Julian Green and the Thorn of Puritanism 9780231885140

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JULIAN GREEN AND THE THORN OF PURITANISM

JULIAN GREEN AND THE THORN OF PURITANISM

BY SAMUEL STOKES

Φ KING'S CROWN PRESS COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK

1955

COPYRIGHT

1 9 5 4 B Y S A M U E L E M L E N STOKES, J R .

FIRST PUBLISHED IN BOOK F O R M

1955

KING S CROWN PRESS is an imprint established by Columbia University Press for the purpose of making certain scholarly material available at minimum cost. Toward that end, the publishers have used standardized formats incorporating every reasonable economy that does not interfere with legibility. T h e author has assumed responsibility for editorial style and for proofreading.

LIBRARY O F CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER:

55-9070

PUBLISHED IN GREAT B R I T A I N , CANADA, INDIA, AND PAKISTAN B Y G E O F F R E Y CUMBERLECF.:

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON, TORONTO, B O M B A Y , AND KARACHI MANUFACTURED IN T H E

UNITED STATES O F

AMERICA

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I AM GREATLY INDEBTED to Mr. Green for the several interviews he has granted me and for his willingness to discuss various matters in connection with this work. However, I hasten to add that in an intangible subject of this nature the critic and the author in question need not always see eye to eye. I do not claim to have Mr. Green's approval of everything I have stated. Additional gratitude should go to Professor Justin O'Brien of Columbia University for his constant encouragement, his helpful criticism and suggestions. I also wish to acknowledge permission from the Librairie Pion to quote from Green's work in French, as well as permission from Harper and Brothers to quote from Memories of Happy Days. S A M U E L STOKES

May, 1955

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION I: II:

YOUTH AND CHRISTIAN FAITH T H E ANCUISH OF DEATH

ix 3 32

III:

T H E SOLACE OF BUDDHISM

53

IV:

DESTINY'S BURDEN

80

V: VI:

T H E PURITAN S FATE A CHRISTIAN SENSIBILITY

98 117

NOTES

139

BIBLIOGRAPHY

149

INDEX

153

INTRODUCTION

S T U D Y of Julian Green is intended to throw light on the spiritual background of his novels. N o one who reads Green's fiction can remain unaware of the inexplicable element in each of the important characters. T h e examination of Green's spiritual development should give a better understanding of such intangible elements and, perhaps, of their origins. Actually, the spiritual life of every author plays a part in his literary work, but in Green's case one's attention is focused immediately on this aspect by the nature of the stories, some of whose very titles are indicativeL i Visionnaire, Minuit, L'Autre Sommeil—as well as by the subject matter of his diary.

THIS

Furthermore, I believe that his main appeal and significance lie in his spiritual life because it is there his struggles have most meaning for other Christian men. T o be sure, this appeal is limited to readers who find their religious tranquility disturbed by the secular concerns of the modern world. On the other hand, however, his significance becomes greater as we discover the problem of relating one's spiritual and emotional life to the society in which one exists. T h i s is the general theme of many French novels of the first half of the twentieth century, Green representing only one aspect which may be defined as the attempt to unite a puritanical heritage with human nature. I have wanted to show certain characteristics of such a problem that may find an echo in the lives of young Puritans. T o date, studies of Green's work have appeared either as

χ

INTRODUCTION

book reviews or as chapters in critical anthologies. The latter naturally touch upon ideas that I have attempted to develop. The one chapter which resembles my study is found in Charles Moeller's Littérature du XX' siècle et christianisme, but I have pointed out certain differences in the appropriate place. Sufficc it to say now that the book is printed under a nihil obstat. The one short book devoted entirely to Green, Julien Green et la tentation de l'irréel, by Marc Eigeldinger, mentions most of the aspects of his work but only briefly. In addition it has the disadvantage of having appeared before the publication of volumes four and five of Green's diary. Consequently, because of the shortcomings or brevity of other studies, I felt it necessary to present a fuller and more rounded picture of the religious element basic to his literary production in the hope that his would give the reader a better understanding of Green. I am well aware of the fact that the subject requires limitation. First of all, I have not included anything published after 1951; this excludes Green's recent plays. Since he is still writing, some stopping place had to be chosen, and the pause between the novels and the theater in the middle years of his creative life seems to be the most logical. Secondly, because this is a study of Green's spiritual problems and therefore quite particular to him, I have used a minimum of theological theory, preferring to discuss these problems from Green's point of view rather than from that of any church. Similarly, the visionary element is mentioned as part of his spiritual nature, but I have not developed this into a psychoanalytical study of dreams except where dreams of death are related to religious thought. These limitations were considered necessary insofar as a definitive study cannot be undertaken while a man is still producing. Except in the last chapter, I have used the chronological approach, pausing once in chapter four to discuss a theme

INTRODUCTION

xi

that starts in the early short stories and carries through to Moira. T h i s approach had to be used in order to portray properly Green's spiritual development. References to age and dates will be easily understood if one knows something of Green's biography. He was born in Paris, September 6, 1900, of American parents and was the youngest of seven children, five girls and two boys. His parents had gone to Europe in 1895 when Mr. Green was made representative of the Southern Cotton Oil Company. It is important to remember that Mr. and Mrs. Green came from Virginia and Georgia respectively and that they were deeply imbued with the history of the South. They brought to Europe all sorts of furniture which caused considerable consternation among their French friends, but its appearance created an atmosphere. In addition, Mrs. Green was determined that her children should know something of the history of the South. T h e atmosphere of the home and the attitude of the parents were responsible for a large part of the background Green acquired as he was growing up. It is interesting to note that two of his novels and his play Sud have Southern settings. From the critics' point of view, his American heritage has allowed them to discuss his Anglo-Saxon characteristics as well as to establish parallels with a man like Hawthorne. Green attended the well-known lycée Janson de Sailly. T h e family lived in Passy most of the year, spending summer vacations northwest of Paris at Andrésy, a small town near the juncture of the Seine and Oise rivers. When the First World War broke out Green was not quite fourteen, and because of his age he was unaware of the dangers involved. T h e family had given u p its apartment in Passy just before the war and had moved out to Saint-Germainen-Laye. After the outbreak of hostilities Mr. Green wanted to move back to Paris, so he found some rooms in a pension. T h e family divided its time between Saint-

xii

INTRODUCTION

Germain and the pension until an apartment was found in 1916. T h e family suffered one serious loss late in 1914 when Mrs. Green died. Apparently not a strong woman, she had succumbed under the shock of the war. Possibly under the weight of this tragedy and the war, Mr. Green became a Catholic in 1915, as did his son Julian shortly afterward. By 1917 Green had obtained his baccalauréat, and, though still too young to join the army, felt he should contribute to the war effort somehow. Therefore, he joined the American Field Service, which gave him experience at the front and an opportunity to meet young Americans for the first time. When the Field Service was taken over by the army, Green joined the American Red Cross for six months. Finally, in the summer of 1918, he succeeded in getting into the French Army via the Foreign Legion. After the armistice, his regiment was sent to the Rhineland for occupation duty where he remained until his demobilization in the spring of 1919. While wondering what he should then do, Green received an offer from an uncle in Savannah to go to an American university. He accepted and spent the following three years at the University of Virginia. By 1922, however, he was so homesick for France that he left the University without obtaining his degree and returned to Paris. Nevertheless, much of his experience in various parts of the South during those three years provided him with ideas for settings and themes which he used in several of his novels. For the next two years most of his time was spent becoming acquainted with the music, painting, and literature that was flourishing in the postwar period. T h e first winter he tried his hand at painting, attending La Grande Chaumière, but largely because he could not adapt his tastes to those of the cubists he became discontented with this type of work. T h e main advantage of this experience was the contact he

INTRODUCTION

xiii

had with various influential people, and his sudden decision to give up painting for writing may have come in part from his association with literary men. His first work, published under a pseudonym and entitled Pamphlet contre les catholiques de France, caused considerable comment, as might be expected of a book with such a title. A year later, in 1925, his first short story, Le Voyageur sur la terre, was accepted by Gallimard, an event which thrilled Green very much. As a matter of fact, even though this was written first, it did not appear before Mont-Cinère, his first novel, was published in 1926. Both were favorably received. Thanks to the book primarily but also to Jacques de Lacretelle, who established contact with Gallimard, and to Robert de Saint Jean, who was an editor of La Revue Hebdomadaire, Green's reputation took root. With his second novel, Adrienne Mesurât, his name spread to the United States where, in translation as The Closed Garden, this book was chosen by the Book-of-the-Month Club for November, 1927. This was important to Green for financial reasons also, because his father, who had died in the summer of that year, did not leave a fortune by any means. Even before his death the Green family had experienced considerable financial difficulty. From 1927 to the present Green has devoted his time to writing, reading, travel, and meditation. In addition to the works mentioned above, he has published eight novels, three short stories, six volumes of his diary, two plays, two volumes of recollections, one in English and one in French, and four translations from French to English. He has read quite extensively in many literatures, but he now tends to select biography and authors of established reputation. Rarely does he read a modern novel. His travels have taken him mainly to Italy, Denmark, and Austria. In the fall of 1933 he returned to the United States for a few months, and his third trip to this country

xiv

INTRODUCTION

lasted through May and June of 1937. The Second World War brought him back to this country. During the period 1940-45 he served briefly in the United States Army and later worked for the Office of War Information in New York, broadcasting to France. Needless to say, he was requested to lecture at various colleges whenever he was available, but his description of both these assignments does not give the impression that he enjoyed them. He was deeply conccrned for the fate of France and the life he was so fond of there. During the war he published his one book in English, Memories of Happy Days, which was a co-winner of the Harper 125th Anniversary Award. It might be mentioned in this connection that Green is completely bilingual although he prefers to write in French. In 1945 he returned to France, free again to write and to ponder the problems that constantly beset him. He now lives in Paris where he and his sister Anne have an apartment on the Left Bank. In 1951 two honors came to Green from outside France: he was awarded the first prize given by the Prince of Monaco for the best work in French by a foreigner and he was elected to the Belgian Royal Academy. Inasmuch as he preserves his American citizenship, he could presumably not be elected to the French Academy; these honors awarded to an American living and writing in France are certainly most exceptional. In 1953 his first play, Sud, opened to him a new public, whose enthusiasm has encouraged him to continue writing for the theater. His second play, L'Ennemi, opened March 1, 1954. The external biography of Julian Green, however, has less bearing upon his work than does his spiritual life. From his parents he received a puritanical heritage which is at once responsible for most of his problems and the source of his literary work. It is to his spiritual biography that the present study is devoted.

JULIAN GREEN AND THE THORN OF PURITANISM

Mais je crois que tous mes livres, si loin qu'ils puissent paraître de la religiosité ordinaire et reçue, n'en sont pas moins religieux dans leur essence. JOURNAL, ν,

312

I: YOUTH AND CHRISTIAN FAITH

it is unwise to discuss the spiritual thoughts and feelings of a living author without realizing that such a discussion is subject to criticism or modulation. In the case of Julian Green the changes in his thought and the nuances of his religious feeling make definitive analysis impossible, and, in addition, he often considers it more indiscreet to talk about someone's spiritual ideas than about his private life. 1 However, Green's work, which is obviously subjective, would lose much of its significance if the reader were not aware of the spiritual torment that lay behind it. Green writes in his diary: "Je crois qu'en effect il y a dans tous mes livres une inquiétude profonde qu'un homme religieux n'eût jamais éprouvée." 2 Therefore, in spite of the hazards of the subject, the need of examining the "inquiétude" appears to be essential. T h e principal sources of information on Green's religious thought are his diary, especially volumes three, four, and five, and in an indirect way his novels. But he did not begin his diary until the age of twenty-eight, and he wrote his first novel at the age of twenty-six, so we must look elsewhere for information concerning his early religious development. Aside from scattered recollections in the diary, the two most helpful writings are Quand nous étions ensemble and Memories of Happy Days, both written from memory about 1942. Julian Green's father was a Presbyterian and his mother an Episcopalian. Since neither sect had a church in Paris DOUBTLESS

4

YOUTH

AND CHRISTIAN

FAITH

at the time oí his youth, the Green family did not attend services every Sunday. But there was the Protestant " T e m p l e " (most likely following the Calvinist tenets) and an English church. Approximately twice a month Mrs. Green would take the children to one or the other of these, but she preferred the service at the latter. Mr. Green did not accompany the children so often. In summer in the country, where there was only a Catholic church, Green was permitted to go to Mass with the neighbors. One strongly Protestant element dominated the home. Mrs. Green had the practice of reading aloud from the Bible every day. At first her youngest son did not understand at all. He speaks of the "périodes bibliques, dont le murmure se déroulait au-dessus de ma tête comme une espèce de banderole sonore," 3 thereby revealing a possible psychological link between these sonorous murmurs and the chants of the Mass. However that may be, it is certain that the daily Bible reading developed Green's taste for the Scriptures, so that even today he continues the custom. As for other specific details of this nature, we have none; but we know that Protestantism did leave its influence. T h e individualism of his parents' religious opinions and practices provided him with a critical sense which, so far as orthodox religions are concerned, bothered him until 1939 and, as I shall attempt to show later on, even after that year. During those same years before the age of fifteen, Green had certain experiences which in one way or another he relates to religious feelings. His first suspicion of a strange force was simply the realization of his own existence, an awareness of self. About it he says: "J'en garde encore une impression de mystère qui rejoint dans mon esprit les plus profondes impressions religieuses." 4 More important than that is his first religious experience which he describes as a

YOUTH AND CHRISTIAN

FAITH

5

mixture of mystery, security, and joy. Writing about a recitation of the Lord's Prayer with his mother, he says: La tête sur son épaule, j'éprouvais un grand plaisir à répéter ces paroles dont le sens me paraissait obscur mais, dont la douceur atteignait les régions les plus mystérieuses de l'âme. II me semblait, quand j'avais ainsi les bras autour du cou de ma mère et priais avec elle, que rien au monde ne pouvait nous nuire. 6

Because of the emotional nature of Green's spiritual life, it seems plausible to stress the significance of this first impression and its three characteristics. They recur in his memories of this period. For example, he enjoyed Mass in the country because of what seemed to be the contact he felt with preceding generations that had attended there. " T o be able to go back in time and in some curious way to find my place there gave me a feeling of security which I am at a loss to explain." 6 Referring to an awareness of a superior presence while looking at a clear, winter sky he writes: Ma mère, en baissant un peu la voix comme dans une église, me dit de bien regarder le ciel, qui était l'oeuvre de Dieu. Sa main se posa doucement sur ma tête. J'éprouvai alors une joie que je n'aurais pu ni expliquer ni traduire, mais qui m'arracha à la terre et dont le souvenir me rassure encore.7

It may be said that such joy is not uncommon among sensitive children, but the spiritual impulsiveness of Green's novels cannot be understood without knowing the intensity of his youthful emotions. With the help then of the elements of mystery, security, and joy, it is easier to understand Green's conversion to Catholicism which took place in 1915 on a completely voluntary basis. His father had been converted not long before, but he exercised no apparent influence over his son in this matter. His mother, without intending to be con-

6

Y O U T H AND CHRISTIAN

FAITH

verted, had paid visits to nuns, but Green did not learn of this until after her death. Hence, to explain the conversion, we must turn to his personal feelings. For Green the mystery, which casts its shadow over all spiritual matters, consists in part of the hereditary bonds he imagines both with his ancestors and with mankind in general. He knows that his ancestors, as well as those of most Protestants, were Catholics. T h e important aspect of this is that the Green family in England had remained Catholic until the middle of the eighteenth century. Green is quite sure that his interest in Catholicism was strengthened by mysterious ties with such family adherence to the Church. T h e general bond with humanity became especially strong during the Catholic service in the country church. We also know that he is unable to describe the security he felt in that bond, but the fact that security is mentioned in two other connections shows that it must have played a role, conscious or not, in the conversion. Green has tried to remember the Biblical phrase he first understood because, as he says: " J e veux qu'au début de mon existence il y ait eu cette obscure bénédiction de l'esprit comme un gage de l'amitié de Dieu." 8 Even if this desire was not contemporaneous with the conversion, one can see a parallel between it and the concept of the protective Church. T h e other and more general feeling of security provided by the Church was inspired by the war. However, even though Green later participated in the first World War, war was not the paramount motive for conversion. T h e objective tone of the following seems to support this contention: T o be sure, relief from anxiety was sought by many in various forms of pleasure, but the Church exerted a powerful attraction on thousands of men and women bewildered by the terrific struggle.9

Y O U T H AND CHRISTIAN

FAITH

7

T h e combination of mysterious and protective elements creates the joy to which he refers. Inexpressible but very real as it was. Green wished to find it tangibly if possible. A book he read on Catholicism at that time, Cardinal Gibbons's The Faith of Our Fathers, clarified everything which momentarily bothered him, and he became aware of his love for the Church. T h e three forces which push most people toward human love pushed Green toward spiritual love, and the description he gives to the period indicates the parallel: "Ma quinzième année a été une des plus heureuses de ma vie. Je ne me sentais pas sur terre." 10 It is vague to say that one was converted through love.11 However, in Green's case no other explanation is possible, for, as his Pamphlet will show, his religious experience is not based on reasoning. Furthermore, because of the emotional nature of this development, we must remember that his conversion was not a complete negation of Protestantism. His original faith remained with him to the extent of obliging him to criticize both it and Catholicism whenever they clashed with his spiritual sensitivity. In each of these personal reasons for being converted one can discern the direction of Green's spiritual future. As we shall discover, individualism marks the path all the way. The lack of security will entail an increasing concern with death. T h e mysterious bonds with other souls in the past will lead to an interest in Oriental religion. And to a considerable extent the joy of the original conversion will be responsible for the success of a reconversion just prior to the Second World War. Green's early years as a Catholic do not reveal complete submission to dogma. On the contrary, we find certain references to the period 1915-1924 during which emotional fluctuation apparently dominated his attitudes. "Since the age of fifteen, when I became a Catholic, I had gone through all the phases of zeal and lukewarmness familiar

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to so many; only indifference had I never experienced." 12 T h u s we find, in confirmation of the preceding quotation: En relisant les Vies des Pères du Désert, j'ai senti tressaillir en moi ma quinzième année si follement éprise du Ciel qu'il me semblait que, d'un seul et vigoureux élan, j'allais bondir jusque dans le Royaume. Catholique de fraîche date, je croyais avoir un soupçon de cette fièvre surnaturelle qui agita la jeune Eglise. Je voulais aller au grand galop vers le Paradis.13 Recalling his fervor at the age of sixteen, he writes, "mais on ne réussit pas à oublier qu'à seize ans, on voulait tout simplement devenir un saint." 14 T w o years later the zeal had shifted to secular interests, and he was able to state: " J e me sentais parfois aussi avide qu'à dix-huit ans quand j e désirais furieusement que la terre entière me fût offerte." 15 No doubt a period of religious inspiration followed; at nineteen he considered entering a monastery. However, another wave of so-called lukewarmness, inspired by a similar, strong love of the world, prevented this major step, and he still considers this refusal to be decisive in his life. Overwhelmed by sadness at the thought of leaving the world as he knew it, he writes: Tout à coup je sentis se formuler en moi le 'grand refus' qui devait prêter à ma vie un aspect si particulier. Un poids immense me fut ôté au même instant: c'était le poids de la Croix. 16 T h e pendulum swings back a year later when religious feelings are produced by watching the sky at night. It is important to notice that these changes depend on sentiment, because sentiment underlies Green's entire spiritual formation. Fluctuation of this sort reveals the development of restless mind in search of what are best called absolutes. Characteristically, Green's literary debut consisted of a religious writing entitled Pamphlet contre les catholiques de France, published under the pseudonym of Théophile

YOUTH AND CHRISTIAN

FAITH

9

Delaporte, which made it possible to avoid the initial embarrassment such a publication might create. He conceived the idea all of a sudden one day when a friend, Pierre Morhange, insisted that he contribute to the first issue of the Revue des Pamphlétaires which he was starting. What Green has written at various times about the Pamphlet permits three interpretations, the first of which is described as follows: "Sans doute, ces pages ne constituaient pas une profession de foi, mais elles permettaient bien d'en supposer une, et violente et fanatique." 17 In that early, partial profession, faith is first characterized by belief in the incomprehensible grandeur of the spirit which represents eternity and love. T h e very thought of eternity has always given him a sense of dizziness, 18 and this, in part, originated with the Protestant ending to the Lord's Prayer: Ces mots finissaient par me donner une sorte de vertige mental, comme si, à condition d'aller toujours plus loin dans ce sens, on arrivait à quelque chose d'inexprimable, quelque chose qui n'existait pas et dans lequel on tombait. 19 Equally incomprehensible is God's love, which is so great that it gives us no respite, and when it seizes us, we realize how despicable our lives often are. If a grain of such love makes us love a supreme Being, it is more astonishing that H e should love us. La disproportion est épouvantable. Le créateur de l'espace et des astres et de toutes les choses visibles et invisibles m'a aimé au point d'en mourir et de se sacrifier tous les jours pour moi. Il y a là un mystère si profond que l'esprit hésite à le méditer. Nos moindres péchés deviennent énormes.20 T h e supposition that there is reciprocity indicates the grandeur of the soul, not only in the fact that it can know God by love, but also that by sin it can offend Him. T h e apparent opposition of these possibilities leads to confusion

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when one tries to analyze it, and we return to the baffling sort of vertigo created by contemplation of eternity. Secondly, faith requires an acceptance of the mystery of religion: La force d'une religion est dans sa magie. Les autres religions ont tenu leur magie secrète et ne l'ont confiée qu'à leurs initiés, mais la religion chrétienne a révélé à toute le monde ce dont les religions païennes eussent fait un mystère. 2 !

If everyone knows the secret, this amounts to general participation in the mysteries of religion, and what Green criticizes in Catholics is that they "ne pressentent rien du mystère qui les enveloppe et qui les sépare du monde." 22 Such an attitude does violence to one of his favorite ideas, for "on dirait que ce que les yeux ne voient point n'a pas d'importance; en réalité . . . il n'y a que cela qui existe." 23 Mystery is considered basic to man's faith because, as many have said throughout history, divine things cannot be reasoned. According to Green, man's greatness lies in his knowledge of things beyond reason, in his imaginative faculties. The third characteristic of Green's faith is the living element, the violence or fanaticism, similar to the zeal that came over him from time to time. One should seem newly converted every day, "avoir une foi surprise."24 "Le débauché parle avec chaleur de son vice, et il en parle bien parce qu'il est possédé de son sujet." 25 For this reason Green respects heresy more than tepid faith and would like to see believers as they were in the Middle Ages because the only faith that gives true joy is the one that grips the believer. When undertaking to write a short biography of Blake in 1926, he calls attention to Blake's approval of revealed religion as well as his disapproval of restricting practices, for "il trouvait odieux qu'on essayât d'entraver l'énergie humaine et de lui faire suivre les voies

YOUTH AND CHRISTIAN

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11

artificielles et pénibles de l'abstinence." M I regret to point out that the fanatical aspect of a living faith has permitted Green to speak in favor of the Spanish Inquisition - 7 and to approve of what Bayle opposed so strenuously, Compelle Intrare,28 Green would probably deny this today or more likely say that these examples only represent the intensity required by true faith. Since it is extremely difficult to sustain emotion of any sort for any length of time, we might interpret such remarks as parts of the phases of zeal. Through preferences of this sort one understands how Green became interested in the spiritual careers of men like Blake and Léon Bloy, although in the long run he appears less violent in religious convictions than either one of these men. These three elements of faith are not the only ones, but others found in the Pamphlet seem to be ramifications of these. It is rather easy to see how they grew out of, and elucidate the traits inherent to, his first religious experience. Likewise, it should be apparent that there is a similarity with the thought of Pascal, who also wrote of the grandeur of the infinite, the mystery of God, and the necessity of active faith above reason. T o find such parallels is not at all strange when we read: Si loin que je me sente aujourd'hui du rigorisme janséniste je ne puis oublier que de ma seizième à ma vingtième année, Pascal était pour moi la religion même et que je me mettais à genoux pour le lire.29 In addition to a supposed profession of faith, there is a second interpretation which is implied by the title and which Green allows us to attach to the Pamphlet, namely, a criticism. He said to Gide: "Voyez-y . . . non une profession de foi, mais l'expression de ce que je demande aux catholiques." 30 T h i s was in 1928. Fourteen years later he wrote: " H a d I gone deeper into the matter, I would have

12

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understood that it was not so much what I had against Catholics which I wanted to put into words as what I had against myself as a Catholic." 3 1 He would condemn certain Catholics for ignorance, indifference, and for sinking into habit. Only the last seems applicable to Green himself. "Les catholiques de ce pays sont tombés dans l'habitude de leur religion," 3 2 so that faith weakens, prayers become mechanical, and one no longer feels personally involved. T h e ignorance to which he refers is that which prevents Catholics from knowing the mystery they are entitled to know. Most of all he condemns indifference, the most corrupting of forces because nothing can combat it. 33 It entails a lack of respect for the clergy and for the meaning of the Mass. T o combat these tendencies, Catholics will have to make sacrifices and assert themselves individually. T h e general tone of the Pamphlet seems to indicate less concern for the Church than for the salvation of each individual soul. For the Church to live, each member should become reinspired and fight against such currents. Green has not been alone in raising his voice, Bernanos having done likewise, but Green's protesting springs not only from a desire to make the Church more living but also from the individualistic attitude his parents had toward religion. In the paragraphs accusing Catholics of indifference one almost feels that Green is judging them as a Protestant, certainly with tones inspired by his "rigorisme janséniste." A third and final interpretation we may assign to the Pamphlet, and which is probably of greater importance than the first two, is to see it as Green's farewell to youthful religious fervor. " J e crois que, lorsque j'ai écrit ce petit livre, la foi s'obscurcissait dans mon coeur et j'essayais de retenir de force ce que je sentais qui m'échappait malgré moi." 34 In the main elements of his faith we see what he feared he was losing, and there seem to be two

