PFSCL XXXIX, 76 (2012) Honoré d’Urfé Mythographer and Realist: A Study of the Narrative Unity of L’Astrée D OROTHY C HANG L’Astrée of Honoré d’Urfé is a vast pastoral romance published in five volumes between 1607 and 1627, “ou […] sous personnes de bergers et d’autres sont deduits les divers effets de l’honneste amitié”. 1 Scholars have shown how d’Urfé was influenced by centuries of pastoral tradition, as well as by Greek romance, the Orlando Furioso of Ariosto and Tasso’s Gerusalemme Liberata, and the work has received more attention in the last decades of the twentieth century that it had hitherto. James Hembree observes (211) that since the late eighteenth century the work had descended into a “sea of forgetfulness… like a great, lost civilization”. Alexandre Gefen welcomes the new interest in L’Astrée saying “Relire L’Astrée, c’est réintroduire au sein de l’histoire littéraire un texte doublement découpé du paradigme réaliste par la sémiotique romanesque propre à son époque et le projet utopique de construction d’un monde possible” (337). In the studies written about L’Astrée in the twentieth century, there is, however, still not enough analysis to show how the two frame stories of the work, the love of Astrée and Céladon and the attempts of the rebel knight Polémas to make himself master of the kingdom of Forez (the little region of France in which the work takes place) are worthy of study in terms of plots parallel to each other. Polémas is discussed as a character, but not parallel to Céladon. Magendie (313) devotes a paragraph to the threat posed by Polémas but then abandons the subject. Kathleen Wine (285) describes Polémas’ rebellion briefly. Only Mordeca Pollock (221) notes that the story of Astrée and Céladon and that of Polémas make up the frame stories of the work. In 1 The edition of L’Astrée, ou par plusieurs histoires et sous personnes de bergers et d’autres sont deduits les divers effets de l’honneste amitie that I have used for this paper is Honoré d’Urfé, L’Astrée, edited by Hugues Vaganay, with a preface by Louis Mercier, 5 volumes, 1925. (Reprint Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1966.) References are to volume and page; numbers in small case roman numerals refer to one of the twelve books into which each volume is divided. Dorothy Chang 82 this study I would like to show how the movement of these two plots gives narrative unity to the whole work. Eglal Henein, author of two major studies of L’Astrée tells us forthrightly not to look for “une unité qui ne s’y trouve pas” (Fontaine 12) in the work, referring to a unity of thought or philosophy, but I think that the narrative unity created by the parallel between these two narratives can be clearly set forth. As a frame to the entire work, d’Urfé presents a narrative of the death and resurrection of the shepherd Céladon. Scholars have not noted that his death and rebirth follow the pattern of that of a god of spring. Henein points out (Fontaine 10) that Jacques Ehrmann “défigure” L’Astrée by not paying attention to its mythic aspect. Within this mythic framework, there are some thirty intercalated narratives. 2 The most important narrative for the destiny of the kingdom of Forez, as well as for Céladon and Astrée, is that of the Forezian knight Polémas who brutally attempts to make himself master of the country. 3 Clifton Cherpack, a sturdy and dedicated reader (50), says that the narratives and characters are “virtually impossible to recall due to their complexity and the interpolated stories and poems”, but it is quite possible to find a narrative sense of unity in the entire work if one sees it divided into those characters battling for or against Polémas, a battle for the very life of Forez. Céladon, Astrée, Silvandre, Diane and other pairs or trios of shepherds, as well as knights who come one by one into Forez in pursuit of solutions to their love problems, are opposed to the rebellious Polémas and his ally, King Gondebaut of the Burgundians. 2 It may seem petty to dispute the number of narratives and characters in the work, but it is an interesting example of twentieth century readers’ different opinions, and gives an idea as to how many narratives d’Urfé must weld together. I calculate 100 plus characters as does Gregorio (124-31). Gaume opts for 130 (602); and Henein decides on 106 (155-61). I find thirty major narratives; the three scholars cited above do not make estimates of the number of narratives. As an example of the kind of choices one must make, Eglal Henein omits Fleurial, Galathée’s gardener, who has a charming page or two devoted to him in the work and Gregorio includes him, but I find that including this sort of very minor character swells the number of personages one must discuss when analyzing the work to unwieldy proportions. 