o f humanness the he ro ine a l soinvo lves inan imateness fo r t r anscenden ta l d iv in i ty . The a r t i f ac tloaded with concre te human conf l ic ts subl imates i t se l f at the f ina ls tag e of the poe t ' s ca ree r a s a se rie s of ab s t r ac t un t i t l ed sonne t s focus-ing on the app rop r ia t io n of absence . Throug h poet ic m anip ula t io n,th e foregrounded absence w i th var ied im age s combines w i th presencea s absorbing everything including death , loss , fa i lu re , an d nihi l i sm.The M al l arm a n la te sonnets ' message, Live a l i fe , 24 presupposesHrod iade ' s L ive a l i f e, beau t i fu l ly . The a r t o f me tonymy i s no t d i s-t a n t f rom the a r t of absence . As is expressed by the Hegel ian dia loguein conf l ic tual heat , the heroine transgresses th e ca tegor ies of good andbad. The hard f ram es of m ora l d i s tinc t ion a re melted and she com-ple tes herse lf a s a beauty connected to l i fe , th us d i rec t ing us t o con-demn the o f fence and no t i t s pe rpe t ra to r . Fund ame nta l ly a r t bel ie s.Al though the poe t seeks fo r the t r u t h th rough the on to log ica l ques tion-ing of presence a t the f in al s t ag e of h is poetic career , he s t i l l then re l ieson a r t and poetry fo r the denia l of absence . The embell ished andforegrounded im ages of absence m ake absence tu rn t o presence. Theeuphoria of universa l presence and e ternal l i fe i s ac tual ized by verbalma nipu la t ion in th i s ~v or ld f imm anence .

In the sense t h a t cu l tu re represen t s the conf li c t ive to ta l i t y o f men-ta l ly in i t i a ted ac t iv i t i e s and the i r r e su l t s , i . e ., a r t and m ora l i ty , nohum an being can l ive l i fe w i thou t cul ture . In o the r wo rds , l i fe and

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cul ture a re inseparab le . The ques t ion i s hoiv ive am el io ra t e cu l ture ,t h i s gene ra l si gn o f hum anness. A s i s suggest ed by Sa i n t Joh n ' s de a t hcaused by th e s t ress fu l heroine, cu l tu re som et imes t ak es fo rm of vio-l ence and pr i son a s bundle of ru l ing convent ions t h a t impose l im i t a -t i on . O u r com ba t t i ng t en t a t i ve s a re , how eve r, p rom is i ng , because t heyvic tor ious ly acc umu la te humanness fo r mold ing model s. By indicat ingt he poss ib i li ty o f va r i ous i n t e rp re ta t i ons , M a l l a rm ' s H rod i ade p re -pares way fo r deve loping cu l ture , t hereby escaping fasc i sm in para ly-s i s and regress ion . Human ness represen t s wi l l fu l move fo r ac tua l -i zi ng l if e i n cons t an t r enova t i on , i . e., l ove t h a t t r ansm ut es h a t r ed w i t ht r i a l s and e r ror s , which i s symboli zed by Hrodiade ' s speeches of c ry inco lored echoes. Cu l tura l i s sues a r e f l a r ing ly d i sp layed in M al l a r m ' sw ork : ve rba l i za t i on , com m uni ca t i on , d ram a , p l ay , poem , a r t , dance ,educa ti on , w a r , and m ar r i age . Our t a s k i s t o h ar m on iz e a r t a n d m o -ra l i t y by e sp r i t , t h i s qui nt es sence o f m en t a l i t y , a s i s show n by t heM a l l a r m a n t h e ra p e u t ic a t t e m p t f o r s a v in g b o th t h e c r im i n a l h er oin eand readers .

A s a n i nv is ib le bu t om ni sc ien t obse rve r i n t he d ra m a fo r s av i ng t hew i n t r y p rin ce ss a s m od e1 f o r h u m a n st r u g gl e , M a l l a r m r e m a i ns acrea t ive god , ins t ead of s t e r il i z ing au t ocr a t . The reader i s led t o rec-ogni ze t h a t t he beheadi ng of Sa i n t John does no t cons t i t u t e c l im ax fo rt he pa radox ica ll y i l l um i na t i ng M a l l a rm an d r am a , w h ich i s i nt ended t ooff e r the message t h a t v io lence m ust be and can be overcome by l an-guage , poe t ry , a r t , t h a t i s , c r ea t i ve love . H rod iade- Scne , a s t hew ork of m i r ro r s , i s r ef lex ive and an t agon i s ti c . T he w ork a i m s a t c re -a t i ng the c i t ade l fo r overcoming v io lence . Vio lence i s appro pr i a t edan d t ransmuted t o verba l express ions in embell ished amb igui ty . 1s the

