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The Ashgate Research Companion to Thomas Lovell Beddoes
Ute Berns, Michael Bradshaw
'Death and his sweetheart': Revolution and Return in Death's Jest-Book
Publication details https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315613697.ch2 David M. Baulch Published online on: 28 Aug 2007
How to cite :- David M. Baulch. 28 Aug 2007, 'Death and his sweetheart': Revolution and Return in Death's Jest-Book from: The Ashgate Research Companion to Thomas Lovell Beddoes Routledge Accessed on: 01 Oct 2021 https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315613697.ch2
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The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The publisher shall not be liable for an loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. When itwas publishedin1820,Percy ByssheShelley’s I: ‘ThatwasSHELLEY’:Premature Resurrections Thedateassignedto‘Lineswrien inthe 1 own curse:hischallengetoJupiter’s absoluteauthorityandpower. Whathemust utopian futurethatemergesinareturntothepast. mythology totheFrenchRevolution, aresuddenlyrealizedandcrystallizedina Unbound, thefailedhopesaachedtopastrevolutions, fromthoseofclassical present, specificallyastheyconspireintherevolutionary moment.In At thesametime,itsuggestsanastutecritiqueof relationship ofthepastto producing thesamekindofuniversal changethathis creditsShelley’s poetrywith Tragedy’ ‘Lines: Wrien bythe Author ofTheBride’s Prometheus Unboundwas acosmicevent: Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 15:59 01 Oct 2021; For: 9781315613697,vision intheblankleafofhiscopyShelley’s poeticdrama. before Shelley’s death in1822,BeddoesinscribedhispoeticallegiancetoShelley’s an adoringdiscipleinthenineteen-year-old ThomasLovell Beddoes.Onlymonths chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2 In Shelley’s dramathefuturedependsuponPrometheus’ abilitytorecallhis graceful idolatry was stillliving’, p.796. on 18May1833:‘WhenMr. Beddoes pennedthisfineextravaganza, thesubject ofits xxvii–viii. Kelsallstatesinhisintroduction tothepieceasitappearedin Donner ‘onKelsall’s authority’ thatthepoemwas ‘wrienearlyin1822’, ‘Death andhissweetheart’: Revolution andReturnin As inaprovidence—and thatwas SHELLEY. (ll.8–16) Were centered andcondensedinhisonename Of breaking buds,eve,andflowof dawn, Note a ernote,unbindtheenchantedleaves The dancingshowers,thebirds,whoseanthemswild, Of whichthecrowning sun,thenightofbeauty, A floodingsummerburstonPoetry, Wrought magicinthebosomsofmankind: The brightcreations ofahuman heart David M.Baulch Prometheus Unbound’ rests,accordingto Death’s Jest-Book Prometheus Unbounddescribes. Prometheus Unboundfound 1 ForBeddoes, The Athenaeum COMPANION RESEARCH ASHGATE Prometheus Works, pp. ‘Lines’: 1822. Thus,by1833Kelsallisabletoclaiminhisheadnote/headstone toBeddoes’s lyric poems,TheImprovisatore, in1821;andapoeticdrama, time inwhichPrometheus Unboundwas publishedandShelleydrowned,Beddoes readers. IntermsofBeddoes’s publications,Kelsallisright.Between theshort that thethentwenty-nine-year-old BeddoesisalreadyasgooddeadforBritish When KelsallpublishesBeddoes’s tributetoShelleyin Kelsall: literary scene.On25 August 1824,BeddoeswrotetohisfriendThomasForbes of thesedeathscoincideroughlywithhisownfigurative deathfromtheBritish Beddoes’s ownlong-molderingliterarycareer. is finallypublished,itpresentedasifwere theheadstoneover thecorpseof completed hisonlytwo major publishedworks inGreatBritain:acollectionof it isasifhisidolwere alreadydead.Eleven years later, whenthepoemtoShelley Put anotherway, thelyricburiesShelleyalive, forwhenBeddoeswriteshistribute, Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 15:59 01 Oct 2021; For: 9781315613697, chapter2,of poetryarealreadyconsignedtothepast,amoment‘that the formofaprematurerevival, whereinbothShelleyandthe‘floodingsummer’ past-ness a much-belatedtributetothedepartedShelleyin1833,butthisistaskthat 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2wri en beforeShelley’s death,Beddoes’s poemonlyfounditsway intoprintas Death’s Jest-Book,justasinthe‘Lines’ BeddoeswritestoShelleyin1822. Although upon astructureofrepetition,whichpervades Beddoes’s ownmoststrikingwork, in thepresent.Itisparadoxofuncannyrevolution, arevolution dependent whose meaning,asadoortothefuture,isretroactively assignedbyitsrepetition of theparadoxicalway inwhichrevolution isareturntodeadorrepressed past take back,thesentimentofthosewords. Prometheus’ actionsareademonstration must recall,asinrecover, thememoryofwhathesaid,andmustrecall,asin Recovery requiresthatPrometheusrecallhiscurseuponJupiterintwo ways. He recover, inshort,istherepressedhistoryofhisownfailedrevolutionary a empt. T A R C T L B The deathofShelleysignalstheEnglishpoetryforBeddoes,andboth ofthepoemaccommodatesremarkablywell. Beddoes’s celebrationtakes Bride’s [sic]Tragedy—(that blossom ofexquisitebeauty—stillbuta How muchlongerishecontented tobeun-knownastheauthorof might haveperishedinthesame fatalstormintheGulfofSpezia. For aught,indeed,thatour literature wouldhavelost,[Beddoes] (p.589). fog, rain,blightinduesuccessionforit’sdullardmonths were theliteraryweather-guesser for1825Iwouldsafelyprognosticate day, tohave beenfollowedbyinstantdarknessandowl-season,.ifI genius alonecanbecompared withreference tothecompanionsofhis se ing ofthatluminary(aside,Ihateword)towhichhispoetical The disappearanceofShelleyfrom theworldseems,liketropical 50 The Athenaeum,helaments The Brides’Tragedy, in was Shelley’. around whichitisconstructed. beyond theexperientialrealityofsymbolicorderandimpenetrablekernel of theReal.ForLacan,Realisparadoxicallythatineffable,impossiblething Here, Lacaneventually identifiesFreud’s deathdrive astheun-symbolizablevoid more correctly, atLacan’s rereadingofthedeathdrive in Book struggle tocometermswiththedeathdrive. Ultimately, however, to individualdesireandpoliticalrevolution. Jest-Book Book return, butiftherevolutionary forcein of Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound. Bothdramaspresentrevolution asanuncanny Death’s Jest-Book him from1825until1844.Duringthistime,thesubterraneangrowthofBeddoes’s ever morebizarreasitaccommodatestheshiingviewsofdeaththatpreoccupy to revisitaplaythatonlybecameprogressively longer, internallyconflicted,and be thecasethatBeddoesonlysporadicallylooksaway fromhisstudiesinanatomy literary effortsbyfinishinghisrevisionsto meant togoadBeddoesintoseriouslymakingareturnthepublicdisplayofhis perfectly appropriatetoimaginethatKelsall’s headnotetoBeddoes’s poemis never-finished obsession withdeathinhistextsgeneral,butmostparticularlysprawling, untimely eulogyechoesBeddoes’s