The Devil's Elixirs
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| - | {{Template}}'''''The Devil's Elixirs''''' (German:''Die Elixiere des Teufels'', [[1814]]) is a story by [[Hoffmann]] which features the [[Motif (literature)|motif]] of the [[doppelgänger]]. Its first English translation was in 1824 by [[Robert Pierce Gillies]]. | + | {{Template}} |
| + | '''''The Devil's Elixirs''''' (German:''Die Elixiere des Teufels'', [[1814]]) is a story by [[Hoffmann]] which features the [[Motif (literature)|motif]] of the [[doppelgänger]]. Published in [[1815]], the basic idea for the story was adopted from [[Matthew Gregory Lewis]]'s novel ''[[The Monk]]'', which is itself mentioned in the text. | ||
| + | Its first English translation was in 1824 by [[Robert Pierce Gillies]]. | ||
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| + | Although Hoffmann himself was not particularly religious, he was nevertheless so strongly impressed by the life and atmosphere on a visit to a monastery of the [[Order of Friars Minor Capuchin]], that he determined to write the novel in that religious setting. Characteristically for Hoffmann, he wrote the entire novel in only a few weeks. It can be classified in the [[subgenre]] of [[dark romanticism]]. | ||
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| + | ==Plot== | ||
| + | The monk, [[Medardus]], cannot resist the Devil's elixir, which has been entrusted to him and which awakens in him sensual desires. On the run, he meets a lunatic monk, his [[doppelgänger]], or double, whose path he crosses multiple times in the course of his cursed and bloody wanderings. At the end, Merdadus discovers by reading the diary of a painter, that everyone whom he has killed or hurt were his half-siblings. | ||
| == Story == | == Story == | ||
Revision as of 15:01, 11 October 2008
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The Devil's Elixirs (German:Die Elixiere des Teufels, 1814) is a story by Hoffmann which features the motif of the doppelgänger. Published in 1815, the basic idea for the story was adopted from Matthew Gregory Lewis's novel The Monk, which is itself mentioned in the text. Its first English translation was in 1824 by Robert Pierce Gillies.
Although Hoffmann himself was not particularly religious, he was nevertheless so strongly impressed by the life and atmosphere on a visit to a monastery of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, that he determined to write the novel in that religious setting. Characteristically for Hoffmann, he wrote the entire novel in only a few weeks. It can be classified in the subgenre of dark romanticism.
Plot
The monk, Medardus, cannot resist the Devil's elixir, which has been entrusted to him and which awakens in him sensual desires. On the run, he meets a lunatic monk, his doppelgänger, or double, whose path he crosses multiple times in the course of his cursed and bloody wanderings. At the end, Merdadus discovers by reading the diary of a painter, that everyone whom he has killed or hurt were his half-siblings.
Story
The charismatic monk Medardus becomes implicated in a deadly mystery against his will. As he travels towards Rome he wrestles with the enigma of his own identity while pursued by his murderous doppelganger. The monk's only hope for salvation lies with the beautiful Aurelie; but in order to escape the curse which lies over his family, he must evade the sinister powers of the living and the dead.
Analysis
In this lively and disturbing gothic tale, Hoffmann combines elements of the fantastic and the sublime to analyse the seductive ambiguities of art and the deeply divided nature of the human imagination.