3 See Wine on epic generally: she calls Polémas’ actions “epic”, but I prefer to call them rebellion and treason. I do agree with her that it is the cooperation of a whole group of knights and shepherds which makes up the epic narrative of Polémas’ defeat (247). She also points out that classical pastoral often suffers from the intrusion of barbarians from without; I think d’Urfé gives the genre his own kind of realism by having barbarity come from within the pastoral group, as well as from outside it. Lavocat, too, comments on the violence that intrudes on the pastoral world (373). Honoré d’Urfé Mythographer and Realist 83 All the narratives show the effects of this rebellion: beyond those of the knights and ladies discussed below, the shepherds band together and steal into Marcilly at night unknown to Polémas (V,20) in order to join the battle against him. The exceptions are two stories of aristocratic lovers which occur outside Forez (Cryseide and Arimant, III,vii; viii; Silviane and Andrimarte, III,xii; V,iii) and those of several personages of the Byzantine Empire, which also take place outside of Forez, four stories out of thirty. Bernard Yon (9) makes a solid case for narrative unity in L’Astrée, scorning the notion that the work is an “amas déraisonnable” and shows clearly the pertinent organization of the stories and of the introduction of characters in Volume I. He gives excellent examples of the connections between the narratives and their manner of presentation and refers to similar “enchevêtrements” throughout the work, regretting that he does not have “le loisir” to analyze the entire work (20). He is the only scholar to argue (without, unfortunately, going into detail) that there is a deliberate introduction of each story in the work at the point where it is told due to “[la] nécessité de l’exposition et logique [sic] de l’intrigue”. I will elaborate on this idea as I discuss the arrival of characters who come to Forez from other parts of Europe. Yon also affirms that the “le sens de l’histoire [of each story] participe à une construction d’ensemble.” Christian Wentzlaff-Eggebert shows how the work is carefully divided (71-74) between pastoral and romance narratives and is the only reader to show closely d’Urfé’s use of La Diana of Montemayor. Finally, Hans Erik Aarset, (238) who has made a detailed narratological analysis of L’Astrée, sternly defends d’Urfé’s organization of his work, saying that “never-never” does d’Urfé leave a loose end in any of his narratives, as some readers have claimed. D’Urfé was a master feuilletonist—to have kept “toute l’Europe” waiting for the publication of the next volume was no small feat. The literary depiction of a dead shepherd and the sorrow of his fellows is not new: D’Urfé (we will use his name throughout rather than “the narrator” when we refer to the basic teller of all the tales, since each individual tale has its own narrator) uses pastoral imagery prominent in the literary pastoral and romance that he drew upon. In Virgil’s Eclogues, Longus’ Daphnis and Chloe, the Arcadia of Sannazaro, the Galatea of Cervantes, the Pastor Fido of Guarini, and Tasso’s Aminta, there is a figure, usually male, who either dies and is lamented or in some instances, is believed dead and then found to be alive. Both nature and man mourn the dead shepherd, and rejoice when he is resurrected, for he is, like the fertility gods of the ancient world, the incarnation of the vernal upsurge of new life, a symbol of the victory of spring over winter. Emphasizing this comic pattern, d’Urfé has Céladon threatened by death on three occasions. Not Dorothy Chang 84 only does he “drown” in Volume I (I,13), in the final pages of Volume IV he is almost killed by Polémas’ pikemen at the gates of the capital city Marcilly (IV,801). He survives this attack only to risk death at the Fountain of True Love (V,475). To establish the intertwining of the narratives, one moving toward resurrection and the other toward an ignoble death, d’Urfé links the fate of Céladon to that of Polémas in the first pages of the work (I,11-15). L’Astrée begins as Céladon and Astrée meet on the bank of the river Lignon, which is swollen from the melting snows of winter. Told by a jealous and angry Astrée, who has the “glaçons” of winter in her face and voice, “va t’en, desloyal, et garde toy bien de te faire jamais voir à moy que je ne te le commande”, the despairing Céladon leaps into the river and is carried away. D’Urfé then has the knight Polémas come, a few hours later, to the very place where Céladon “drowned” (I,31), for he has concocted a scheme with an impostor druid to fool Princess Galathée, daughter of Amasis, queen of Forez, into accepting him as her destined lover when she meets him there. The riverbank is the closest Céladon and Polémas will come to each other physically until the end of Volume IV, but their destinies are now irrevocably entwined: the site is deserted when Polémas comes to it, for Galathée has found the apparently lifeless Céladon there and taken him off to her palace. His anger at this failed meeting contributes to his decision to rebel against Queen Amasis: he now begins his plans to take over her kingdom and to have Galathée by force. Princess Galathée represents a mythic great goddess who has the power of life: she pities and helps the young man. Throughout the work, the powerful female who figures in the myths of the dying god of spring is personified both by Astrée and by Galathée. Céladon has been “killed” by Astrée, as in myth the great goddesses sometimes kill their lovers, now another powerful female has rescued him. 4 Thinking him to be the lover destined for her, she takes him