Schalken The Painter by J S Le Fanu
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- Опубликовано: 20 июл 2023
- Schalken The Painter Analysis
In "Schalken The Painter," Vanderhausen can be seen as a representation of the shadow archetype, embodying the dark, repressed, and sinister aspects of the characters Douw and Schalken. The shadow is a psychological concept in Jungian theory that represents the hidden, suppressed, and often undesirable aspects of the psyche. It holds the unacknowledged fears, desires, and weaknesses that individuals may project onto others.
Douw exhibits veniality and by agreeing to Vanderhausen's proposal to marry Rose in exchange for money. Schalken shows cowardice in letting his true love go off with a monster and not attempting to fight for her. A mixture of greed and cowardice conspire to let Rose marry Vanderhausen.
Vanderhausen first sees Rose worshipping at St Laurence's church, suggesting she represents Schalken's spiritual and pure anima, which Vanderhausen threatens to corrupt. Later, Rose returns starved for wine and meat, eating ravenously like an animal, showing Vanderhausen has begun corrupting her purity.
They are concerned about her welfare, but not enough to stop the marriage. They fail to confront the true nature of Vanderhausen, despite their suspicions. The shadow archetype is at play here, as Douw and Schalken repress their moral qualms and engage in self-deception to rationalize their actions.
Rose, on the other hand, can be viewed as representing the anima archetype, which symbolizes the feminine aspects within the male psyche. She embodies love, beauty, and the idealized image of femininity. Schalken's infatuation with Rose and his desire to marry her reflect his yearning for the anima, a sense of completeness and emotional fulfillment.
ose represents the anima archetype to Schalken - his ideal of feminine virtue, beauty, and spirituality. However, Schalken fails to live up to the anima's call for heroic action. When Rose returns in distress, begging for help, Schalken is unable to rescue her from Vanderhausen. His only response is to create an artistic representation of Rose through the painting, rather than fighting to save the real woman he loved.
However, Schalken ultimately fails to fully embrace and integrate the anima. Instead of actively pursuing a real relationship with Rose, he settles for creating a painting of her. This represents a lack of courage and an avoidance of engaging with the complexities and challenges of real-life relationships. Schalken's choice to capture Rose in an artistic representation rather than fighting for the reality of their connection illustrates his failure to fully embody the anima and engage with his own desires and emotions.
Throughout the story, the interactions between Vanderhausen, Douw, Schalken, and Rose reveal the interplay of shadow and anima archetypes. Vanderhausen represents the dark, suppressed aspects of the characters, while Rose represents the idealized feminine qualities that both Schalken and Douw yearn for. Their choices and behaviors reflect the psychological dynamics at play within the individual and their relationships.
Schalken's painting immortalizes his failure to overcome his shadow and rescue his anima from destruction.
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Развлечения
Tony, I haven’t listened to this post yet, but the story is a favorite of mine. Vanderhausen is one of Le Fanu’s two greatest spooks. The other is the Mysterious Lodger (Smith).
Vanderhausen is likely a vampire. The “fangs” seem obvious, but there’s another aspect to consider for those who are familiar with the later “Dracula” by Bram Stoker. When Vanderhausen leaves a building, he is then not seen from a vantage point where he should be visible, suggesting he has the ability to dematerialize. And this was decades before Stoker’s “Dracula” was published. At any rate, Vanderhausen is a re-animated corpse of some kind (perhaps under demonic influence).
I highly recommend that you narrate “The Mysterious Lodger” for your listeners. It’s one of Le Fanu’s best stories. His physical description of the Lodger is memorable, and could easily have come from the pages of a modern Steven King story. There’s a religious aspect to Le Fanu’s tale, but the creep factor and mounting dread overpower it. The Lodger is a psychic vampire, with a shapeshifting companion, who brings death and heartache to his landlord’s family.
Thanks for sharing I love these old story's
7:40 My grandmother had the same cane. Dressed in her rainbow moomoo she was just as frightening.
Jokes(?) aside, I LOVE Le Fanu. "Phlegmatic temperament." "An orloge as large and as round as an orange." He is my flowery, guilty pleasure amongst more spare writing styles, such as Hemingway, and his words beg to be spoken aloud.
Then there is: "Do trick yourself out handsomely; I won't have him think us poor or sluttish." Fascinating how definitions change over time, and yet only subtly. I love following the trails of etymology.
Tony, all your accents are so richly presented -- and I've got such a thing for accents.
IMO Schalken's inability to fight for his love then his continuing on with Rose's uncle speaks volumes about the repressive baseline of the era, or at least Le Fanu's perception of it. Rose hasn't survived the ordeal in the end (the dead and the living can never be one) but she has conquered it by growing into her role as wife of a monster, abandoning the innocence and light she was once known for. By bringing Schalken back to her chamber it feels to me like she's proving her power and thus, Schalken's weakness.
I sincerely hope you read to your patients.
This is one of my all time favorite spooky stories! Thanks Tony!
What a great way to start the weekend Thank you Tony for all your hard work
I've just listened to this on Spotify and within five minutes I realised I'd seen this story in a late night BBC Christmas ghost story when I was still at school. I remembered it for two reasons, it was seriously creepy and disturbing, and that the gorgeous Cheryl Kennedy got her kit off! Except that scene happened right at the end, when in front of Schalken, Rose proceeds to mount and have sex with a living corpse!! I think the BBC screenwriter must have tweaked the story to add more impact, because that scene was seriously horrific, especially to a kid still at junior school!! Great work as ever Tony. You are El Maestro!!
