Subject
Re: Fwd: "The Vane Sisters" and "Dorian Gray" (The Allusive Ms.
Sybil Vane)
Sybil Vane)
From
Date
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----- Forwarded message from papilionaceous@yahoo.com -----
Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2005 08:50:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: Benjamin Wagner <papilionaceous@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: Benjamin Wagner <papilionaceous@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Fwd: "The Vane Sisters" and "Dorian Gray" (The Allusive Ms. Sybil
Vane)
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu
Dear Professor Johnson:
Original message was truncated. I have resubmitted as "The Allusive Ms. Vane" -
please repost and feel free to delete earlier verison. Thank you.
-Ben Wagner
_______________________________________________________________________
The Allusive Ms. Sybil Vane:
I would like to contribute to the discussion of a link between the Sybil
Vane of Wilde's "Dorian Gray" and VN's "The Vane Sisters."
For starters, as many have pointed out, we have the nearly identical names
with the "i" and the "y" reversed - Wilde's: Sibyl and VN's: Sybil
(although, interestingly, the name was spelled "Sybil" in Wilde's original
1890 version: " - tell me is Sybil Vane your mistress?"). Of course, this
familiar ground for VN readers, e.g. the maiden by the name of Annabel
Leigh/Lee in "Lolita" and Poe's poem of the same name, where the similar
names lead to other resemblances.
And in "The Vane Sisters" and "Dorian Gray," beyond the namesakes, there
seem to be further affinities. There are the double suicides of Ms. Vane,
both the result of an unrequited love and in both cases a love unrequited
by a "still young, still brash, still shifty" "D." (D as
in "Dorian"?). And of particular interest, in both tales, we have a
peculiar correspondence between the living and the dead.
In Wilde's 'Dorian Gray,' Dorian writes a letter to the (as yet unbeknown
to him) dead Sibyl Vane, later wondering whether "those white silent people
we call the dead . . . [c]an feel, or know, or listen[.]" And then in
VN's 'Vane Sisters' we have (perhaps) a reply, with the dead Sybil writing
(recall only the "Icicles" were by Cynthia, the "Meter" was Sybil's work)
to the living and (again, perhaps) wondering the converse: can the living
feel us, or know, or listen?
Although, I find Wilde's 'Dorian Gray' a pat-ball attempt compared to VN's
champion game (to borrow a phrase) - I find Wilde's Sibyl such a wonderful
candidate for resurrection by VN, I wonder if he could resist it. Let's
remember Wilde's Sibyl lived in Shakespeare, and VN was rather fond (to put
it mildly) of Shakespeare:
"It was only in the theatre that I lived. I thought that it was all true. I
was Rosalind one night, and Portia the other. The joy of Beatrice was my
joy, and the sorrows of Cordelia were mine also. I believed in
everything . . . The painted scenes were my world. I knew nothing but
shadows, and I thought them real. You [Dorian] came - oh my beautiful
love! - and you freed my soul from prison. You taught me what reality
really is . . . I saw through the hollowness, the sham, the silliness of
the empty pageant in which I had always played." (Sybil to Dorian
in 'Dorian Gray')
And, of course, along with destroying Sybil's "world," making an "empty
pageant" of Shakespeare, Dorian finishes by destroying Sybil herself . . .
I can imagine nothing that could more incense VN - in his own words:
"In fact I believe that one day a reappraiser will come and declare that,
far from having been a frivolous firebird, I was a rigid moralist kicking
sin, cuffing stupidity, ridiculing the vulgar and cruel - and assigning
sovereign power to tenderness, talent, and pride." (VN, October, 1971, Kurt
Hoffman Interview)
And it seems Dorian opens the door for the mode of revenge: "Strange, my
first passionate love-letter should have been addressed to a dead girl.
Can they feel, I wonder, those white silent people we call the dead? Sybil!
Can she feel, or know, or listen?" (Dorian's musing in 'Dorian Gray').
In short, could Dorian's injustice have contributed to the development of
VN's metaphysics of poetic justice? A 'cuffing at the cruel and vulgar and
restoring sovereignty to to the tender and talented' - like poor Sybil Vane
the starry-eyed Shakespearean starlet?