ownstrangelyenablingandinexhaustible burying BeddoesprematurelythatKelsallisabletodesirehisresurrection.Kelsall’s when Kelsallasksthequestion,Beddoesisstillvery muchalive, anditisonlyby Kelsall’s questionisonethatstillhauntsBeddoes’s contemporaryreputation.Yet, 2 Jacques Lacan, Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104death, understoodastheahistoricalvoid oftheReal. revolution inDeath’sJest-Book At:Rather thanthelife-affirmingleapbeyond historyconveyed in death isthebasisofsocial-politicalrealityasitconstructed in 15:59role asineffable,non-material,outsideoftime,andthe essentialtruthofthepsyche, centre aroundwhichtheindividualpsycheisformed. Preciselyinitsparadoxical beyond individuallifeandmaterial historyand,atthesametime,functionsas 01 Oct 2021; For: 9781315613697, chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2 Beddoes’s arrives notat it isThanatos,thenameFreudwould latergive tothe deathdrive. Dennis Porter (NewYork: Norton, 1992). becomes apresentationofdeathasthecentralcompulsive forcecommon and rare powers,todozeawayatlastintooblivion?(p.796). blossom,)—and isexpectation,inthefewwhoknowhisreally great Death’s Jest-Book Death’s Jest-Book. seems tohave abjuredtheluminous,revolutionary optimism Beyond thePleasure Principle The SeminarofJacquesLacan,Book VII:TheEthicofPsychoanalysis reveals history’s essenceasthecompulsive returnto and Freud’s ‘TheUncanny’ comeoutofthesame 2 Inthesameway, deathin Although somethingofamacabregesture,itis Prometheus Unbound 51 Death’s Jest-Book.However, itappearsto or ‘D ’ Civilization anditsDiscontents The EthicsofPsychoanalysis Death’s Jest-Bookisboth is Eros,in rmtesUnbound, Prometheus Death’s Jest-Book Death’s Jest- Death’s Jest- Death’s , trans. but, . . for anapproachtobothphysicalandmentalhealth: grand interdisciplinaryvisionforthemergingofscience andliteratureinthequest solely devoted totheproduction ofliterature.InsteadBeddoesappearstonurturea indicates arejectionoftheWordsworthian constructionoftheauthorasonewhois literary ambitionsisnotsimplyarejectionofhisinterest inliterature,butratherit not allofmyambitiontobecomepoeticallydistinguished’ (p.609).Hisdenialof that drama intandemwithhisanatomicalstudies.InDecember1825,hewritesKelsall Kelsall, thisliteraryeffortisapartoflargervisionthatBeddoeshasforredefining a significantdeparturefromEnglishdrama. intends todevote himselftoanewproject:‘Idonotintendfinishthat2 Kelsall thathehasabandonedtheplayuponwhichhadbeenworking and absolute conditionbeyond boththescopeofscienceandlanguage. soon gives way toanobsessionwithdeathasacentralpsychicprincipleand For Beddoes,deathasalimitationthatcanbechallengedbybothscienceandart academic studies,Beddoesconcurrentlywriteshis both humanlifeandliterarymeaning.Seekingtheprincipleofinhis to chartaparticularshiintheplaceBeddoes’s dramaassignsdeathin relationto captured intheleersBeddoessenttohisfriendsEngland.Thesehelp between hisstudyofthehumanbodyandcomposition upon hisnewcourseofstudy, hestartstowrite Göingen University. At approximatelythesametimethatBeddoeshasresolved yet, onemonthaergraduationin1825,heleaves Englandtostudyanatomyat BeddoesappearedpoisedtoentertheEnglishliteraryscene,and Brides’ Tragedy, that Beddoeswould beacreative writer. With themodestcriticalsuccessof As anundergraduateatPembroke College,Oxford,itseemedaforegoneconclusion II: ‘A livingsemioticaldisplay’:AnatomyandTragedy T A R C T L B you saybutamthinkingofavery Gothic-styledtragedy, forw
Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 15:59 01 Oct 2021; nevertheless seemstohave beenwell aware that For:substantial insightintothestrangetextthat readership stemsfrominsecurityandbravado, andhowmuchcomesfroma 9781315613697,it isdifficulttosayhowmuchofBeddoes’s fatalismaboutthetragedy’s eventual name—DEATH’S JESTBOOK—ofcoursenoonewillever readit’ (p. 604). While chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2 Despite Beddoes’s apparentambivalence about In thelastrecordedleerbeforeheleaves forGermany, Beddoeswritesto Death’s Jest-Book‘isahorriblewaste oftime’ andthathehas‘lostmuch,if causes ofdisease;itstillremains forsomeonetoexhibitthe sum corporeal knowledge,fortheinvestigationandremoval ofimmaterial long beenusedbyphysicians, inconjunctionwiththecorresponding degree atleast?Thescienceofpsychology, &mentalvarieties,has impossible forthesamemanto combinethesetwoprofessions, in some inseparably, allied;theapplicationaloneisdifferent; butisit The studiesthenofthedramatist&physicianare closely, almost 52 Death’s Jest-Book.Theinterrelationship Death’s Jest-Bookwas tobecome,he Death’s Jest-Book Death’s Jest-Bookinhisleersto Jest-Book as asatireondeath. h Death’s Jest-Bookis I have ajewel ofa would represent nd Brother The principle oflife,andfinding ittangibly, onthe dissectiontable’. ‘vital principle’,Beddoespresentedhimselfwiththe problemoffindingthereal Agar observes ofBeddoes’s medicalinvestigations that,‘inrejectingahypothetical Göingen aemptstoeffectarevolution intheunderstandingofhumanlife.John Book search foranindestructibleprincipleoflife.Inthe sameway that death within‘alivingsemioticaldisplay’ dependsinpartonthesuccessofhis pathological remainder, ‘dotarddeath’,astheobjectofsatire. a ‘livingsemioticaldisplay’,ableto‘unmaskall[Death’s] secrets’ leavingonly a him i’ the light/To unmaskallhissecrets’ (p.615). Beddoes writestoProcterthatDeath’sJest-Bookmeans‘rob[death],un-cypress that underwritesdeath’s power withamixtureofempiricalscienceandcomedy. individuals areinterpellatedassubjectsamountstodisruptingtheideologicalfield absolute power over life. its power. Death’s power over peoplecomesfromitsideologicalmystificationasan subjects whoalways/already functionwithintheideologicalfieldthatlegitimates it mustproducetheconditionsofitsreproduction,andtodothisgenerate Yet, Beddoes’s Death’sJest-Bookrecognizesthatforpoliticalpower tomaintainitself, ‘slave’, death asapoliticalfigure,ruling‘tyrant’ whowillberevealed asboth‘fool’ and a fool,slave ofhim/Whowas theplanet’s tyrant:dotarddeath’ (p.614).Bycasting render ‘him’ powerless: ‘I’ve dughimupanddeckedtrim/ And madeamock, the tyrannyofdeath.Beddoesclaimsthatbyexposingdeathtoobservation hecan Beddoes’s highhopesthat the pathologiesthatdeathinspires. In histherapeuticdrama,thestagebecomessiteforamimeticmentalcureof becomes primarilyapsychicalconcerncentraltothemaintenanceofphysicallife. as a‘mentalpathology’ thattheliterarytextcanaddresstherapeutically. Death perform amentalcure. As a‘psychicalprinciple’,‘tragedy’ would reveal death is equallyapathologicalcondition.ForBeddoes,dramaholdsthepotentialto can addressthebiologicalcausesofdeath,Beddoes’s leersuggeststhat death common