to her palace and nurses him back to life. We soon see more evidence that the mythic figure of the great goddess is ambivalent, both kind and cruel, loving and destructive, for when Princess Galathée falls in love with Céladon she tyrannically imprisons him in her 4 In myths of great goddesses and their lovers well known to the European Renaissance, that of Adonis and Aphrodite, or of Attis and Cybele, the lover’s death and rebirth is seen as the cause of the cessation and rebirth of life on earth: after Adonis is slain, the gods pity Aphrodite as she mourns him and allow him to come up from the underworld and live on earth for part of the year. Henein (Fontaine 156) points out the role of the great goddesses who send their lovers to the underworld, and links this disappearance to the theme of “seeing and not seeing” in the work. Zeus makes violets grow in memory of the slain Attis, and Ceres and Persephone are a mother-daughter version of the story. Honoré d’Urfé Mythographer and Realist 85 palace, despite his protests that he can never love her in return. He is rescued from this imprisonment (another sort of death), by a third powerful female personage, for he, like Adonis and Attis, the youthful gods of spring, tends to be passive (See Cherpack 329 on the passivity of the young heroes of Greek romance). Léonide, a lady-in-waiting to Galathée, takes on the role of a resourceful female who will henceforth be Céladon’s constant guide and rescuer throughout the work. She, too, falls in love with Céladon, but fortunately for him, she has none of the negative qualities of Galathée and Astrée. With the help of her uncle the high druid Adamas, she manages to sneak him out of Galathée’s castle disguised as a lady of the court (the second of three female disguises he will assume throughout the work), whereupon he hides himself away in the forest (Volume I, 475). 5 Leonard Hinds observes that on the occasion of a fourth instance of disguise or “travestissement” the change of dress is the druidess’ whim, not an intent to deceive others maliciously, but does serve to illustrate one of d’Urfé’s cherished ideas. When Alexis/ Céladon puts on Astrée’s clothes, she embodies the Neo-Platonic idea of the lover who dies to be reborn in the beloved. “D’Urfé literalizes an abstract principle to push it to an extreme in the characterization of a subject caught between his own desire and the impossibility of satisfying it.” (8) Céladon’s death brings great sorrow to the shepherds of Forez and they enter into a state of mourning. As far as they know, the shepherd has died in the raging waters of the Lignon. He is henceforth believed dead by all of Forez except Galathée, and her ladies-in-waiting Léonide and Silvie (note the number three) and the high druid Adamas. When the tireless Léonide finds the escaped Céladon in his sylvan retreat, she tells him what Astrée told her when she was visiting the shepherds: Les uns, me dit-elle, sont morts comme le pauvre Céladon; les autres, affligez de ceste perte qui est encore fort freche, car il n’y a pas plus de trois ou quatre lunes, demeurent solitaires et se retirent de toutes 5 Jacques Bonnet, who has made an intensive study of the symbolism of L’Astrée, points out the recurrence of the number three. Astrée, Galathée, and Leonide love Céladon and determine his destiny. In geographical terms the important locations of Forez form a triangle: Isoure, Galathée’s palace; Marcilly, the capital; and Montverdun, where religious ceremonies take place. Before his fatal leap, Céladon had been separated for three years from Astrée… the examples are too numerous to mention here. Bonnet also notes d’Urfé’s interest in Hermetism and his careful descriptions of the phases of the moon in various important episodes of the work (81-83). He does not discuss water symbolism, but points out (72) that the palace of Isoure, the city of Marcilly, and the point on the Lignon river where it branches, form a perfect triangle; an important symbol in Hermetism. Dorothy Chang 86 compagnies comme Lycidas; les autres, estonnez de ce desastre, ont quitté les rives de ce malheureux Lignon. Bref, nous-mesmes qui sommes demeurées [for some reason Astreé uses the feminine even though she speaks for all of the shepherds of Forez], nous trouvons si estourdies de ce coup, que nous ne pouvons nous remettre (II,306). In one of his many ironic touches in the narrative, d’Urfé has Astrée, when she first encounters Céladon again (in his disguise as the druidess Alexis), tell “her” about the drowning of poor Céladon and that all is woe in Forez: Il semble que toute sorte de plaisir se soit banni de nostre rivage, car autrefois on ne voyait que jeux et resjouyssances parmy nous. A cette heure chacun est saisi d’un tel assoupissement, qu’on ne jugeroit que nous fussions celles [sic] que nous soulions estre (III,75). An omen of fertility appears which gives hope for the return of “resjouyssances” in Forez: the growth of the sacred mistletoe. When the druid Adamas coaxes Céladon out of his cave in the woods, he instructs him to build a temple to Astrée around an oak sacred to the druids. The mistletoe here makes its first appearance (II,321) in the work. We are told at another point in the narrative