YOUTH AND CHRISTIAN

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13

principal reasons for this, the first of which is the clergy. According to Green, the clergy did not realize its power, spoke insipidly, and only inspired disgust. H e wanted them to encourage him and reproached them many times for not doing so, thus obviously revealing how his faith was slipping. T h e other reason was the strong attraction held by m u n d a n e things. Speaking of Catholic truth, he says: " O n s'est tellement habitué à son air qu'on ne s'intéresse plus à elle et q u e l'on court après des choses plus nouvelles et plus curieuses." 3 5 It is only n a t u r a l for a young m a n to disobey when he knows that heaven asks him " d e se meurtrir dans toutes ses affections, de ne plus désirer q u e l'humiliation et la d o u l e u r . " 3 6 One p a r a g r a p h points rather plainly to an unavoidable acceptance of " a worldly p e r i o d , " as it is called in Pascal's life: " I l n'y a pas de tragédie plus affreuse q u e la tentation, ni de mystère plus étrange. Il faut q u e ce qu'il y a de divin en nous soit soumis au monde c o m m e J é s u s a été soumis a u x outrages." 3 7 As a result, the feeling of security offered by the Church disappeared, the mysterious goal vanished, and the idea of the future or eternity lost its meaning. A partir de quinze ans, je ne pensais qu'à l'avenir. . . . vers la vingt-cinquième année, l'avenir a disparu tout J e ne puis dire cela autrement. Oui, il n'y a eu que du Le bonheur, sous toutes ses formes, il fallait en jouir suite. L'armoire se vidait. 3 ^

Et puis, à coup. présent. tout de

D u r i n g his entire life Green has experienced moments in which the present seemed more i m p o r t a n t than the spiritual world which he would have liked to consider equally real. T h i s is the first expression of a debate to which his whole work is subconsciously trying to find an answer, and the importance of this problem cannot be overestimated. H a v i n g been a youngster with intense emotions, Green easily went from joy when he was fifteen to obvious rest-

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lessness at the age of twenty-four. The Pamphlet is the revelation of that restlessness: reason versus intuition, belief versus sentiment. In spite of the romantic features of the Pamphlet, it should be remembered that conversion is not without intellectual complication also. Between 1915 and 1924 Green had much time to absorb Catholic dogma, and the Pamphlet contains many references to concepts that have no emotional characteristics. For example, Catholics hold the keys to religious mysteries; the priest represents Jesus Christ; the ceremonies of the Mass are not symbols; even if Protestants read the Bible, only the Catholics can comprehend its full significance. Green might maintain that these things can be sensed also, in which case it would be necessary to make a distinction between "le sentiment religieux dans sa pureté" and "les rapports cultuels" linking man and God to which Martin du Gard refers in Jean Barois,3e This picture of Green's religious background presents a basis from which springs his interest in Saint John of the Cross, Saint Theresa of Avila, Pascal, English mystical poets, and others. He is in the line of those who, not without struggles, have feeling for faith and a sense of mystery. On the fictional level his first story is the best proof of this. Between 1923 and 1933 Green withdrew more and more from formal religion. His novels and diary covering this period reveal two tendencies which struggle with each other for supremacy and which finally lead to an apparent spiritual impasse. The first is a continuation of the early mysterious feeling for religion. The second is a religious individualism which started with the Pamphlet and developed into an effort to be more individualistic than religious. Perhaps it was natural that the latter current should dominate this part of his life. But the spiritual na-

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ture of his youth was not to disappear entirely, and we find it most apparent in his first story, Le Voyageur sur la terre. Green tells us that he began this tale as an autobiography and then gradually got away from personal experience. He adds: "I suppose there was no harm admitting I was frightened, particularly on one occasion when I understood I was describing a case of what theologians call possession." 4 0 He succeeded in describing possession of this sort by transmitting some of his own fear to the atmosphere of the story. It is probably the element of fear that makes the happiness of a "possessed" person bizarre, as he calls it: Aujourd'hui j'ai pensé à mes vacances à Savannah, en 1920 et 1921. J'avais des crises de piété. J e lisais Saint Paul. . . . J e croyais très bien comprendre ce que je lisais. J'avais de grands élans, j'essayais de me transporter par l'esprit dans une Thé· baïde, d'être ermite, et j'étais heureux d'un bonheur bizarre. Un peu de tout cela est passé dans le Voyageur sur la terre.*1

It is rather hazardous trying to describe an atmosphere, but in the fear and sense of mystery of Daniel O'Donovan, the leading character, one can discern traits similar to those of the young Green. The first step is the presentation of the supernatural by the words next to Daniel's name on the register: "mort par la visitation de Dieu,"42 When Daniel imagines his uncle entering the room with a frightening look on his face and says: " J e trouvais quelque chose de délicieux dans mon appréhension," 4 3 we have a first suggestion of his attraction to the unknown. Obviously this is the apprehension of evil, but it can and does turn into the apprehension of other things. By showing Daniel kissing a crucifix and praying with fervor when he believes he is in danger, Green portrays his religious instinct. And when he kneels before the door whose panels form a Latin cross and above which are the words: "Souviens-toi qu'il y

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a dans cette pièce quelqu'un qui te voit et t'écoute en silence," and comments: " J e trouvais un étrange réconfort dans ces paroles pleines de mystère," 4 4 we have a direct transposition of the early sense of security afforded by the Church. A second step toward closer intuition of the supernatural is found in Daniel's strange sensitivity to death. Green mentions some stories that Daniel's aunt relates, especially the one about Frank McKenna who was a fey: "C'est-à-dire qu'il était poussé à la mort par quelque chose d'irrésistible." 4 5 T h i s Irish story seemed more curious and more terrifying than the others, all of which were rendered somewhat remarkable by the strangeness of the aunt herself. After her death the uncle chose an epitaph for her from the Bible, "eile dort sous l'ombre, dans le secret des roseaux," which out of context affected Daniel in the following manner: L'épitaphe que mon oncle m'avait lue trouvait en moi un étrange écho. Il me semblait que d'une certaine manière je dormais, moi aussi, sous l'ombre et dans le secret, et je devenais plus triste à mesure que cette idée se confirmait dans mon esprit.4« T h e mysterious sensitivity that was getting hold of him made him think of his future with considerable anguish, but at the same time he became more attracted to the realm of the spirit. Recalling the words of an English ecclesiastic who urged that he be handed over to theologians, Daniel admitted that, although he did not understand them, those words had an inexpressible charm. This, no doubt, is an obvious reference to Green's thoughts of withdrawing from the world at the age of nineteen. In all probability what he felt at Savannah went into the story up to this point. T h e Bible mysteries, the southern countryside, and the family atmosphere created a kind of sad

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pleasure which aroused in Daniel a feeling for the intangible. Shortly after his arrival at the university Daniel becomes "possessed." This third step in his psychological develop ment is introduced by the inscription above the gate: "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." Daniel arrives at the truth by what might well be called a case of schizophrenia. At the university he claims to have met a young person named Paul who is very real to him, but who is only a creation of his own imagination, as he hints when he says: " J e suis porté aux rêveries les plus singulières. Un instant je me figurais que je m'étais trompé, qu'il n'y avait personne devant m o i . " 4 7 When Paul comments upon the inscription by inferring that Daniel will not find the truth in the way he expects, the reader can sense a further split in personality. This becomes very striking in Daniel's dream of death, which will be discussed in another connection. After the dream we find him writing down what he had been dreaming and remarking to himself: " T o u t à coup ma plume devint légère et je me mis à écrire comme si on me poussait la main." 4 8 T h e reality of the dream contact with the beyond and the sensation that followed caused Daniel to wonder if he were not unlike other people. J'ai quelquefois le sentiment qu'il y a derrière tout ce que je fais, derrière tout ce que je pense toutes sortes de choses que je ne comprendrai jamais. Ne viennent-elles pas de moi, de mon cerveau? Et si elles viennent de moi, pourquoi me restent-elles étrangères? Est-ce que je ne m'appartiens pas? Est-ce qu'il y a une partie de moi-même qui est hors de ma portée? 4 9

T h e end of the manuscript is the development of the idea that part of Daniel's mind is under supernatural control and that if he succumbs to it he will die. In vain he seeks help from Paul. He cannot count on himself any longer

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and very shortly is lost to the spiritual force which had been hovering over him since his childhood. Paul's last words and the comments of those who were present just before Daniel's death confirm the fact that this was a case of theological possession. One woman said he had fallen into hands more powerful than theirs, and a Doctor Thornton declared he had been struck by a grace which acts "follement, ou sagement, suivant qu'on se place au point de vue terrestre ou au point de vue providentiel." 60 In order to create this atmosphere of religious mystery, Green has used expressions such as "étrange réconfort," "étrange écho," "il me semblait que d'une certaine manière," "charme inexprimable," etc. In Les Clefs de la mort, written two years later, there are just as many such phrases, but they produce an effect of more mystery and less religion. However, the Christian element appears at the end of the story when Odile sacrifices herself for Jalon, and the last sentence of the tale could have been written only by one who had retained traces of a deep religious feeling. At Odile's grave, Jean says: Puis je dus faire un effort pour m'en aller, car, sur le couvercle du cercueil, le grand crucifix de cuivre attirait mes regards, et il me semblait que je ne détacherais jamais la vue de ce Dieu qui nous tend les bras du fond des tombes chrétiennes.51 In both these stories the emotional fascination of a superior force shows to what extent Green's early years left their mark. Another interesting but rather obvious trace of his youth is the Biblical element. Le Voyageur sur la terre has several Biblical quotations and parallels whereas in Les Clefs de la mort only the title comes from the Bible. As an explanation for this difference we must look primarily at the dates of composition, for between the years 1925 and 1927, Green's professed adieu to faith was taking effect. T h e

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title of the first story comes from a verse in Hebrews which in its entirety explains better than anything else what Green was trying to express: These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 52

Another phrase from the same chapter of Hebrews applies equally well: "for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible." 53 Early in the story we find a quotation from the 119th Psalm: "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?" and we have mentioned the epitaph on the tombstone.54 The words "sources des eaux vives" are found in Revelations vii: 17. Two expressions that recall parts of the Bible are "la fin de la course," which refers to "the race that is set before us," 68 and the woman's remark which reminds the reader of "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Be Such a close familiarity with the Bible on the part of a layman and the ability to use it suggests Green's Protestant background. Aside from direct or indirect usage of the Bible to cast an aura over his stories, there is the actual location of some of these quotations over doors, on gates, on tombstones, so that one feels they arc always before the characters. This occurs not only in the two stories mentioned so far but also in a very brief short story, written even before Le Voyageur sur la terre, entitled Christine. Here we find a line from the Twenty-third Psalm written over a door. Likewise in Mont-Cinère, Green's first full-length novel, there is an inscription in the house to remind those present "que Dieu est partout et qu'il entend toutes les paroles que nous prononçons," 67 and another from the Book of Proverbs over a door to the chapter house of the Methodist church. Small touches of this nature show how Green's early reli-

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gious experiences carried over into an era when he believed that he was living entirely in the present. One receives the impression that these traits come from a natural spiritual inclination which can never be eradicated, and, indeed, so it proved to be. For while he was enjoying worldly pleasures, spiritual realities remained strong even if they were almost subconscious, and one significant reference to the period in question justifies our search for such a religious undercurrent: En recopiant certaines pages de mon journal, j'ai été replongé dans l'insouciance des années 1928 et 29 (et pourtant, quels grondements lointains n'annonçaient-ils pas l'orage, mais qui voulait entendre?) 5 8

Part of a sentence describing Adrienne Mesurât might well serve as a heading for the struggle of these years. He refers to her as one who "conserve pour la règle une espèce d'attachement irrité, parce c'est la règle qu'elle s'est choisie." 69 T h i s implies a purely intellectual attachment, but several indications of emotional, religious reminiscence can be found. From the diary of 1931 we discover that Green marveled at the pose of the Virgin in Delacroix's Pietà because her arms formed a cross.80 In Catholic countries he considered the priest a kind of hypnotizer, adding: "Je sens moi-même les effets de ce pouvoir mystérieux qui me trouble quelquefois."® 1 Later in 1931 he wrote: "Le catholicisme répond à un singulier besoin d'économie dont on trouverait l'indice . . . si l'on pouvait lire au fond des âmes." 62 These three references point to the moving, mysterious, and protective aspects of Catholicism with which we are now familiar, and we see how he still responded to them. A similar feeling for religion is also present in the novels of this period, which are usually characterized by their lugubrious, violent tone. Toward the end of Mont-Cinère,

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Mrs. Fletcher's hypocrisy weakens, and one feels that she is very worried by the minister's visit. When she says that God seems to have touched her mother's heart, Green characterizes this as "un moment d'expansion assez surprenant chez elle." 6 3 When discussing Mme Grosgeorge's despair in Leviathan, he writes: "L'excès du malheur procure une espèce de sécurité, havre de grâce pour l'âme qui n'ose plus croire." 64 Having chosen the verb "oser," Green reveals how his past continued to haunt him even when he no longer prayed. T h e hero of L'Autre Sommeil, who does not believe in the afterlife of the soul, writes at the time of his mother's death: "Chose étrange, ce fut moi qui insistai pour qu'une messe f û t dite sur sa dépouille." 65 In spite of the discomfort of believing and the pleasure obtained from the h u b b u b on the streets, Eliane, at one point early in Epaves, finds that a church is "malgré tout un refuge contre la rue et contre elle-même." ββ Toward the end of the book we see her terribly exhausted by the struggle going on within her, and Green, no doubt describing some of his own emotional exhaustion, writes: Par un reste d'éducation religieuse, elle en arrivait presque à souhaiter un changement profond de toute sa vie; elle jouait à un renoncement spirituel qu'elle savait impossible, mais dont l'extrême commodité lui paraissait séduisante. Quelle façon plus simple d'en finir? Elle n'accomplirait pas cette action vile qui la rabaisserait à ses propres yeux; non, tout resterait à sa place et elle, d'un coup, s'élèverait au-dessus du monde et de ses douteux plaisirs.67 T h e following sentence, "un gros soupir servait de commentaire à ces rêveries," only reinforces the impossibility of any sort of renunciation but does not lessen the attraction of the one mentioned. In 1932 Green experienced an intensification of his struggle because it was then that his spiritual feelings acquired new emphasis:

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En recopiant mon journal de 1932, j'ai noté avec surprise le cheminement des idées, surtout de l'idée religieuse qui n'a commencé à porter ses fruits que six ou sept ans plus tard.68

T h e only hint we have dating from 1932 that something specific was happening is contained in a thought that crossed his mind while he was looking at Port-Royal des Champs: "Ce que j'ai sous les yeux, c'est l'image d'une âme que je connais bien; elle aimait Dieu et Dieu s'est détourné d'elle." β β Sometime during 1932 Green wrote a prayer which he recently found among his papers. T h e sincerity and tone of the prayer lead him to believe that an unconscious conversion took place at that time. Knowing of his reactions to apparently unimportant things of beauty and purity, we might surmise that the entry in the diary for October 8, 1947, describing the impression received from watching a sunbeam in 1932, is closely related to the moment when a conversion might have taken place: Il y a eu dans ma vie un moment très court dont je n'ai jamais parlé à personne, mais auquel je pense quelquefois et qui garde encore à mes yeux tout son mystère. Ce devait être en 1932 ou 33, par une très belle fin d'après-midi de mai, dans ma bibliothèque. Le soleil jetait sur le mur du fond de cette pièce des taches lumineuses que j'observais, étendu sur un canapé. A un moment, ces taches qui se déplaçaient très lentement atteignirent le bord d'un cadre. Je ne sais pourquoi j'eus alors, comme une sorte de révélation, le sentiment de la tristesse immense de l'univers. Quel sens ces mots pourraient-ils avoir pour celui qui n'aurait pas éprouvé exactement ce que j'avais éprouvé moimême? Mais je ne puis rien ajouter à ce que je viens d'écrire, sinon que je fus pris pour la première fois d'une mélancolie que je n'ai jamais pu chasser tout à fait de mon esprit. 70

In April, 1932, Green began Le Visionnaire, in which he mentions many of the spiritual difficulties he had not discussed in previous novels, and in which we find further indications of "le cheminement de l'idée religieuse." MarieThérèse comments that her mother, in whom Manuel saw

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so much hypocrisy, "trouvait au pied des autels la force nécessaire pour passer la journée et vaincre la nuit." 71 She herself, recalling the time spent in a parochial school, writes: "Ces souvenirs me sont doux et à la fois pénibles, car aujourd'hui je ne puis plus imaginer le bonheur sans le secours de ma mémoire." 72 Both that sentence and the following smack so much of Green that they could almost have been taken from his diary: "Ma légèreté n'empêchait pas qu'il y eût en moi un peu de la grande nostalgie catholique, ce regret d'une patrie perdue où les voies du monde ne ramènent pas." 78 When she is older she says: "Même athée, je me retrempais dans cet élément merveilleux qu'on appelle la foi." 74 Green, though not an atheist like his heroine, was very familiar with "cet élément merveilleux." All of these remarks are brief and are scattered throughout the diary and the novels without development. Nevertheless, they are indicative of the religious current that was still present, and they stress the fact that Green was still attached to his religious upbringing. The remarks are brief because he intended to remain silent on many of his spiritual problems, as he states in the preface of volume three of the diary. As a matter of fact he had written, on April 10, 1929, that it would never cross his mind to include these problems in a novel. Green's spiritual life became problematic only as the other current we have mentioned came to the fore, the current of his religious individualism. We know that this individualism exists because he mentions it twice in his diary, once in 1929 and again in 1945, both times in conversation with Gide. When Gide first advised him not to write a profession of faith, Green replied: "Cela me serait d'autant plus difficile que je ne saurais dire nettement ce que je crois." 78 On the latter occasion he records: Comme il me pose certaines questions sur mes opinions religieuses, je lui dis que, peut-être à cause de ma formation pro-

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testante, il me sera toujours difficile de parler de religion, ou plutôt de ma religion. Notre religion personnelle est plus particulièrement un secret que n'importe quoi. 76

Along with these assertions, one finds indications of increasing individualism and departure from orthodoxy in the writings of this period, and one of the facets we first come across is the inability to distinguish clearly between his own Protestantism and Catholicism. Taking Le Voyageur sur la terre as a starting point again, we find a young boy with an Irish Catholic name being brought up by a Catholic aunt and a Protestant uncle. As for the Catholic aspects, we learn that Daniel's aunt has him wear a crucifix. Beside his bed she had placed a Catholic Bible. We read that the view from his window was "obscurcie par l'église presbytérienne. . . . Cette église m'attristait et les pierres noires m'en paraissaient sinistres." 77 When Green describes his own room in Savannah, which actually is the room he used for the story, he says the same thing and then remarks: "L'église presbytérienne a-t-elle jamais jeté autre chose que de l'ombre?" 78 At the university Daniel finds "beaucoup de réconfort dans cette confession" he makes to Paul, and he would have liked to have "des péchés humiliants à avouer." 79 T o temper this Catholicism the rest of the sentence says: ". . . et je crois que seul un respect naturel de la vérité m'empcchait d'en inventer." We do not mean to imply that under such circumstances a Catholic would lie, but Green does seem to be revealing traces of a very scrupulous Protestant nature. Direct Protestant influence is noticeable in the reading of the Bible by both Daniel and his aunt. Again at the university, the woman from whom he rents a room shows her Protestant nature by noticing that Daniel does not have a Bible among his books. Consequently, because of these aspects of religious atmosphere, it is very difficult to say that Green had switched from one Christian church to another, and

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we understand how he could tell Gide that it would not be easy for him to talk about his religion. Because of the emotional nature of his spirituality, Green was beginning to undergo changes even as he wrote Le Voyageur sur la terre. But it was not until a year or so later that this individualism began to assert itself in more positive ways. One of these was a rather limited criticism of Protestantism and Catholicism, limited because it was not formalized in any way. From this point of view, Mont-Cinère can be interpreted as a criticism of Protestantism. T h e first target is hypocrisy, which most young people see in religion because of the latter's apparent ineffectiveness. Is it not ironical to find a Biblical inscription in a house whose inhabitants are unbelievably greedy? Emily says to her mother: "Vous vous croyez bonne parce que vous lisez la Bible tous les soirs, mais vous n'êtes pas meilleure que moi, que vous tourmentez." 80 T h e hypocrisy of Miss Easting is more cunning because Emily does not notice it at first. Miss Easting directs a sewing circle in connection with the Methodist church and is particularly attentive to Emily's thoughts and activities at home. Her every question reveals a subordination of Emily's wellbeing to her own personal interest in the minister. One wonders what good Miss Easting got out of reading the Bible regularly and going to church every Sunday. If religious hypocrisy is under attack, is the Protestant conscience more desirable? One need only look at the mental state of Mrs. Fletcher, Adrienne Mesurât, Guéret, and Eliane to find an answer. Of these only Mrs. Fletcher is a Protestant. Green considers the others to be atheists, but how could they be tormented the way they are without that sort of conscience. Subconsciously Green is showing, in his ability to depict these tormented minds, a self-criticism and, even more strongly, a search for liberation from Protestant scruples.

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T h e third main aspect of Protestantism that Green attacks is a Calvinistic conception of Providence. In MontCinère Emily cynically asks her mother: "Croyez-vous que vos péchés ne vous valent pas de punition?" 81 And in Leviathan Mme Londe remarks how bearable life could be if "l'iniquité de la Providence" did not destroy happiness. 8 In the first novel, Mrs. Fletcher accepts fate, and in the other Mme Londe and Mme Grosgeorge defy it. Mme Londe "considérait qu-elle était trahie . . . par ce Dieu qu'on disait juste et qui s'ainusait à détraquer la savante machine de la vie bourgeoise." 83 A little later she gets angry at God for having permitted the outrages committed by Guéret. For her part, Mme Grosgeorge defies Providence by not fearing death and by slipping into atheistic indifference. It seems difficult to conceive that such deep feelings could be described without a close connection between the inner struggles of these characters to free themselves and Green's effort to shrug off Protestantism. Because Catholicism was a second religion to Green, his denial of it was more easily attained. He writes: "A partir de 1928, je ne priais presque plus." 84 Since he attached much value to prayer, we cannot but be struck by this confession. In 1929 he said: "A l'heure actuelle, trop de choses me séparent de l'Eglise pour que je puisse nie dire catholique." 85 As for the novels, we find Adrienne Mesurât compared to "une religieuse qui a perdu la foi." 86 In the chapter of Léviathan where Angèle goes to church only to find that her own thoughts dominate the Ave Maria she is reciting, Green exclaims: "Ah! quelle lamentation elle eût jetée au ciel, si elle avait eu la foi." 8T L'Autre Sommeil contains such phrases as "sans croire à la survivance de l'âme," "de toutes les formes que revêt la superstition catholique," "sans être chrétien le moins du monde." And through the character of Eliane, Green has expressed his

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feeling not only toward Catholicism but toward Christianity in general when he writes: Voici toute sa obéir à manqué

qu'elle allait sur ses trente-deux ans et que pendant jeunesse elle s'était abstenue d e faire le mal. . . . Pour la voix intérieure qui lui disait: "Efface-toi," elle avait le bonheur, et de justesse, pensait-elle. . . .

Elle avait obéi en dévorant sa colère. Si elle avait cru, elle eût offert le sacrifice de sa volonté au Ciel. . . . Mais aujourd'hui . . . elle se demandait quel gain elle tirait d'avoir ainsi mutilé sa vie. 8 8

One can easily appreciate how this contrasted with the undercurrent of religious sentiment that occasionally revealed itself. As time went by the contrast grew stronger, and we find his individualism taking another turn which was to complicate his life even more. T h i s may be called a general renunciation of Christianity, which was a logical sequel to criticism of Protestantism and Catholicism. It occurred because the intensification of religious feeling in 1932 was not desired. For the most part, his reaction to this upsurge is expressed in Le Visionnaire, occasionally in the diary. Manuel's story in the novel contains the following important remarks: . . . si j'avais eu au coeur un peu de cette foi chrétienne dont on parle autour de moi, j'aurais peut-être cru à une présence surnaturelle, mais contre une émotion de ce genre, j'étais prêt à lutter comme on lutte contre une tentation dégradante. 8 9

In fact, Green went so far in his fight that in 1932, while walking along the Seine, he did not even dare look at the bookstalls lest he notice a book on mysticism. If this sounds exaggerated, it certainly gives a clue to the struggle going on within him. As he condemned hypocrisy in Mont-Cincre, so does he again in Le Visionnaire. " J e me demande parfois quelles bêtes féroces nous deviendrions si

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un peu d'hypocrisie religieuse ne venait pas tempérer nos mauvais instincts." 9 0 Marie-Thérèse, in wishing to become a nun, admits not having the calling and only wanting to please her mother, and at times she asks herself how she can be called a Catholic because "c'est une vieille incroyante qui écrit ces pages." 81 Secondly, Green attacks what seem like the numerous obligations of belief. Manuel does not dare discuss religion with his aunt because doubts might· come into her mind, and that would be a crime. Again he calls his aunt "une bête sauvage prise dans les rets du catholicisme." 9 2 How these bonds resemble the Catholic armor that obstructed the freedom of a friend of Green,1,3 bonds which he also criticizes in those who disliked the epigraph he had intended to use for Leviathan. In the latter instance his exclamation is: "Oh! pointilleux catholiques. . . ." 84 T h e search for freedom from this kind of limitation goes hand in hand with his desire to enjoy fully the pleasures of this world and with his search for "un monde d'où l'inquiétude était absente, paradis . . . où le méchant oublierait le mal et le juste son ennuyeuse vertu." 95 Even though he adds that such an exalting thought only lasted a minute, he informs us at least of the burden conscientious obligations impose. As he had done briefly in the Pamphlet, Green, through Manuel, again directs his criticism toward the priest whose mumbled recitations of the Introit were so unpleasant to Manuel that they would have turned him to Calvinism were it not for the fact that all religions seemed equally repugnant. 96 He despised the devout vocabulary which abounded in meaningless metaphor, as when Mme Piasse pretended to love Manuel in God. 97 Finally, he reproaches Christianity for acting as heavenly deceit. In addition to what has preceded, this includes the sweetness shown toward souls unsympathetic to piety, earthly love confused

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with divine love, and a Jesus "qui bénissait les entreprises commerciales, secourait les jeunes filles dans leurs examens et assurait de beaux héritages à certains fidèles du diocèse." 98 Sensitive to all the ways organized religions use to attract people, Green did his best to see through all insincerity, and the tone of these remarks tells now persistent he was in trying to combat the spirituality that had led him to embrace religions in which he now saw several unfavorable aspects. When one is trying to control religious inclinations, however, attacks on formal religion are not enough. Another way of believing which could be reconciled with full enjoyment of life had to be found; hence Green substituted a more personal credo for formal religion. Therefore, he could write in Manuel's story: "A mes parents, comme plus tard à ma tante, il était trop difficile d'expliquer que ma foi se transformait et qu'en devenant chrétien je cessais d'être catholique." 99 At the time he started Le Visionnaire, he was reading Renan, and in the novel we find Manuel reading La Vie de Jésus. Manuel comes to think of Christ "comme on pense à une personne humaine" and adds: "Lui seul, je le sentais bien, aurait pu me comprendre, me conseiller, mais je ne réussissais pas à voir en lui quelqu'un de surnaturel." 100 Still struggling against his inclination to sense the grandeur of the Spirit, Manuel prefers, to a humble and glorious Christ, a Christ who is powerful and impressive in his humanity, fearing no one and showing sublime disdain for authority.101 It is interesting to observe the extent to which Green went to conquer himself, for in the qualities he was seeking there can be found aspirations he might have had himself in order to rise above his past. T o think there were any narcissism in Green's image of Christ would be extravagant, but what we do find is the influence of Renan who tried to place Christ on a level with man. For Green this was a

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way of limiting supernatural attraction, thereby helping to restrict his sensitiveness to worldly beings. Keeping this in mind, then, we can agree with Eigeldinger when he implies that it is possible to identify Manuel's ideas with Green's. 102 W e have seen how Green's youthful emotions remained with him d u r i n g this period. Therefore, in order to appreciate the trend h e was following in developing a personal credo, we must realize that he was doing so because his spiritual feelings prevented him from enjoying worldly pleasure to the full. Speaking of carnal and metaphysical realities in 1945, he states: "Vais-je leur servir de champ d e bataille jusqu'à la fin de mes jours? Ce sera donc là m a destinée, la destinée au sujet de laquelle je me suis tant interrogé aux environs de ma trentième année." 103 Although it would seem as though his self-examination a n d self-assertion could dominate the heritage he was trying to suppress, we learn, from three remarks in his diary, that by the end of 1933 he had not won his struggle. W e know that Manuel pretends to read La vie de Jésus only to allow himself to have other, uninterrupted thoughts. Green comments on the hypocrisy by saying: "Je voudrais, dans le personnage de Manuel, faire voir qu'il y a chez l'hypocrite des mouvements de révolte contre son hypocrisie et souvent u n e sincère admiration pour la vertu." 104 T h e n Green criticizes Renan's concept of Christ by quoting four lines from Blake. The Vision of Christ that thou dost see Is my vision's greatest enemy . . . Thine loves the same world that mine hates; Thy heaven doors are my hell gates. 108

It is very important to note that this was written two months after he had begun Le Visionnaire, because it certainly indicates the eventual futility of his effort as it was

YOUTH

AND CHRISTIAN

FAITH

31

expressed in the novel through Manuel. And finally, two months before finishing the story, he wrote: J'ai l'impression que les attaques de Renan contre l'Eglise ne doivent pas être bien difficiles à repousser. Le signe de ce qu'on pourrait appeler la vocation de l'Eglise, c'est la durée même de cette grande communion humaine, et cela en dépit de toutes ses contradictions et de toutes ses erreurs. 106

In the book itself Manuel makes a final effort to free himself from believing and in the name of sincerity states that he denies God, adding: Cette phrase produisit sur moi un effet extraordinaire; elle ne traduisit pas exactement ce que j'avais l'intention de dire, mais elle correspondait à une vérité profonde et j'eus l'impression d'avoir atteint par mégarde une région défendue. Tout à coup, je recevais le don d'une liberté étrange, mais dont je ne savais que faire; j'étais l'esclave qui s'aperçoit que sa chaîne ne tient

plus.ioT But the manner of expression in this paragraph shows how impossible the suppression of an inherent part of one's nature is. From the phrases "elle ne traduisit pas exactement," "une région défendue," "dont je ne savais que faire," we learn that his liberty is not complete and that Green's struggle must go on or take another turn. One very important concern which lay under his desire to free himself from religious bonds was fear of death. T h i s fear grew in intensity as he realized what pleasures death could deprive him of and as he noticed also "combien la religion comptait peu dans le voisinage de la mort." 108 By examining Green's concern with death, we shall see the power it exercised over him, its religious origin, and in what way his method of overcoming his fear led toward a temporary solution to the problem that had been tormenting him.