Great story and narration!
No wonder James and Lovecraft were fans of him.
Great job!
Uncle Silas is a classic novel.
This is my favorite horror story ever written!
You have an amazing voice. Thank you for the enjoyment of these stories you share
I wonder if the myth of Hades and Persephone was an influence on this story? That could have interesting implications for why Rose demanded food and drink upon returning to her uncle's house--maybe, like Persephone, Rose was trying to avoid being trapped in the underworld by refusing the food of the dead.
j.s. le fanu is one of the most underrated authors of weird tales! and your narration is perfect!
I still can't get over how much Stoker plagiarized him.
This was a terrifying story! Loved every chill! 👻 Much thanks to you, Sir Tony 🥂
Truly excellent! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏😊👍👍
Many thanks!
Your reading keeps me such good company while I paint in my studio, grateful for your channel! Your style is fabulous.
+@albertamirais254 Thank you ☺️
Saved this for bedtime 😮 💜
Hi Tony,
I almost passed this one over because I've heard it before, and looked into Schalken's works.
But since it's *you* Tony, I was compelled to listen.
So many theories and thoughts about this piece.
Graphically it is truly engaging, but the story to me is little more than a Penny Dreadful.
Schalken seems to be merely a rude mechanical; a plot device to take us to the next tableau.
Yet it's clear that LeFanu was inspired by the painter's works and possible motivations.
I guess the beauty of tale is that it inspires imagination in more creative and enquiring minds.
(I must say that the blue/grey colour of the skin of an habitual user of colloidal silver is something to balk at! The mark of slow and deliberate heavy metal poisoning {not like long time exposure to Black Sabbath}, is a ghastly look).
Thanks again Tony, you breathed life into it. Or should I say reanimated the dead!
Bwaa ha ha...
I didn't know that about colloidal silver changing the colour of your skin!
Have enough of it and it will.
Wonderful reading.
Tony, always liked this tale.
I never took him as a vampire, I assumed he was just undead - but vampire makes sense. I assume he takes rose to his tomb in a parallel world as she does seem to vanish for a longtime.
Then second meeting in the church seems to point to her now being undead and luring him to her master.
The church in Rotterdam appears several times and she is reminded that he looks very much like a painted wooden statue, in the church.
It’s a puzzler this, but I’m happy with that as it doesn’t always have to make sense. Been to India for last ten days and it was a good trip - I met an Indian Sufi whilst there and was hypnotised for the first time ever. Especially as I was resisting it, yet still it worked on me, freaky.
I like the sound of an Indian Sufi. I had past life regression once. It made me very anxious for some reason, but I liked it.
Love the thumbnail art! Creepy cool❤❤❤
Beautiful, thank you.
Thanks for listening
❤❤❤❤❤ awesome !
Thank you!!
💞🖤
🖤💞 tyvmuch! Have a great weekend.
Thanks!
Thank you.
This might be my favourite story by Le Fanu. The first time I heard it, I was impressed from the start by the novelty of the setting--a Gothic yarn set in the 17th century Netherlands?--and the deliciously macabre description of Mynheer Vanderhausen (especially that detail that his body never moves because he does not breathe). But I think I remember it best because I could not predict where it was going. I had read enough of Victorian ghost fiction to be able to recognise a few stock plots, but I could not match what I was hearing to any of them. In a proto-Jamesian fashion, Le Fanu introduces his supernatural element bit by bit, leaving it to the reader to figure out what Vanderhausen is and what he wants from Rose. (At one point, Le Fanu even teases the possibility that Vanderhausen might be demonic. Note how he steps out Mephistopheles-like from the shadows, the moment that Schalcken curses the subject of a religious painting.) Many questions are never answered, so the sense of unease lingers.
You mentioned in the summary of 'A House in Aungier Street' that it was a novelty because the ghost was motivated not by justice but by malevolence. Maybe that was one of Le Fanu's contributions to the development of the ghost story--the (re)introduction of the idea of the dead as a potent force that is not necessarily restrained by a sense of justice or morality. Le Fanu has his share of conventional spirits seeking retribution, but he also has his predatory, amoral dead as well. After all, arguably his best remembered work--'Carmilla,' which established many of the tropes that Stoker would later popularise in 'Dracula'--is about a vampire.
Thank you for your erudite commentary! You make some very good points.
Adore this story; there are so many layers to it. Thanks for narrating it, Tony. Very much enjoying the revived Late Night Sleep Radio ( www.youtube.com/@late-night-sleep-radio ). I have even managed to fall asleep during the second listen of an episode.
Okay okay I'm dropping out right now, I promise
Thanks! 10.00 - well, at least that is what I wanted to send but I could only give 2 dollars because (maybe I'm an idiot) but I couldn't figure out how to make the amount larger
It's all gratefully and humbly received. I've been spending it on coffee and second hand books.
Algorithmic engagement
PSA: Adrenochrome is easily and cheaply synthesized in a lab and there's no need to torture children.
I am not convinced it has any value at all, but I'm pleased to hear what you say.
@@ClassicGhost You're right of course; I was a little stoned on old lady meds and I spoke without doing any research at all. A rare occurrence -- thank you for being gracious with your rightful disagreement. Honestly it's not something I think I can stomach looking into.
There’s a lot of people with zero shame here in America lol