Scne a s sunny work fo r es t ab l ish ing order consc ious ly in tended t om a ke new cu l t u re o f an t iv i o lence fo r an i deal hum an race? Sa l om e 'sdance scene, which represen t s a d i sorder on ear th , i s e l imina ted f ro m theM al l a r m an Scne . Nei ther i s an y rap e scene presen ted . Di f fe re n tf r om Wi lde' s pass iona te , s impl i s t i c dancer , t he res i s t an t p r incess H-rod iade i s f rozen under t h e ice of p rec ios i ty , j us t l ike the c ap tured Swan

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Stphane Mallarm's Symbolic Head: The Molding of Hrodiade s 'Scne a s a Dialogic Reader Response 183

i n M a l l a r m ' s S o n n e t IIIn conclus ion, mo derniza t ion, which th e au th or himsel f wi tnessedan d l ived in th e second hal f of the 19th century, i s closely rela ted t o vio-

lence, a s wa s a t t e s t ed by a s u i t e of wa rs ending wi th a to m ic bombs , r e -f l ec t ing t echnologica l a rb i t r a r in ess . Fr om an othe r angle , both l an-g u a g e a n d a r t a r e a n t o n y m s o f v io le nc e, a s t h e f o r m e r p a i r m e a n smak i ng , t he l a t t e r demoli sh i ng . Thr ough t he M al l a r m an poe ti cs ofparadoxes , v iolence m ay be viewed a s be ing used fo r se t t ing of f a r t t oadv antag e. In a sense, violence represen ts double pos i t ive, because i ti s the redundancy of express ions . A r t o r v io lence, l if e o r a r t t het e r m s o f t he ques t ions r ep lace each o t he r i n t he ho l is t ic M al l a r m anpoem, u nt i l t h e r eader r eaches w i th convic tion th e t ex t ' s overa l l conclu-s ion , l i fe and a r t , symbol ized by the sun in perpetua l r ev iva l . Thecamouf l aged M al l a r m an wor k ' s c l i max i s a s sumed by t h e ' 'ScneV'ssym bol ic head a s a Sun, which i s a vehicle of a ten or , i . e ., S ain t Joh n'shead in decapi t a t ion . Under the eye of heaven, Hrodiade speak s andac t s , a s a f lower ing f igure in words c losest t o th e Sun, th i s centered cos-mic essence, th e endless co m bin at io n of shad ow and l igh t . The Scnea s a head r ep r esen t s t he au t h or ' s s t r on g desi re t o un i ver sa li ze t he i dea ll i fe h a t i s , t h e harmonized comb inat ion of me nta l i ty an d physica l-i t y h r ough h i s s ymbol i c ve r ba l a r t , t h i s r ep res en ta t ive o f moderncul ture .

NotesSee C hase 51-52.

2 . The f irs t version of the Scne w as published in the jou rna l , LePa rn as se contemporain. The defini tive text - the sam e s the 1945Pliade version except for some punctuat ions and three w ords (a n ad-verb and two ar t icles) ppeared in 1887 in Mal larm's col lectedpoems, Po s ies (h lon do r an d Jean-A ubry 1445). The dif ference be-tween the f irs t an d definit ive versions is found sl ight . Acc ording toCh ase (521, To day Ci. e., 19691 'Hro diad e' is al m os t al w ay s pub-l ished a s tr iptych including the 'Ouverture ancienne d'H ro diad e, '

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184 Noriko TAKEDA

the 'Scne,' and the 'Cantique de Saint Jean.' This was never the caseduring Mal larm's lifetime but the three poems do constitute a logicalsuite and much can be gained from considering them together. The

Ouverture anciennen was published by Dr. Bonniot, Mallarm 's son-in-law, in L a Nouvelle Revue Frana ise in November 1926. The

Cantique de Saint Je an was also posthumously published in theauthor 's 1913 collected poems.

3 According to G Davies (Noces 211, in the Scne, le pote voque lapersonnalit de son hrone. W. Fowlie praises the Scne, say ingthat This is the broadest canvas of the three and contains the full fig-ure of the gi rl and her mirror-reflection (139).

4 . According to the au thor himself, je m't ais mis tout entier in thework (Correspondance 310).