that this year the mistletoe has grown much more abundantly than ever before (III,336) and the shepherdess Célidée tells Galathée that it is almost bigger than the tree it grows on (III,578). Literal significance of the mistletoe as a harbinger of new life is shown in the ceremony in which the druids traditionally cut it on the 6 th of July. When the mistletoe is cut it grows again, undergoing a symbolic death and rebirth as does Céladon. D’Urfé puts yet another ironic touch in the narrative when he has Astrée tell the visiting druid Alexis (Céladon in disguise) that the mistletoe is a portent of the happiness that Alexis will bring to Forez by her visit (III,222). D’Urfé’s fine joining of day-to-day events in the life of Forez to their symbolic background is also neatly illustrated by the arrival at the sacred grove of “all the shepherds” of Forez for the ceremony of the cutting of the mistletoe. Unknown to them, Polémas’ first attack is soon to take place, and it is a stroke of good fortune that they are available to defend their country. They personify spirits of nature as they worship around the sacred oak, for they have adorned their caps with twigs and leaves (IV,707). 6 6 In III,248, Léonide urges Adamas to advance the date of the mistletoe ceremony, which, for various reasons, will prevent Galathée from attending. If she does, she may recognize Céladon under his druidess garb and cause trouble. Is d’Urfé mocking human beings’ eagerness to tamper with sacred ceremonies when their personal interests are at stake? Honoré d’Urfé Mythographer and Realist 87 In Volume II we do not hear of Polémas’ plotting; d’Urfé continues setting the scene for the work as a whole with narratives of pastoral characters and the arrival of Damon, a knight from Aquitania who will be the savior of the capital city of Marcilly on the occasion of Polémas’ first attack (IV,745). He also relates stories of bloody intrigue in the Byzantine Empire, a vivid contrast to the pastoral life of Forez and an echo of Polémas’ brutality and ambition. D’Urfé describes the temple in the woods which Céladon builds to his (as he calls her) “goddess” Astrée (II,320), the funeral rites which the sorrowing shepherds perform in his memory (believing him to be a wandering soul, which he is, in quite a paradoxical sense—being both “alive” and “dead”), and, finally, Céladon’s reluctant donning of the disguise of the druidess Alexis at the urging of the high druid Adamas and his niece Léonide (II,398). They hope that he will be able to talk to Astrée and find out why she banished him: he can then proceed to defend himself and beg her forgiveness. His fear of her wrath, should she not take kindly to the revelation of his disguise, makes this particular cohabitation both a joy and a terror for him, a situation which d’Urfé handles in an ironic, comic mode. He gives his characters a reunion, but he remarks that Amour “ne leur laissoit jouir du bien qui estoit en leur puissance, s’il ne leur eust permis de le sçavoir recognoistre” (II,565). In Volume III d’Urfé continues his description of the character and the treachery of Polémas which he had begun in Volume I. (As a presage of trouble to come, Léonide, observing the knight’s intense jealousy of Galathée’s lover Lindamor [I,333], says that he will someday commit “folies” and “remuer ciel et terre” if he doesn’t get what he wants). D’Urfé’s description of Polémas is realistic, 7 as opposed to his idealization of Céladon and Astrée. The rebel knight is first portrayed as an “honneste homme”. Silvie says he is an … homme qui méritoit beaucoup. Pour sa race, il est, comme vous sçavez, de cet ancien tige de Surieu, qui en noblesse ne cede pas mesme à Galathée. Quant à ce qui est de sa personne, il est fort aggreable, ayant le visage et la façon assez capable de donner de l’amour. Sur tout il a beaucoup de savoir, faisant honte en cela au plus sçavans. (I,324) 7 The work shows what Seymour Chatman, following Stephen Heath, calls two possible kinds of contrasting narrative: metaphoric and metonymic. That of Céladon is metaphoric, with images of water, tomb, and temple, showing his journey from death to life; that of Polemas is metonymic: his strategic planning, and accumulation of troops, machines and allies, is shown meticulously volume by volume. The narrative of Polémas is written with a realism for which d’Urfé is not given credit. Dorothy Chang 88 His lust for power and his anger at Galathée for not loving him create obsessions which ultimately destroy him. Despite Queen Amasis’ trust in him, appointing him “gouverneur” of her kingdom while her son Clidaman is away (I,365), he plans to make himself total master of Forez and rule in her stead. In the middle of Volume III we hear news which shows clearly his growing power: d’Urfé tell us that since the principal knights of Forez, Clidaman, son of Queen Amasis, Lindamor, lover of Galathée, and Ligdamon, lover of Galathée’s lady-in-waiting Silvie, are out of Forez battling elsewhere, (Henein Protée 153-4) shows how news of the absent knights reaches Marcilly gradually) Polémas can become more aggressive (III,339). 