Finally, it has been suggested that Professor Boyd's "solution" would
fail "without the evidence of 'The Vane Sisters' [and] he would have no
argument . . . There are references in Pale Fire to Sybil Vane, but they
lead the reader to "The Picture of Dorian Gray" not to an obscure 1952
story." (Fw: Pale Fire questions for Mr Langridge, posted by Carolyn Kunin
to Vladimir Nabokov Forum, September 20, 2002). Without addressing the
issue of any particular "solution" - might I respectfully suggest that a
reader lead to "The Picture of Dorian Gray" may discover much that lends
support to Professor Boyd 'reappraisal' of VN's work?
__________________________________________________________________
chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu
"Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu> wrote:
----- Forwarded message from papilionaceous@yahoo.com -----
Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2005 04:53:54 -0700 (PDT)
From: Benjamin Wagner
Reply-To: Benjamin Wagner
Subject: "The Vane Sisters" and "Dorian Gray"
To:
Although, personally, I find Wilde's 'Dorian Gray' a pat-ball attempt compared
to VN's champion game (to borrow a phrase) - I found Wilde's Sybil such a
wonderful candidate for resurrection by VN. She lived in Shakespeare:
"It was only in the theatre that I lived. I thought that it was all true. I was
Rosalind one night, and Portia the other. The joy of Beatrice was my joy, and
the sorrows of Cordelia were mine also. I believed in everything . . . The
painted scenes were my world. I knew nothing but shadows, and I thought them
real. You [Dorian] came - oh my beautiful love! - and you freed my soul from
prison. You taught me what reality really is . . . I saw through the
hollowness, the sham, the silliness of the empty pageant in which I had always
played." (Sybil to Dorian in 'Dorian Gray')
And, of course, along destroying Sybil's world, making an "empty pageant" of
Shakespeare, Dorian finishes by destroying Sybil herself . . . And I can
imagine nothing that would incense VN more - in his own words:
"In fact I believe that one day a reappraiser will come and declare that, far
from having been a frivolous firebird, I was a rigid moralist kicking sin,
cuffing stupidity, ridiculing the vulgar and cruel - and assigning sovereign
power to tenderness, talent, and pride." (VN, October, 1971, Kurt Hoffman
Interview)
And it seems Dorian opens the door for the mode of revenge: "Strange, my first
passionate love-letter should have been addressed to a dead girl. Can they
feel, I wonder, those white silent people we call the dead? Sybil! Can she
feel, or know, or listen?" (Dorian's musing in 'Dorian Gray').
In short, could Dorian's injustice (rather than Wilde's writing per se) have
contributed to the development of VN's metaphysics of poetic justice? A
'cuffing at the cruel and vulgar and restoring sovereignty to to the tender and
talented' - like poor Sybil Vane the starry-eyed Shakespearean starlet?
-Ben Wagner
__________________________________________________
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Although, personally, I find Wilde's 'Dorian Gray' a pat-ball attempt compared
to VN's champion game (to borrow a phrase) - I found Wilde's Sybil such a
wonderful candidate for resurrection by VN. She lived in Shakespeare:
"It was only in the theatre that I lived. I thought that it was all true. I was
Rosalind one night, and Portia the other. The joy of Beatrice was my joy, and
the sorrows of Cordelia were mine also. I believed in everything . . . The
painted scenes were my world. I knew nothing but shadows, and I thought them
real. You [Dorian] came - oh my beautiful love! - and you freed my soul from
prison. You taught me what reality really is . . . I saw through the
hollowness, the sham, the silliness of the empty pageant in which I had always
played." (Sybil to Dorian in 'Dorian Gray')
And, of course, along destroying Sybil's world, making an "empty pageant" of
Shakespeare, Dorian finishes by destroying Sybil herself . . . And I can
imagine nothing that would incense VN more - in his own words:
"In fact I believe that one day a reappraiser will come and declare that, far
from having been a frivolous firebird, I was a rigid moralist kicking sin,
cuffing stupidity, ridiculing the vulgar and cruel - and assigning sovereign
power to tenderness, talent, and pride." (VN, October, 1971, Kurt Hoffman
Interview)
And it seems Dorian opens the door for the mode of revenge: "Strange, my first
passionate love-letter should have been addressed to a dead girl. Can they
feel, I wonder, those white silent people we call the dead? Sybil! Can she
feel, or know, or listen?" (Dorian's musing in 'Dorian Gray').
In short, could Dorian's injustice (rather than Wilde's writing per se) have
contributed to the development of VN's metaphysics of poetic justice? A
'cuffing at the cruel and vulgar and restoring sovereignty to to the tender and
talented' - like poor Sybil Vane the starry-eyed Shakespearean starlet?
-Ben Wagner
__________________________________________________
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