IL THE ANGUISH OF DEATH

the age oí six, Green has been preoccupied with the thought of death. "En y réfléchissant, j'ai constaté que la plus importune de mes phobies, et la plus persécutante, est celle de la mort." 1 Even though this is the dominant theme of only one novel, Le Visionnaire, it appears in one way or another in his entire work. But the period in which he was most occupied by the fear of death and an effort to overcome that fear covers the same years during which the struggle of faith was so intense, 1926-34. We shall see why this was so. Death plays an important role in Green's work because of his basically religious nature. It is also connected with his concepts of the dream world, but its origins are found in his religious upbringing. Fear of death could arise from his great sensitivity as a child, and we know how he reacted to the contemplation of eternity. In general one can say that religion presents mankind with two possibilities in afterlife. T h e first and most impressive of these is an afterlife of torture and punishment. Judaism creates fear by describing an invisible God whose punishments are eternal and a land of lasting misery called Gehenna. Green does not tell us what part of the Bible his mother used to read to him, but since it was not she who informed him of Hell, we must assume that his own reading of the Bible instructed him along these lines. As a matter of fact we can be assured that he enjoyed reading of frightening things,

SINCE

T H E ANGUISH O F

DEATH

33

for he writes: "Avoir peur est une des joies secrètes de l'enfance, et l'enfance se prolonge bien au-delà des limites de ce qu'on appelle l'âge de raison." 2 We also know that the beginning of Le Voyageur sur la terre is autobiographical, that his aunt spoke to him of the Bible, and that she had "une prédilection très marquée pour les endroits terribles des Ecritures." 3 Christianity and the New Testament did not abolish the fear of death. Green writes: "La mort sur la croix n'a pas aboli l'enfer." 4 It is rather paradoxical that Christian imagination should be so fertile in the field of cruelty, but Green had contact with such an imagination when he was very young, and it is impossible to meassure the consequences of that contact. He obtained his first vivid concept of Hell and the devil from Gustave Doré's illustrations of the Divine Comedy, and in his comments upon this book we find fear and anxiety and also some of the secret joy referred to above: Les tristes escarpements du Purgatoire et les tourbillons d'astres du Paradis ne me retinrent pas longtemps. C'était l'Enfer, hélas, qui m'attirait; j'en examinai les supplices avec une inquiétude croissante, et je dois le dire, l'obscur sentiment d'une faute. 8

In order to be afraid, Green imagined the devil hiding among his mother's clothes, a game which caused much anxiety and "d'épouvantables méditations." β If Green's fear of the afterlife was to a certain extent self-imposed, we must remember that before 1924 there was also present in his mind the other possibility that religion offers man, the way of salvation. Since Christianity is based on love, we are supposed to be able to attain a kind of happiness unequaled on earth—an orthodox idea which is included in the Pamphlet when Catholics are reminded that their prayers speak of their sentencing to death and their grace. 7 We have seen how much importance Green

34

THE ANGUISH OF DEATH

gives to Christian love and protection, so that actually his early fear of death had to be forced. Furthermore, he had not yet realized that he himself would die some day: Du temps que je pouvais me dire catholique, je ne craignais pas la mort. J'avais vingt ans et à cet âge, on ne croit pas à la mort ou l'on n'y croit que pour les autres. On en parle, on ieint de la craindre ou de la souhaiter, mais cela n'est pas sincère, c'est simplement une attitude littéraire. En ce qui me concernait alors, la certitude du salut me mettait à l'abri des terreurs dont j'ai souffert plus tard.8 T h e early years of Green's life, then, are marked by the knowledge of the existence of a frightening b u t fascinating afterlife a n d by the belief that it was utterly remote from him personally. T w o events caused a p r o f o u n d change in his mind. T h e first, of course, is the recognition of the fact that he would die also: Pour moi, il y a deux grands moments dans la jeunesse. 1. La découverte de la mort, le jour où l'on se dit, pour la première fois, et avec une conviction absolue, profonde: "Moi aussi, je mourrai." 2. La découverte de la fragilité de tout.9 T h e first discovery was made at the age of twenty in Virginia, and an account of what h a p p e n e d is found in the last p a r a g r a p h of L'Autre Sommeil. Green comments on the discovery in the following m a n n e r : "Cette pensée si simple, je puis dire qu'elle m'a changé par le dedans." 10 T h e second event has already been mentioned. It is the disappearance of the future, the intense concern with the present. Mon petit Pamphlet, qui est une sorte d'adieu à la foi religieuse de mon enfance, m'a mis, en quelque sorte, à découvert. Aussi la crainte de mourir s'est-elle fait jour sans tarder dans tout ce que j'ai écrit depuis.11

T H E ANGUISH O F

DEATH

35

T h e anxiety caused by death grew strong because he no longer considered himself master of his capacity to enjoy the world around him and because he seemed more like a toy in the hands of fate. T h e security of faith had vanished, and the fear and fascination of death occupy much of his thought until 1934. If we were to imagine that Green progressed through various stages during this period, we might consider the earliest one a concern with the relationship between religion and death which is largely expressed in Le Voyageur sur la terre

a n d i n Les Clefs de la mort.

In the former,

where we have examined the theological possession, Green tries to imagine the reality of death and bring it close to life by means of Daniel's dream. In this dream, which is repeated three times, Daniel's soul sees his body dying in bed. Wanting to separate himself from his body, he follows Paul to the edge of a chasm of rocks and whirling waters where he faints. Once he awakens, but still in his dream, he is back in his room looking at his smashed body. Une telle épouvante me saisit alors que je me mis à souffler comme font les animaux qui prennent peur. . . . Je fis ce rêve trois fois et chaque fois je me réveillai dans une terreur plus grande car il me semblait qu'il devenait plus précis et qu'il se rapprochait de plus en plus de la réalité, mais de quelle réalité? 12 It was precisely his reality. H e had tried to foresee the future and did see the horror of it. In Les Clefs de la mort death appears in a different way. It is a power superior to man b u t simultaneously and capriciously belonging to him. Early in the story Jean listens to a mysterious voice coming from the fields where he has gone to seek peace. He says: "Mais quelque chose m'empêche de jouir pleinement du repos, de l'immobilité

36

T H E ANGUISH O F

DEATH

sous le ciel, une étrange inquiétude que je ne sais comment définir et qui empoisonne ma joie." 13 Later the voice grows louder and frightens him. When it is a question of killing Jalon, death, in the guise of the voice, encourages him and almost becomes part of him. But Odile's return prevents him from carrying out the act; the \oice loses its influence over him and seems to pass to her. Before dying she says: "Il [Jean] a attiré la mort à Ferrière, elle ne repartira pas les mains vides." 14 She also knows that "Dieu la ferait mourir comme il lui plairait." 15 The more Jean thinks Odile holds the keys to death, the more his fear increases. When he finally faces death as it is about to strike Odile, he realizes that it is not within his power to handle death. Death belongs to God. In these two stories it is the second that tries to bring death directly into conscious life. The first establishes the contact through dreams. This procedure is natural for an author who had not believed he would die and who had to imagine death before seeing it. Nevertheless, in each instance it is treated as a supernatural force, something greater than man in which he can lose himself. In accomplishing this, Green has introduced into these two stories a large amount of mystery, and in this respect we can say that religion and death are related as he first becomes concerned with the latter. Between the composition of these stories. Green wrote Mont-Cinère, which contains only one reference to the question of religion and death. The grandmother says: —Emily, j'ai peur de mourir. —Peur de mourir! s'écria Emily, n'êtes-vous pas chrétienne? —Ah! tu ne comprends pas, gémit Mrs. Elliot en agitant les mains, et son visage prit une expression de désespoir. T u ne sais ce que c'est que . . . que le prix de la vie, la joie de . . . de vivre. 1 6

THE

ANGUISH O F

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37

If religion is so unimportant in her anxiety, this is because Green, as we know, was trying to forget his attachments to his religious past. But in these few lines we see a progression in his attitude. Le Voyageur sur la terre links death and religion; Mont-Cinère opposes life and death. In his own life, fear of death is expressed in two ways. He is worried by the idea that everything falls into nothingness and by the cognate idea that all the things he has learned and then forgotten amount to a partial death of his own being: T a n t de choses de nous vont ainsi au néant, tant d'heures, tant d'années. . . . C'est une sensation désagréable et presque sinistre de se sentir doucement dériver vers une inconscience définitive, et je ne puis penser qu'avec horreur au jour où dans ma tête tout s'effacera de ce que j'ai connu et aimé. 1 7

In the novels, fear of death appears as a haunting fright which upsets daily life. Mrs. Elliot in Mont-Cinère is afraid her daughter will kill her. This obsesses her to the extent of occupying her deams and hardening her character so that Emily observes her with horror. Emily is haunted by death at intervals, once when she dreams of killing her mother and again in her grandmother's room where her father had died. Since she spends most of her time beside her grandmother, the fear of the latter's death becomes an obsession. We should remember, however, that fear and repulsion of death form a secondary theme to the one of greed and loneliness which dominate these women. Nevertheless, the same persons who fear losing their possessions also fear death for much the same reason, and both fears similarly shrivel their hearts. Green introduced Emily to this fear through a dream, as he had done in Le Voyageur sur la terre. In Adrienne Mesurât, which he wrote two years later, the fear is created

38

T H E ANGUISH O F

DEATH

by an actual murder. Having killed her father by pushing him downstairs, Adrienne cannot get death off her mind. Again it is a secondary theme, but it plays an important part in driving her to madness. Her empty expression, her horrified stupidity, her inability to sleep—all point toward an unavoidable subjugation to her deed. She tried to overcome it by thinking of her past, but "elle avait besoin de toute sa force pour dominer la terreur qui montait en elle." 18 Her fear is accentuated by everyone she speaks to thereafter and culminates in a scene in which Dr. Maurecourt leads her into her father's room, trying to rid her of her phobia. Adrienne is also afraid of her sister's illness. Germaine has left to be cured and has been gone some time before Adrienne dares go up to her room. "Quelque chose l'avait retenue de Je faire plus tôt. D'abord, le vague effroi d'une contagion possible." 18 When she gets to the door there is "le souvenir d'une moribonde" 2 0 which makes her hand tremble. And finally she becomes so terrified she does not even want to receive mail from Germaine concerning their father's will: Elle mettait cela sur le compte de la haine qu'elle avait toujours nourrie à l'endroit de Germaine, mais c'était quelque chose de beaucoup plus fort et qu'elle ne pouvait comprendre parce qu'elle n'avait pas le courage de se l'avouer. 2 !

By combining the effects of a murder with the possibility of fatal contagion, Green gave a most important role to death in his second novel. It continued to preoccupy him in Leviathan, where we find the same themes—fear of having caused death and of being subjected to it. When Guéret climbs to Angèle's room and imagines that she is dead, he is frightened. During his fight with her, her fear of death almost overcomes him. "Une terreur subite, la propre terreur de sa victime le gagnait. Il ne savait plus comment échapper à lui-

THE

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39

même, à son crime, comment empêcher ses mains d'agir, comment arrêter ces cris." 22 The rest of the story is partially based on his efforts to escape, to avoid possible capital punishment for having killed, in his delirium, an old man. From these examples one can understand why Green called his concern with death a phobia; it became more and more of a phobia as he tried to suppress his religious sentiments. In this respect it becomes apparent that a principal explanation for this development was the fear of losing the security which he had sensed so strongly in his youth. The power of such fear is brought to our attention by the images which keep recurring in descriptions of the phobia. If childhood impressions are the most lasting, we must return to Doré's illustrations to find the origin of some of these images. First of all Green used to look at the Divine Comedy alone in a room. When we recall that he liked to picture the devil hiding among his mother's clothes and that darkness scared him, we see the importance of a room, solitude, and darkness in creating fear. Daniel dreams of death at night. Jean is only afraid at night in his room. Emily fears death where her father died and more so at night. Adrienne imagines the worst things under similar conditions, and so it is in the novels which follow. What Green saw in Doré's illustrations is equally important. "Ces grappes d'hommes et de femmes tordus de souffrance me frappèrent d'étonnement et se logèrent dans ma mémoire à tout jamais." 23 Thus he describes those characters that come into contact with death in amazingly similar ways. In Le Voyageur sur la terre we read: "Mon visage était blanc, quelquefois mes lèvres s'entr'ouvraient." "Les doigts remuaient faiblement, et cet effort faisait ruisseler la sueur sur les joues de celui qui dormait." 24 In Mont-Cinère Emily "sentit que son corps était moite et se

40

T H E ANGUISH O F

DEATH

redressa dans son lit, écartant les mèches de cheveux que la sueur avait collées à son f r o n t . " 2 8 Adrienne is described in the same way, and Guéret, imagining how Angèle would appear when dead, thinks: Elle dormait pareille à une morte. Le sang avait ralenti sa course dans ses veines et ne colorait plus ses joues. . . . Si quelqu'un la serrait jusqu'à chasser l'air de ses poumons pour toujours, elle aurait ce visage blême, cette bouche entr'ouverte qui ne pourrait plus crier.- 9

T h e fact that there is always a noise of some sort is another important element which Green relates to death and which he also got from Doré. Speaking of persons in the illustrations, he writes: "Je ne comprenais pas qu'ils fussent déshabillés ou qu'on leur fît de telles misères, car presque tous hurlaient ou pleuraient, et s'ils riaient c'était pire." 27 Green himself uttered a cry on seeing them and that is probably why he found this to be an essential part of a description of anguish. Later on two events confirmed his belief that noise precedes death. In 1928 he had an operation, and one of the things he remembers before losing consciousness was "ce grand bruit de cloches semblables à celles des trains américains." 2 8 In 1932 he was interested enough by an experiment carried out by some Viennese students to record it in his diary. T h e students wanted to know the sensations of the death agony without actually dying, and Green notes that they were "aveuglés de lumière et ont entendu u n bruit énorme, comparable à celui d'un orage." 29 In the novels, whether it be a sharp cry or a huge noise, both stress the anguish each character is going through. T h e moment Daniel believes he is freed from his body he cries out, and it is the cry of his mangled body the moment it dies. Emily hears "une sorte de hurlement étouffé" 30 from her dying grandmother. We have seen the irapor-

41

T H E ANGUISH O F DEATH

tance of sound and death in Les Clefs de la mort, but this is the way it is described at one point. It began slowly in the field and then "montait, montait avec une rapidité terrible pour finir en un cri qui retentissait douloureusement en m o i . "

31

I n Advienne

Mesurât

a n d Leviathan

Green

also writes of a roaring sound preceding an outcry. In each case the noise is the culmination of the incident, the high point in the fear of death, or death itself. It is also important to note that at these moments of intense anguish a quiver of horror shakes the person. Without much imagination it is possible to see in these various traits a relationship between love and death which we must consider as another stage in his preoccupation and one of the most important. A famous Viennese physician has written: "L'amour et la mort sont intimement liés." And a little further on: "L'angoisse aussi est une manifestation de l'instinct vital avec la seule différence qu'elle témoigne à vrai dire de la présence d'un instinct dominé. Elle est le produit du 'refoulement.' " 32 It is interesting to see how Green combined love and death in his novels before Le Visionnaire and before having read Stekel. After having read Stekel for the first time in 1932, he comments: "Lecture du livre de Stekel sur les états d'angoisse nerveuse, lecture qui m'instruit grandement sur non propre compte." 3 3 It is not necessary to undertake a psychoanalysis of Green at this point; furthermore, a short study along this line has already appeared. 34 However, Stekel will play a part in clarifying the interplay of love, death, and the fear of death in Green's novels. How are love and death related? Stekel writes: "L'instinct sexuel apparaît toujours comme l'expression de l'instinct vital et de son contraire, l'instinct de la mort," and he explains with the equation: "Satisfaire son instinct sexuel, c'est épuiser ses forces vitales." 35 Anxiety and fear spring from a natural rejection of death, but this reaction

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DEATH

simultaneously includes a desire for at least a partial death. Beginning with Advienne Mesurât, each one of Green's novels contains at least one character in whom love for someone else is very strong and at the same time repressed. All of Adrienne's acts are motivated by her desire to know Maurecourt. The scene at the card table shows hei torment and tremendous repression of desire. The hero of Leviathan gives rein to some of his instincts, but before his fight with Angèle he is about to go out of his mind. In Epaves it is Eliane's silent but strong love for Philippe, and in L'Autre Sommeil Denis's love for Claude. In each case when these individuals approach a possible satisfaction of the sexual instinct, they are at the same time afraid, subconsciously afraid of losing a "vital force." Even though Moira does not belong here chronologically, the psychological situation between Joseph and Praileau and Joseph and Moira is of the same nature as the one between Guéret and Angèle. As Stekel explains: "Plus l'instinct vital sera puissament développé, plus l'individu sera soumis aux sensations de la peur." 8 6 This is another reason why Green's characters are so tormented. They seek a way out of their moral solitude and at the same time have the feeling that if they should succeed, the result would be a privation or partial death of their desire. Nevertheless, if there is a death instinct, we can find in the relationship between love and death an attitude of hesitation in the face of death, or times when fear is not the primary reaction. Those novels in which we have pointed out the fear of death contain parallel remarks which imply that the individuals concerned like to be tormented. T h e expression "aimer à en mourir" sums up exactly what happens. Many examples could be cited to show how fear and love in turn rise and recede only to end in apparent indifference or in an almost fatalistic acceptance of come what may, but one scene will suffice to show the type of

T H E ANGUISH O F DEATH

43

thing that bothered Green. H a v i n g been in misery for some time, Adrienne decides to write a letter to Maurecourt: Ce qu'elle voulait, c'était donner elle-même cette lettre au docteur, puis revenir chez elle et attendre. Dans l'état d'esprit où elle se trouvait ce projet lui parut la simplicité même. Après des semaines d'hésitation et d'incertitude, elle voyait clair tout d'un coup. . . . Elle craignait que son énergie ne s'épuisât, elle savait qu'elle ne pouvait exiger d'elle-même un autre effort et que si elle ne profitait pas de celui qu'elle avait dû fournir pour écrire sa lettre, elle perdait la partie pour de bon. . . . Elle s'appuya au mur. . . . Elle eut un brusque mouvement de colère contre cet homme qui ne venait pas, comme s'il lui avait donné un rendez-vous et qu'il fût en retard; il y avait des moments où elle se sentait prête à le détester. . . . Et, tout d'un coup, elle eut l'impression qu'il était devant elle et qu'elle le voyait. . . . T o u t ce qu'elle avait pensé s'effaça de sa mémoire. Elle comprit qu'elle était impuissante, que les raisonnements ne feraient que l'aigrir et qu'il n'y avait rien à changer au fait qu'elle était amoureuse. . . . Dans son angoisse, elle inclina la tête jusqu'à toucher son menton de sa poitrine, et se tordit les mains en silence. . . . Elle se trouvait devant une réalité affreuse, qu'elle touchait le fond de sa douleur. . . . L'idée de la mort traversa son esprit et ne l'émut pas; elle se rappela son épouvante de l'avant-veille, lorsqu'elle avait cru que le mal de sa soeur s'était communiqué à elle, mais sa chair n'en frémit pas et ce qui lui faisait horreur quelque temps auparavant la laissait à présent indifférente. —Peut-être est-ce ainsi que cela finira, se dit-elle. 37 T h e hesitation in Epaves and in L'Autre Sommeil is similar. It differs in Léviathan because of the physical contact, but the wavering between love and the fear of death is even more present. T h e reader begins to wonder to which Guéret is most attracted. H e becomes so fanatical

44

THE ANGUISH OF DEATH

that one might say he is motivated by a death drive which at the same time he fears. T h e scene in which Green finally unites the anguish of death with love occurs in Le Visionnaire when Manuel makes love to the Viscountess. Edmond J a l o u x wrote in his criticism of this book: Ajoutons ici, que le Visionnaire est une oeuvre qui doit certainement beaucoup à la connaissance des idées et des oeuvres de Freud. Mais aucune trace de cette influence n'est visible dans le récit. Jamais la moindre théorie n'est évoquée.38 Although it was Stekel, a pupil of Freud, who revealed the psychology to Green, the observation and the commentary are correct. Without the help of Stekel, it is difficult to see how Green could have combined the two instincts in a scene which is capital in his overcoming of the fear of death. " J e me jetai sur cette femme comme une bête, mais avec autant de rancoeur que de désir." " I l me semblait que ce mystérieux acte d'amour que j'allais accomplir enfin remplaçait un acte de haine et se confondait avec lui." "Cet enlacement glacial me fit savourer la terreur au coeur même du plaisir et ce qu'on appelle l'ivresse des sens ne m'empêcha point de comprendre que j'étais la proie et non le maître. J'étouffai . . . le cri qui s'échappait de ma poitrine." T h e n Manuel expresses his horror of it all, and finally utters a cry of terror as he separates himself from her. "D'un bond je fus sur pied, frémissant d'une peur que je ne songeai même pas à dissimuler. La lumière qui grandissait dans la pièce éclairait le corps mince et frêle, la tête enveloppée de tresses noires. Jamais rien au monde ne m'avait paru plus beau." 3 9 T h e Viscountess was dead. Stekel had written: "L'accès d'angoisse ne simule pas seulement le coït, mais aussi le 'trépas.' " 4 0 T h i s scene is not only the fictional adaptation of that statement but also the culminating point toward which Green had been striving

T H E ANGUISH O F

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45

in the preceding novels. T h e same apex is reached in Moira where the psychology is the same, but Green is not concerned with the problem of death in this novel, which we shall discuss later. It would be unfair to say that by uniting the life and death instincts Green overcame his fear of death. T h e Freudian explanation is applicable in many ways and helps us understand his characters, but it is incomplete. T o obtain a complete answer to the enigma of life and death, we must return to the religious basis of the question and remember Green's Protestant background and a sentence already quoted: " J ' e n examinai les supplices avec . . . l'obscur sentiment d'une faute." It seems seriously questionable whether a six-year-old can be aware of sin, but we may as well trust his memory. T h e essential thought, of course, is the concept of sin as a cause for the fear of death. Stekel writes: " I l y aurait encore à mentionner que, dans bien des cas, cette angoisse de la mort provient d'une mauvaise conscience." 4 1 " E t toute angoisse est aussi l'angoisse du châtiment de D i e u . " 4 2 In each of the novels mentioned so far, the forbidden act causes the most anguish. J e a n wants to kill Jalon. Adrienne loves someone too old for her. Gueret and Mme Grosgeorge do not love their respective mates. Denis should not be in love with Claude, nor Eliane with her brother-in-law, nor Praileau with Joseph, to take an example from the latest novel. In spite of all that, it must be stressed that sins of this sort are not the main themes of the novels in which they appear. They are there because they naturally and subconsciously became part of Green's presentation of these characters as a result of certain personal experiences. As a religious explanation of these relationships, then, we find the concept of the forbidden fruit. T h e persistence of this idea shows how deepseated Green's original ideas were and how difficult these years were for him. During the 1926-34 period the an-