8 D’Urfé now remarks of Polémas that “il luy restoit fort peu pour se rendre seigneur absolu des Segusiens [Roman name for the tribe who inhabits Forez]” (III,288). Polémas’ action now becomes bolder. In his longest speech in the work (here quoted only in part), he lays out his project of conquest to his henchmen (III,340). He lies with audacity: “Vous sçavez avec quel soin et avec quelle peine j’ay servi Amasis, et si j’ay espargné ce qui despandoit de moy, ny ce qui estoit de mes amis, et non point en une occasion, mais en toutes celles qui se sont presentées”. This arrogant speech is very much the opposite of his actual behavior. D’Urfé carefully describes all of Polémas’ machines and troops (III,337; IV,31; IV,742-6) and also shows his own political astuteness when he has Polémas’ chief advisor, the impostor druid Climanthe, tell him that when he asks for the aid of King Gondebaut of the Burgundians, the number of these troops must be kept to modest proportions; if too many troops are asked for, Gondebaut may decide that the occasion is important enough for him to come into Forez himself. Once there, he will wreak havoc (IV,670). There is resistance to Polémas’ growing might, however: in Volume IV, his forces are countered not only by the arrival of Prince Godomar, chivalric son of the evil King Gondebaut, but also by the gradual arrival of knights from other parts of Europe who seek help with their love problems in Forez and stay to do battle for the little “contrée”. The knights rally as follows: Damon and Alcidon of the Aquitanians have come in Volumes II,vii and III,iii, iv; Rosiléon of the Santoni (a tribe near Saintonge) comes in Volume IV,x; Prince Sigismond (also a son of Gondebaut), in Volume IV,xi, and Lycidas and Lypandas from Calais and Rouen in Volume IV,vii,viii,xi, and xii (no tribal name is given; d’Urfé calls the area Neustria). Thus by the time of Polémas’ first attack on the capital city, Queen Amasis has enough help 8 Baro, d’Urfé’s secretary, who saw to the publication of Volume IV after d’Urfé’s death and wrote out Volume V based on d’Urfé’s notes, says that d’Urfé conceived of L’Astrée as a play in five acts; thus not only Volume III but the very middle of it present a crucial point; this timing is not accidental (Preface to Volume IV, 4-7.). Honoré d’Urfé Mythographer and Realist 89 to withstand him at least temporarily. Help comes from the four points of the compass: the Santoni come from the west, the Burgundians from the east, the Aquitanians from the south and knights from Calais/ Rouen represent the north. 9 The hoped-for reunion of Céladon and Astrée is, however, long in coming. Wine (285) notes that the idyll which the lovers enjoy while the rest of the kingdom is preparing for war is characteristically found in romance and sometimes epic, from Virgil’s Aeneid to Gerusalemme Liberata and Orlando Furioso. Although d’Urfé has a shepherd, not a warrior knight, enjoy the idyll, Céladon will prove his valor in the battle at the end of Volume IV (IV,801). First however, he must prove his self-control in his disguise as Alexis (Wine 285). He suffers through two long volumes (III and IV), not daring to reveal himself to Astrée for fear that when she discovers that he has been living with her in disguise, she will greet this disclosure not with joy, but with wrath. D’Urfé presents Céladon’s first encounter with Astrée with a touch of irony. As the shepherd prepares to present himself for the first time to Astrée in his female disguise, Léonide, saying what she thinks are encouraging words with no intended irony, urges him to be brave: “Monstrez que vous estes homme! ” (III,62), she says to the lover who is sallying forth disguised as a druidess. Henein (Protée 327) notes the paradox that Céladon “retrouve sa nature d’homme” when he is disguised as a druidess; especially, I would add, in the final battle at Marcilly. In terms of the ongoing situations created by this and other disguises in the work, Gheeraert says “L’Astrée serait donc une interrogation ontologique sur la vérité et le mensonge.” (176) 10 Paradoxically, it is the brutal Polémas who puts an end to the lovers’ constrained delight by capturing them (IV,749) while they are away from their village on an ill-advised stroll. He has lost his first assault on Marcilly 9 Wine (248) discusses the knights who come to Forez, but doesn’t comment on the sequence. She points out that there are no Franks: they are busy elsewhere forming the dynasty that will rule France. She also (258) quotes Gérard Genette’s facile observation that Forez is “la capitale universelle de l’amour… où les amants du monde entier viennent tenter leur chance”. Actually, the number of knights is quite limited and they are specifically from Europe. Some readers have noted that the number of romance stories far outnumbers those of shepherds after volumes I and II. I submit that d’Urfé wishes to provide beleaguered Forez with as much help as possible! Also Lavocat (309) shows how “le romanesque” drives out pastoral in sixteenth century narratives. 