5 The quali ficat ion canonized is from Worton and Stil l 144.6 . owe the bibliographical information to Davies, Noces 14.7 . P. Beausire equalizes the princess of innocence and the nurse with her

age and experience (77).8 Chase qualifies Hrodiade a s the symbol of beauty a nd by extension

poetry or the work of ar t (61). Fo r P Walzer, the heroine representsthe figure of ideal beauty (123). According to R. Pearson (83), 'H-rodiade' is a poem about itself.

9 . According to R Cohn (54), the nurse is a sort of projection of H-rodiade.

10. See Amethyst.11. See Davies, Noces 16 an d Richard 96.12. See Davies, Noces 38, 39.13. The st ring of the related consonants , [fl [p l [ l] [r ], softened by the

mixed vowels [ce] and [ in Hrodiade 's second-to-last speech for thedescription of burning candles should also be noted in te rms of musi-cal effect. The attenuated suite of sounds, which is placed just afterthe evocation of Venus in the nightly recesses in fire, suggests anonanistic scene.

14. The poet himself emphasizes the connection between the virgin heroine

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Stphane blallarm s Symbolic H ead: The hlolding of Hrodiade s Se ne as a Dialogic Reader Response 185

and winter, by saying: "Il en sortira un cher pome auquel jetravaille, et, cet hiver (ou un autre) Hrodiade, o je m 't ais mis toutentiern Correspondance 310). Fowlie qualifies Hrodiade a s "thecold bejewelled princess of the winters" (126).

15. Chase ascribes the repetition of the sound "O" in Hrodiade's speech,"O miro ir Eau froide," to the shape of the mi rro r, which should beround 63).

16. According to Fowlie, "Don du Pome i s not only the dedication ofHrodiade but it is commentary on how to see in al1 poetryw (144).Davies points out that Mal larm began to write Hrodiade in October1864 and her daughter Genevive wa s born in November of the sam eyear (Mallarm 10).

17. See Mondor and Jean-Aubry 1439.18. According to Davies (Noces 121, Il est probable que la Scne que

nous connaissons ta it dj acheve la fin de 1865."19. See hlondor and Jean-Aubry 1488.20. Chase points out that "sibyls are generally associated with the earli er

pre-Christian era " 54).21. For the identification of Hrodiade with the au thor himself, see Mills

33, Walzer 126-27, and Bourgain-Wattiau 100.22. See Pearson 85.23. The verses ar e a s follows:

Vous le savez, jardins d'amthyste, enfouisSans fin da ns de savants abmes blouis,Ors ignors, g ardan t votre antique lumireSous le sombre sommei l d'une terre premire,Vous, pierres o mes yeux comme de purs bijouxEmpruntent leur clart mlodieuse, et voushltaux qui donnez ma jeune chevelureUne splendeur fatale et s a massive allure

24. See Takeda 141-42.

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N o r i k o T A K E D A

W o r k s CitedA m e t h y s t . Sanse ido ' s Co l lege Crow n Eng l ish -Japanese Dic t ionary .

1977 ed.A s s a d , M a r ia L . L a f ic t io n et l a m o r t d a n s l' u v r e de S t ph a n e

M a l la r m . N e w Y o r k : P eter L a n g, 1987.Baude la i re , Char les -Pierre . E uv re s compl t es . Ed . C lau de Picho i s.

V o l . 1 P a r i s : G a l l i m a r d , 1975. 2 vols . 1975 76.Beaus i re , P ierre . S t phane M al la rm : Pos i es . Par i s : L ibra i r ie Ho-

n o r C h a m p i o n , 1974.Bourga in -Wat t iau , Anne . Ma l larm ou la c ra t ion au bord du gou ff re .

P a r i s a nd M o n t r a l : L ' H a r m a t t a n , 1996.C h a s e , F re de ric . S t p h a n e M a l l a r m . N e w Y o r k : T w a y n e P u b l is h e rs ,

1969.C o h n , R ob e r t G r e e r . T o w a r d t h e P o e m s o f M a l l a r m . B a r k e le y an d L o s

A n g e l e s : U n i v e rs i ty o f C a l i fo r n i a P r e ss , 1980.Davies , Gar dner . Ma l larm e t l e r le d 'Hrod iade . Par i s : L ibra i r ie

Jos Cor t i , 1978.L e s N o c e s d' H r od i a de : M y s t re . P a r i s : G a l l i m a r d , 1959.F o w l i e , W a l l a c e . M a l l a r m . C h i c ag o a nd L o n d o n : T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f

Ch icago Press , 1953.Hu go, V ic t or .

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