focusonthemaintenanceofhumanlife.Whilephysician’s science The alliancetheleerseesbetween ‘thedramatist&physician’ isgroundedina John Agar, ‘Isbrand and T.L. Beddoes’ Aspiring Hero’, 3 Downloaded By:from whichthelivingbody isregenerated:thealmond-shapedseedofhumanlife, point, soughttheprinciple ofhumanlifeinthelegendindestructiblebone 10.3.98.104 At: 15:59 01 Oct 2021; For: 9781315613697, chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2 Beddoes’s playfulambition to‘un-cypress’ deathin A verse leertoBryan Waller Procter, postmarked13March1826,reveals isintendedtopioneeranewrolefordramatictexts, hisacademicwork at 372–91 (p.373). Death’s Jest-Bookenvisionsarevolutionary freedomfromauniversal tyrant. some importantpsychicalprinciple—i.e.,atragedy. (p.609) anthropological experiments,developedforthepurposeofascertaining technical deaddescription,butalivingsemioticaldisplay, aseriesof of hisexperienceinmentalpathology&therapeutics,notacold Death’s Jest-Book’s answer todeathasthepointatwhich Death’s Jest-Bookwillinspireapsychicrevolution against 53 ‘D ’ Death’s Jest-Bookfunctionsas Studia Neophilologica Death’s Jest-Bookandplace 3 Beddoes,atone Death’s Jest- 45(1973): Beddoes seeks‘toredefine thetermsofhisquest’. Death’s Jest-BookbyProcterandJ.G.H.Bourneinearly1829asthepoint atwhich of lifeinhisanatomicalresearchesandthenegative reactionstothefirstversion of identifies thecoincidenceofBeddoes’s inabilitytoempiricallyidentifyaprinciple reflected inachangewhatdeathmeans an uncannyfantasm. By suggestingthatthe‘secret’ of‘immortality’ is‘Death’,Beddoesrenders lifeitself in various Talmudic sourceswiththeresurrectionofdead’. late evenings todissectingcorpsesinthehopeoffindingbone called T A R C T L B 5 Bradshaw, Christopher Moylan,‘“ForLuzisaGoodJoke”:Thomas Lovell BeddoesandJewish 4 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 15:59 01 Oct 2021; For: 9781315613697, chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2in theluzispreserved in the humansubjectandhistory. BeddoeswrotetoKelsall: a recognizablypsychoanalyticreadingofdeathasthecentralforcethatdrives both realization allowsBeddoestoreconstructhistherapeuticpurposeforplayinto philosophy, andempiricalscience,intheiraempttorepressdeath(p.629).This for a‘doctrineofimmortality’ asacommonstructuralprincipalinreligion, the structureofbody, Beddoesrecognizesthefantasmaticnatureofdesire possibility andparadoxicallybeyond itsscope. ‘aer-existence’ thatmustgroundlifeissimultaneouslythe The trulyimpossibledimensionofBeddoes’s projectbecomesclear, insofarasthe verified anddiscursively articulatedaslife’s mostessential,internalcomponent. positing an‘aer-existence’ thatbothexceedslifeitselfandyet can beempirically somehow dispelorjustifyits‘absurdity&unsatisfactorynature’,dependsupon for ‘anaer-existence’. Thesearch forwhatgives lifemeaning,thatwhichwill of man’ (pp.629–30).Hissearchforaprincipleofhumanlife hasbecomethesearch proof orprobabilityofanaer-existence, bothinthematerialandimmaterialnature unsatisfactory natureofhumanlifethatIsearchwithavidityforevery shadowofa ‘I amnowalreadysothoroughlypenetratedwiththeconvictionofabsurdity& failed tomaterializeandthusdispelthepower ofdeath.BeddoestellsKelsallthat that Beddoes’s literaryandscientificaemptstoestablishaprincipleoflifehave The disappointmentBeddoesexperiencedinhisanatomical researchisalso Despairing ofachievinghisgoalfindinganenduringprinciplelifewithin Despite hisearlyoptimism,aleerwrientoKelsallin April of1827suggests A. Spector(London:Palgrave, 2002), pp.93–103(p.93). Eschatology’, inBritishRomanticismandtheJews: History, Culture, Literature luz. ChristopherMoylanclaimsthat‘inthespringof1827,Beddoesgave his one solution—Death(pp.629–30). full ofhope&fearpromise, forw philosophy, theonlytruthworthdemonstrating:ananxiousquestion immortality’] forhimself,&itiscertainlythebestpartofreligion and Man appearstohavefoundoutthissecret [thatofthe‘doctrine Resurrection Songs Death’s Jest-Book. , p.105. 54 h Nature appearstohaveappointed Death’s Jest-Book.MichaelBradshaw 5 Similarly, JamesThompson a prioriconditionofits 4 Beddoes’ interest associated luz, , ed.Shelia Beddoes hasclearlymadeitthefocusofsomeserious research. the historyofluzthroughancientrabbinicaltexts.Farfromdismissing the the power ofwords todoso),Beddoesappendsascholarly notesoberlytracing as thestuffoflegend(whenZibaactuallyreanimatescorpseWolfram heuses existence andthedestinationofan‘aer-existence’. Although theplaytreats the preparatorystagefordeath,anddeathisprivilegedasstructuralcentreof conjurer responds,‘Ofaghost’ (γ:III,iii,444–45).LifeinDeath’sJest-Book isonly seed metaphor, theDukeasksZiba,‘Whattreeismanseedof?’ towhichthe the dramaclearlydoesnotcelebrateluzasaprincipleoflife.Playingon Even thoughZiba’s necromanticloreduplicatesBeddoes’s ownanatomical research, he claimsthatitissimilarlypossibletoraiseadeceasedman.Heexplainsthat: who raisedaflower fromthetearsofawoman weeping forherdepartedlover, and is possibletobringthedeadbacklife.Zibarelatesstoryof‘A magicscholar’ the immortalityofbody. Ziba,an African conjurer, tellsDukeMelveric thatit for areadingofDeath’sJest-Book. in theformofasemioticaldisplayopensFreudianand post-Freudianpossibilities of Beddoes’s persistent, ifintermient,desiretotreatdeathasapsychicprinciple human anatomywas unsuccessfulgoeswithout saying,butthemixedintentions and Procter. ThatBeddoes’s empiricalsearchfortheprincipleof lifeasafeatureof both thecontentandhopesforplaythatheoriginally expressedtoKelsall of failed toachieve hisoriginalintentionintheplay—tomakedeathadotard’. has turnedintodeath’s ownsatireonthejestoflifeitself.Beddoeshadclearly ‘the playistrulyDeath’s jestbook;startingasasatiredestructive ofdeath,theplay identifies theimpactthesepersonalevents hadon Hetranslates various Hebrewreferencestodetermine thatthe‘Luz isthereforetheos JamesR.Thompson, 7 6 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 15:59 01 Oct 2021; For: 9781315613697, chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2intentions. At thecenterof text of Death’s Jest-BookindicatesthatBeddoes’s medicalresearchhadadirectimpacton coccyges’ (p. 488). Death’s Jest-Bookpreserves astrangecompositestateofbothBeddoes’s The bloody, soul-possessedweedcalledman.