10 Henein makes a concise observation concerning the conflict of truth and error: in L’Astrée, “tout est vrai, même le déguisement.” Twyla Meding shows the fragility of words and their meaning in her “Pastoral Palimpset: Writing the Law of Love in L’Astrée”, Renaissance Quarterly, LII, Volume 21, 1999, 29-41. Dorothy Chang 90 due to the valor of the knight Damon (IV,745). Now he starts a second one by cruelly sending Astrée and Céladon, accompanied by the lady Silvie and a captured knight from Neustria, armed with torches and bound together in front of his pikemen, to set fire to the gates of the city. An ironic turn of events brings about his defeat: one of their guards is the shepherd Sémire (despite Polémas’ care to have no one native to Forez guarding the prisoners), who had caused Céladon’s first “death” by encouraging Astrée’s jealousy. He cuts the lover’s bonds and gives Céladon arms with which to fight (IV,801). Henein (Fontaine 348, Protée 267) is surprised that only Sémire recognizes Céladon under his disguise, but it is certainly a fine symmetry in the plot that he be the only one to do so, since he first helped cause Céladon’s “death”. The Foreziens open their gates so that shepherds and knights can pour out to battle Polémas’ men. At nightfall both sides retire and Sémire dies forgiven by Astrée. Céladon still does not dare reveal himself to Astrée without her permission, even though as Alexis he took sword and shield to defend her. Although he has saved her life he has risked making himself visible to her—disregarding her command “te faire jamais voir à moy”. He convalesces sorrowfully from the battle and awaits, once again, the wisdom of Léonide and Adamas. D’Urfé died before the printing of Volumes IV and V, but scholarly opinion (see especially Sancier-Chateau’s word by word study) finds that Volume IV is faithful to d’Urfé’s manuscript, and that Volume V follows the notes that he gave his secretary Baro. Henein’s objections to Volume IV and Volume V as written by Baro would take a whole paper to discuss, but I find d’Urfé’s plot lines plausibly carried on by Baro. Baro’s preciousness in Volume V is occasionally so extreme that it is comic, but that is another issue. In the opening pages of Volume V, the two armies have a parley. The knight Lindamor proclaims that it is folly for so many knights and soldiers to die in a new battle, so there will be a combat of three Forezian knights against Polémas and two of his lieutenants. (V,110-111). After Lindamor summarily defeats Polémas (Baro for some reason is not interested, as he usually is, in embellishing this battle with a bloody description), the Foreziens cry from the city walls “Liberté! Liberté! ” (V,120). Now that the battle for Forez is over, Céladon attempts to claim the happiness he deserves: the ubiquitous Léonide reveals him to Astrée as Céladon underneath his disguise. Astrée is overcome by shame at the thought of her intimacy with the “druide”: she emphatically does not rejoice that her beloved Céladon is now before her. Her pride (that she let herself be fooled) and her modesty assert themselves: she angrily tells him to die (“Meurs comme tu voudras! ” (V,259) and he rushes away to do so. Some readers have found this second instance of rage and blind obedience redundant, but we will see Honoré d’Urfé Mythographer and Realist 91 how Céladon’s second attempt at death gives d’Urfé a chance to unite the two worlds of shepherds and knights in a final celebration. In a lavish finale, like an elaborate coda in a musical composition, Céladon and his companion Silvandre disenchant the Fountain of True Love and all the lovers, shepherd or shepherdess, knight or lady, gather to identify their true loves. Formerly the Fountain had shown whoever looked into its waters the face of his or her beloved, but it was enchanted by Clidaman, brother of Princess Galathée, just before the action of L’Astrée began. In a fit of rage because he did not see the face of the lover he wished (I,94), he had a druid enchant the Fountain, taking away its magic powers. 11 This enchantment corresponds symbolically to the wintry “freeze” that exists in Forez, for the country is in a state of numbed inactivity (see Astrée’s description of Forez to Alexis/ Céladon above) until both the country and the Fountain are liberated. Water symbolism links the final pages of L’Astrée to the beginning of Volume I. In Galathée’s palace, as Céladon is recovering from his near drowning she tells him of the birth of Forez (I,44). Long ago the country was a lake: an unnamed Roman (later identified as Julius Caesar) opened a gap in the mountains surrounding the little “contrée” and let the waters flow out. Like Aphrodite herself, Forez is born out of water. Lavocat (356) discusses the connection between water and purity: corruption follows the loss of this water to Forez. The disenchantment of the Fountain, as well as restoring the purity of Forez at the end of the work, can also be said to symbolize the “freeing of the waters” of mythology, as when an arid land is given new life by water from the gods 12 . The Fountain must be disenchanted by the death of the most faithful “amante” and “amant” of the work: thus Céladon dies as Alexis and is reborn as Céladon (V,423). The shepherd Silvandre who had once escaped a watery death by his escape over Lake Leman (I,288) dies as himself and is reborn as the long lost son of Adamas (V,523). As knights and ladies, shepherds and shepherdesses gather around the Fountain, there is rejoicing on all sides. Princess