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DEATH

guish of sin vanishes only in cases of surrender to fate, as is exemplified by Mme Grosgeorge. From 1934 to 1939 this type of sinfulness will be partially subjugated, but it will reappear after 1939 to be reconciled in another way. Another aspect of the Christian concept of sin is the result of committing a sin which entails a fall from grace. T h i s again does not enter as such into the novels in question, but there may well be a connection between man's fall from grace and Green's constant use of fainting or falling every time death, sin, or fear is present. Daniel, following Paul to the cliff, hears him cry out, and at the same time he falls to earth. When the voice stops J e a n from killing J a l o n , he falls and faints. In Mont-Cinère, Advienne Mesurât, and Leviathan we find sensations of falling into an abyss. T h e description of the death of Denis's father contains the following sentence: " E t plus j e regardais son visage plus il s'éloignait de moi, je le voyais dans un vertige, j e me penchai sur lui, tout à coup il revenait à moi comme du fond d'un trou, et j e reculai." 4 3 Henriette, wife of the hero of Epaves, just misses being run over and is saved by a hand which makes her fall backward, and the two young people in Minuit die in a fall, even though this book was written after his novels had ceased to show their earlier evidence of the acute fear of death. T h e repetition of this idea leaves no doubt as to its importance, and consequently it seems highly possible that there is a connection between the religious fall as it was presented to Green by Doré and the fact that he has said about his own work: "L'idée de la peur ou de toute émotion forte, semble liée d'une manière inexplicable à un escalier." 4 4 T h a t the ether he took at the time of his operation 4 5 should have caused a sensation of falling only substantiated what he had imagined. Just as the Freudian explanation of fear ends in hesitation because of the attraction of love which is intermingled

THE

ANGUISH O F

DEATH

47

with fear, so does the religious explanation have a less gloomy side because of the pleasant and irresistible fascination of the infinite. The vertigo caused by fear is similar to that caused by contemplation of the incomprehensible. The Christian concept of eternity means survival rather than death and obliteration, so a religiously inclined person does not consider dying and surviving as opposites. It is in this mysterious combination, which on the theological level is parallel to Stekel's combination of the life and death instincts, that we find the other basis for Green's preoccupation with death. Referring to Le Visionnaire, he writes: "J'aborde enfin le sujet qui m'attire, me fascine et m'épouvante. C'est l'obsédé qui se jette dans l'abîme qu'il redoute." 46 As for the fright, we have seen what it consists of—cries, pallor, sensations of falling, etc.—all of which reappear in this novel. What interests us most, however, is the positive side, the way in which Green strives to face death and glimpse what is beyond. The fascination of the subject in this novel is actually introduced by the end of Epaves. The reader, knowing that Philippe could have prevented a drowning in the Seine and that he contemplates suicide beside the river, comes to see in the river a symbol of death. But Philippe is horrified by death. Cependant, elle l'intriguait, à peu près comme aimait quelquefois la sentir tout près de lui, et Ainsi, ce matin, mourir c'était simplement un avant. L'extrême facilité de ce geste offrait en tentation singulière. 47

ce fleuve, et il séparée de lui. pas à faire en elle-même une

This and the following paragraphs express the great temptation set before him, so great that he finally has to touch the water. "Enfin le bout de ses doigts trempa dans la Seine, puis sa main entière, et il lui sembla qu'il n'avait plus peur." 48

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T H E ANGUISH O F DEATH

On the first page of Le Visionnaire, Marie-Thérèse asks Manuel for news of the château where, as we learn later, death reigns. "Sa nature un peu méfiante lui défendait de répondre tout de suite; cependant il ne résistait jamais longtemps à l'attrait de ce sujet." Manuel's story is the one in which Green tries to overcome fear and penetrate the invisible. Manuel relates: Partagé entre la crainte que m'inspirait cet homme et une curiosité plus forte encore que ma crainte, je demeurai un instant au pied du lit. Il y a dans la peur un pouvoir de fascination que les plus courageux ont éprouvé; je me sentis arraché à moi-même par le spectacle étrange de cet être vivant qui glissait dans la mort et il me sembla qu'auprès de lui j'abordais les confins d'une région où le silence est plus profond que notre silence. 49

He faces death in the characters of Mme Georges, who impersonates death, and in the Viscountess, whose curiosity is her driving force. Green describes Mme Georges as having pale, deathlike features. Because she is constantly at the dying man's bedside, the others believe she is holding him on the edge of life as long as it may please her to do so. By keeping everyone else out of the room, she arouses their curiosity so that the repulsion of a dying man is transformed into something intriguing. In this way Green brings the Viscountess and Manuel under the fascination of death. T h e Viscountess repeatedly remarks upon her inability to overcome such fascination. It dates from a childhood illness when she recalls being shocked back to reality and thinking at the moment that she was about to receive a new faculty. "Quelquefois j'imagine que je vais voir ce que voient les mourants." 50 For reasons of curiosity she puts on her mourning clothes to see how she will look. When Manuel asks how she has the courage to stay at the château, she answers:

T H E ANGUISH O F

DEATH

49

Je veux savoir comment cela finit, la vie, oui, de quelle manière on entre dans la mort. C'est plus fort que moi. Il y a là quelque chose qui m'attire et me tient. J'espère que dans les paroles que prononce mon père, il s'en trouvera quelqu'une qui m'instruira enfin. 61

T h e paragraph continues with what she believes happens to the soul after death and ends with a recollection of her sister. Je n'étais pas triste, je sentais grandir en moi, avec la stupéfaction que cause la mort, une ingouvernable curiosité. A dater de cette époque, je tombai sous la domination de cette idée que la vie est une illusion et que la grande réalité, c'est la mort. 82

With the last line of this quotation we get very close to the end of Green's fear of death. T h e almost fanatical desire to know, to flee and approach, to undergo and dominate, results in the sexual act discussed above. It is the mysterious unity of drives toward absolute and apparently opposite values which helped Green overcome his phobia. The Freudian explanation leads up to the theological one, the unity being something that will always remain beyond man's power to understand. Stekel implies the same in lines quite unusual for a medical book: La peur, angoisse de l'anéantissement, et l'instinct sexuel, aspiration à la création, ne peuvent se séparer. Tous deux apparaissent en compagnie de l'instinct de la mort. Mourir et vivre sont des facteurs équivalents dans la grande équation symbolique de l'infini. 63

We cannot say that Green conquered his fear entirely nor that the writing of Le Visionnaire accomplished what it did all at once. He was able to face the topic thanks to a slow period of preparation. This period began in 1928 when he wrote after his operation: "Quand je me suis réveillé, ma première pensée a été la suivante: 'Voilà. Je suis mort et c'est exactement ce que j'avais prévu, j'existe

50

T H E ANGUISH O F DEATH

toujours.' " 54 We have already mentioned in one respect his partial conversion in 1932, but another important aspect of it was to allow him to think of death with less fear. On November 25, 1932, he wrote: Dans le chapitre que j'écris en ce moment, "Ars bene moriendi," je veux montrer les personnages qui s'efforcent de s'élever au niveau de la mort, et la mort comme un magnifique soleil noir. Les dernières journées de la vie de Manuel devront être une sorte d'apprentissage de la mort. 55

On December 2, 1932, he said: Autrefois, la peur de mourir fondait sur moi tout à coup et me glaçait, mais avec le temps et la réflexion, j'en suis venu à ne voir dans la mort qu'un grand palais obscur, où nous devons pénétrer sans angoisse. 88

This statement is important not only because of the apparent decrease in his anguish but also because of the link established by the metaphor between Le Visionnaire and the last two parts of Minuit. Later on in December of that year Green felt a strong unity with nature in the Champde-Mars, a kind of fusion of his soul with that of the universe, which makes the thought of death almost pleasurable. And the entry of January 16, 1933, expresses the general tendency of his thought: Belle musique funèbre, mais quel dommage que ce mot ait pris un sens désagréable! Il en faudrait un autre qui désignât la mélancolie dans ce qu'elle a de plus séduisant et traduisit mieux ce que l'on pourrait appeler le charme de la mort. 87

It might seem from these remarks that Green's fear of death was only a fictitious one. That is not so. We must remember that he was afraid because of his desire to enjoy life to the full and because religious security could no longer replace such enjoyment. Only with the help of psychology and religion was he able to subdue that fear. Therefore, the conversion of 1932 actually amounts to a

T H E ANGUISH O F

DEATH

51

partial freeing of the soul from the chains of reality, thereby enabling him to consider death as a liberation from the torments of the preceding years. If we consider this conversion not as a return to Catholic dogma but as a renewed sense of spiritual force, we can realize the turmoil that must have been created within him as he strove to suppress that feeling. By submitting to it he could have overcome fear of death more readily, but simultaneously he would have lost the satisfaction given by worldly pleasures. T h r o u g h submission, however, he sensed relief and expressed his premonition in three of the novels. In Léviathan Mme Grosgeorge thinks of what death would mean: "C'était dans une des pièces de cette maison que la mort viendrait la trouver, la mort dont elle ne voulait pas et qui l'arracherait à une vie qu'elle n'avait point demandée." 6 8 And Angèle "eût voulu crier . . . jusqu'à ce que la vie la quittât, puisqu'il n'y avait pas d'autre moyen d'échapper à cet enfer que de mourir." 89 Denis's uncle tells him that death is the only limit to human suffering, and when Philippe is hesitating about suicide, Green writes: "Seul le passage de la vie à la mort lui semblait difficile. . . . Mais, la frontière une fois traversée, commençait la nuit bienheureuse de l'anéantissement." 6 0 Manuel sums up Green's idea of liberation by saying: Depuis quelques semaines, en effet, je me libérais, peu à peu, de mes craintes anciennes; en reniant mon héritage catholique, je trouvais un réconfort étrange dans l'espoir de disparaître à jamais. L'idée de revivre me fatiguait, me terrifiait, ou s'il fallait renaître à une vie nouvelle, je souhaitais humblement que ce fût avec une conscience amoindrie. 6 1

T h i s brings us back to guish. If his Christian the Protestant aspects of consciousness of sin and

the essential cause of Green's anupbringing and, more precisely, it had not inculcated in him the the torments of death following

52

T H E ANGUISH OF DEATH

a sinful life, the problem of spiritual versus physical reality would have been considerably less important. If he had not had to repress sinful desire, the entire course of his literary production might have been changed. Since this did not happen, Green can be thankful that by writing Le Visionnaire he came to understand the link between love and death, thereby overcoming most of his earlier fear. The thorn of the Puritan's consciousness of sin continued to torment him so long as the body had any importance. Consequently, with Minuit he begins a series of novels in which the soul tries to live without the weight of the body. There are three instances, however, before Minuit when a desire to separate the two is expressed. Mme Grosgeorge feels so much a stranger among people that it is as if "une force irrésistible eût voulu la détacher de la terre, d'ellemême." 62 Denis, recalling the episode with Andrée, remarks: "Dans mon coeur je haïssais tout cela à l'égal d'une souillure, je souhaitais ardemment que la mort me prît, non cette mort fructifiante dont s'enivrent les chrétiens, mais une mort absolue qui me délivrât de moi-même." 63 Only after having finished Le Visionnaire was Green able to write: Que de fois je suis tombé malade à la veille d'un départ! . . . C'est peut-être, déguisée sous cette forme symbolique, la peur de mourir qui agit sur moi. Avoir peur de mourir est absurde, je le sais parfaitement, mais mon corps n'en sait rien. M

This is the point at which we find Green in October, 1933. Reducing considerably the fear of death, he next placed emphasis on the struggle between body and soul. In order to live the life of the soul fully without sensual drawbacks and to depart further from his original torment, Green began the study of Buddhism in 1934, an undertaking from which he hoped to benefit greatly.

III: THE SOLACE OF BUDDHISM

E X A M I N A T I O N of Green's interest in Buddhism must be approached with the understanding that Buddhism is a religious philosophy whose interpretations and ramifications are too numerous for Green to have embraced without deeper study than he gave to the subject. During his studies he discovered two men whose writings interested him considerably because of their broad-mindedness and their knowledge of other religions. T h e y were Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. 1 It will be noticed that these men were H i n d u s and that Hinduism and Buddhism are not identical. One author has pointed out that the more one studies the two religions the fewer differences one finds, a point which is explained by the fact that Buddhism grew out of Hinduism. 2 Consequently, when Green used the term Buddhism he must have been thinking more of the whole Orient than of one section of it. T h e two aspects of this religion which particularly interested him in 1934 were the Oriental attitude toward death, which prolongs his previous line of thinking, and the search for a superior truth that might bring peace of soul. Green was in the process of writing Minuit when he began the study of Buddhism; hence, in this novel, we shall find the initial interest he had in the Orient and to what extent he came under its influence. One first notices the obvious statements, such as: "Ce M. Edme est une sorte de Bouddhiste." 3 In the description of him, Green points out that the "yeux largement fendus et d'un noir profond

THE

54

THE SOLACE OF BUDDHISM

. . . prêtaient à cet h o m m e q u e l q u e chose de la beauté orientale q u ' o n voit a u x personnages de mosaïques." * A n d he uses an image he probably w o u l d not have used h a d he not been interested in the O r i e n t : ". . . cette région d'ordinaire inaccessible, protégée par des H i m a l a y a s de désespoir." 6 In the field of religious theory, the t h o u g h t d o m i n a t i n g this novel is the o n e of nirvana, as the Buddhists call it, or brahman, as the H i n d u s call it. It is the feeling of liberation from the shackles of worldly things, a n d w e can see the connection between that a n d the exhausted desire for freedom expressed by M m e Grosgeorge or Eliane. In Minuit it is possible to follow the d e v e l o p m e n t toward a state of nirvana w h i c h M. E d m e is apparently trying to attain. M a n must first recognize to w h a t extent his senses are deceptive. V i v e k a n a n d a explains the deception by m a i n t a i n i n g that whatever we see is registered in the m i n d so that w h a t we actually see is the t h i n g enveloped by the m i n d . T h e r e f o r e , the true essence of the object always remains u n k n o w n to us. A n d so it is w i t h everything in life. T h i s idea appears in one of Bernard's remarks: " M a i s en trichant avec la vie on n'obtient d'elle q u e du toc, et c'est ainsi qu'elle vous roule: elle vous a p p r e n d à aimer le toc en vous d o n n a n t l'illusion d'aimer le v r a i . " 6 If our senses deceive us on the essence of things, it is because of w h a t the Buddhists call moha and the H i n d u s maya. "Moha, c'est l'erreur, la confusion, l'égarement q u i empêche l'esprit de discerner la vérité." 7 "Maya est l'illusion q u i fait q u e B r a h m a n se présente sous l'apparence de l'univers." 8 M. E d m e has this in mind w h i l e speaking to his friends: Alors que nous étions plus riches, je vous répétais de temps en temps que vous accordiez une créance trop généreuse à un monde illusoire. . . . Si vous aviez écouté mes avertissements,

THE SOLACE O F

BUDDHISM

55

vous auriez vu p e u à peu les choses se décolorer autour d e vous et perdre cet air d e réalité q u i vous abuse.®

Knowing that our senses make us see the world as it really is not, the Oriental mind advises us to train our minds for liberation. It should be noted here that certain stages of this reasoned mental training contain less mystical devotion than we find in Christian spirituality. T h i s fact will eventually present an obstacle to Green in his Oriental studies. In any case, this training appears in Minuit when M. Edme says: " Q u e ne cultivez-vous le goût de l'invisible!" 10 Before M. Edme's entrance the reader learns that Fontfroide is a place where there is no leisure. "Il est même facile de s'y ennuyer, si l'on n'a cultivé en soi le goût des occupations sérieuses, de l'étude." 1 1 Hindus consider this effort obligatory if one wishes to have knowledge of the unity of the universe. Green uses the idea very cleverly by uniting the reality of M. Edme's dream with the reality of what his friends see, thereby abolishing temporal and material distinctions. Je longeai d o n c les murailles de Fontfroide comme si elles se fussent dressées tout de bon au-dessus de moi, et le passé, le présent, l'avenir se brouillaient si merveilleusement dans ma tête q u ' e n palpant l'air vide je croyais sentir sous ma paume

une

surface fraîche et rugueuse. 1 2

B u t the fact that " M . Edme représente la raison toujours sollicitée par le rêve " 13 gives to this borrowing of the Oriental unity of the universe a touch typical of Green. A t the same time it is quite possible to discern a connection between the entity behind what we see and Green's appreciation of the reality of the invisible. T h i s occurs in Minuit even before M. Edme's arrival when Elizabeth is with M. Agnel: A u j o u r d ' h u i , elle avait l'impression singulière que toutes les choses de ce m o n d e participaient d'une commune essence, par

56

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BUDDHISM

exemple le gout du pain qu'elle avait mangé tout à l'heure et l'odeur du pardessus de M. Agnel, la pluie et le discours de M. Agnel."

He who has recognized the illusions of the world, who has devoted himself to study and thereby glimpsed the essential unity of things, is on the way toward a state of nirvana. He possesses a power of thought bordering on what the Hindus call Yoga of knowledge which comprises a mental ability that is stronger than reason as we usually know it. It is a state of mind between dreams and reality which Green reveals in a sentence such as the following: Ici, je remarquai un phénomène étrange, c'est que, chaque fois que la raison me parlait, ce bouton de porte s'évanouissait entre mes doigts, mais chaque fois que je pensais vraiment le tenir, je le tenais. 16

One can recognize the relationship between Hindu mentality and Green's taste. T h e Hindus explain quite simply how superior thought may discern the essence of things. They claim that the essence or origin of mind and matter is some fluid or subtle substance, and because of this common basis the mind can perceive the unity of everything. 16 In M. Edme's speech we also find this stage of development toward nirvana: " I l me semblait qu'ici je devenais meilleur et plus intelligent, et que l'air, dont s'emplissait ma poitrine nourrissait mon cerveau d'un élément subtil et magique." 1 7 Green had experienced the same sort of sensation in his own life, which is not astounding since most of the feelings he describes have a personal origin. An entry in the diary from about the same period describes a moment when he was dozing: Tous les bruits de la maison m'arrivaient, mais ils m'arrivaient transformés. Un choc d'assiettes dans la cuisine devenait quelque chose de fluide qui se répandait sur mon visage et sur ma poitrine. 18

THE SOLACE OF BUDDHISM

57

Once the mind has attained a calm where unity exists, a Buddhist, a M. Edme find what Green was looking for and what he at least has a presentiment of—a simplicity where "le doute, les regrets, la tristesse . . . et cette incertitude de ce que nous sommes" no longer exist. 19 This idea is repeated throughout M. Edme's speech in order to make it sound more convincing and to create a sort of nirvana for him. He represents Green's effort to rise above his own inner turmoil, to become what many Hindu writers call a "libéré-vivant." Herbert describes several characteristics of such individuals, some of which apply rather well to M. Edme. Herbert says: Ce qui est offert à l'homme, ce n'est pas un devenir élargi, mais l'être infini; . . . non pas une abstraction métaphysique, un silence vide, un Absolu indéterminé, mais plutôt l'absolu de tout de qu'elle (l'âme) possède ici dans le monde relatif où elle séjourne. 20

It is this Absolute behind the relative which Green has M. Edme describe. "C'est là le vrai refuge contre les terreurs ce cette vie, la forteresse de l'âme, où toute peur se dissipe, où l'esprit jette à bas l'épuisant fardeau du mensonge et des illusions." 2 1 According to Ramakrishna, one of the five ways to arrive at the perfect state is by inspiration from dreams. T h e difference in this case seems to be that although M. Edme is inspired by dreams he continues to act as though he were in one, whereas the Hindu propagates his inspiration by concentrated mental effort. T h a t is one reason why M. Edme is "une sorte de bouddhiste" and why we find him wanting to lead the others into the region he had discovered "dans la méditation et le sommeil." 22 Even though Green sensed the meaning of liberation through his contact with Oriental thought, we shall see that this aspect of Minuit reveals only part of what was

58

THE SOLACE OF BUDDHISM

happening to him. T h e outcome of a general progress toward liberation is the fact that what we are seeking has to be found right within ourselves. Ce n'est pas très loin, et c'est pourtant si loin qu'on n'a pas toujours assez de toute une vie pour y arriver. Tel est le sens de ce que j'ai appris dans cette Fontfroide qui existe ou qui n'existe pas, selon qu'il vous plaira de l'entendre. 23

M. Edme is the spiritual master of the inhabitants of Fontfroide and tries to maintain his control by saying such things as: "Dans le plus rebelle d'entre vous, il y a un dormeur qui obéit à ma voix." 2 4 In that sentence we find Green talking to himself, for it is through M. Edme that he tried to conceive of life if the "sleeper" within him were awakened. By this method of exteriorization he hoped to know himself better and overcome some of the torments created by daily life. He had written in 1932: "Ce qui me retient de parler de religion, c'est qu'il y a en moi un fanatique mal assoupi que je tiens à ne pas réveiller," 2 6 but in Minuit some of the religious fanaticism comes out, tempered by the influence of Oriental meditation. M. Edme's effort to attain a sort of nirvana in which he could forget his past represents Green's continued search for the Absolute. But the Absolute in abstract religion could not satisfy him. Speaking of the state of freedom he sensed, he says: " J e redoutais ma solitude; il me semblait qu'une force inconnue m'attirait du fond du silence, mais l'espace à franchir était énorme." 2 6 And in his diary as early as 1934, or almost before he began the last two parts of Minuit, he wrote apropos of a woman who went to Africa to die: Elle a fait d'un coup ce que tant d'entre nous ont rêvé de faire, elle n'a pas considéré que ce serait long, difficile ou impossible, elle est allée droit au désert, avec cette passion de l'absolu qui nous manque à tous. 27

T H E SOLACE O F

59

BUDDHISM

In the fifth volume of his diary, Green tells us that Minuit is a description of what goes on in the mind of a man and that each individual represents the various drives which constitute a personality. 28 T h a t explanation sheds much light on his thought, but, even without it, the reader can see through Serge that the physical attraction of the world was basically the more significant for Green. M. Edme and Serge wage a battle over Elizabeth and in Serge's victory Green shows that what he absorbed from Buddhism was not strong enough to subdue the force that had been bothering him during the previous ten years. Green's weakness is revealed in M. Edme's wish to have the family present in order to have around him "cette chaleur humaine." 29 Similarly we find that the tone of the description of Elizabeth's reaction to seeing Serge asleep on the bed is more convincing than M. Edme's speech and outweighs in a few lines what he takes pages to say. As Gide said to Green, he should have used the word désir instead of amour "pour rendre ce qu'il y a de panique dans cette histoire.'' 8 0 It is true that every character is striving frantically toward something, and this only suggests what sort of battle was raging in Green as he tried to subdue some of his passions. Two remarks in the diary, written while he was composing Minuit, tell of his inability to overcome his désir. J'ai souhaité, moi aussi, la libération par tous les moyens.

Mais

non. c'est le plus faux des calculs, on rend la chaîne plus solide, et la briser semble au-dessus de nos forces.

Alors?

31

And: Quelques minutes de joie profonde, ces jours-ci, à la pensée que ma libération dépendait avant tout de moi-même et non de circonstances extérieures.

" O ù est le royaume de Dieu?"

"Au-

dedans de vous." (Ah! que n'y allons-nous tout de suitel) " O ù

60

THE

SOLACE O F

est Nirvànai·" "Là où l'on observe les préceptes." sommes donc, si nous voulons. 32

BUDDHISM

Nous y

Both these statements indicate the essential weakness of Green's escape into Oriental religion, and the theme of destiny begins to gain strength in Minuit. It does so because Green probably then realized he would be a battlefield for physical and metaphysical realities all his life. As early as 1928 he had suspected as much when he wrote about a head of Bodhisattva in a museum: "Trop d'efforts, semblait-elle dire. Trop de tumulte, trop de désirs." Je l'ai quittée à regret, aspirant vaguement à des choses meilleures, à une vie plus pleine, mais je suis trop passionné pour écouter les enseignements de l'Asie. Il faut, je crois, accepter le destin de sa race et s'élever selon l'esprit de sa race. 33

H a d he remembered that, he might not have gone into the study of Buddhism; but he thought the Orient might offer a way out of the spiritual impasse he had more or less created for himself by 1934. Whatever Green did recall of that attitude appears occasionally in Minuit. Opposing M. Edme, for instance, are Bernard and Serge who represent passion; there is Cornélie who always wants to leave; and there are Eva and Elizabeth whose feminine appeal detracts from the atmosphere he is trying to create. As the flies in Sartre's play seize Oreste, so do those around M. Edme slowly pick away at his rule. Green writes that Elizabeth saw something amusing in Eva, "car la bonne demoiselle dont l'esprit planait si volontiers dans l'azur était bâtie comme une pouliche." 34 When M. Edme is describing in all sincerity the ascent of the great mysterious stairway, Bernard interrupts: "Vous m'excuserez si je ne vous accompagne pas." 35 Had Green had more faith in M. Edme he would not have made f u n of his efforts, as he is apparently doing here. In addition, Green has said in his diary: "M. Edme est, par bien des côtés, un personnage comique." 36

T H E SOLACE O F BUDDHISM

61

Hence, inasmuch as Green was prevented from accepting Oriental religion wholeheartedly, as exteriorization of his own problems could lead to little else but criticism of the adopted method, and as physical desire was too strong for the "cultivation de l'invisible," Buddhism did not serve its entire purpose. It helped in many ways but mostly when it coincided with or came close to certain Christian ideas which are also an important part of Minuit. There are many traces of Christian conscience in this novel, even though Green was trying to free himself from this burden. For instance, Marie, early in the book, has a feeling of guilt after the death of Blanche. "Cette nuit pourtant, la vieille misérable devinait obscurément qu'elle aurait dû parler." 3 7 However, we must remember that this part of the book was written before Le Visionnaire, at a time when Green's conscience bothered him excessively. But what might be called the Protestant conscience appears in the second part also when Elizabeth is watching Mlle Bergère play the piano. "Elle lui en voulait des contorsions indécentes que le rythme de la valse imprimait à ce corps monstrueux." 8 8 T h e Puritanism in Elizabeth's mind when she feels like touching Serge is quite striking: L'idée du scandale qui pouvait s'émouvoir d'une telle situation troubla horriblement la jeune fille. . . . Elle se jugea sévèrement, se revit faisant d'une main hésitante un geste de voleuse habile.39 The few direct references to Catholicism all occur in the first part of the book. After Blanche's death her body is watched over by a nun. When Elizabeth sees her mother for the last time, she crosses herself, and the secrecy the nun asks Elizabeth to keep as to how her mother died points to a Catholic idea that suicide is a sin. In Green's first novels we noticed the use he made of inscriptions and quotations with the purpose of casting an aura of mystery over the setting. This trait reappears in Minuit in the trace of a cross on a wall which prevents Fontfroide from

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crumbling. Both the cross and the fact that Fontfroide had been a monastery show how much closer to the Occident than to the Orient the mind of the author was. T h e Christian atmosphere is supplemented by the description of the castle of which M. Edme dreams: "De longues tables studieuses, des chaises droites soulignaient plutôt qu'elle» ne lui ôtaient cet air de nudité monacale qui plaît tant à certaines âmes." 40 And the way in which M. Edme expresses himself when he wants to lead the others to the mysterious regions, "vous ne craindrez pas, parce que je serai avec vous," recalls a line from the Twenty-third Psalm. But, to pass from details to the thought of M. Edme, we learn that he has withdrawn to Fontfroide through sacrifice and not because he had an aversion for things of this world. T h a t is a Christian concept, since a Buddhist does not believe he is depriving himself of anything. M. Edme is also a Christian in forcing penitence upon himself because he knows he has caused the death of Blanche. One aspect of this penitence, however, indicating that it is not entirely sincere, is the fact that he surrenders to the ennui of his condition "non sans la volupté secrète que goûte le pessimiste au fond des heures les plus amères." 41 Needless to say, this smacks of Puritan stoicism. T h e Christian elements of Minuit are not present in order to counteract the Oriental characteristics. As Green admired Ramakrishna for seeing good points in various religions, so he drew upon common traits to strengthen his command over his instincts and to see if freedom from desire would help relieve his anguish. T h e peace of soul or nirvana attained by Buddha has its parallel in the Christian world, a parallel which may have made it easier for Green to undertake the study of Buddhism. While writing Minuit Green read The Castle of the Soul which Saint Theresa of Avila had written for a group of nuns in order

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to show them the grandeur of the soul and how it is possible to reach God. In considering the soul as a castle, she imagines each step toward God as a series of rooms or abodes in the castle. She describes the way to proceed from one to the other and the advantages of each abode. Often the distinctions are unclear. Frequently she is repetitious, but in several ways there seems to be a relationship between The Castle of the Soul and Minuit. Fontfroide is also the soul of mankind. The reader goes through the rooms of Fontfroide as though they were also steps toward God. Furthermore, on each level there is a person to reveal the nature of man and what he must pass through before reaching M. Edme's state of nearness to a divine presence. While making these comparisons it is important to keep in mind what Green has to say about literary influences. In them he sees a relationship between what one reads and writes whether the author realizes it or not. But at the same time it may happen that "telle page d'un roman ait été écrite en protestation inconsciente contre un chapitre lu la veille, et cette page peut changer le cours du livre." 4 2 Therefore, with regard to the parallels pointed out so far, there is one important difference between Saint Theresa's work and Minuit. For her the castle's abodes are reached with much difficulty and torment, whereas Green would have us get there with more ease and with the help of dreams. Only in the uppermost abodes does the struggle become similar for both authors, all of which shows how personal the mixture of Oriental thought with Christianity is. If direct influence can be maintained only tenuously, there is one respect in which The Castle of the Soul seems to have had definite importance for Green, namely, in the tone of M. Edme's discourse. He states: A vrai dire, j'hésitai un peu à gagner les étages supérieurs, mais l'escalier paraissait de si b o n n e foi que je finis par m'y risquer.