(γ:III,iii,447–54) Aer three thousandyearsthegrassofflesh, Which beinglaidintotheground willbear Aldabaron, calledbytheHebrews Luz, So isthere suchinman,aseed-shaped bone, Can raisetheherb’sgreen bodyupagain; In aplant’sskeleton,whichbeingburied . evenasthere isaround drygrain Thomas LovellBeddoes(Boston:Twayne, 1985),p. 68. Death’s Jest-Book’s dramaticstructureisthepromiseof 55 ‘D ’ Death’s Jest-Bookbyobserving, 7 Inthisway, the text 6 The luz, luz ghosts’. in relationtodeathanddeadbodies,thereturnof thedead,andtospirits that ‘manypeopleexperiencethefeeling[ofuncanny] inthehighestdegree that .intellectualuncertaintyhasnothingtodowiththeeffect’. of childhood’ thatarisesfromachild’s initialeroticaachmenttohismother, ‘and Freud’s thesisclaimsthattheeffectofuncannyrefers‘tocastration complex Yet reanimation ofthedead,andspiritdancesinviteaFreudian readingoftheplay. death holdsinthehumanpsyche. two-fold, inthatbothtextsrecognizebutcannotadequatelytheorizetheplace Thus, thesignificance‘TheUncanny’ hasforthinkingabout Death’sJest-Book this ‘impression’ gives risetoafeelingof‘intellectualuncertainty’. processes atwork behindtheordinaryappearanceofmentalactivity’ andthat Jentsch contendstheuncannyinvolves the‘impression ofautomatic,mechanical effect oftheuncannyinE.T.A. Hoffmann’s ‘TheSandman’. According toFreud, Uncanny’ presentsitselfasenteringintoabelateddispute onwhatcreatesthe that thelifedrive, Eros,isinextricablyboundtoThanatos,thedeathdrive. ‘The search foraprincipleoflifedistinctfromdeath,Freudisfinallyforcedtoconcede death presentstothehumanpsyche.For, asBeddoeswas forcedtoabandonhis the commongroundthatFreudandBeddoessharewithregardtoproblem psychic phenomena.Beyond thisgeneralsimilarity, whatisparticularlystriking Like SigmundFreud,Beddoessoughtforconnectionsbetween scientificand III: ‘Thefictitiouscondition’:Death’s Jest-Book andtheUncanny T A R C T L B Freud,‘Uncanny’, p.218. 11 Freud,‘Uncanny’,p. 208;p.205. 10 David 9 Ellison, Sigmund Freud,‘TheUncanny’,in 8
Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 15:59 01 Oct 2021; For: 9781315613697,returning tothesubjectofdeath.DavidEllisonaccuratelyobserves that: rather, theway muchofFreud’s speculationabouttheeffectofuncanny keeps not theway Freudarguesforhisstatedthesisofchildhooderoticaachmentbut, on thedevelopment ofFreud’s thought,whatisinterestingabout‘TheUncanny’ is chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2 ‘The Uncanny’.Thegroundforamoreprovocative relationbetween thetwo texts long enoughforanapplicationofFreud’s strikinglyun-theorizedclaimsinthe ‘The Uncanny’ isparticularlyrelevant to Death’s Jest-Book to theUncanny(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity Press,2001),p.67. 205). Strachey (Stanford:Stanford University Press,1997),pp. 193–233 (pp.201–02and 11 To besure, Death’sJest-Bookcanboastallofthese,anditsusedoubling, for thepraxisof‘DasUnheimliche’. Principle becomestheretroactively deferred theoretical justification uncanny saysortestifiesto,ceaselessly, isdeath.BeyondthePleasure of texts,including,moststrikingly, ‘DerSandmann’.Andwhatthe repeatedly, whattheuncannyhasalready saidthrough amultitude Freud’s writingstylefollowsthe impulse,thedrive,tosayagain,and Ethics andAestheticsinEuropean ModernistLiterature: From the Sublime is hardlyFreudavantlale re Writings onArtandLiterature 56 10 given itsobservation Death’s Jest-Book, andtheplaywillnotsitstill , , ed.andtrans.James 9 Lookingback 8 Bycontrast, is mistakenly understandsashishome.WhenMandrake initiallyentersthesepulchre the voice ofhisownghost. has spilledapotionofinvisibilityuponhimself,andhebeenmisrecognizedas comic characterMandrake.Mandrake’s resurrectionisonlypossiblebecausehe mock uncanny. ThefirstfiguretoappearfromthetombatZiba’s callisthelow Duke’s wife,buttheresultsofspellarealternatelycomicandthengothic. is doublyuncertainanduncanny. Ziba’s incantationsfailtoresurrectthe When Zibaendeavours toresurrecttheDuke’s deadwife,theeffectofhiseffort as owingsomethingtothenecromancer, thetextalsounderminesZiba’s claims. this suggeststhatthedramaseesanempiricaltraditionofscientificknowledge luz anditspotentialimportancefornineteenth-centuryanatomicalresearch.If of death,Beddoes’s footnotealsoseekstoestablishthehistoricalexistence ofthe the blackconjurerZiba,bothslave totheDukeandself-proclaimedmaster there I’llsleeptonight’ (γ:III,iii,24–25).WhenMandrake respondstoZiba’s of theDuke’s departed wife,hequips,‘herearegoodquartersforthelikeofme, His parodicdeath-in-lifeisliterallyHeimlich Mandrake’s appearance andcommentarysatirizesbothdeaththeuncanny. condition’, asifitwere solely afunctionoflanguage’s abilitytoimitatereality. Mandrake assertsthatphysicaldeathisadiscursive construction,‘thefictitious and addressestheaudiencewithhisconclusion: perhaps avoidable event inlife’. is theinevitablefateofevery livingbeingorwhetheritisonlyaregularbutyet to resistscientificinquiry:‘Biologyhasnotyet beenabletodecidewhetherdeath uncanny. Freudspeculatesthatdeathisparticularlyuncannybecauseitcontinues lies inFreud’s rationaleforidentifyingdeathasthepreeminentgroundof In Act II,Scenei,Mandrake’s accidentalinvisibility, hisdeparturefromsight,is Ibid.,p.218. 13 12 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 15:59 01 Oct 2021; For: 9781315613697, chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2and science.While between satireandtragedyitsepistemologicaloscillationbetween magic underwrites Beddoes’ anatomicalsearchforaprincipleoflife. is specificallytheshort-circuitingofaninternalizedscientificrationalismthatalso Beddoes’s satirealsoresistsaFreudianmodelbyprovidingwhatIwill call the The proto-Freudianuncannyof husband’s ghostshould notknowthatheisdead!’ (γ:II,ii,88–89;99–100). but aghostlypresenceinthesymbolic orderwhensheresponds,‘Alas! thatmy/poor pleading, ‘I’m notdeadnor/gone’, sheassumes,infact,thatheisphysically‘dead’ confused withhisdeparture from theliving.WhenMandrake’s wifehearshisvoice epitaphs andeffigies(γ:III,iii,4–8). are announcedashavingentered thefictitiousconditionbymeansof the world,laythemselvesdown,holdtheirbreath, closetheireyesand years ofexperiencetheybegintobewearythecommondrudgery that death’sallatake-in:assoongentlemenhavegainedsome70 Death’s Jest-Book 13 Indeed,Mandrakecomestothinkofhimselfasaghost 12 Here,Freud’s notionoftheuncanninessdeath placesthestoryof Death’s Jest-Bookliesinitsgenericoscillation 57 : deathbecomesthestateMandrake ‘D ’ luz intothemouthof treacherously inthefirstactofplay. figure emergesfromthetomb:knightWolfram, whomtheDukehaskilled Book that allowsacorpsetomove between deathandlife.Still, thecasein Ziba’s incantation failstoproduceaproto-empiricalcauseandeffectrelationship agreements thatestablishtherulesoffairplayor, byextension,scientificdiscourse. effect ofpower, because,liketheDuke,deathdoesnotadheretoverbal contractual Ziba, death’s power islikethatofthewhiteimperialistDuke;deathproduces hypocrite, awhitedissembler, /Likeallthatdothseemgood’ (γ:III,iii,610–11).For human activity. Beforeexitingthesceneinhumiliation,Zibaclaimsthat‘Deathisa death’ andaffirmingalifeprinciple,Death’sJest-Book for exposingdeathasapathologicalcondition.Ratherthanrevealing ‘dotard plot, MandrakeoffersasatireofthehopesBeddoesexpressestoKelsallandProcter primed astheyareforthereanimationofDuke’s wife.Beyond hisroleinthe incantation, hisappearancedeflatestheexpectationsofbothZibaandDuke, T A R C T L B Wolfram isinthe tomb oftheDuke’s wifeasaresultofthemachinationshisbrother 14
Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At:order thatincludesDeathamongitssovereigns: 15:59Wolfram attheendof Act IIIaspartofapoliticalrevolution againstthefeudal in theplay. TheDuke tries toexplainthepresenceofuncanny, living-dead Clearly, theviewofγdoes notrepresentthatoftheDuke’s01 consciousnesslater death inthe1844γtextof Act I,rather thanthatofthe1829βtextfirstact. Octcycle ofhumanexistence. 2021;driving forceoflife,thesonglyricizesbeing-in-deathasparadoxicalcore to be’ (γ: I,iv, 210–11).Ratherthanextollingtheeroticjoysof‘Men’s delights’ asthe becomes thevery essenceoflivingform,when‘Ourghost,ourcorpseandwe /Rise For:uncanny presenceofDeaththat‘Rives asunder/Men’s delight’ (γ:I,iv, 208–09)and distinguishes Deathasthesuperiorforcetolivingjoy. Thesongclaimsthatitisthe 9781315613697, thatimmediately follows Wolfram’s riddlingthreatofrevengeWaters’ specifically to appealdeathasarealmsuperiortheactionsoflife.Thefirst‘Songfrom Duke, asnever man’ (γ:I,iv, 203).Even inthemomentofhisdeath,Wolfram seems possibility isthatWolfram ismakinggoodonhisdyingclaim,‘Iwillavenge me, first whodiesshallreturntotelltheotherwhatdeathislike,butmoreintriguing initially insiststhatWolfram’s reappearanceistheresultoftheirpact,wherein the clear. NeithertheDukenorWolfram aributesthisresurrectiontoZiba.TheDuke chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2 It isimportanttonotethatthefirst‘SongfromWaters’ reflectstheviewof is morecomplicated.Expressingathematicrepetitioncompulsion,second earthquake-seed, andwill/whisperrevenge totheearth’ (γ:II,ii,140–41). to facehisvictiminthehereaer. IsbrandsaysofWolfram’s corpsethat‘heisan Wolfram inthetombthat willeventually holdtheDukesothat willhave Isbrand. Part ofIsbrand’s plottooverthrow theDukeinvolves buryingthe murdered Of whatIhateagain.(γ:III,iv, 688–91) And fullofholes;I’llnevermakeittheprison, Against allkings,evenDeath.Murder’swornout . There isrebellion 58 14 Butthereasonheappearsisfarfrom finds deathatthecentreof Death’s Jest- 7 Hertz,p.101. 17 Deleuze,p.16.Freud concludes thattheexperienceofuncannyisproducedwhen 16 repeated’. of therepetitioncompulsion,notbybeingremindedwhatever itisthat it, ‘thefeelingoftheuncannywould seemtobegeneratedbybeingreminded beyond therepressederoticenergyofbiologicalindividual. As Neil Hertz puts indicates astructuralprincipleofrepetition,thedeathdrive, aprinciplethatexists on Beddoes’s thoughts aboutdeathashestudiesanatomyandintermientlyworks of destructionatthecentrestructurehuman reality. Thedevelopment of an individualdeathismerelythevisibleepiphenomenonofinvisibleprocess of anon-biologicalcompulsion,instinct,ordrive towards death,adrive wherein 15 Sigmund Freud, and ItsDiscontents. theory thatisonlyarticulatedlaterin Thus Freud’s ‘TheUncanny’ hascometobereadasaprolepticdemonstrationof itself astheeffectofacentralstructuralprinciple—Thanatos,ordeathdrive. development ofFreud’s ownwork, namelythattheuncanninessofdeathreveals text’s Jest-Book, lifeisultimatelyaperverse epiphenomenonofdeath. Wolfram says,in‘theunholyworld’s forbiddensunlight’ (β:V, iv, 354).For to bringThanatosintothesymbolicorder, tobeablearticulateitssecrets,as 356–57). Whatisatstakeintheuncannyreanimationofdeadaempt ‘in likemanner’ bytakingtheDuke‘stillalive, intotheworld o’ thedead’ (β:V, iv, claimingthatitistheDukehimselfwhomustbearresponsibilityfor Jest-Book, to lifeitself.Indeed,Wolfram, speakingfordeath,getsthelastword in that Death’s reignhasended.Rather, deathhasjustbeguntomanifestitscentrality is againsthisreign,ashehassuspected,buttheactionofplaydoesnotindicate failure toco-operatewithhisdesiresasdeath’s impotence.Therebellionintheplay The Duke’s analysisisonlyhalfright.LikeZiba,theDukehasmisrecognizeddeath’s in the1919essay. experience oradisruptionofrationalistassumptions,asFreudinitiallyconcluded Freudianism’ isnotsomuchthatthefeelingofuncanny arises fromachildhood Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 15:59 01 Oct 2021; For: 9781315613697, chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2bringing thedeadbacktolife.Death,ratherthanWolfram himself,willberevenged As itdevelops inthewake ofBeddoes’s frustratedanatomicalinvestigations, the Death’s Jest-Book treatment ofdeathanticipateswhatcontemporarycriticismhasnotedinthe to beconfirmed’,‘Uncanny’,p. 226. impression orwhenprimitive beliefswhichhave beensurmounted seemoncemore ‘infantile complexeswhichhave beenrepressedareoncemorerevived bysome ‘Becoming Inorganic’, University ofChicago Press,1981),pp.172–99;andmostrecentlyTeresa DeLauretis 1994), pp. 11–19; Jacques Derrida, Difference andRepetition Sublime Norton, 1961).SeealsoNeilHertz,TheEndoftheLine:EssaysonPsychoanalysisand Norton, 1961),and 17 ReadthroughFreud’s laterwork, theuncannytestifiestopresence (NewYork: ColumbiaUniversity Press,1985),pp.97–121;GillesDeleuze, 16 15 Rather, itistheparticularuncanninnessofdeathinsofaras The‘point’ ofwhatGillesDeleuzecalls‘theturningpointin can beseenasanuncannyprecursortoFreud’s development Beyond thePleasure Principle Civilization andItsDiscontents,trans.JamesStrachey(NewYork: Critical Inquiry , trans.Paul Paon (NewYork: ColumbiaUniversity Press, Beyond thePleasure Principleandin Civilization Dissemination, trans.BarbaraJohnson(Chicago: 29.4(2003),547–70. 59 ‘D ’ , trans.JamesStrachey(NewYork: Death’s Death’s death drive—Death’s Jest-Book Book feudal orderandthepossibilityofapost-revolutionary republicin the play’s critiqueofideologyasastructuralprinciplethatunderwrites boththe a livingsemioticaldisplayofLacan’s rereadingofthedeathdrive, thusconveying of language,arealitythatispurelyideologicalinitsnature.Beddoes’s play offers radical otherandthetraumaticcoreofrealityasconstitutedbysymbolicorder anatomical researchtoposit,asdoesLacan,thedeathdrive assimultaneouslythe biologism ofclassicalpsychoanalysisandthenaïve materialismofBeddoes’s own which of liberty, isboundtogetherwith‘Thanatos’ intheimpossiblyambitioustextof the deathdrive anditsideologicalimplications. takes astepbeyond Freud,tofinditselfinaccordwithJacquesLacan’s rereadingof drive as‘something.thatresistsdiscursive articulation’ that Death’sJest-Book Including /ijfym’x ojxy-gttp’ (γ,p.323). inifxpfqnf—jqjzymjwnf—fsymjxyjwnf /ymfsfytx twymjuwn{fyj ymjfywj / A Story as thetitleinclusive ofDeath’sJest-Bookinthe1844MSIIItitlepage:ymjn{tw~ lfyj / principle thatisspecificallypoliticalorideological.ForBeddoes, sublimation ofthisinstinct,hedoesnotrecognizeinthedeathdrive astructural death drive asacentralforcethatdrives humanstocreate civilizationasakindof has nomaterialcontentintherealityitconstitutes. of Thanatos.ForFreud,Thanatostakescentrestageuneasilyasaprinciplethat is thatbothconcedehumanexperientialrealityeffectuatedbyaprinciple like theFreudofCivilizationandItsDiscontents ‘nature appearstohave appointedonesolution—Death’,Beddoessoundsmuch Kelsall expressesasimilarturninBeddoes’s thoughtsaboutdeath.Inwritingthat of thedeathdrive asthestructuralprincipleofexistence.The April 1827leerto T A R C T L B ForFreudthedeathdrive cannotbeidentifiedinandof itself‘unless’,asheadmits 18 1 DeLauretis,p.570. Bradshaw, p.109. 