Galathée and her former prisoner greet each other civilly: Galathée nobly forgives Céladon (V,429) for not loving her. She tells him in a charming metaphor that he is her “ouvrage” because she rescued him and brought him back to life. He replies graciously, in masterfully courteous language, that he does indeed owe his “naissance” and his “conservation” to her, although we can imagine 11 The enchantment of the Fountain of True Love and the arrival of a lion from it to succor Damon when he is overpowered by enemies [II,293], as well as the mirror Tirinte gives Silvandre that “kills” her (IV,iii) are the only instances of actual magic in the work. 12 See G.S. Kirk, chapter VI, on fertility rites. Dorothy Chang 92 that he may have some thoughts about her previous obstinacy. The magic of the Fountain of True Love is a symbolic flourish of divine intervention that confirms what we already know: all is well in Forez. The shepherds and knights who battled Polémas receive a final confirmation of their worthiness. Some readers have been dissatisfied with this deux ex machina ending: Eglal Henein calls it “inane” (Protée 10,14), but she does realize that “une miracle est la seule solution possible” to the problem of the reconciliation of Céladon and Astrée. If we look more closely at everything that happens at the ending of the work we will appreciate d’Urfé’s total intent. There is more than one cause of the happy ending of the work. It seems to me that an absolute, irrational, emotional command such as Astrée’s second injunction to Céladon—“Meurs pour l’expiation de ton crime! ”(V,259) can only be countermanded by divine intervention or some sort of miraculous event. Wise Léonide (III,249) describes this kind of situation in another context, but her words are appropriate: “il faut bien que ce changement vienne de quelque forte puissance qui n’est pas son naturel”. “De son naturel” means from the character’s own nature (see Pollock 223 on the problems of “naturel” and “temperament” in the work). Were Astrée to blithely change her attitude toward Céladon’s deceit from anger to happy tolerance or were he not to attempt to obey her command, these decisions would ring false in the context of the work. It is a question of the rules of courtly love, but more so it is the personality of this particular beloved and this particular lover. She is rash and he is obedient; on these premises a novel of 3000 pages has been constructed. 13 The Fountain is a spectacular piece of magic which seems to have the function of obliging Astrée to pardon Céladon, but in fact, she had already forgiven him in absentia in the presence of Adamas (V,273). Moreover, before the Fountain was disenchanted mutual love had already been agreed upon by all the knights and ladies, shepherds and shepherdesses alike—they didn’t need the Fountain of True Love to unite them (only Daphnide and Alcidon, III,204, came to Forez explicitly for the Fountain). In terms of the fate of Forez as a whole, the triumphant conclusion comes from the virtuous and realistic actions of the characters, not a twist of magic. The sagacious planning of the wise druid Adamas and the bravery of the knights who 13 Northrop Frye gives a thorough presentation of the use of humors in comedy. A humor is a ruling passion such as Astrée’s anger or Céladon’s blind obedience, which holds sway until it is overcome either by divine intervention or an incident in the plot. The character himself does not “think things over, or have a change of heart” in order to change his behavior. The character Silvia’s coldness is an example of a dominating humor in Tasso’s Aminta, one of d’Urfé’s favorite models. Honoré d’Urfé Mythographer and Realist 93 fought at the gates of Marcilly free Forez so that the Fountain can be disenchanted (See Pollock 223 on the topic of valor among the knights). It is Sémire’s “générosité” which moved him to untie Alexis/ Céladon’s bonds at the risk of his own life. It is Céladon’s heroic defense of Astrée which brings the attacking enemies to a halt and gives the Forezians a chance to pour out of the city and make a surprise counterattack (IV,801). The mythical narrative of a dead and reborn god/ lover and the rebirth of the whole country of Forez govern the total narrative of L’Astrée. Within this overarching mythical framework d’Urfé chronicles the realistic steps of Polémas’ rebellion and the equally realistic planning of the druid Adamas to counter it. Mythic and realistic narratives, metaphor and metonymy, support each other. As Elizabeth Aragon says (Aragon 38) “la mise en œuvre de ces procédés [d’Urfé’s structuring of his narratives] révèle une œuvre plus réaliste et plus idéaliste à la fois que ses sources”. There are oracles which send knights to Forez so that they are there providentially to battle Polémas when they are needed, but the knights are not idealized like the characters of Arthurian romance: they are realistically prepared to defend a city under siege. In one of his many descriptions of battle preparations, d’Urfé says “… Prince Godomar, qui incontinent donna ordre à Alcidon de faire battre les chemins de toute la nuict par quelque troupe de gens à cheval, et à Damon d’avoir l’œil aux gardes des murailles et des portes, et