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. . . Sans doute voudriez-vous savoir en quoi cette maison différait de celle qui nous abrite aujourd'hui. . . . Rien d'inutile ne venait flatter ou agacer la vue. En traversant ces grandes pièces vides où résonnait le bruit de mes pas, je me sentis pénétré d'une joie si douce que les mots n'en pourraient donner qu'une idée imparfaite.· 48

Saint Theresa writes in the following manner: O mes Soeurs, comment me sera-t-il possible de vous exposer les richesses, les trésors et les délices qui se trouvent dans ces cinquièmes demeures? Il serait mieux, à mon avis, de ne rien vous dire de celles dont il me reste à traiter, puisque les paroles ne peuvent l'exprimer, ni l'entendement le comprendre, ni les comparaisons en fournir une idée; les choses d'ici-bas sont trop viles pour nous y aider. 44

T h e influence of another Christian, Saint John of the Cross, can also be found in Minuit. By 1934 Green had read only an abridgment of his work, but the general tone as well as the recommendations have considerable resemblance to those of M. Edme. Saint John of the Cross states that in order for the soul to attain union with God, it must pass through a "night of the senses and of the mind." Man must detach himself from all pleasures; nor must he attach himself to images, for they do not leave the mind free to accept God's will. More than likely, the title of Green's novel was partially inspired by the "night of the senses," the idea of which is summarized in M. Edme's remark: "Libérée des grossières illusions du jour, l'âme n'aspire plus qu'aux choses invisibles." 4S T h e subjugation of the body and of the power of the senses is what Green was striving for and what he did hope to be able to accomplish with the help of Buddhism. Therefore, a like effort on the part of two Christians such as these was bound to be quickly appreciated by Green. T h e many steps required by Saint John in this process do not need enumeration because Green has given M.

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Edme only the atmosphere that he himself obtained from reading the abridged volume. As in the case of Saint Theresa, a parallel will suffice to show the influence. M. Edme says: De cette demeure immatérielle où je veux vous mener, l'âme s'élance avec la facilité que nous mettons à sortir de notre Font· froide d'ici-bas. Si vous jetez à terre ce poids terrible que nous traînons de la naissance à la mort, vous vous élèverez comme moi vers les régions éternellement calmes du bonheur surnaturel.··9 And Saint J o h n writes of the soul preparing itself for higher inspiration in the following manner: Elle a le courage de franchir les limites naturelles de ses facultés intérieures et extérieures, aussi elle entre pleinement dans le surnaturel qui n'a ni limite ni mesure, mais qui renferme tout en substance. Pour en arriver là, il faut sortir de soi, s'éloigner de ce qui est bas pour arriver à ce qui dépasse toutes les hauteurs.47 Basic to the aspirations of the soul and to the significance of obscurity is the conviction that the light of the spirit will then reach man and elevate him from his lowly state. T h e image of the light which illuminates and contrasts with the required darkness is an essential part of Minuit also. Saint J o h n , quoting Saint Denys, calls the hidden wisdom or divine light of God a "rayon de ténèbres," 4 8 and M. Edme speaks in a similar way when he says: " U n e nuit perpétuelle, transparente et lumineuse, baigne de ses rayons les grandes pièces tranquilles." 4 9 Because of the mixture of Occidental and Oriental thought, we can now understand why Green called M. Edme "une sorte de bouddhiste." At the same time one sees that as soon as the Absolute is approached, whether it be in the soul or in dreams, the various religions share common ground. T h a t is why Green's search in Buddhism

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is not astonishing. He writes of M. Edme: "A vrai dire, il parle un peu comme je pourrais parler moi-même." 50 If the adverb and the tense of the verb express hesitation, it is because Green was unable to free himself from physical reality, but his effort to approach nirvana at least enabled him to have a premonition of liberation that was to color his future thought. T h e final events in Minuit, however, lead one to believe that true liberation can only be found in death. W e saw in the call of Le Visionnaire how Green came to face death and lose most of his fear of it. With the study of Buddhism, the totality of nirvana, and the plurality of lives, Green recognized that death is not an annihilation. As M. Edme says, if Elizabeth dies she "will know" how to speak to the sleeping part of her nature, the part to be freed by death, "without fright." When Green asks himself if the study of Buddhism has changed him in any way, he replies: "Oui, je le crois. Ce qui me terrorisait jadis ne me touche plus. J'envisage de mourir sans trembler." 61 If the study of Oriental religion accomplished what he was trying to do in Le Visionnaire, it was because he was helped by what we found in his religious nature, namely, that the infinity and eternity of death are not always terrifying. As he meditated on the matter from 1934 to 1936 he wrote such things as: "Et derrière toutes les idées que je me suis faites de la mort, il y a celle-ci, qui est un reste d'enfance, c'est qu'en définitive, la mort est le plus beau des pays lointains." 62 Having learned that Orientals master fear by meditation, Green apparently succeeded in doing likewise, although his meditation required the writing of novels. Buddhists lay so much emphasis on meditation becausc they believe that most of man's suffering is due to ignorance. This thesis influenced Green, for we read: "Nous saurons, enfin, tous, que la mort n'existe pas, que la mort est un cauchemar inventé par l'ignorance, et nous serons ensemble pour toujours." 53 From Minuit we learn that

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in the struggle between body and soul, as represented by Elizabeth and M. Edme, neither one could really triumph. Only separation of the two in death permits true calm and attainment of the Absolute. Reporting a dream in which he was running on a submerged road, Green writes: "J'éprouvais le sentiment de liberté que doit nous donner la mort, quand nous sommes désempêtrés du corps physique." M Even though he knew that his own battle must go on, he had come to realize that there was a happy goal, and that is what led him on to another important aspect of Buddhism. T h i s aspect appears in his fiction as a logical consequence of the loss of the fear of death. It is a basic tenet of Oriental philosophy known as karma. Karma as a term defies precise translation, but essentially it is the theory of cause and effect inherent in any act. Herbert defines it as "the law of action according to which man has made himself what he is and makes himself what he will become." 5 5 It is based on the belief that there is a nirvana toward which man strives and which his soul may attain after passing through many temporal lives. T h e whole question of rebirth and metempsychosis is an integral part of the theory of karma. T h e body is considered a manifestation of the soul, a temporary abode in which the soul may fulfill its duties, shape its future, and compensate for previous errors. In this connection Herbert points out that, unlike the Christian, the Hindu does not have a race against time, that one mistake will not be held against him eternally. Karma contains another concept, namely, that the soul is not an entity in itself even while it inhabits a body. It is not separated from a universal soul, so that in one way each life represents the life of humanity. 5 8 And the law of karma also implies that man is responsible for his own destiny rather than subject to an incomprehensible Providence. Green finished writing Varouna in 1940, four years after

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Minuit was published. During those years Europe was growing closer to war, sensitive people were more than worried, and the one thing which apparently weighed heavily on their minds was time. Would there be time to do what was at hand? Would it be worth while spending time on anything? Such questions as these were bound to be related to the theory of karma by a m a n who had been studying Hinduism. It was sobering if not relaxing, during an era threatened by chaos, to think of death as rebirth. In addition to the general atmosphere of the times, there was Green's constant preoccupation with man's place in this world. Having been unable to attain a state of nirvana, but at the same time having learned that one life is not enough for the fulfillment of one's destiny, Green applied the law of karma in Varouna to three lives separated by hundreds of years. By doing so, he allows us to inquire about his intentions, and partial answers can be found. H e writes, for instance: Dans le livre que j'écris en ce moment, je voudrais raconter l'histoire d'une action. Les personnages n'existent qu'en fonction d'elle. Ils meurent, mais elle n'en continue pas moins d'exister dans toutes les complications imaginables.57 T h i s is certainly one aspect of karma. T h e action in question, as Green states in the preface to Varouna, is the inevitable unification of two souls whose meeting is certified by the presence and recognition of a chain. In the first part of the story Hoel spends most of his life alone, essentially a harmless person, even though a few of his schemes while traveling would allow one to question his innocence. H e finally finds the woman he was destined to meet b u t only to kill her. T h e cause and effect of the action in this part of the book are of two sorts. According to the dream sequence in chapter two, Hoel was to be a child with a pure heart in order to compensate for the

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pride and greed of those in whose hands the chain had previously been. T h i s statement finds a parallel in Humphreys's remark: "Karma neither rewards nor punishes: it only restores lost harmony." 5 8 If Hoel reestablishes the balance by his nature, he also upsets it by his final act. It has been predicted to Morgane that a young man "risque de commettre une faute qui embrouille son destin," 69 if for no other reason than to keep the progress of cause and effect going. In the second part of the book we learn that "le métal dont cette chaîne est faite a été fondu et recuit au brasier d'égoïsme." 6 0 Was it not egoism that caused Hoel to murder Morgane? Is it not the same egoism which drives Bertrand to the thought of killing Hélène? T h e effect of the chain on the two persons whom it is destined to bind together amounts to extreme possessiveness and automatically leads to disaster. So as Hoel discontinued the unison by murder, Bertrand upsets the balance by dying under the weight of a guilty conscience. T h e story of Bertrand Lombard contains many references to Hoel and Morgane. It also has some direct remarks which represent the law of karma. When Eustache Croche is explaining how Bertrand's wife could reappear in the person of his daughter, he says: "Mais comme en vertu d'une loi qui ne souffre pas d'exception, le prix d'une vie est une vie." 0 1 And in Hélène's explanation of the chain she is wearing, we read: "A travers les siècles qui passent, elle échoie toujours à la même personne qu'elle lie invinciblement au même compagnon de route. Aucune force terrestre ne peut rompre un charme aussi puissant." 62 T h e third section of the book, Jeanne's diary, contains remnants of this Oriental law, but it is much less important because of the Christian element which was strong in Green's mind at the time. It is possible, however, to detect karma as well as Pascal in the following reference to

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the universe: "Le gouvernement de cette grande machine ne nous regarde pas. Organisons notre bonheur de la façon la plus simple et n'essayons pas d'y voir clair plus qu'il n'est possible dans les ténèbres qui nous environnent." 63 If we are simply creatures oí cause and effect, arc we noi doomed to a rather repetitious, uninteresting existence? Not necessarily, according to the philosophers, "for the 'cycle of necessity' is not a circle but a spiral, and the path goes up or down." 6 4 Two years before Green began to write Varouna, he was occupied with what he called his "théorie de la spirale." He pictures a huge pit toward whose top we rise very slowly, frequently committing the same errors, but each time "nous sommes à quelques mètres plus haut dans le grand puits universel." 65 Earlier in the paragraph he writes: "S'il le faut j'écrirai un livre pour m'expliquer sur ce point." This may be considered as another one of Green's reasons for writing the book. In any case the thought stayed with him, for two months after he had begun writing it we find a reference to the problem of the window that does not want to be opened, and he adds: "D'une façon générale, c'est le problème de toute vie. S'échapper. . . ." ββ As Varouna was being written, it became apparent to Green that one does move upward in the spiral. Certainly Jeanne is a happier individual than Bertrand. T h e unifying factors between her life and Louis's are on a higher, more stable level than those in Bertrand's and Hoel's lives. However that may be, it would be incorrect to say that Green sensed this through karma alone. In the case of Jeanne, Catholicism is responsible. In 1938, nevertheless, Green was setting out to find an answer in Buddhism, and that is why karma permeates even the later sections of the book. The theories of cause and effect and of the spiral of betterment are closely connected to metempsychosis, a term

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which Green would not have us use lightly. In the preface to Varouna he writes: "Ici, je pense, il faudrait parler de métempsychose, mais je ne le ferai pas, parce que je ne suis pas sûr qu'il s'agisse de cela." 67 In that statement he is not denying the use of metempsychosis, he is simply doubting whether he really applied the theory to his novel. Two years after his reconversion he writes: "J'ai fait mon possible pour lessiver la métempsychose dans les eaux du baptême." 88 By 1948, however, we find a somewhat indignant remark for those who see metempsychosis in the book. He says: "Cette préface, je l'avais écrite pour essayer de faire comprendre que mon roman n'était pas une histoire de métempsychose; mais à quoi bon une préface a-t-elle jamais servi?" 09 Consequently, from these three remarks, the reader is justified in applying whichever interpretation he prefers. If Green does not consider he is discussing this subject, one might say that the theme is one of hereditary memory. He informs us that in 1935 he attended a meeting at which Jung spoke on the subject of hereditary memory, and, in the same paragraph quoted above, Green states: "II est très probable qu'en écrivant la préface de Varouna, je me suis souvenu de cette théorie sur la mémoire de l'humanité, grande source commune à laquelle nous puisons sans cesse." 70 One critic has suggested that if it be not a question of ancestral memory either, it may be interpreted as a platonic myth "où l'amour apparaît comme le retour à l'unité primordiale du même être que la génération sépare." 71 Mythology is not an impossibility by any means for the simple reason that the title comes from Vedic mythology and has a counterpart in the Greek god Uranus. In any case, whether the unity depends on metempsychosis, memory, or mythology, Green does not hesitate using any of the three in his book. The most obvious use of metempsychosis is the reap-

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pearance of Bertrand's wife in the person of his daughter. T h e resemblance "cachait un mystère si terrible qu'il n'existait pas dans la langue de mot pour le désigner. Plus il y réfléchissait, plus il lui paraissait évident que la morte vivait de nouveau dans le corps de sa fille." 7 2 T h e long paragraph 7 3 in which Bertrand sees himself as Hoel, who in turn sees a beautiful girl in the crowd, is a further case of metempsychosis. When we read one of the few serious remarks of Eustache Croche, we find additional reference to this phenomenon: "Sachez que le secret de la Nature est que la mort n'existe pas et que seule une transformation a lieu dont l'essentiel échappe aux regards des hommes." 7 4 T h e theme recurs many times in the second part of the book and slightly less frequently in the third. When Jeanne thinks of Hélène, however, she feels a strong affinity toward her, even to the point of remarking: "Elle pense par moi, elle est comme ressuscitée en moi et je suis cette petite bonne femme qui vivait au temps du roi Henri II."75 If it be the theme of ancestral memory or the use of mythology, the evidence is equally convincing. When Hélène believes she hears someone calling from a dark road, someone with whom she is in love, a voice speaks to her which is Morgane's voice. Both from memory and imagination Jeanne recalls Hélène's personality: J e te connais bien et n'ai qu'à me souvenir de ce que j'étais à ton âge pour deviner ce qui se passe derrière ton front lisse et buté! Nous ne faisons qu'une personne, toi et moi. 7 6

At the end of the book when Jeanne and Louis see the chain, Jeanne is certain she recognizes it, remembering Hoel and Morgane as well as Bertrand and Hélène. T h e idea of two souls brought together by destiny is the basis of a mythological explanation, which is symbolized in Varouna by the chain which is "le signe et pour ainsi dire

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le témoin de deux destinées qui doivent se côtoyer, puis infailliblement s'unir." 7 7 This is what happens to Hoel and Morgane. Bertrand says about the chain: "Ces maillons entrelacés de manière si curieuse nous lient, Hélène et moi, à quelque chose d'immémorial." 7 8 And Jeanne and Louis have the same impression as they look at it, for even more than the other two couples, they are the two who seem closer to each other because they remember previous existences and because they are a composite of the beings who preceded them. All of this is part of the law of cause and effect and of the mysterious myth of Varouna which Green, quoting from Milloué, describes in the following manner: "C'est le ciel nocturne, c'est ce qui enveloppe, qui emprisonne, qui retient, qui attache." 7 9 We have mentioned that karma implies not only the law of cause and effect and metempsychosis but also a belief that the soul of man is not an entity separated from the universal soul. In this respect Varouna is a natural sequel to Minuit in which Green was trying to attain spiritual calm for one soul. In Varouna he has told the story of two souls which are part of a larger soul of humanity. T h e i r acts as humans are incidental to the background, and for that reason the serenity, typical of the Orient in many ways, abolishes the contrasts and tensions heretofore striking in Green's work and in many respects its mainspring. This characteristic is no doubt one of the causes of Varouna's unpopularity, but that does not mean that this aspect of karma was less important for Green. On the contrary, it was so important that he had to write the novel to see if unity with something greater might afford solace for his own problems. T h e nature of the universality of karma is described by Humphreys: Man is spirit, that is to say, he is of the very essence of that "Be-ness" which is "beyond the range and reach of thought," and the various "garments" which he wears are the vehicles or

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instruments through which he contacts the descending planes of consciousness. . . . It follows that the ultimate heresy, the profoundest error in all human belief, is Attavada, the belief in the essential separateness of any of these vehicles, be it mind or soul or spirit itself, from the Namelessness of infinite Self of which all manifestation is a part. 8 0

Over a year before Green began Varouna, he wrote in his diary: " L ' h u m a i n , tout l'humain est en nous, au fond de notre cocur que nous connaissons si mal. Chaque homme est à lui seul l'humanité tout entière." 8 1 T h e same idea is repeated in July, 1938, and in September of that year he says, in reference to a museum of prehistoric relics: " J ' a i eu une curieuse impression devant toutes ces épaves d'un âge si lointain, l'impression qu'à travers moi l'humanité entière passe comme sur un grand'route." 8 2 Similarly, in the preface to Varouna and in Jeanne's diary Green repeats this statement in almost the same words. T h e frequency of the remark indicates the extent of his belief in the idea, and certainly one of the reasons why two souls can remain united throughout the ages lies partially in the theory that they are never completely separated. As in everything dear to Green, we can find characteristics which give his concern an individual touch. For instance, the law of karma, in those aspects discussed so far, is partially carried out with the help of dreams. Because dreams take one back or ahead in time, they fit into this Oriental period of Green's spiritual search. W e have seen how essential they were in the adaptation of nirvana to Minuit. In Varouna the theme of the book is presented to Hoel in a dream in which he hears a man talk to him in his own dream so that the reader sees into still another age. Hélène relives the past in a dream in which Morgane is wearing the same chain she is and after which Hélène, still hears Morgane's voice as though it were her own. J e a n n e becomes Hélène in her dreams, and both Jeanne and Louis remember having seen the chain in dreams. At times one

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is tempted to regard this series of happenings as a process of oneiromancy, but it would be incorrect to introduce that term without recalling the fact that it sheds light on but does not explain the workings of karma. It may well be that for this reason Green was hesitant to say he had written about metempsychosis. A similar role is played by the occultism or necromancy practiced by Eustache Croche which is related to rebirth, and Green could use it as one of the complicating factors behind the unity of two souls. As far as the law of karma is concerned, these two subsidiary trends show how susceptible Green was to the variations of the theme and how unsettled he was as to the best means of delving into the nature of man. T h e two aspects of karma discussed so far—those of rebirth and of the universal soul—lead to a third one which may have been responsible for Green's reconversion to Catholicism. If a man has the opportunity of another life, he will usually see to it that the unpleasant events of this life are not repeated. He will try to better himself, knowing that evil causes do not produce good effects. In other words, karma allows for man to be partial master of his own destiny. Fatalism and predestination as Christians interpret them do not exist for the Buddhist. " F o r viewed from one Life, the 'operative' Karma of that life is equivalent to the Greek Nemesis or Destiny. B u t this destiny is not the decree of a wrathful God but the product of man's imagining." 8 3 As a matter of fact, Green's spiral theory implies that man is responsible for his own betterment. Mme Blavatsky says: Those who believe in Karma have to believe in destiny, which, from birth to death, every man is weaving thread by thread around himself, as a spider does his cobweb; and this destiny is guided either by the heavenly voice of the invisible prototype outside us, or by our more intimate astral, or inner man, who is but too often the evil genius of the embodied entity called man.8··

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T h i s author also explains that the Greek Nemesis, like karma, is without attributes and that man himself sets the nemesis or karma in motion, thereby producing good or evil effects according to his past. 85 As for Green's fictional application of this theory, its purest form is found in two places, one in Hoel's story and the other in the succeeding novel, Si j'étais vous. Hoel is the incarnation of action for its own sake. T h e way in which he directs this action will lead toward a result not inconsistent with the law of karma because, as we know, much of his motivation comes from the deeds of previous lives. B u t his role in shaping the lives of Bertrand and J e a n n e is far from negligible. For reasons which will be discussed later, they are not as much masters of their destinies as is Hoel. In the first part of Si j'étais vous we also find a person in control of his destiny. Fabien willfully exchanges his body with anyone who could grant him a happier life. Even though he is in control of his actions, however, that is the only extent to which we can say Oriental thought stands out in the book, and this as well as other Eastern elements are largely dominated by Green's Christianity. Before going into that aspect of the book, suffice it to say that during the composition of Varouna Green was "reconverted" to Catholicism. T h e result was a sudden decrease of interest in the Orient and a general change of tone in the novel. Nevertheless, since Green cannot easily disregard something to which he has devoted himself for a period of years, it is possible to discover certain aspects of nirvana and karma that persisted in his thought after 1939. In the preface to Si j'étais vous Green says that he makes no pretense of knowing the answer to the enigma of human identity, but the use of such terminology and the soulsearching element in the novel stress his constant concern with the nature of each individual. Catholicism was not

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to eliminate entirely the answers offered by Oriental religion, and if we take into account something like the sensation Green has had from time to time of being lifted out of this world, be it through dreams or a feeling of happiness, it is easy to see why the emotional qualities of a state of nirvana could not be eradicated. T h u s he was able to relive an experience dating from his fifteenth year when he wrote in recollection in 1941: Tout à coup, je me sentis saisi d'un bonheur inexprimable, un bonheur de l'âme qui m'arrachait à moi-même. . . . Je revis encore par la mémoire . . . cette paix dont jouit l'âme quand elle se réfugie sous la grande aile toute-puissante de l'Eternel.8®

Although this was written two years after his reconversion, how filled with ecstasy these lines seem. One cannot restrict such a privilege to the Buddhists, of course, but elements of M. Edme's efforts are still present. T w o years later when Green was beginning Si j'étais vous, we find expressions that take us back to Minuit and even to his youth. Fabien, looking at a starry sky, seems to be raised above the world: "Plus il regardait, plus il lui semblait qu'il s'éloignait de la fenêtre et de la maison sans que cessât pourtant la sensation de la barre d'appui sous ses coudes." 87 A little later he mulls over the constant irritation of carnal temptation versus the spiritual influence of the priest with his ciborium, obviously longing for internal calm: "Il lui sembla que non seulement dans sa pensée, mais dans tout son être il y avait une sorte de bondissement vers cette libération des sens." 88 Again it would be incorrect to link these remarks exclusively with Green's interest in Buddhism, for the mystical elements of all religions offer the possibility of satisfaction for man's ultimate desires. Nevertheless, the tone of these passages is very close to that of the third part of Minuit and the period when Green was most interested in the Orient. One can also say that as far as karma is concerned, rem-

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nants of metempsychosis continued to stay in his mind. In 1941 it was still fairly strong. Looking at dark water and pines somewhere in the South, he suddenly feels carried back to the beginning of human history. "Nous dépendons tellement les uns des autres que rien n'est en propre à chacun de nous. . . . La terre entière est hantée par des générations de revenants." 89 One can judge how extensively Christianity is mixed with Buddhism in this statement if one recalls the impression he obtained from going to church in the country as a child. From December, 1941, until 1943 there are no references to what might be called metempsychosis, but it reappears in Si j'étais vous. For what is the rapid series of soul exchanges if not a compressed form of this concept? Karma, as applied in Varouna, is in a purer form of unmotivated successions of events, whereas in the later novel Green has mixed in a search for the liberation of nirvana. Brittomart states: "Sortir de soi, devenir autre, n'est-ce pas là un des rêves les plus intelligents que l'homme ait portés en lui?" 0 0 T h e abandonment of the Oriental acceptance of death also modified the influence of metempsychosis, but this did not mean that he regained his great fear of death. It simply means that the Oriental interpretation no longer offered as much security, which is apparent in Green's remark: "II faudra indiquer que ce désir de transformations successives correspond au désir de ne pas mourir." 9 1 T h e karmic concept of the universal soul also stayed with Green after 1939, but this is understandable since the idea is not alien to Catholic thought, as we shall see when we consider Green's conversion. T h e possibility of applying this theory to Buddhism and Catholicism depends largely on one's point of view, for the Oriental considers himself part of the whole and Green wonders if each individual is not the whole, "comme si chaque être humain était à lui seul l'humanité entière." 9 2 It is important to

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note the recurrence of this theme in 1943, but we must underline the fact that by that time Green was mainly concerned with salvation. That is why the point of view, in contrast with Buddhism, is so radically changed. As late as 1948, when Green is discussing the phenomenon of which we are occasionally aware, that of having been in a completely new place before, he states that when that happened to him in 1928 a flood of ideas on the transmigration of souls came to mind. He then adds: "La vérité m'apparait aujourd'hui plus simple. L'humanité n'est qu'un seul homme et se retrouve entière en chacun de nous." 9 3 Even Blavatsky writes: Would you be partakers of Divine Wisdom or true Theosophists? Then do as the gods when incarnated do. Feel yourselves the vehicles of the whole humanity, mankind as part of yourselves, and act accordingly. 94

Consequently, whatever group one belongs to, there will always be some common spiritual ground. The differing points of view arise from interpretations. Hence the Oriental believes he has eternity before him and the Christian believes he is responsible for humanity during his life on earth. This is the realization that had the greatest effect on terminating Green's effort to comprehend Oriental philosophy. His examination of that field of thought was not without profit, however. In connection with nirvana, he certainly ascertained some permanent truths, and if he had become perfectly sure the subjugation of the physical was impossible, he at least gained the satisfaction of knowing his own limitations. Having been set face to face again with his own destiny, Green took up the burden of the Cross once more, accepting the destiny of his race and concerned with finding salvation within its limits.