21 See MichaelBradshaw’s readingofthe1844MSIIItitlepage(Bradshaw, pp. 109–10). 20 19 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 15:59 01 Oct 2021; For: 9781315613697,that hauntsthedreamofacommonworld’. reality thatresistsdiscursive articulation aswell aspoliticaldiplomacy, anotherness unconscious deathdrive .conveys thesenseandforce ofsomethinginhuman problem intermsthatapplyequallytoBeddoes’ drama:‘Freud’s figurationofan by death.Teresa deLauretisidentifiesthebroadertheoreticalimplicationsofFreud’s confusing title,thevery possibilityofthepoliticalrealitylibertyisunderwrien chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2 The problem,then,forFreud’s theoreticalprojectandBeddoes’ poeticdrama, . Ifrevolution hidesitsuncanniness—the structureofrepetitionthatisthe no proof’. SigmundFreud,Civilization no proof’. operated silentlywithintheorganism towards itsdissolution,butthatofcourse, was Eros were conspicuously noisyenough.Itmightbeassumedthatthedeath instinct demonstrate theactivitiesof thissupposeddeathinstinct.Themanifestationsof at thesametimeitselusiveness. Hecomments that,‘itwas noteasy, however, to both thenecessityofdeathdrive or‘instinct’ tohistheoryofcivilizationand in Death’s Jest-Book Civilization andItsDiscontent was onlyapart. compulsively adumbratesitsvoid. s, ‘itistingedwitheroticism’.Freudinterestedin 20 60 Intheexpandedframeconstitutedbythis , p.79;78. 19 Tellingly, ‘Eleutheria’,orthecelebration 21 Itispreciselyinthesenseofdeath (p. 630). Death’s Jest-Book 18 WhileFreudrecognizesthe Thanatos emerged exceedsthefalse Death’s Jest- Jest-Book thuscanbeseentosetouttheideologicalimplications oftheproblem and simultaneouslythebasisofitspossibility. itself isthestructuralprinciplethatbothradicallybeyond thesymbolicorder holds aplaceinthesymbolicorder. Even thoughabsentinthescene,Death-in- Death-in-itself. Even initsphysicaldeath,theentirefeudalsocialhierarchystill order isstructured.Thisscenemakesadistinctionbetween physicaldeathand symbolic order, and,atthesametime,itisvoid aroundwhichthesymbolic itself hasthesamecharacterasLacanianReal,refusingtotakeaplacein of whichtheyareapartasmaterialeffectsThanatos.Inthisscene,Death-in- the centreofdancedeathhighlightsbothdeadandsocialhierarchy whole socialhierarchyrepresentedinthedance.TheabsenceofDeath-in-itselffrom Here there-animationofdeadthatsofascinatedFreudisinseparablefrom articulates thestructuralparadoxofReal: ‘life’ figuresdescribedas‘Deaths’,butthesongtheseDeath figures singperfectly music’ (γ,p.477).Thissceneis,ofcourse,uncannyinFreud’s senseofbringingto the figures paired withthemcomeoutofthewalls,anddancefantastically toara ling tk ijfym’ (γ,p.476).Thestagedirectionsdescribethefollowing:‘Deaths,and scene takesplaceina‘ruinedCathedral.thecloisterspaintedwith drive asthethreatof‘obliteration ofthesignifyingnetwork itself’. only thephysicaldeathofindividualbutalso, more importantly, thedeath 4 Ibid.,p.132. 24 ŽižekexplicatesLacan’s reading ofthedeath-drive-as-Real asakindofseconddeath, 23 Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 Slavoj Žižek’sAt: synopsisofLacan’s seminar 22 15:59 01 Oct 2021; For: 9781315613697, chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2Book In termsofaLacanianparadigm,thebeginningfinalscene IV: ‘TheDANCEOF DEATH’: Death,theReal,andRevolution emergesasaparableoftheidentitydeathdrive andtheReal. in its symbol, but the obliteration of the signifying network itself’, ibid., p.132. in itssymbol,buttheobliteration ofthesignifyingnetwork itself’, radical effacement,of“symbolic death”—notthedeathofso-called“real-object” is constituted.Thevery existenceofthesymbolicorderimpliesapossibility ofits of ‘theradicalannihilation thesymbolicorderthroughwhichso-calledreality death representedbythedeath-drive-as-Real marksthepossibility, asŽižekobserves, presenting ‘thepossibilityofthe “seconddeath”’,ibid,p.132.Inthisway, thesecond which situatesthedeathdrive as‘exactlythe oppositeofthesymbolicorder’ in core’, Slavoj Žižek,TheSublimeObjectofIdeology governed bythepleasureprinciple;whatliesbeyond is.arealkernel,traumatic with thepleasureprinciple:unconscious“structured likealanguage”.is precision toDeath’sJest-Book:hereitis‘thesymbolicorderitselfwhichidentified 22) Where’s Deathandhissweetheart? We wanttobegin.(γ:V, iv, 19– The gipsyandbeggar, are metonthegreen; The knightandtheabbot,friarfat,thin, The emperor andempress, thekingandqueen, 61 The EthicofPsychoanalysis 23 ‘D ’ Whatisatstakeindeathnot (London:Verso, 1989), p.132. thusspeakswith Death’s Jest- 24 Death’s ifshj 22 The dimension [that]exploitsitsrecentdeclineintoapoliticalblandness’. muted socialprotestunderstoodtobepresentinthemotif,and[a]metaphorical in thetext’s text treatsthequestionofpoliticalorderandrevolution. MichaelBradshawidentifies structural roleofthedeathdrive iscrucialtoacriticalunderstandingoftheway the Beddoes was simplymistakeninthehistoricalseinghegives theplay? . theuseof observed, ‘theactionoftheplayissaidtotakeplaceinthirteenthcentury, . chronological seingofDeath’sJest-Bookisinstructive. If,asNorthropFrye has distribute copiesofitsfoundingprinciples.Isbrandcalls thisdocument‘[a]quick order ofDukeMelveric with arepublic.Theapparentpurposeofthismeetingisto revolutionary conspiratorswho areaemptingtosupplantthereignoffeudal it isinthethirdsceneof Act III,whereIsbrandconvenes afinalmeetingofhis essence. return totheahistoricalvoid oftheRealasabsolutenegative limitofhistory’s the way thatthehistoricalessencepresentedby play producestheuncannyasahistoricalwell asabiologicaleffect,itmisses 9 Ibid.,p.66. Ibid.,p. 66. 29 28 reality, the processofsymbolizationandhistoricizationitself. historicization, therevolutionary momentreturnstotheself-destructive limitof the symbolicorder, tosomehowstepbeyond thevery processofsymbolizationand revolution in revolution astheanxioustheoreticalspacebetween two deaths,whichistosaythat T A R C T L B 27 Northrop Frye, Perhaps thisvery observation iswhatmadeShelley’s Bradshaw, p.223. 26 25 principle ofrevolution isareturntothedeathdrive. reality asideological,ananalysiswhereinthesemioticaldisplayofpsychic Holbein’s sixteenth-century woodcuts, italsosuggestsasynchronicanalysisof leveller, aninheritancethatstemsfromthepoliticalchargeaachedtoHans literature’s lossof thepoliticalidealisminitsrepresentationofDeathasasocial the danceofdeathinDeath’sJest-BookidentifiesadiachronicunfoldingBritish sense ofsomethingalive anddeadatthesametime’. remove Beddoes’s work from‘anydefinitehistoricalcommunity.creat[ing]the Frye thisseemsunlikelyinviewofthetext’s other‘deliberateanachronisms’ that
Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 15:59 01 Oct 2021;in time’. anachronisms, Frye concludesthatthetextpresents‘ahistoricalessencesuspended For: 9781315613697, chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2 Nowhere isrevolution’s returntotheahistoricalvoid oftheRealclearerthan Because thesymbolicorderisontologicalbasisofexperientialorideological 66. than acompulsive return toaprincipleofThanatos. the ideathatreturnto pastisthekeytodiscovery ofdesireorErosrather exceptional textinTLB’s mind.Shelley’s triumphisthathisplay able tomaintain Death’s Jest-Book’s 29 WhileFrye’s notionof‘historicalessence’ correctlyidentifiesoneway the treatment ofthedancedeathboth‘asubmergedrecollection Death’s Jest-BookenactstheparadoxofReal.Initsthreattodestroy danse macabre bringsitclosertothefieenth’,doesthismeanthat A StudyofEnglishRomanticism (NewYork: RandomHouse, 1968),p. treatmentofthedancedeathasanenactment 62 Death’s Jest-Book 28 26 Inviewoftheseuncanny Here,theproblemof Prometheus Unboundsuchan is acompulsive 25 Insofaras 27 For historical progress. process ofsocial-historicalsymbolizationasareturn to adeadpastinthenameof as uncannyisusefulforareadingofDeath’sJest-Bookinallowingviewthe a spacethatissomehowpre-ontologicalorpre-ideological,hisviewofrevolution while Marxcertainlywould nothave acceptedtheLacanian notionoftheRealas history but,rather, theuncannyreanimationofapriorrevolutionary moment. And materialist conceptionofhistoryfindsinrevolution notsomuchaplaceoutsideof 1 UteBerns,inheressayonthepoliticsofrevolution in 31 Louis Bonaparte uncanny senseofrevolution identifiedbyKarlMarxinTheEighteenthBrumaire of his revolution asamomentofbothcreationanddestructionsuggestthekind process ofhisrevolution tothatofthegreatflood.TheclaimsIsbrandmakesfor symbolization thatdependsuponthethreatofitsownerasure,thuslikening of societybeforethefloodasdestructive returntoakindofsocial-historical ideological structure.Isbrandfigurestheannihilationofsubstance as thepre-ontologicalandpre-ideologicalkernelofhistoryexistenceits moment withoutideologicalcontent,italsoreveals theReal’s paradoxicalposition bourgeois ideologyaspriortotheoriginarymomentofexistence. the groundzeroofeschatologicalhistory. Isbrandthusfigurestheemergenceof result, intheghostlylineamentsofbiblicaltimebeforetime,amomentmarking itself, andpresumablytheideologicalrealityofbourgeoissocietythatwould beits historical-social realitypromisedbytherevolution dependsuponpresenting order accomplishedthroughareturntomomentofcreation:theessence and apre-ideologicalspace.ForDeath’sJest-Book,revolution isadeathtotheold likening revolution tocreation,Isbrand’s phrasepositsitasbothapre-ontological ex nihilo and itsantithesisininvocation oftheChristianmythworld’s creation the ideologicalreturntoahistoricalvoid oftheRealasbothhistory’s essence 70–71; 67).ThebiblicalinflectionofIsbrand’s descriptionofrevolution identifies vision oftherevolt to‘thefirstdropsofNoah’s world-washing shower’ (β:III,iii, receipt tomakeanewcreation/Inourolddukedom’,andhefurtherlikenshis 30 Karl Marx, Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At:psyche, Marxalsoseestheuncannyreanimationof pastinrevolution interms 15:59of therepetitioncompulsionasaforcethatshapesboth materialhistoryandthe 01 Oct 2021; For: 9781315613697, chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2 While thismomentisfiguredasareturntoplaceoutsideofhistory, asa In away thatisstrikinglysimilarto Verlag Trier, 2005),pp.97–107(passim). Romanticism Poetics: Selectedpapersfrom theRegensburg conference oftheGermanSocietyforEnglish Revolution inThomas Lovell Beddoes’s Death’sJest-Book’,in See inparticularBerns’s treatment ofTLBandMarx;UteBerns,‘ThePolitics of thoughts hereareindebtedto herargumentandinformedbyreadingpractice. of revolution andthat ofMarxinhis historical dimensionoftheuncannyparallelbetween Death’sJest-Book’s treatment 596. andthenitsdestructionre-foundingaerthegreatflood.Byfirst , whererevolution isalways an‘awakening ofthedead’. The Marx-EngelsReader , ed.ChristophBodeandKatharina Rennhak(Trier: Wissenschalicher 31 , ed.RobertTucker (New York: Norton,1978),p. 63 The EighteenthBrumaire ofLouisBonagarte:my Death’s Jest-Book’s thematicenshrinement ‘D ’ DJ-B, identifiesthesocio- Romantic Voices, Romantic 30 Marx’s releasing andseingupmodern the taskoftheirtimeinRomancostumeandwithphrases, claims that‘thepartiesandthemassesofoldFrenchRevolution .performed read intermsofMarx’s accountofthefailuretwo FrenchRevolutions. Marx Mandrake andthenWolfram, theplay’s treatmentofIsbrand’s revolution couldbe uncanny-generic-temporal sequenceMarxpositsforrevolution, bybringingforth itself, thestate February Revolution that,‘instead ofsocietyhavingconqueredanewcontentfor Marx couldhave beenwriting aglossonMario’s speechwhenhecommentsonthe prevent tyrannywas initselfanactthatopenedtheway foryet greatertyranny. obscures thecontentofpresentmoment.ForMario, theunseatingofCaesarto reanimation ofapriorhistoricalmomentistheway inwhichthatpriormoment Mario’s exampleof thedeathofCaesarsuggeststhatakeyfeaturerevolution’s moment: revolution. RelivingthedeathofCaesar, Marionarratesthepriorhistorical of theRomanrepublic,marksuncannyreturnthatmomentinIsbrand’s unroman times’ (β:III,iii,115).Mario,awitnesstothecrucial momentinthefailure return intheconspirators’ discovery oftheblindMario,aself-described‘Romanin but alsoittestifiestothefailureofthatpriormoment.Theplayunderscoresthis the crucialmomentofdeath-in-birthRomanRepublic. presents itsrevolution—like Marx’s viewoftheFrenchRevolution—as areturnto uncanny possibilitiesofrevolution asbothtragedyandfarce, time asfarce’. occur, asitwere twice’,withtheaddendum:‘thefirsttimeastragedy, thesecond modify Hegel’s observation ‘thatallgreat,world-historical factsandpersonages of dramaticgenre.TheFrenchRevolutions of1789and1848allowed Marxto T A R C T L B Downloaded Ibid.,p.595. Marx,p. 594. 