que les places et les lieux necessaires fussent bien gardés” (V,734). Adamas presides over the religious rites of Forez, but he is also astute enough to rotate the guards on the towers of Marcilly, thus foiling a traitor within, and secretly writing down the names of all who enter Marcilly (IV,463). Queen Amasis has enough cunning to outwit Polémas, by pretending to believe his protestations of loyalty even while she is preparing for battle, “sachant combien il est dangereux de faire paroistre à son principal officier d’avoir quelque doute de sa fidelité” (III,643). Lavocat (309) says that L’Astrée signals the end of the pastoral in the sixteenth century novel: “… le romanesque introduit dans l’univers pastoral, par son caractère foisonnant et par les multiples obstacles qui retardent les progrès de l’intrigue, organise l’ajournement de sa résolution, et repousse autant qu’il est possible l’inéluctable disparition de l’Arcadie, qui ne résiste ni aux guerres, ni aux noces des héros”. D’Urfé’s point in combining these two kinds of narrative, fantastic and realistic, is his way of setting forth the idea that pastoral peace is a dream much to be desired, but without ideally valorous warriors and extraordinarily wise rulers to defend it, it simply cannot exist. Astrée’s anger with Céladon is overcome by the power of the god Love at the Fountain of True Love, but the threat of tyranny from men such as Polémas can only be overcome by the fortunate presence of wise leaders and brave knights. D’Urfé had spent Dorothy Chang 94 enough of his life in actual battle that when he came to write a pastoral romance he could not confine himself to a depiction of an idyll as did his bookish predecessors, Sannazaro and Montemayor, Tasso and Guarini. He makes his point clearly: no kingdom, including a fictional pastoral one, can exist without cool-headed and valiant men at arms defending it. Even though he invokes the workings of fate throughout the work, he believed, as Henein puts it, “fermement au pouvoir de l’homme sur lui-même, à la capacité de choisir et de changer” (Protée 354). As a Renaissance student of mythology, he uses myth for the basic image of his work, but as a writer of prose romance, he shows us that a humble shepherd must fight as bravely as a knight when attackers threaten. A perfect lover is an admirable man, but even in Arcadia he had better be a formidable swordsman as well. 14 WORKS CITED Aarset, Hans Erik. “Architectural Palimpsests: Compositional Structure and Narrative Self-Awareness in L’Astrée and other French Baroque Novels”. In Roy Eriksen, dir., Contexts of Pre-Novel Narrative: the European Tradition. New York: De Gruyter, 1994. Aragon, Elizabeth. “L’Enchâssement dans L’Astrée d’Honoré d’Urfé”. Cahiers de Littérature du XVII e Siècle, III, 1981, 1-43. Bonnet, Jacques. La Symbolique de L’Astrée. St. Etienne: Le Hénaff, 1982. Chatman, Seymour. Coming to Terms: the Rhetoric of Narrative, Fiction and Films. Ithaca, NY: Cornell U. Press, 1990. Cherpack, Clifton. Logos in Mythos: Ideas and Narrative in Early French Fiction. Lexington, KY: French Forum, 1983. Ekstein, Nina. Corneille’s Irony. Charlottesville, VA: Rookwood Press, 2007. Frye, Northrop. The Anatomy of Criticism. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1957. Gaume, Maxime. Les Inspirations et les sources de l’œuvre d’Honoré d’Urfé. St. Etienne: Centre d’Etudes Foreziennes, 1977. Gefen, Alexandre. “Visibilité, lisibilité, unité: L’Astrée face à la théorie littéraire moderne.” In Lire L’Astrée, Delphine Denis, ed. Paris: PUPS, 2008. Gheeraert, Tony. Saturne à deux visages: introduction à L’Astrée d’Honoré d’Urfé. Publications des Universités de Rouen et du Havre, 2006. Gregorio, Lawrence. The Pastoral Masquerade: Disguise and Identity in L’Astrée. Saratoga, CA: Anma Libri, 1992. Hembree, James M. Subjectivity and the Signs of Love. Discourse, Desire, and the Emergence of Modernity in L’Astrée. New York: Lang, 1997. Henein, Eglal. La Fontaine de la Vérité d’Amour ou les promesses de bonheur dans L’Astrée d’Honoré d’Urfé. Paris: Klincksieck, 1999. Henein, Eglal. Protée romancier: les déguisements dans L’Astrée d’Honoré d’Urfé. Paris: Nizet, 1996. 14 Many thanks to Ronald W. Tobin and Kathleen Wine for their help. Honoré d’Urfé Mythographer and Realist 95 Hinds, Leonard. Narrative Transformation from L’Astrée to Le Berger extravagant. West Lafayette, in: Purdue U. Press, 2002. Kirk, G.S. Myth, Its Meaning and Functions in Ancient and Other Cultures. Berkeley: U. of Calif. Press, 1970. Lavocat, Françoise. Arcadies Malheureuses: aux origines du roman moderne. Paris: Champion, 1999. Magendie, Maurice. Du Nouveau sur L’Astrée. Paris: Champion, 1927. Pollock, Mordeca. “On Reason and Will in L’Astrée.” Kentucky Romance Quarterly XXVIII 1981, 219-228. Reure, O.C. La Vie et les Œuvres d’Honoré d’Urfé. Paris: Plon, 1910. Wentzlaff-Eggebert, Christian. “Structures narratives de la pastorale dans L’Astrée”. Cahiers de l’Association Internationale des Etudes Françaises. XXXIX (1987), 63-78. Wine, Kathleen. Forgotten Virgo: Absolutism and Humanism in L’Astrée. Geneva: Droz, 2000. Yon, Bernard. “Composition dans L’Astrée, composition de L’Astrée”. Papers on Seventeenth Century French Literature 10.2 (1978), 9-27.