IV: DESTINY'S BURDEN

CHRONOLOGICAL READING of Green's work makes one increasingly conscious of his preoccupation with the purpose of life. His change of faith, his Oriental interests, and his emotional fluctuations are all indicative of a mind trying to discover its destiny, its place in the universal picture. His concern with religion naturally includes a concept of destiny which must be taken into account if we are to understand the pessimism and anguish of his work. An author of such religious sensitivity could only produce tragedy which, in essence, is always "the eternal conflict of the human spirit with an ultimate destiny," 1 as Dayton Kohler says. The same critic, in proving why Green's sense of tragedy is more Gothic than Greek, states that his characters are "broken by powerful, incomprehensible forces within and without themselves." 2 Their awareness of those forces produces an atmosphere of depression, and the eventual but unsuccessful effort to fight against them leads to anguish. So that when Green writes as late as 1949, in reference to James Hogg, the author of The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner: "Je retrouve en lui mon pessimisme, ma vue très noire du monde et de la vie," 3 it becomes essential to examine these aspects of his thought. His renewed concern with Catholicism after 1939 brought these problems to the fore again, and we shall see that beneath the various aspects of this view there is a religious cause. The weight of the world and obstacles to happiness have THE

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already been mentioned in connection with Buddhism as factors contributing to the problems of Green's early novels. This air of sadness is the result of a thinking process which ignores the immediate value of an act, conceiving of action solely from an historical point of view. He writes, for instance: " J e ne sais où nous allons, je ne comprends pas l'utilité de ce que nous faisons." 4 He frequently alludes to the uselessness of so much effort, his own seeming to be in greater discord with the times than almost anyone else's, and in all probability the novel which best represents these concerns is Epaves. The very title implies the uselessness of the lives of Philippe and Eliane. Green admittedly wanted to write a story in which nothing would happen, so we could expect it to be gloomy. "Alors dans le silence intérieur que crée l'attention, Philippe entendit monter un cri du fond de son être et du néant de toute sa vie." s Apparently a coward, a man without a will, wealthy, Philippe is unhappy because he cannot express himself freely. Society, family reputation, his wife and sister-in-law all contribute to suppress his liberty, to make him aware of an ill-fated destiny. The sadness which is so strong here and which characterizes so much of Green's work springs from those currents of personal desires which have been blocked or turned the wrong way. Adrienne Mesurât depicts the progressive insanity of a girl whose actual life is purely secondary and useless in comparison with another reality in which she lives emotionally. Leviathan, which involves more action than any of Green's novels, also subjects its characters to the illusory qualities of those acts. Referring to Mme Londe, Green writes: "Son âme insatisfaite retrouvait le néant au sein même de sa victoire." β And when Guéret is reflecting on his deeds, we read: "En tout cas, ce qui le frappait le plus, lorsqu'il réfléchissait à son crime, c'était son caractère d'inutilité." 7

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Destiny not only made action seem useless, pleasure was also an illusion. "On voudrait tant désirer autre chose que le plaisir! Non par puritanisme, mais parce que le plaisir ne mène à rien." 8 This pleasure, which implies sexual pleasure, provides temporary satisfaction, but the Absolute, as Green says, is not present. But even if one thinks of the various pleasures experienced by Adrienne or Mme Legras, Mme Grosgeorge or Mme Londe, it becomes increasingly apparent that when these satisfactions ceased to exist their lives were very empty. These novels were written in the 1920's, so that when Green began to study Buddhism in the middle thirties his hope to find something more lasting was very sincere. Even though he did not succeed, the thought remains with him, for in 1945 we read: "Un peu effrayé d'un sentiment qui grandit en moi avec les années et que je ne puis exprimer autrement qu'en disant qu'au fond de la vie telle que la conçoit le monde il n'y a rien." 9 Closely connected with the futility of action and pleasure is the illusory quality of everything as a result of the passage of time. This is an old theme one finds frequently in literature, especially among the romantics. Green was not so anxious to stop time as they were. He wanted to feel there was a purpose to the passing of time. "La pensée que notre temps, notre vie tombent au néant à mesure que l'heure s'écoule, m'est si pénible qu'il ne faut chercher d'autre explication à ce journal." 10 He tried to overcome this problem in Varouna, but to no avail. Happiness as a thing in itself grew more and more personal in the second and third parts of the book and became so related to the duration of a lifetime that it lost its permanent qualities. T h e pessimism inherent in the passage of time is noticeable ten years before Green wrote Varouna when he remarks upon the futility of Henriette's life: "Il lui semblait qu'une force jalouse la privait non seulement de toute joie future, mais de tout bonheur passé, et la nuit

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qu'elle achevait tombait au néant comme le reste." 1 1 Beyond the personal preoccupation with time is the historical one, which may or may not have more significance in this century as dictatorships rise and fall. "Notre tristesse vient en partie de la certitude que nous sommes vaincus, car notre civilisation passera." 12 However, whether one's view of time be limited or general, the effect is the same. His fear that nothingness lies behind man's deeds is a reaction to a world to which he feels he does not belong. This attitude is a forerunner to the much discussed philosophy of the absurd of which Camus is an exponent. A contemporary critic, R. M. Albérès, has written. L'univers dans lequel est placé l'homme n'a pas de sens pour l'homme; ni l'action ni la connaissance réflexive ne nous font toucher du doigt une seule certitude à partir de laquelle on puisse construire. 1 3

In Epaves Green has depicted such a man in Philippe. "Comme tout le monde il était l'esclave du hasard. Il soupira de nouveau et résolut d'abandonner là un projet qu'il trouvait absurde." 1 4 T h e word "absurd" appears frequently in connection with various ideas or desires that come to Philippe, and upon reaching the end of the book one is inclined to sum up Philippe's whole life with that word. In fact, from the point of view of tragedy, every one of Green's novels, with the exception of Varouna, points toward the absurdity of life. In Varouna he portrays people who accept that state of affairs, each for different reasons, and in the other novels the principal characters try to fight against those external forces. Within the philosophy of the absurd, this fight is considered a positive force, the thing which saves existence from futility. Adrienne Mesurât, for instance, may know that her actions are futile, but in revolt against her family and in obedience to instinct she tries to make existence less absurd. T h e fact

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that she does not succeed does not diminish the value of the revolt. After 1932 Green's response to absurdity came not f r o m revolt b u t from a r e t u r n to spiritual resources, as we have seen; so, even though this aspect of his work may be considered a forerunner of the existential theme, he cannot be considered a member of that group. Equally significant as a factor contributing to the depressing characteristics of destiny is man's loneliness. T h i s is in a p p a r e n t contrast to the effort Green m a d e while contemplating Varouna to consider each individual as a composite of mankind. However strongly one sees resemblances between oneself and others, no a m o u n t of rationalizing can do away with a feeling of loneliness basic to certain natures. T h a t is another reason why the period of Green's Oriental interests was a sincere b u t passing phase. Still another reason is Christianity's belief that G o d cares for each individual soul, thereby implying that each one is different. So in spite of what Green's ideas were in connection with karma, one of his main concerns continues to be man's solitude. In 1941 he wrote: "L'être h u m a i n est séparé d u reste de l'humanité par une barrière q u i presque jamais ne s'abat." 15 H e continues by saying that the gap may sometimes be bridged by love, but we are never sure o u r innermost selves are understood by others. Impulsive acts, h a r m f u l words, personal thoughts—all spring from that isolated area which others rarely penetrate. All of Green's novels, with the possible exception of Varouna, express the theme of solitude and its sadness. T h a t is why he could write: "Je voudrais écrire pour celui q u i est seul," 16 so that those who sense the barriers m o r e than others might at least feel a comradeship of sorts with one who is so keenly aware of this plight. T h e examples of persons living in their own moral solitude are too numerous to mention. Now a n d then we come across a serious effort to bridge the gap, one of the

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most masterful descriptions of such an attempt being Denis's relationship with Claude in L'Autre Sommeil. Unfortunately, no selection of quotations is adequate enough to portray the situation, but the succession of moods, of fear and love, of approach and withdrawal, all seem to be handled faultlessly. When Denis finally concludes that they are of "different races," 1 7 the reader immediately senses a general depression in the tone of the narrator as the latter falls back to a feeling of solitude. Occasionally, in such situations, there are flashes of contact, as between Philippe and Eliane in Epaves or Joseph and Praileau in Moïra, but they do not last; "l'inexorable solitude se reforme aussitôt." 1 8 In an effort to solve the problem through fantasy, Green wrote Si j'étais vous. However helpful the imagination may be in accomplishing this feat, it cannot overcome the hard facts of reality in such a case. Green's declared intention to give this story a strong dose of realism seems to have had much to do with the failure of the imaginative part. Even the preface informs us that the theme is the anguish of finding oneself alone in an incomprehensible universe. Had he let the story explain or imply his intentions it might have had more success. In any case, the idea of becoming someone else and of avoiding the monotony of loneliness died with Fabien. It is interesting that Green should have attempted to find a solution to a spiritual problem of this sort in such a manner after having been impressed by Meister Eckhart's response to someone who said he would like to have his (Eckhart's) soul in his body: "Cela ne servirait à rien. Une âme ne peut se sauver que dans le corps qui lui a été assigné." 1 9 Destiny obliges us to live with ourselves however we may be constituted, however much we may want to diminish our solitude by loving someone else. T h e exclamation of Mme Grosgeorge sums up the situation profoundly and concisely: "Que d'abîmes d'une âme à une autre!" 2 0

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It has been our belief that behind all of Green's opinions and concepts there lies a religious explanation, and again we find one for the gloomy aspects of destiny. He writes: "Une éducation religieuse m'a trop nettement fait voir le néant du monde." 2 1 Not only does that sentence explain the attitude of those characters we have mentioned but it also gives a clue as to how he was able to accept the Oriental belief in maya. In addition, his commentary on the moment we believe to be related to the partial conversion of 1932 offers a further explanation. 2 -' As an explanation for his solitude we find: "L'homme qui vit de sa foi est nécessairement isolé." 23 In other words, if one has faith, belief in the attainment of the Absolute forever remains a possibility which is hindered by physical reality. But do Mme Grosgeorge, Denis, and all the others live on faith? It is not a religious faith to them, b u t it springs from one in Green which is translated into their search for absolute happiness. If Green feels that our acts and pleasures are illusions which lead to nothing, is there any reality he can depend on to alleviate this gloom destiny has cast over mankind? There are three intangibles which counteract the sadness of life—love, art, and nature. W e mention them here only to stress the fact that realization of their existence produced a contrast so great that anxiety began to develop in Green. On the one hand lay disappointment, on the other, hope. T h e distraction wrought by these two forces led Green to consider as a second aspect of destiny the great flux of instability. In 1942 he states in his diary: Peu à peu, je découvris avec un sentiment d'inquiétude qui dure encore, que le monde était en proie à une folie générale, que rien n'était solide, que tout était suspect, et que nous vivions dans un état voisin du chaos. 24

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One could consider Green's first novel, Mont-Cinère, a typical example of the chaos of life. Both Emily and her mother are unhappy in their selfishness. Both anxiously struggle toward a goal at which they believe they can overcome insecurity, only to find that all collapses around them. T h e anxiety of Adrienne and Mme Grosgeorge is even more intense because, except for the Eternal, "tout le reste se mèle et s'embrouille dans l'impermanence générale." 2 5 Many critics have stressed the morbid aspects of Green's early work, yet we should remember that those were probably the happiest years of his life. Since this dichotomy is so apparent in the nature of the author, we can expect to find it in the leading characters of his fiction. More than once Green refers to a moment of happiness followed by a great depression, and with these fluctuations anxiety grows stronger, as one phrase from Jeanne's diary in Varouna indicates: J'ai vécu assez longtemps pour ne plus accueillir un moment de bonheur sans une arrière-pensée d'inquiétude et la crainte de voir grandir je ne sais quelle dette que j'aurai à régler un jour. . . . J e me sens devenir méfiante, le destin m'ayant appris à tenir compte de ses redoutables caprices. 2 6

How familiar this would sound even if we had not had Green's diary as a clue. Adrienne's glimpse of Maurecourt in the carriage, Mme Grosgeorge's capture of Guéret, Denis's glance at Claude in the woods, Elizabeth's first look at Serge—these brief flashes of happiness plunge the character in question into worry immediately afterward. At times we may feel sorry that destiny should have such instability in store for Green, but the power of his descriptions frequently depends on contrasts of this sort which, in part, are supported by what he would like to consider an element of human nature. "J'ai varié, je varierai encore.

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A tout moment, je sens en moi une profonde disposition à changer, qui se confond avec l'instinct de vivre." 27 Another part of this anxious restlessness is a deep feeling of fatigue. It is based on the insatiable characteristics of human nature which only lead to illusion. In Leviathan we read: "Souffrir pour un être qu'il oublierait u n jour comme il en avait oublié tant d'autres et quitter cet être pour porter ailleurs ses désirs, toujours les mêmes désirs, quelle destinée rebutantel" 28 As a matter of fact, most of Green's literary production bears witness to the weariness of the pursuit of one person after another. Nevertheless, fatigue of this kind is not the only one. T h e r e is also that of plain, bourgeois existence characterized by selfishness. Occasionally little asides appear in the Journal to reveal Green's attitude. Adrienne Mesurât is a condemnation of habitual, provincial life: Il y a q u e l q u e chose d e terrible dans ces existences de province où rien ne paraît changer, où tout conserve le même aspect, quelles q u e soient les profondes modifications de l'âme. 2 9

Epaves is a condemnation of urban, bourgeois life, but at the same time it seems correct to concur with the opinion of one critic w h o has said that Green is not confusing capitalism with leisure nor leisure with something to be condemned. 3 0 T h e criticism is directed toward those forces in life which do not allow free development of character. Probably the best description of what Green means by this wearied anxiety is found in his impression of the masses in T i m e s Square: L e mouvement brasse ces flots de têtes et de corps sans raison apparente, sans autre nécessité q u ' u n e sorte d'instinct p r o f o n d q u i veut q u e tout cela remue et tournoie sans fin, dans la fatigue, dans la grande fatigue humaine. 3 1

Closely allied to this trait of man's fate is another which may serve as a possible explanation for the fatigue. A

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large part of our anxiety, as Green sees it, is the little we know about ourselves. "Jusqu'à la mort nous demeurons mystérieux à nous-mêmes, nous sommes en face de nousmêmes comme des inconnus qui se regardent et ne se comprennent pas." 32 In every novel Green has traced the development of character to a point which gives the reader a fairly clear picture of the nature of each individual, but the basic wherefore remains unanswered. If we take the example of L'Autre Sommeil, we find the theme of the story in the following: "Rien de mystérieux comme le cheminement d'une passion dans un coeur sans expérience. Elle semble parfois se perdre et disparaître, mais une fatalité la mène et sa route est sûre." 33 In Denis this passion began with a feeling of separation, a desire not to follow the ordinary course of events: "Un irrésistible instinct me portait à mettre des barrières entre mes proches et moi." 34 Later on this manifests itself in the satisfaction he experiences in breaking with the past after the death of his parents. A second emotional disturbance occurs when he watches Claude sleep. Denis has felt sad for some reason or other, but as he stands in Claude's room he thinks: " J e ne peux dire, en effet, comment mon impatience et mon ennui se muèrent tout à coup en autre chose où le plaisir avait sa part. Il m'était agréable d'être là." 35 Some time later we read of a dream, significant because it tells Denis to what extent he is a victim of his senses. In the dream the pounding of hammers may have produced throbbing vibrations, but Denis says: "Pour moi quelqu'un venu des régions inhumaines faisait entendre la voix géante du destin." 30 His experience with Andrée and Remy is equally revealing. He believes he desires her, but when he puts his arms around her for the first time, he is surprised by the little pleasure he feels. Realizing it is Remy he wants to be near and not Andrée, he asks: "Que pouvais-je comprendre de mes sentiments pour Andrée? Une seule

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chose me guidait: je désirais passionnément me connaître." 37 Then he becomes afraid of knowing himself as Remy's presence continues to make him less and less at ease, but this fear is faced when he again recalls Claude sleeping, and this time, alone, he takes Claude's picture from his pocket and holds it against his lips. At this point Denis claims to have reached his goal of self-understanding. If so, why does the world seem unreal? Why is Claude now different? Why does he feel like another person? Just as the other characters in Green's novels think they may know themselves, there is always part of their destiny which remains unfathomable. In this succession of events in Denis's life we find the key words in "an irresistible instinct," "I cannot say how," "the giant voice of destiny," etc.—always the inexplicable. As Green says in Epaves: "Mieux vaut s'attacher à son propre destin assez riche en énigmes, assez lourd de secrets pour satisfaire à l'inquiétude la plus vaste." 8 8 Denis is bound to continue his life anxiously wanting to know why "un déterminisme inexorable contraint ces appétits furieux à se développer dans Vinassouvissement." 39 Man's inability to know himself thoroughly makes his lot even more disturbing when he realizes that he must advance blindly in life. In Green's own life this is represented by the difficulty he has in adapting himself to worldly concerns. His hatred of politics, his indifference toward international problems, his dislike of superficial social gatherings all make him ask: "Dans le monde actuel, où est donc ma place? J e n'en sais rien." 40 Several years later he writes: " J e crois que la plupart des hommes meurent sans avoir jamais compris le sens du rôle qu'ils ont j o u é . " 4 1 Such is the case of Angèle and Mme Grosgeorge in Léviathan. Angèle is important to the lives of Mme Londe and Guéret without knowing how great her importance is. T o them she somehow personifies destiny

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because of their dependence on her. Mme Grosgeorge is more lucid in her self-analysis, but her role in life remains an enigma, for, even when Guéret is at her mercy, Green states: "Elle était certaine qu'il entrait dans sa volonté autant de faiblesse, de cruauté, d'hésitation que dans la volonté qui gouvernait sa vie." 42 In a similar line of thought, Green is also impressed by the fact that, in many instances, decisions are made not after deliberations of the moment but after a series of developments of which the mind is unconscious. In reference to his conversion he says: " I l y eut une seconde où j'ai dit oui, mais ce consentement était obtenu avant même que j'en fusse averti. Ainsi nous allons à l'aveuglette dans un monde de ténèbres." 43 Philippe is Green's ñctional exposé of the plight of an individual caught in the anxiety of such blindness. He discovers how much he hates the business world because something had happened within himself, but he knew not what. His worry is based on the assumption that he should have been someone else without being able to see what kind of person that was. "Sans doute, le vie n'admet pas de transfonnation violente. On découvre qu'on est autre alors que le changement s'opère depuis des années." 4 4 Joseph, the leading character in Moira, is equally ignorant of himself but much more perturbed by his blindness. His determination to become a minister, thwarted by his concept of purity, finally gives way to a feeling of insecurity, to the hand of destiny with all its mysterious attributes. So when Green wrote in Varouna: "J'ai compris que nous sommes aveugles et sourdes, que nous venons de la nuit pour retourner à la nuit sans rien concevoir à notre destin," 4 5 he was summing up an attitude that has haunted him for a long time and which will continue to haunt those who are most aware of unfathomable spiritual forces. However, if sadness and anxiety seem to be the lot of

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mankind, one can do more than just realize how hopeless life seems. When Green thinks of military life in 1942, for instance, he is surprised that so many people do not seem to understand the existence of some great will superior to the problems that beset mankind. T h e n he adds: "C'est à cette volonté qu'il faut en appeler pour ne pas céder à la tristesse et à la fatigue." 48 Going from the passive to the aggressive attitude does not provide an end to the state of mind in which one may have been, but it alleviates some of the anguish. Green apparently conceives of destiny as an immutable, unknown justice whose attributes are Providence and chance. Whether one can distinguish between Providence and destiny as Green interprets them is difficult to say. At times they arc synonymous. At other times Providence is the Christian explanation of superior forces, whereas destiny is a concept of an impersonal, supernatural order. Chance is something Green does not like to believe in, but he states nevertheless: Appelons tout de même hasard une force dont nous ignorons les lois et dont le jeu profond nous échappe. Le destin n'a pas d'inadvertances. Aussi bien ce qu'on nomme hasard n'est-il peut-être que le caprice du destin, ou quelque chose d'encore plus obscur et de plus sinistre.4" Whatever terminology one cares to apply, it is the attitude toward destiny that counts in life. In order to shrug off the gloom and worry we have discussed so far, one can become defiant. In reference to Green's early criticism of Protestantism, we mentioned his attack on the Calvinistic concept of Providence. Apart from any specific religious connotation, Green grows quite bitter in Leviathan when he considers the fate granted to his various characters. Guéret's inability to see Angele brings forth the remark: "Quelle atroce ordonnance régissait le monde!" 48 Angèle, thinking of Guéret's rather unattractive appearance, mum-

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bles to herself: "Ne méritait-elle que cela? . . . Le sort se moquait d'elle, vraiment." 49 When Mme Londe sees her way of life crumbling around her, all because of what happened to Angèle, Green writes: "Quelle profondeur dans la méchanceté du sort, quelle rancune contre la tranquillité des humains. . . . Voilà, voilà ce qu'on appelle la Providence!" 50 The strong will of the characters in Green's earlier novels tends to give the impression that nothing will force them to surrender to uncontrollable forces until the last minute. The last quoted remark could have been made by anyone from Mrs. Fletcher in Mont-Cinère to Eliane in Epaves. However, having seen how tiring the struggle became for other reasons, v.e can comprehend how futile is rebellion against destiny. One may also assume that there is some purpose to the tragedies in life, even an edifying lesson to be learned. On various occasions Green strives to see the good side of the whims of destiny. For instance, an illness which befalls harmless, innocent people—at the time he was thinking about his concierge—can be beneficial, since "ce qui semble grandir l'âme, c'est le poids écrasant qu'une justice inconnaissable l'oblige à supporter." 61 If it is poverty and hunger, he speaks from personal experience: "Peut-être rien de ce que le destin m'a donné n'était plus précieux que cette épreuve." 62 In any walk of life those who meet with obstacles may become better individuals if they have become broad-minded. Unfortunately, obstacles can also create more determination and obstinacy, which is what we see in Emily, Adrienne, Mme Londe, and Henriette. In one main character does a broadening take place, namely, in Joseph. One might ask why Green wrote so many novels in which the characters seem to learn little from their anguish whereas he himself did progress. The novels allowed him to get rid of his own obstinate thoughts, and if several aspects of those unenviable characters spring from

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his own subconscious inclinations, how fortunate he was to be able to vent the undesirable in fiction. In a way the novels did for him what he says wars do for mankind. Reporting a conversation with Jacques Maritain, he writes: " J e lui ai dit que pour arracher un oui à une âme, Dieu bouleverserait des empires et déchaînerait des guerres, et que nous voyions mal le côté spirituel des grandes catastrophes." 6 3 In between the possibilities of defiance and learning there is a noncommittal attitude which can be found in Varouna. Asking why things are as they are, he writes: "A cette question le christianisme répond que la justice de Dieu est insondable. L'Orient répond qu'il n'y a ni justice ni injustice, il n'y a que le jeu terrifiant des causes et des effets." M T h a t is one reason why we find in Varouna karma as well as Providence and a momentary stalemate in Green's confrontation with destiny. On the one hand, the Lombard wives or daughters never complain as to where destiny causes them to live. Or when Bertrand worries about looking after Marguerite, destiny does not wish that he do so that day. Karma served as a satisfactory explanation. On the other hand, with regard to Marguerite's appearance, we read: "Elle se disait que d'être laide était une pénitence trop rude pour que la Providence ne lui dût point quelque chose, comme si la Providence pouvait nous devoir quelque chose." BS At another time, when Bertrand is prevented from praying by the presence of surrounding statues of Greek gods, Green comments: "C'était là une ruse de celui entre les mains de qui, sans le secours de la grâce, nous sommes pareils à des jouets." 6 6 T h e alternating use of Eastern and Western thought could have produced a very philosophical sort of stoicism, the first paragraph of Jeanne's diary indicating that rather strongly. However, it would not be characteristic of Green to maintain such an attitude, and he readily admits that the latter part of Varouna is entirely within the Christian

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realm. Under no circumstances should it be assumed that even a momentary stalemate implies indifference, for we know, from the Pamphlet, that he does not tolerate it. His emotional life certainly would not permit it. T h e problems of Buddhism and Christianity in the presence of these aspects of destiny eventually became so involved that something had to give way. It was then that Green's reconversion took place. T h i s event is capital in his life, almost more important than his first conversion, not only because it relieved him of what he considered to be many false ideas but also because it forced him to face his own particular destiny again in a somewhat different light. A conversion is a very personal thing which few people discuss openly, but Green has published some of the essential changes. It should first be pointed out that his interest in Oriental religion from 1934 to 1939 in no way completely excluded Christianity from his mind. H e was vitally interested in learning Hebrew at the same time for the purpose of reading the Old Testament in the original. T h e care he took to compare Renan's translation of the Book of J o b with the original reveals his desire to get at the base of the prophet's thought. During those years he also continued to read Pascal and Bossuet, and praise of the Bible figures prominently in his Journal. In addition to maintaining close contact with Christianity, Green was able to make the karmic concept of the universal soul serve as an important link between the first and last two parts of Varouna by relating that concept to the Catholic understanding of the communion of saints. T h e basic meaning of the communion is that one soul can have effect on every other soul. With this interpretation in mind the reader can see how Green was able to continue the novel even though he had experienced a reconversion. 5 7 One of the most influential books at this point in his life was the Traite du Purgatoire by Saint Catherine of Genoa.