33 32 By: 10.3.98.104 At: 15:59 01 Oct 2021; For: 9781315613697, chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2 In notonlydoesrevolution relyonapastmomentofgreatness Death’s Jest-Book, Though Imayshare it.(β:III,iii,130–34;139–43) To seeonegraveforfouloppression dug, King Cerberus.ThenceIhavecomeintime In thechairoffreedom, triple-crowned beast, The togeiscutforcowls;andfalsehooddozes . They felltogether. Caesarandhisworld Earth stoodonhim;herroots were inhisheart; Dead.—As hefellthere wasatearing sigh: Stab, Cassius;Brutus,through him; through himall! Down withhimtothegrave!god! 32 only appearstohave returnedtoitsoldestform,the domination of WhiletheDuke’s aempttoreanimatehisdeadwifereverses the bourgeois 64 society’. 33 Initsunderstandingofthe Death’s Jest-Bookalso the saberandcowl’. 4 Ibid.,p.597. 34 Downloadedrather, thereflectionofhismovement’s adherents. As heinformsthem,‘Your hopes By:aspirations toabsolutepower nottheabandonmentof hisrevolutionary planbut, knfy inmysoul’ (β:V, i,35–36;38).ThedeposedMelveric identifiesinIsbrand’s10.3.98.104 conspirator Siegfried,‘Iwillbenoman/UnlessIam aking./Ihave abitof revolution succeeds,Isbrand wants toappointhimselfking.Hetellshischiefco- Isbrand, towhomMariofinallydelivers amortalblow. As soonashisrepublican The trueinhabitantofthe‘grave forfouloppression’ istherevolutionary leader one grave forfouloppression dug’ becomesclearattheendofDeath’sJest-Book At:of deathitself. 15:59in the‘chairoffreedom’ thethree-headedbeastwhoseessenceistimelessness the handofassassin.ThusMarioclaimsthat moment ofrevolution places with whichideologicalrealitydependsuponterror, thesecrecy ofthecowl,and 01not takeonanewcontentinrevolution; rather, revolution reveals theconsistency Oct ideologicalrealitydoes of theRealthatstructurespresent.ForDeath’sJest-Book, that theirhistoricalmomentisstructuredbythesamereturntoahistoricalvoid 2021;not somuchthatBrutusandCassiusfailedatagiven historicalmomentbut,rather, Hercules’ featofbringingCerberusfromtheworld ofthedead.Mario’s messageis are exposedaspureexpressionsofThanatosfigureduncannyrepetitions For:destruction. InMario’s description,therevolutionary actsofBrutusandCassius of ideologicalrealityisinextricablylinkedwithitsradicalnegation:thedesirefor 9781315613697,again, however, theparadoxofRealisapparentinsofaraspersistent essence the symbolicorderasdestructionofideologicalrealityRomansociety. Once divine sanction,thedeathofCaesaralsounderwritespossibility where societycanavoid arulerwhoseideologicalpower dependsuponaclaimto physical deathofCaesarisapivotal momentofhistoricalpossibility, amoment implications isaperfectinstanceofthecontrastbetween two deaths.Whilethe and Realcomponent,Mario’s descriptionofCaesar’s deathanditsideological chapter2,to thedeathdrive. As intheexampleofdancedeathhavingbothasymbolic that theactivitiesofIsbrand’s conspiratorsareonlyapoliticalmaskcovering areturn as amanifestationofthedeath-drive-as-Real. TheimplicationofMario’s addressis the ahistoricalvoid oftheReal—revolution hasnopositive contentatall. 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2content ofIsbrand’s ownrevolution but,rather, anadmissionthat—asareturnto return tothecrucialmomentofRomanrepublicisnotanobfuscation of theoverthrow ofCaesar. Thedifferenceisthat by Isbrand’s revolution liesthedeathdrive, asmadeclearbyMario’s description Death’s Jest-Bookreveals thatbehindthehistoricalmovement forward promised obfuscation ofcontenteffectedbythereferencetoapriorhistoricalmomentin that merger ofrevolution andrepetition,buttheanalysisofrevolution andrepetition the samedistinctionMarxmakesbetween formandcontentinitsanalysisofthe The ironyofMario’s prophecyin Act III,‘ThenceIhave comeintime/To see The sceneMariodescribesofRomanscallingforthedeathCaesarcanberead Death’s Jest-Book allows fortakesastepbeyond Marx’s materialism.The 34 Initsdepictionofrevolution, 65 ‘D ’ Death’s Jest-Bookfindsthatthe Death’s Jest-Bookrecognizes . impediment tocivilization’. aggression. Ofthedeathdrive, Freudclaimedthat‘itconstitutesthegreatest Death’s Jest-BookasadarklyFreudianparableabouttheinnatenatureofhuman ‘content’ atwhichrevolution arrives. Mario andthereanimatedcorpseWolfram, death’s absencebecomesthepositive Real, of experientialreality. Inunderstandingrevolution intermsofthedeath-drive-as- called ‘tragedy’ returnscompulsively tothevoid oftheRealasanegative limit ‘living semioticaldisplay’ Beddoessoughttogive tothe‘psychicalprinciple’ he itself ratherthananoppositiontoanyparticularideological-politicalcontent.The What emergesfromthisengagementisthepotentialforacritiqueofideology sustained andpervasive engagementwithaparadoxicalprincipleofstructure. expression ofthedeath-drive-as-Real that conclusion thatBeddoes’s textisunavoidably nihilistic. conclusion retardsthepossibilityofpracticalpoliticalreformandleadsonlyto say thatrevolution doesnotserve thepurposesofcivilization. However, sucha this Freudianinsightto serves thepurposesofcivilizationismoreeffective repression. To simplyapply let thedeadburytheirdead’. ‘that inordertoarrive atitscontent,therevolution ofthenineteenthcenturymust reanimates, the deadbyWolfram. InanendingwithasmuchdeaththeJacobeantragediesit Melveric ismomentarilyrecognizedasaruleronlytobetakenalive totherealmof drive-as-Real, and,aerhishiatusfromthesymbolicorderoffeudalpower, Duke Isbrand’s democraticrevolution reveals itselfasacompulsive returntothedeath- short, revolutionary aspirationsin and wishesfoundanechoinhim/ As outofasepulchralcave’ (β:V, ii,24–25).In T A R C T L B Downloaded Ibid.,p. 597. 36 Freud, 35 By: 10.3.98.104 At: 15:59 01 Oct 2021; For: 9781315613697, chapter2, 10.4324/9781315613697.ch2 with thevoid atitscentre. suggested byBeddoes’s dramaistheidentificationofpsychicandpoliticalcontent revolution isasymptomofthe death-drive-as-Real, thenthetherapeuticapproach of humandesireandpoliticalpower. IfinaLacanianreadingof and tragicallyreturntothevoid oftheRealinsearchforanessentialsubstance isdoomed tocompulsively of desire,revolution, asitis set outinDeath’sJest-Book, essence ofpsychicandpoliticalrealityasanegative limitratherthanasanobject at thecentreofideologicalreality. Unlessrevolution firsttakesintoaccountthe It istemptingtoseetheconnectionbetween thedeathdrive andrevolution in By contrast,itispreciselythroughaLacanianreadingofrevolution asan Death’s Jest-Book Death’s Jest-Bookgive aprolepticLacaniantwisttoMarx’s observation, Civilization suggestsanun-locatable,unspeakable,ahistoricalabsence , p.81. Death’s Jest-Book’s presentationofrevolution would beto 36 ForFreud,theonlyresponsetodeathdrive that 35 ThroughtheagencyofanachronisticRoman Death’s Jest-Bookareareturntothesepulchre. 66 Death’s Jest-Bookgainsitsforceasa Death’s Jest-Book