The Figures of Narcissus and Faust in Literature and Film
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THE FIGURES OF NARCISSUS AND FAUST IN LITERATURE AND FILM by Jill Johnson APPROVED BY SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: _________________________________ Dr. Zsuzsanna Ozsváth, Chair _________________________________ Dr. Adrienne L. McLean _________________________________ Dr. Charles R. Bambach _________________________________ Dr. Nils Roemer Copyright 2018 Jill Johnson All Rights Reserved THE FIGURES OF NARCISSUS AND FAUST IN LITERATURE AND FILM by Jill Johnson, BA, MA DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The University of Texas at Dallas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HUMANITIES – STUDIES IN LITERATURE THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS December 2018 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the great support of my committee members, my family, and my friends. I am so thankful to Dr. Ozsváth for all her help and support. I had a lot of fun discussing ideas with her and growing my idea into the dissertation it is now. Dr. McLean has always given me valuable guidance and support. I will remember her lessons on writing and forming arguments for all other writing I will do. Dr. Bambach and Dr. Roemer have been wonderfully supportive, and I am indebted to their hard work. My family has also been a valuable source of help. They have put up with my frustration and working when we were all on holiday together. I am so grateful that everyone was such a support. Mom and Dad have been particularly helpful for me as I have written and worked on this dissertation. There will always be a special place for Amy who continuously supported and supports me. She let me vent to her and helped me refine my ideas with longs walks where we could really take our time discussing. My friends have also been truly helpful and supportive. Christian and Bellamy both gave me reading help and support as I first worked on it. Their comments were useful, but it was even more how they encouraged me when I wanted to give up. Finally, Liz and Kate helped towards polishing the dissertation with invaluable editing help. All of them gave me the ability to feel more confident in my work. Thank you so much. September 2018 iv THE FIGURES OF NARCISSUS AND FAUST IN LITERATURE AND FILM Jill Johnson, PhD The University of Texas at Dallas, 2018 Supervising Professor: Dr. Zsuzsanna Ozsváth The legends and myths of the past continue to dominate cultural thought and shared storytelling. Two of the most key figures in these myths are Narcissus and Faust. They continue to dominate stories that are told. When looking at Faustian stories, I examine and bring to the fore the layered aspect of the Faust character. In my interpretation, Faust, the character and concept, is related to the other mythological figure: Narcissus. Establishing the connection between the myths of Narcissus and Faust in my first chapter, I show how this approach aids in interpreting Faust, especially as this character appears in other stories. In most tales Faust is a Narcissus, which directs certain aspects of his narrative. He will appeal to others with his described physical beauty, enthrall the other characters as Narcissus does, obsess over himself, and cause his own destruction. To investigate the connection between Faust and Narcissus, I examine four philosophical novels from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1899), and Klaus Mann’s Mephisto (1936); moreover, I focus on the ways these two myths influence the characters in each of these novels. I have selected these books because they are usually addressed v by critics as solely philosophical. Many critics approach these books by looking at the abstract within the texts, treating them as novels of ideas. They focus almost exclusively on the philosophical, abstract behind the characters, often neglecting some of the concrete elements in the stories. I want to consider the characters of these stories from a different perspective. I focus on the representation of the characters’ (especially the main characters’) bodies. The central importance of the physical body to the myth of Narcissus necessitates this approach. The body of Narcissus, and by extension Faust, is what allows for Narcissus’ obsession and his destruction. Any story with this type of character present requires focus on the body. However, the representation of the character’s physical body is different in literature than in film. Along with the novels, I consider the film adaptations Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (Branagh, 1994), The Picture of Dorian Gray (Lewin, 1945), Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979), and Mephisto (Szabó, 1981). By looking at the adaptations, I more closely investigate the strategies of representation between these two mediums, which helps to show different aspects of both Faust and Narcissus. In this way, I analyze the films’ approach to the connection between these two myths. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................iv Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................v List of Figures ..............................................................................................................................viii Chapter 1: Faust and Narcissus .......................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Adaptations and Narcissus-Faust .…………………...................................................24 Chapter 3: The Faustian Nature of Victor Frankenstein ……………………………...................41 Chapter 4: The Faustian Nature of Dorian Gray ...........................................................................84 Chapter 5: The Faustian Nature of Kurtz ....................................................................................130 Chapter 6: The Faustian Nature of Hendrik Höfgen ...................................................................169 Chapter 7: Conclusion .................................................................................................................208 Bibliography ...............................................................................................................................215 Biographical Sketch ....................................................................................................................228 Curriculum Vitae ........................................................................................................................229 vii LIST OF FIGURES 1. Kenneth Branagh as Victor Frankenstein …….........................................................................70 2. Both the Creature and Victor seeped in amniotic fluid.............................................................71 3. Victor Frankenstein as Action Hero .........................................................................................72 4. Gothic and intriguing Creature swathed in his large coat..........................................................74 5. Close up of the Creature with his intense eyes..........................................................................75 6. Walton as Romantic hero…………...........................................................................................77 7. The Creature holding Elizabeth’s heart.....................................................................................80 8. Elizabeth’s inexplicably restitched face.....................................................................................81 9. One of the brief colorized moments in the film......................................................................113 10. Dorian in the seedy club, his clothing contrasting well with the manager’s….....................115 11. A close-up of Angela Lansbury as Sibyl Vane......................................................................116 12. Basil’s aging is clear in the background while Dorian has remained young.........................117 13. Colorized shot of the corrupted painting and freshly bleeding hands...................................119 14. The last look at Dorian Gray’s body......................................................................................120 15. The title card that opens the film...........................................................................................122 16. Dorian looking at the butterfly Lord Henry just captured and killed for him........................123 17. The unhappiness of the two after Sibyl decides to stay overnight.........................................125 18. David telling Gladys while Gladys’s and Dorian’s framed engagement pictures are in the foreground.......................................................................................................127 19. As David and Gladys walk down the stairs, the camera focuses on the godcat and the open pages of Omar Khayyám’s book................................................................128 viii 20. An example of the different bodies shown, some clothed, some bloody..............................149 21. The woman’s body on clear display for the mass of soldiers who are clamoring, squirming, and inevitably rushing to the body................................................................150 22. The heavy use of guns in the offering of skin........................................................................151