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After reading her book, Green remarks thai a whole new current of thought on man's spiritual destiny was presented to him. In one place she writes: "La prison qui me retient, c'est le monde; mes chaînes, le corps; l'âme illuminée par la grâce comprend combien grande est la misère de ne pouvoir atteindre sa fin." 58 Father Moeller has explained that the central idea of this little book is that spiritual purification is voluntarily desired by the soul, which the quotation reveals, and this is why it appealed to Green. He goes on to say that Green's conversion is also marked by a kind of dialogue between the soul and God. 89 In this he is supported by Green's own confession 60 that many intimate aspects of his conversion are described by George Herbert in a poem entitled "The Collar," the last four lines of which are: But as I rav'd and grew more fierce and wilde At every word, Me thought 1 heard one calling, "Childe"; And I reply'd, "My Lord." If the title of the poem is a play on the word choler, meaning anger, one can see how basically disturbing Green's spiritual search was from 1925 to 1939. One paragraph from the "Journal de Jeanne" seems as if it might have come directly from Green's own diary and in many ways explains why a conversion was destined to take place. We read: Regardons à l'intérieur. A l'intérieur il n'y a que de la poussière. C'est parce que nous commençons à mourir par ce côté-là. Les ambitions déçues, les colères, avalées de force, la morne exigence de désirs frustrés, tout cela nous empoisonne avec une lenteur qui nous permet certaines illusions, et vers la quarantaine nous portons un cadavre au dedans de nous, notre âme. Il n'y a que la Grâce qui puisse tirer ce Lazare de sa fosse, mais la Grâce est faite pour les bonnes soeurs ou les missionnaires, elle n'est point faite pour les bourgeois.91

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T h e unfulfilled ambitions could refer either to his wish to have entered a monastery or to the desire to write better novels—he says that they never turn out so well as he imagined them. T h e controlled outbursts of anger are not mentioned in the diary, but the internal battles of Adrienne, Guéret, Elizabeth, and others were also lived by Green. T h e dreary demands of frustrated desires are what lead any sensitive person to discouragement, and certainly Green is well aware of that weight of that phrase which sums up the monotony of instinct. And "vers la quarantaine" was just the age of Green as he was writing this part of

Varouna.

Hence, with all the personal references in this passage, with the words of Saint Catherine "illuminée par la grâce," it is evident that he had become seriously concerned with the problem of salvation in daily life. He may well have had the experience Herbert describes; and if one wonders whether this is not too simple an explanation, it must always be remembered that Green is most sensitive to brief, simple manifestations of the Spirit. Just as his first conversion involved the emotions, so did his second. Likewise there were intellectual adjustments to be made which in 1939 were naturally much profounder. Jacques Maritain played an important role in explaining to Green how the power of grace offers the only true salvation, that one lifetime is the limit of time man has to attain it, and that Oriental beliefs are deceptive for a Catholic. After Green had thought these matters over, he realized that only as a Catholic could he hope to find salvation. Therefore, he was willing to face what destiny had in store for him and see if he could imagine salvation within the limits of his nature. It is significant that the next ten years, which were devoted to that search, should culminate with the publication of Moira, a high point in Green's literary career.

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the greatest triumph Green experienced as a result of his new conversion was the realization that neither Buddhism nor his individual concept of religion was going to provide the desired spiritual liberation, and intellectually his novels had convinced him of that. Once he could settle down to struggling with the problem of spiritual emotion versus physical instinct within the time limits of his own destiny, we find that he no longer tries to overcome one or the other aspect. He writes very realistically: PROBABLY

Il y a des jours où je me dis que l'espoir de la libération spirituelle est la plus triste chimère qui puisse tourmenter le cerveau humain. . . . Peut-être aussi l'important n'est-il pas de vaincre, mais de lutter jusqu'à la mort. 1

One of the many characteristics of Joseph's development in Moira is that the power of the spirit is not the only force by which he has to live. His youth, determination, and sincerity are true to the nature of one who grew up under rigid principles. As the thought of Moira takes hold of him, he fights back, but in vain. T h e very existence of Moira in those particular surroundings could only represent for Joseph and for Green the folly of denying sexual instinct. Joseph confesses that he desired her the first day they met, for as Green says: "L'âme est une dame mariée contre son gré à un rustre. Elle ne peut empêcher qu'il ne la mène ici et là." 2 Will power is slowly but inevitably weakened by the awareness that a truce between

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the desires of body and soul is unattainable. However, the destruction of Joseph must have helped Green rid himself of the idea of spiritual liberation in the way all his writing has given balance to his life, namely, by exteriorizing personal concepts to permit observation of their weaknesses. Green will never live without spiritual ideals or the anguish they produce, but he will feel more at ease for having accepted living within the limits of his nature. Once he had faced his destiny, he began to say more about sexual instinct in an apparent effort to comprehend its existence. His early novels contain it in repression, thereby lending violence to the stories up to the end. In Si j'étais vous and Moira it bursts forth, breaks the tension, and calms the character. Green approves of comparing this instinct to a wild elephant, chained by one foot b u t certain to break loose. He adds: "Cet instinct apporte dans la vie un élément de folie." 3 Joseph admits to David: "Je désire horriblement ce péché que je ne commets pas," 4 but which he will commit. T h e madness inspired by sexual desire reveals itself in Joseph through what the other students consider a religious fanaticism, and it is this element which makes Joseph the center of attraction, which brings the hand of destiny down upon him and which, for certain readers unfamiliar with such conflicts, might weaken his reality. T h e way in which the other students consider him unusual bears a certain resemblance to the opinion of the college community toward "le voyageur sur la terre." In any case, whatever the origin of the folly, Green finally admits through Joseph and his diary that in most human beings the sexual instinct must be compared to the religious one. They can be counterbalanced only by each other and the victory of one can only mean death for the other. After Moi'ra's death there is not a mention of Joseph's religious preoccupations, for as Green had written in 1944 about the two persons within

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us fulfilling their destinies: "Il est nécessaire pour cela que l'un de ces personnages tue l'autre, car il ne peut y avoir d'accord durable." 5 Another observation which becomes increasingly repetitious in Green's thought is the monotony of sexual instinct. In 1941 he asks: "Notre corps ne se lasse t-il donc jamais de désirer les mêmes choses?" β And as late as 1949 he exclaims: "Las de ce qui me trouble, ô mon Dieu, las à en mourir." 7 Again Joseph represents the Puritan concept which cannot understand that the body acts on another plane. T h e constant activity of the other students not only shocks b u t amazes him. By having him succumb to other forces, Green is proving to himself that no matter what religious nature may strive to do another demand must be fulfilled. T h e dominance of spiritual feeling makes the carnal aspects monotonous because each new experience is only superficially new. At least Green is beginning to accept the demands of the flesh when he writes: "Et comment le corps dirait-il autre chose que oui? C'est son langage. Il est dans son rôle." 8 T h a t is one meaning of the fate contained in the title Moira. Nevertheless, although he accepts the necessity and continuing insistency of sexual instinct, he does not approve of its demands. In addition to being discouraged, he is enraged, enraged because his faith is so strong. He writes in 1949: "La vérité à laquelle j'arrive après des années de lutte et de réflexion, c'est que je hais l'instinct sexuel." 9 In November of that same year we find: "Le roman que j'écris est un long cri de haine contre l'instinct." 10 It is certainly true that all those in Moira dominated by this force are pictured unfavorably, and Joseph's tirades against it taken at face value give no indication that Green had spent the preceding ten years trying to accept it. However, Joseph's inevitable succumbing to this instinct is the fictional adaptation of the image of the elephant mentioned

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in 1940, with the chain consisting of the belief in salvation through chastity. T h e collapse of Joseph's spiritual fortitude is actually a more convincing demonstration of Green's acceptance of instinct than all the remarks in the diary about its inevitability. Green's recognition of the folly of spiritual liberation and the power of the physical urge is followed by an impressive effort to justify that urge. It becomes an insurmountable task as we discover his firm belief in sin, sin being reduced to moral and religious questions involved in sexual relationships outside of marriage. Both Catholics and Protestants educate their children to hold such relationships in contempt, so from the very beginning Green has lived with fixed ideas on the matter. Furthermore, after discovering that he would not be happy in marriage, sexual relationships with others only accentuated the reality of sin in his mind. Green's fixation in this respect is contained in the thought he usually has upon rereading Stekel: "Et pourtant, c'est l'Eglise qui a raison: le péché est une réalité terrible." 1 1 Joseph exclaims to David: " T u as entendu ce que je viens de dire? J e hais l'instinct sexuel. Est-ce que nous y cédons, nous? Cette force aveugle, c'est le mal." 1 2 It is evil because in Joseph's mind all flesh is cursed as coming from the devil. In a way it seems tragic for someone to be so penetrated with an idea that his life is made unhappy because of it. T h e fortitude required to comply with moral demands inconsistent with one's nature is beyond the capacity of most humans, and the depth of religious education in regard to this aspect of morality turns out to be a curse in Joseph's life—one could also say in Green's. His attitude toward sin changed slightly in 1945 when he redoubled his efforts to believe in the misery of sinfulness. T h i s is later apparent in the composition of Moira, where Joseph's harping on the subject comes dangerously

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close to being unnatural. Any idea that remains on the intellectual level is bound to become abstract, and one gets the impression that Green is striving to retain the belief in the sin of the flesh. T h i s can be found not only in the portrayal of Joseph but also in Green's answer to the question: "Mais comment pouvez-vous donc crcire une doctrine qui enseigne que l'acte de chair hors du mariage est un péché, si vous n'en avez pas le sentiment?" He replies: " J e le crois sur la foi de l'Eglise. J e le crois parce que le Christ l'a dit." 13 T h e unusual aspect of this impression is that the religious qualities we have discussed so far in Green's development have sprung largely from religious feeling. Having faith in what he thinks rather than in what he feels is unlike him and leads one to hope that for his own happiness he may some day consider the act religiously permissible. T h e feeling of sin is more likely to be sensed when love is absent because then "l'âme sent durement sa solitude. En fait, elle est morte, et c'est le péché qui l'a tuce." 14 In all probability Christian teachings plus the feeling of solitude will prolong the concept of sin in Green's mind, but every time there is a contact of souls the intellectual position is weakened. Joseph is shocked by David's intention to marry whereas David has recognized something on a higher level in such a union. T h e i r discussion at this point is a major step in undermining Joseph's adamant attitude; but, even though he gives way to David's argument, the thought of sin still hovers over him. Sinfulness need not be limited to the sexual act. In Joseph's mind it is also associated with temptation which leads toward such an act. Green compares the procedure of temptation to German spies who enter countries as innocent tourists. " D e même, il entre en nous des pensées en apparence fort innocentes ou tout au plus inutiles et qui se fraient un chemin jusqu'au coeur dont elles minent

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peu à peu la résistance." 16 Joseph has to contend with temptation from two sources, Moira and Praileau. He learns about Moira through things like her cigarette holder, her reputation, her appearance, and her room. Each aspect makes an impression on him in a cumulative fashion, and the progress of this type of temptation is conscious and carefully presented in the book. For two-thirds of the novel Moira herself is not present, but in other ways she has already seized hold of Joseph. His realization of this situation makes him question his motives and purpose in life, and when he pictures her or imagines he has rented her room and used her bed or impetuously embraced the pillow thinking it was she, his conversations with David become worried and his righteousness a mockery. T h e presence of Praileau, whose relationship with Joseph Green considers the main subject of the book, 1 8 gives a more subtle picture of the power of temptation. Joseph is completely unaware of why Praileau irritates him, but just as he asks David if he thinks of God while embracing his fiancée, so does Green oblige us to ask whether Joseph thinks of God when wanting to strike Praileau or while recalling the evening of the fight. In each case the temptation is considered sinful and his religious proclamations seem hypocritical. Mention of Praileau between the original fight and the end of the book is slight, but each time a word or a phrase indicates Joseph's growing awareness that somehow it is wrong to be so concerned with Praileau. After his cruel treatment of Simon, Joseph's daydreaming led to the fight with Praileau, "car d'une manière ou d'une autre tout semblait l'y ramener." 17 T h e evening of the day Killigrew came to see him—the time is important—while waiting to see a professor, Joseph had an opportunity to see Praileau's door, "et il regretta comme une faute son mouvement de curiosité." 1 8 The train of thought in these two instances is not only indica-

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tive of how well the story is constructed but also lets the perceptive reader know what is lying dormant in Joseph. Later, when a group of students is discussing Joseph, one says that Praileau is better built, and Green writes: "Joseph tressaillit." 1 9 W h e t h e r he did so only at the mention of the name, as Green implies, is doubtful. T h e r e is more to his feelings than he realizes. Otherwise why would he be uneasy with Praileau in the same classroom, or, when Praileau passes by, why could he not help turning to watch him for a minute? T h e origins of his feeling toward Praileau are spite and pride, which constitute the first steps away from spiritual things, but it soon becomes apparent that the basis of their relationship is one of mutual, physical attraction. Although Joseph is unable to interpret his reaction to Praileau, it is nonetheless basic to his opinion of Moira and to what happens to her. In 1942 Green had written: "Nous ne savons jamais quelle digue nous jetons à bas quand nous cédons aux tentations, car un péché ne s'isole p a s . " 2 0 Joseph has yielded to the temptation of fighting Praileau. For such a purist this is destined to produce monstrous results, and it is more than likely that one reason why the title Moira, meaning destiny, pleased Green was its implication of temptation's fateful workings. After accepting the existence of sin and the incomprehensible machinations of temptation, Green was bound to conclude that within his destiny there had to be a way to salvation. In arriving at this conclusion, he examines the question from points of view which in general constitute an attempt to justify so-called sinful tendencies. One of the arguments that gained validity in his mind is the belief that carnal sin can have an immense educational value. "Les fautes charnelles apprennent à certains ce qu'ils n'auraient jamais pu savoir autrement, et j'entends cela d'une façon largement humaine et non pas seulement

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érotique." 2 1 T w o years later, in 1948, he talks about "la grâce du péché," saying that saints naturally lead a true, Christian life, whereas the rest of us, having first turned away from Christ, can only return to Him. T h e latter may be poorer people, "mais ils ont reçu une grâce particulière que les saints n'ont pas connue." 2 2 An understanding of the human soul and especially of one's own extends the influence of tolerance, is conducive to mutual sympathy, and in a way is more Christian than an attitude like Joseph's. In this respect Green comes close to Mauriac's belief that the sinner will be saved, and by the same token we find here an apology for Catholicism. No one can know whether a Protestant or a Catholic is more under the weight of carnal sin, but the importance of having a Puritan setting for such a personal concern lies in the fact that as Green was working out an acceptance of his destiny he was simultaneously trying to rid himself of a thorn in his side, his Protestant Puritanism. For a Protestant like Joseph there is a choice between irreconcilable opposites, but for Green the solution has to be found in "la grâce du péché." Consequently, since Joseph's struggle is indicative of Green's the guarantee of salvation gains importance as the gap between purity and impurity decreases. Joseph asks: "Mais peut-on croire et n'avoir pas la certitude d'être s a u v é ? " 2 3 Even after assurance from David, he would like to have a sign of certainty and goes to the extent of imagining that his move from his room at Mrs. Dare's is one. When Joseph's insistence on the subject becomes exaggerated to the point of silliness, not only does David call him a child, but Green, by implication, makes it more than clear how firmly he believes in the educational value of a true understanding of an inherent part of human nature. In conclusion, it should be stressed that Green is not giving a sermon in favor of licentiousness. H e simply maintains: "Connaître,

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dans le sens charnel que lui prète la Bible, n'est pas du tout un vain mot. - ' 2 1 Just as he advanced toward an intellectual acceptance of reality, so did practical experience dictate the same necessity. Green writes: "Exiger le refoulement sexuel d ' u n e personne très médiocrement religieuse, c'est l'exposer à de graves accidents . . . et son corps et son âme." 2 5 And he continues by saying that all those who cannot marry and who are not attracted by the life of a cleric can neither be banned by society nor required to exercise complete chastity. "Ce n'est pas une solution que de passer à la nature une camisole de force, car elle la met en pièces, comme Samson les liens fragiles dont on le chargeait." 28 Again there must be a middle way which leads to salvation. Sexual repression in its extreme produces an objectionable type of Puritanism since most people are neither "angel nor beast" and cannot comply with sainthood or debauchery. In Puritanism Green sees a false type of sainthood, and for that reason he criticizes the tradition which contributed to his dilemma. At a luncheon in 1944 an American lady remarked that it would be good to destroy Paris with all its impurities. Green considers her opinion to be an expression of frustrated pleasures and desires, adding: "Ce n'est pas la première fois que je constate ce phénomène de la conscience puritaine." 2 7 Three years later he received a letter from a young Dutchman who accused him of a type of Puritanism represented by the figleaf. Green does not believe in any form of exhibitionism, but he does say: "Cette feuille demeure à mes yeux le symbole d'une des formes les plus compliquées de la sottise humaine, qui est le puritanisme dont je note en passant qu'il date de la chute." 28 In 1948 he notes, in reference to Jeffries's The Story of My Heart: "Et je crois que Jeffries a raison de dire que les vrais impurs sont les ascètes, mais j'aurais préféré qu'il dise: les puritains." 29

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T h e foolishness of Puritan asceticism is represented by Joseph's unwillingness to undress with the light on or to look at a nude statue. Green does not mean that such onesidedness is dominant today, but he does imply that the type of attitude involving narrow-mindedness, complicated feelings about chastity, and sexual repression springs from an unwillingness to face forces existing in nature. T h e thought which made him realize the importance of "knowing" life and which consoled him in his growing concern with salvation is no doubt the following: "Ainsi donc, nos instincts, qui varient tellement d'un individu à l'autre, seraient comme l'instrument particulier de notre salut." 30 It required four years before he could combine this with Joseph's development, but in his portrayal of that character he discovers that his greatest sin "aura été de ne vouloir pas accepter la condition humaine." 3 1 How applicable that is to individuals as well as to social and religious attitudes. Such unwillingness led to Joseph's downfall, and, if his downfall depends on his puritanical upbringing, we might see in the denouement of Moira a criticism of a widespread moral concept. Because of possible misinterpretation of such criticisms we find Green justifying the possibility of salvation within his "condition humaine." One of the bases of his defense is the physical beauty of nature's works. Similarly, men have long been admiring statues and paintings, but when beauty appears in human forms, admiration is mingled with prudery, even dominated by it. T h e religiously inclined and the morally indoctrinated shun seeing beauty in the flesh. Once, when Green was in Washington, he noticed a child, almost naked, playing in the street. He was impressed by the innocent gestures, the curly hair, and the sunlight shining on the body. Then he concludes: "Si Dieu a fait tout cela, cette chair comme cette lumière, par quelle monstrueuse

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perversion de l'intelligence attribuons-nous à je ne sais quelle ruse du diable un spectacle aussi grave?"3On reading Gerard Manley Hopkins later in 1944, the whole meaning of physical beauty, art, and morality came u p again. A flower, a work of art, even the human eye, which Green considers beyond the possibilities of description, cause no repugnance. "On ne dira rien tant qu'elle n'offensera pas la morale, mais qu'est-ce que cela signifie au juste?" 3 3 Should one smash a Greek statue for having inspired a bad thought? And what about the work of Michelangelo? Green asks if beauty is a snare but does not believe it is. T h e crux of the matter lies in the following question and answer. He remarks having seen Puritans, Catholics as well as Protestants, turn away from a beautiful face, and then he says: "Détourne-t-on les yeux d'un beau paysage? Mais on ne désire pas un paysage. . . ." 34 If beauty inspires lust, the beauty itself remains innocent and irreproachable; by Christian standards lust does not because it connotes the absence of beauty. Green admits that beauty ceases where vice begins, but the distinction is not always easy to make. For a person like Green and a type like Joseph, the desire they feel immediately conjures up vice because of their inability to separate desire from sin. Green would like to dissociate the two, but the idea of sinfulness is ineradicable. Therefore, Moira may be interpreted as a criticism of Puritan belief and not a general condemnation of Protestants, as the preface clearly states. On the other hand, if beauty can arouse desire, it can also inspire admiration and even worship. Green admits having experienced this many times. 35 If the feeling is extended to worship, the whole approach becomes pagan, b u t to guard against that Green asks: "Si le corps était méprisable, Dieu ne le ressusciterait pas." 38 For Joseph, Moira is destined to represent the body resuscitated by God. She is beautiful, and Joseph is haunted by her as he

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is haunted by Praileau. W e cannot admit that either is sinful 01 an obstacle to salvation simply because of the attraction, for in neither case is there vice. Joseph's speechlessness after Moïra's death and his inability to defend his previous opinions constitute Green's defense of the innocence of physical beauty. Needless to say, the murder is serious enough in itself, but had Joseph had a natural attitude toward beauty the result would have been different; there might well have been n o story. By writing Moïra Green probably gained a better understanding of the complexity of his heritage even though destiny will not allow him to find a happy medium between physical beauty and what it inspires, frequently and often unjustly called vice. Even though the body is resuscitated by God and beauty is innocent, more convincing evidence of the possibility of salvation has to be found for those bothered by that question. T e n years before the publication of Moira Green had written: Il n'y a jamais eu que deux types d'humanité que j'aie vraiment bien compris, c'est le mystique et le débauché, parce que tous deux volent aux extrêmes et cherchent, l'un et l'autre à sa manière, l'absolut Already we can detect a tendency toward reconciliation. A s far apart as the two types seem, their oddity and their goal are identical. In Si j'étais vous Fruges struggles to avoid yielding to temptation but in a very calculating way. H e is constantly trying to determine the exact minute he first becomes aware of each new temptation, or impurity as Green calls it, and this naturally indicates a subconscious desire to give way. W h a t Green writes about Fruges's impurity offers a partial explanation of how a reconciliation between a libertine and a mystic is possible: "Elle était en lui par la crainte et par le désir, avec une intensité qui précisément, relevait de la vie mystique, car il y a mystique

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d'en bas." 3 8 T h e similarity between the mystic and the reveler lies in the unknowable element basic to each of their drives toward an absolute, which is why Green is able to appreciate both of them. With this identity in mind one can easily understand why he was very impressed by a passage from Saint John cf the Cross which affirms that when human nature aspires toward God, there is simultaneously a kind of rising tide of carnal desire, "la nature formant un tout dans lequel il est difficile de réprimer ceci pour que vive cela." 3 9 This may well be the key to his hope that salvation must be available to those who obey otherwise contemptible instincts. In any case, as a result of these thoughts he may feel no sin, but he still believes in its existence. However, even the intellectual attitude is threatened by the unfathomable aspect of this concept, "car si peu qu'on y réfléchisse, on se trouve presque aussitôt devant un mystère." 4 0 He goes on to describe a young couple whom lie saw enter a church, genuflect before the altar, and then go and kneel down beside each other. Shortly afterward they kissed, and Green comments: "Peut-être, si on leur eût demandé où se trouvait la frontière entre le corps et l'âme, eussentils répondu qu'il n'y en a point." 4 1 During 1948 and 1949 this question of the borderline between body and soul preoccupied him more and more. "Entre les deux, nulle frontière sensible, nulle frontière en tout cas qui ne soit violée à chaque minute, comme si elle n'était pas." 4 2 Green's effort to find an answer to this matter is one of the primary themes of Moira. T h e progress of Joseph's debate intensifies as his religious reasoning comes to grips with Moïra's presence. Because of the parallel rising of the two emotions, neither one can be blamed by itself for throwing discord into Joseph's life. T h e first entry in Green's diary for 1949 states:

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Deux forces en présence, également redoutables: l'énergie spiritutelle et l'émotion passionnelle. . . . Il y a de l'émotion passionnelle dans une prière si pure qu'un enfant ne la dirait pas miieux, et dans l'emportement de la chair il y a quelque chose (qui ressemble à l'aveugle désir du Paradis perdu. Rien n'est tout à fait pur, comme rien n'est tout à fait impur. 4 3

It seeims more than apparent that as Green acquired a deeper understanding of those aspects of his destiny we have been discussing, the fusion of these two forces oSered the only possible solution to a problem which has been troubling the Christian world for centuries. In order to bring about a legitimate fusion, that is to say, legitimate as far as his mental outlook is concerned, Green turns to the Bible where, in many cases, silence is the answer offered by Christ. At one point in Moira David tells Joseph that the words "fornicator" and "fornication" are in the Bible, but they must be used with discernment, and that he (Joseph) thinks about them too much. When Joseph replies that he thinks of them as something detestable, David says: " I l ne faut jamais y songer d'aucune manière." 4 4 Another time a veil of silence is pulled over Joseph's thoughts on why he tore up a copy of Othello. Green quotes from the Bible: "Si votre coeur vous condamne, Dieu est plus grand que votre coeur!" 4 5 Likewise, when David asks whether God would love them even as sinners, Joseph does not reply. As the time approaches for Joseph to commit his crime we find the phrase: "Ce n'était pas de sa faute s'il la voulait," 4 6 and afterward a chapter has as an epigraph a line from Browning: "Et pourtant Dieu n'a pas dit un mot." 47 Turning to the life of Christ, Joseph wonders if He could have experienced carnal desires, and David remarks that the thought itself is almost blasphemous. In his diary Green asks the same question, reasoning that if Christ assumed the form of man was it not to suffer all of man's unhappiness. 48 Green,

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like Joseph, could have said: "II me semble que si l'on me disait qu'il a souffert aussi de cette façon, je me sentirais plus fort, je me dirais: 'Lui aussi.' " 4 9 As far as Green is concerned, there is no specific answer to this question, 50 and, although silence does not constitute a reply, it does afford freedom of interpretation. By means of this freedom Green hoped to find the justification for which he was looking. Could all this be considered a way to overcome tenets of Christian thought? The answer must be negative, for the justification is always sought after in a way that will still guarantee salvation. Joseph surrenders to the police because he knows murder is a crime. However, he is not condemned either by the author or by himself for what instigated the crime since he has God-given forces within him which had to assert themselves. In the process they were misdirected by the people and the ideas that fate set in Joseph's path, but such was his destiny. Until he sends the final note to Praileau he does not know himself, and because he cannot comprehend these mysterious forces, he is basically innocent. There is a certain coincidence between the title, Moira, and Green's effort to solve the problem of the two realities and salvation. T h e fact that everything which happens to Joseph was in his destiny in a book bearing as title a Greek word for destiny is logical and simple enough. But the implications of the word are interesting. In 1944 W. C. Greene published a book entitled Moira which is an analysis of the concept of fate and evil in Greek mythology. He states: She [Moira] is the law of progress, the philosophy of history in its successive stages; of her law, far better than of the rule of Zeus, may be used the term "harmony." Yet Moira plans only in the most general terms, allowing temporary aberrations and the sufferings of individuals that are

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the stuff of tragedy. In many a concrete case there is no absolute good, but only a conflict of goods and duties in which man must choose his course in the light of conscience. 61

He points out certain of Moira's attributes, especially in the "conflict of good" in Solon who believes that both good and evil come from Moira; 8 2 in the Orphic version of the myth of Dionysus which established the duality of human nature; 5 3 and in the Hippolytus were passion vies with chastity, neither in itself a perfect good.54 Obviously the events in Green's Moira do not present a picture of harmony, but the "aberrations" and "sufferings" which lead toward the fusion of good and evil can come under the classification of Moira's general harmony. If Moira includes a conflict of good versus good, we can also see why Green was unwilling to condemn Joseph's inspiration, even though he arrived at his opinion through Christian interpretation. Aside from the qualities of Moira, however, the two books cannot be compared. William C. Greene has written a criticism of philosophy; Julian Green has written a novel, a tragedy in prose, for the purpose of examining a personal problem of sin and salvation. It is the portrayal of the existence of an inner reality, quite as important as any other, which must be lived and accepted. It would be possible to find in our interpretation of Moira a happy future for Green. However, religion is something which constantly seethes in man and which never provides uninterrupted comfort. As has been indicated, all of Green's novels have responded to a spiritual need of the immediately preceding years, and once the need was satisfied the author returned to worldly reality with its temptations. Moira was also an answer to a need, the need to interpret an intuition or a vision that spiritual and physical impulses are similar and God-given. Once that had been lived in fiction and Green had profited from

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it, the duality of human nature would again dominate and old problems would reappear, but under a new light. Now we must determine what reward, if any, came from writing Moira. T h e acceptance of one's destiny has been discussed as capital in Joseph's life and simultaneously in Green's, but equally important for Green's daily living seems to be the freedom to accept Catholicism. This may sound rash when speaking of a man who had been a Catholic for thirty-five years at the time he finished Moira, but two things happened to Joseph which must have happened, in part, to the author. Joseph is the extreme Puritan who regards spiritual and physical drives as direct opposites. As the latter become more intense, he begins to search for excuses, not only in discussion with David but also in careful reading of the Bible. He was striving to believe that he might be helped through a personal intermediary, going so far as to wonder if Christ himself had not suffered in the same way. This search for a confessor or someone to offer comfort is more in line with Catholicism, and in this development Joseph apparently wants to accept less responsibility. If we assume that something of this sort was happening to Green, it would seem that he were getting rid of some of the burden imposed by a deep-set Protestant conscience. We know that he has violently disclaimed all Protestant connections. 85 Nevertheless, he did write Moira, from 1948 to 1950 and necessarily included the present as well as the past. T h e second aspect of Moira which shows that Green had abjured more of his Protestantism is the fact that in Joseph the separation between physical and spiritual was temporarily broken. Immediately preceding his crime we saw how the onrush of the two forces came close to abolishing the duality of human nature, close to making him one whole person. As for Green himself, this is translated into

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the belief that grace may be obtained in spite of the fusion. Carnal desires when linked with spiritual ones may be a way to salvation, and for the Protestant this is not easy to accept. Previous mention of "la grâce du péché" is what constitutes the basis of the argument that by becoming, at least momentarily, one whole person, Joseph and Green had approached an aspect of Catholicism which Green had been unable to sense heretofore. However debatable such an argument may be, one can find substantiation for it in Green's partial approval, in 1944, of Shelley's introduction to The Cenci. In that introduction there are a few remarks on the differences between Catholic and Protestant mentality which Green considers "intelligent," "malevolent," but, at times, "just." He concludes that "c'est la vérité présentée sous un jour trompeur." 58 Among other statements, Shelley says that, for the Italian Catholic, religion "is interwoven with the whole fabric of life. It is adoration, faith, submission, penitence, blind admiration; not a rule for moral conduct. It has no necessary connections with any one virtue." 5 7 Since the negative parts of these sentences apply directly to the early Joseph and the young Green, we can ask ourselves why Green would be concerned with the differences between Catholics and Protestants in 1944 and why the preface to Moira would call our attention to Protestants if he were not still trying to shrug off vestiges of his Protestant heritage. In justice to Green's thought we should remember that none of his novels was written to prove his Catholicism or deny Protestantism. In feeling the need of an intercessor and the coexistence of spiritual and physical urges, Green accomplished something that is not easy. One can always be persuaded or desire to think differently, but to feel that others can help or that salvation is possible through the whole person requires time and concentration. Had he

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been able to grasp these feelings more than momentarily, the acceptance of his destiny would not have been depicted as such a struggle nor would the ten years of soul-searching have caused so much disturbance. T h a n k s to these developments, one may say that the general result of having concerned himself with the justifica tion of the sexual instinct has been a general decrease in anguish and the acceptance of a perplexing paradox. He believes that the instinct comes from God, and he believes that yielding to it in ways not approved by Christian doctrines is sinful. In a rather matter-of-fact tone he comments in 1949: "Arrangez-vous avec cela." 58 T h e concerns that stand out in this book are vivid enough for the reader to understand that if sexual instinct can cause such turmoil, Green's Puritan morality must be based on something deep and permanent. T o see what underlies his wanderings from Protestantism to Catholicism to Buddhism and back to Catholicism, one should look for characteristics that remain fairly constant in his emotional nature, and to do this we must turn to his Journal.

VI: A CHRISTIAN SENSIBILITY

IN S P I T E O F the benefits Green may have obtained from writing Moira, conversation with him since 1950 reveals that he is still disturbed by the opposing power of physical and spiritual realities. In order to understand how the latter can remain so strong in a world so filled with the former—be it the world of his own creation or that in which he actually exists—we must discover some of the spiritual traits that remain constant throughout his life. One obtains a fairly good picture of his spiritual sensitivity through his criticism of literature, painting, and music. Criticism may be an incorrect term, for Green simply put into words something of what he sensed, the result often being no more than a brief impression. Nevertheless, the unity of these impressions reinforces many of his religious characteristics, and the relationship between the two serves to clarify a basic sensibility. The first and foremost quality that he senses in art is absolute sincerity. "La vérité intérieure est la seule qui soit vraiment essentielle, le reste, si beau, si séduisant soit-il, n'est que de l'accessoire." 1 Therefore, if he finds fault in an artistic creation, he does not mind, provided the fault conies from the characteristic naturalness of the artist. In reference to Jane Eyre, for instance, he writes: "J'aime les maladresses de ce livre, ce mélange de gaucherie et d'audace, l'intraitable sérieux de l'auteur." 2 And as for the beginning of Barnaby Rudge, he says, after enumerating events with praise: "Tout cela risquait de tomber dans

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le ridicule, mais l'innocence et le génie de l'auteur gagnent cette partie dangereuse." 3 The simplicity that he does not find in the works of Rousseau, Stendhal, and Flaubert is seen in their Confessions, Journal, and Correspondance. It goes without saying that Green himself is equally sincere in his novels and diary, and because he cannot be otherwise, poor reception of his work is a great disappointment. On the other hand, he is perfectly sure that the work in question corresponded to a need of the time, and he is never ashamed of it. In his attitude to visual art we also find this preference for sincerity. What bothers Green in the work of Manet, for example, is "la grande virtuosité de ce peintre," which he qualifies in the following manner: "Je n'ai jamais pu me défaire de cette idée qu'une certaine gaucherie est la marque des oeuvres sincères." * This basic characteristic is likewise appreciated in music and is most explicitly stressed in a passage on Bach: Ce n'était pas seulement à cause des thèmes religieux qui me tiennent si fort à coeur, . . . c'était parce que tout cela était vrai, vrai dans l'inspiration, miraculeusement vrai dans l'expression. Le secret d'une grande oeuvre n'est pas ailleurs que dans cette force irrésistible de la vérité.®

"True in inspiration" is the key phrase here, for it helps explain why Green was first converted to Catholicism. Failure to sense such inspiration brings forth immediate comment. "Henri V n'a plus de réalité que le roi de pique, et c'est une machine à discours, de beaux discours, sans doute, mais où est la vérité historique dans tout cela?" β Or else, on the subject of The Ring and the Book, we find: "Browning lui-meme est manifestement prévenu contre Guido Franceschini, et il n'entre pas sincèrement dans les sentiments de cet assassin, comme l'eût fait un

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Russe." 7 W e may say "as Green would have d o n e " because in this respect he has not faltered. He so enters the emotions of his characters that, as he has stated several times, he never knows how the story will end. His own n a t u r a l sincerity in literary creation has not always produced favorable results. Certain of his books are heavy; repetition occasionally decreases interest. Gide remarks in reference to Leviathan: "Certaine égalité de flux dans le cours d u récit m e gêne davantage; je l'aimerais plus torrentueux, avec des arrêts, des détours, des disparitions, des cascades." 8 It would seem as though the violence described would i n t e r r u p t the evenness of tone, b u t whatever one's reaction may be, the value of the author's "vérité intérieure" cannot be slighted. T h i s cornerstone of Green's criticism provides a basis for understanding part of his religious sentiment. During the years 1928-33 he was striving, as we have seen, for a type of religion that would respond to the needs of the time. T h e true purpose of his search was to find the greatest combination of sincerity and simplicity, and in all his questionings this has been the goal. Ce n'est pas dans les livres qu'il faut chercher Dieu—exception faite pour l'Evangile . . .—c'est en nous. . . . Les définitions qu'on donne de lui sont souvent des obstacles à la connaissance que nous pourrions eji avoir; les livres spirituels, si riches soient-ils, construisent des systèmes, et aucun de ces systèmes n'est Dieu. 0 H e has never h a d faith in religious exposés, except for the first explanation of Catholicism which he read, because he does not entrust belief to clever writers. Of course, belief that God is in every m a n a n d that H e need not be sought in books is limited to n o o n e religion. Green's condemnation of theological works means that he is unwilling to accept at r a n d o m explanations of intangible matters, and it

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also shows that he gives great attention to individual sincerity regardless of what else such sincerity might imply. For instance, he writes: On ne peut combler un vide spirituel avec des lectures de mystiques; ce ne serait tout au plus que tromper sa faim. . . . Je pense secrètement, qu'un Peter bien récité nous en apprendrait autant que ces pages . . . qui laissent notre coeur "plus assoiffé que devant." 1 0

One is tempted to inquire what became of all the other prayers connected with formal religion, be it Catholic or Protestant. In such a confession Green shows that he is not bound blindly to externals and that whatever the faith may be, the necessity of sincerity in religion still dominates. For those familiar with Green's work, the above quotation is not a new thought. One finds it in the first part of Varouna where Hoel is considered a heretic for expressing such an idea. Again in 1948 we find a desire for essentials. Neither anti-Catholic nor anti-Protestant, Green founds his faith on the true and simple. "La religion doit être ramenée à quelque chose de très simple, à l'Eucharistie et à l'Ecriture. S'en tenir à ce qui est de foi, ni plus, ni moins. T o u t le reste est spéculation." 11 Because of this emphasis we find him coming rather close to criticism of certain religious practices, as when he is impressed by the remark that Christ is more present in a man in a state of grace than in a consecrated Host because the Host is not aware of grace. 12 As for reading the Bible, Green does so faithfully and in the eyes of many has remained closer to Protestantism therefore. T h e individuality expressed by this custom no doubt springs from his effort to remain sincere. Nor does he hesitate to criticize conventional terminology when he says: "II arrive qu'on pense si souvent et si habituellement à Dieu en termes convenus que cette grande réalité, qui est la seule réalité, s'ef-

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face derrière les phrases apprises. C'est là le danger de beaucoup de pratiques religieuses." 13 Now we can see that much of the fury expressed in the Pamphlet was actually the first declaration of a young man seeking to do away with superfluities because he felt in his heart that sincerity and truth constituted the essential elements. As bases for belief, creation, and criticism, they form a vital support to Green's philosophy and a guide to our understanding of it. A second element frequently found in Green's impressions and one to which he also gives much value is the display of intense emotion. T h a t is why he has said that the last sentence of the preface to Bleak House could serve as an epigraph to his entire work. T h e sentence, which he quotes, reads: "In Bleak House, I have purposely dwelt on the romantic side of familiar things." 14 One common expression of such romanticism occurs in the portrayal of strong contrasts. Speaking of Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby, he says: "Squeers punissant Smike dans la voiture est une des scènes les plus pénibles et les plus fortes que je connaisse dans la littérature romanesque." 15 Or certain pages from Gulliver's Travels where he finds: Ce style glacial et furieux à la fois, tout indique la profonde, l'imperturbable gravité de l'érotomane. Quand on réduit la vie entière à l'accomplissement de quelques actes physiques qui prennent alors une importance considérable, on finit par avoir du monde une vision en quelque sorte infernale, non sans beauté du reste.16 T h i s remark could lead to an analysis of the parallel between Green and men like Baudelaire who were fascinated by the beauty of horror, but that is not part of our discussion. T h e violence here appeals to Green because it comes from an innermost drive which must struggle to assert itself. If tension is not present, he also notices that immedi-

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ately, and we read: "Lu de Mérimée quelques pages dont l'ennuyeuse perfection me lasse." 17 Admittedly there is a difference between content and style, and we should not compare his comments on Dickens with those on Swift. Nevertheless, the fact that he is equally sensitive to "style furieux" and "scènes fortes" makes the parallel possible. If we realize the satisfaction he got from reading Dickens, we can sense the pleasure he had in creating Adrienne, Mme Grosgeorge, Guéret, and others. That which one most appreciates in life often reflects inner feelings, and therefore, through Green's reactions to contrasts, we obtain a clue to the opposing passions which we find in him and which no longer seem to be something destiny had in store for him. The article on Charlotte Bronte which first appeared in the Revue Hebdomadaire in 1926 reveals response to another sort of opposing emotions. La vie ne lui inspirait aucune confiance et il lui suffisait d e former un projet pour douter immédiatement de sa réussite. O n eût bien surpris et bien irrité cette protestante si on lui eût dit qu'elle faisait songer à une religieuse en proie à l'acedia d u cloître, mais c'était vrai. 1 «

In such instances Green enjoys the ferocity because he suspects that it conceals another force of equal intensity having an opposite effect. This occurs only because he is aware of such possibilities in himself: Ce soir, je suis rentré et j'ai lu la Bible pour essayer de faire briller de la lumière dans ma nuit. Il y a des minutes o ù on ne peut pas ne pas se faire horreur à soi-même, où l'on est d'accord avec ceux qui nous condamneraient s'ils savaient. 19

Fortunately Green makes no claim to being saintly. realizes how spiritual feelings come and go, and if shocks himself, he will not expect to atone for an error an hour of prayer. After putting down the Imitation,

He he by he

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says that the reality of the flesh "est d'une autorité si grande qu'elle exclut jusqu'à la pensée d'une réalité contradictoire." 20 The only link between moments of spirituality is faith, which in order to be steadfast must come in revelation as it did to Green in 1939. But this faith is also subject to crises, for it does not afford comfortable security. One must make a constant effort to maintain it, and, as Green says, pick up the cross each day from where one set it down the day before. 21 When he admits that religion does not always provide the help expected of it, he says that it weakens only because of us.22 Interestingly enough this idea was expressed in 1944, and one can see that he was on the way toward facing his destiny and accepting responsibility himself. T h e conversion strengthened his faith but did not abolish a certain amount of realism essential to worldly existence. Therefore we discover frequent references to the same sort of neurasthenia in his own life that he saw in Charlotte Bronte's. The most typical and one of the frankest passages in the diary discusses what he expected from a ceremony in which two young men were joining the priesthood. T h e description is quite detailed, and one gets the impression that Green is being carried away by the events. Just as the robes are being put on, he writes: "A ce moment, j'ai éprouvé une sorte de révolte qui m'a beaucoup surpris." 23 The reason was his regret on seeing the young bodies disappear for good under those stone-white robes. If this contrast overcomes him in church, so does it appear at home. "Beaucoup lu la Bible et pourtant je me sens lourd, triste et charnel malgré cette lecture." 24 This sentence restates the problem in a way which suggests that Green will always flucuate, and, indeed, as late as 1948 he wrote that the world is so beautiful "qu'il faut un très grand effort pour s'en détacher, même quand on croit." 25 Whether he searches for spiritual encouragement in

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church, in personal devotion, or in nature, he must always be aware of an opposite force attaching h i m to himself and to his surroundings. If he appreciates such tensions in others a n d reveals them in himself, we can comprehend why all his novels include the violence a n d the romanticism which characterize them. Since Green's f a i t h largely depends on religious sentiment, such contrasts cause him to wonder if his instability can lead to salvation. As we know, he has depleted this in Moira. T h e security he experienced in his youth a n d later lost was never fully regained. In 1945 h e states: " P o u r t a n t il m e semble q u e si tous les docteurs d u m o n d e venaient m'affirmer l ' u n après l'autre q u e je suis sauvé, il y aurait toujours en moi u n e voix pour me dire: ' Q u ' e n savent-ils?' " T h e implication of " t o u j o u r s " in this sentence is important, for we see not only that belief in salvation cannot be dictated b u t also that in spiritual matters Green must conConsetinually struggle against d o u b t of salvation. quently, an occasional reassurance of faith is warmly received, as when a m o n k said to him that the least word in the Bible has more importance than a n y t h i n g ever written by any author. Green comments: " E n l ' e n t e n d a n t dire ces choses, les générations de croyants q u e je sens en moi lui sautèrent au cou." - 7 T h e joy expressed here is very sincere because most of the time Green sees n o answer to the p r o b l e m of how to be a true Christian within the limits of h u m a n nature. P a r t of this constant questioning with regard to his religious position was prolonged by a rather interesting intellectual relationship with Gide. T h e first m e n t i o n of Gide in Green's diary for 1929 does not relate their first encounter. T h e y h a d met in the spring of 1928, a n d the similarity of the impressions they m a d e u p o n each other is q u i t e striking. 2 8 O n e of the things that contributed to their long-lasting friendship was their current a t t i t u d e to-

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ward Catholicism. Therefore, as far as Gide was concerned, Green's conversion in 1939 created a barrier between them which Green, of course, regretted. After Gide's death in 1951, La Table Ronde devoted the April issue to him and included all the extracts from Green's diary since 1946 which pertain to Gide. As Green points out, their visits were not very frequent because in late life Gide became q u i t e adamant toward certain Church concepts, and Green was never at ease during religious discussion with him. In 1946, while looking at a photograph of Gide taken in 1890, Green says: 11 me semble que j'aurais pu parler au garçon d'alors. . . . Nous avions en commun quelques incertitudes, mais maintenant, parler à Gide me semble parfois moins facile. Il connaît trop bien, comme o n dit en Amérique, toutes les réponses, et ce qui m'attire, c'est le flottement, le "je ne sais pas." 2 9

Not only does this explain a change in their relationship but it also reveals Green's inability to be pinned down in matters that do not have definite answers. Incidentally, it is on this very point of knowing all the answers that they both criticize Catholics. 3 0 W h a t Green disliked above all was Gide's effort to make him give way on certain principles of belief. "Il voulait me gagner à l'incroyance et il y mettait le zèle d u chrétien qui essaie de convaincre l'infidèle." 3 1 H e goes on to give his reaction to this proselytizing, a n d here we find f u r t h e r admission of the "flottement." D'autre part, l'intuition extraordinaire qu'il avait des êtres lui permettait de savoir à quel point j'étais troublé par nos entretiens sur le catholicisme. . . . J'éludais parfois le sujet pénible. 3 2

T h e n he writes that Gide gave up, seeing it was useless. Whether this be Green's way of affirming his Catholicism or not, the fact remains that because of his individualism he was disturbed by questions which might have touched

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on topics that were still debatable. T h e fluctuation he first detected in Charlotte Brontë, the violent passions he saw in others, and the disturbing aspect of his relationship with Gide all unite to stress how basic the element of emotional contrast is to an understanding of his nature and his spiritual outlook. T e n s i o n , however, results not only from contrast. O n e may also become very tense through involvement in a single emotion such as complete sadness or happiness. A sustainted feeling of this sort seems to mean much to Green spiritually even though it may not last long. One of the most important which we discover early in his criticism is mclancholy. In an article on the life of Samuel Johnson, Green writes the following about Johnson's father: [11] menait une vie malheureuse sans qu'on pût découvrir la cause précise de son incessante tristesse. Ne sachant quel nom donner à ce mal mystérieux, on était convenu de la mettre sur le compte d'une mélancolie naturelle et d'un tempérament morbide. Samuel Johnson hérita pleinement de cette hypocondrie qui devait empoisonner sa vie entière.33

T h i s is only one aspect of Johnson's life that Green mentions, of course, but the significant thing is that he should point it out so insistently and so well. T h e many nouns and adjectives connected with melancholy cannot fail to give an impression of what Johnson's heritage was. T h e r e are many continuing instances of his critical response to this quality. For instance, one of the reasons he is fond of Hawthorne is the beauty that he finds in that part of Hawthorne's life which he calls "studieuse et teintée d'ennui, de mélancolie et de joies sévères." 34 B u t he best reveals the power of sadness in his impression of a painting by Titian. La Mise au Tombeau m'a paru plus émouvante que tout le reste. Ce pauvre corps inerte qu'on met à terre, à la fin d'un beau

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jour d'été, j'y ai repensé plusieurs fois, ému par la simple tristesse de cette scène plutôt que par son caractère religieux. . . . Le ciel crépusculaire strié de rouge est d'une mélancolie presque insupportable. 85

In the remark on Hawthorne it will be noted that melancholy is an element of beauty, this being an idea upon which Green has reflected at some length. He even goes so far as to surmise that boredom is also a constituent of beauty since humanity "salue les chefs-d'oeuvre d'un long bâillement admiratif." 3 8 However, we must remember that this is in connection with a melancholy that weighs on the heart and is not part of boring perfection such as he senses in Mérimée. T o interpret melancholy in art as part of the worldly illusion which contributes to Green's concept of destiny would be incorrect. Melancholy and sadness have qualities of penetration which come from a religious sensitivity and are not depressing in the sense of ruining morale, whereas depression from illusion is actually discouragement. Green did not sense discouragement in the melancholy that cast its shadow over Johnson's life; it was essentially a clue to something unrequited, even an indication of possible future reward. In other words, melancholy attracts Green whenever he feels that it springs from spiritual depth. When this sort of emotional tension is carried over to religion, we find it translated in two ways. T h e first of these is the importance of prayer. At first the relationship between melancholy and prayer may seem tenuous, but it depends on that quality of penetration inherent in both. One may also wonder where the tension is in prayer or whether it is emotional, but the concentration required certainly produces tension, and one only has to listen to a fervent prayer to judge the amount of emotion involved. In 1943 Green wrote: "Quand un solitaire s'entretient avec

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Dieu, il est loin de savoir q u e cette heure de repliement sur soi résume les aspirations d'un m o n d e . " 8 7 T h r e e important ideas are apparent in this sentence, all of which relate to the type of melancholy we have been discussing. Solitude is a familiar theme which, though not always conducive to melancholy, may well be. It is essential to the nature of prayer. W i t h d r a w a l into oneself for purposes of c o m m u n i o n is likewise vital to the essence of Green's religion and to the nature of sadness, and finally the depth of e m o t i o n and prayer becomes significant in the word "aspirations." Green, his own characters, humanity in its admiration—each aspires toward the Absolute. T h a t is how melancholy can be appreciated in art, not as something depressing, but as something indicative of spiritual h o p e . T h e role of prayer is probably better understood after o n e comprehends the importance Green gives to silence, silence being the second way melancholy can lead to religious sensitivity. C'est au coeur du silence qu'habite Dieu. Là est sa demeure, non dans le vent, non dans le tremblement de terre, ni certes dans le bruit de paroles que nous faisons sans cesse, mais au plus profond de nous-mêmes, là où les voix du monde n'arrivent plus.®8 Earlier in 1942, when returning to the house in which he was living near B a l t i m o r e , Green stopped to e n j o y the quality of silence in the countryside, suddenly realizing once more the divorce that existed between his daily life a n d his personal feelings. F o r the first time he seems to have understood that he no longer had a hold on actual existence, adding that this drama could n o t be were it not for the war. However, because of his reaction to melancholy and prayer, it seems doubtful that such a sensation of separation from the world could depend on war alone. I n fact, he ends his commentary with the words: " J e sais

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trop bien que la sortie de secours est à l'intérieur de nousmêmes," 3 9 which implies an acquisition of knowledge of long standing. If the "emergency exit" is within us, we can overcome any anguish, not as M. Edme did in extensive searching, but in silent meditation during which inspiration may be granted. On looking into a dark sky, this is what Green experiences: Un grand bonheur intérieur, un profond sentiment de la vanité du monde, un sentiment plus mystérieux qui est analogue à celui de la présence de Dieu, un silence énorme en nous, qui est comme un écho du silence des deux. 4 0

In this passage one can see to what extent the feeling for silence serves as a basis for prayer as well as for a characteristic individualism in Green's spiritual constitution, for in such a declaration he is touching upon religious truth that has no sectarian limits. Because he had so much faith in the essentials, it is easier to see the difficulty Gide had in pinning him down to dogma, and we may safely say that his response to melancholy in literature which corresponds to the roles of prayer and silence explains a basic emotional trend that must be taken into account when mentioning the gloom of an Adrienne or the solitude of a Philippe. T h e final result of deep self-penetration is a momentary calm, a slow passing over to an intense feeling of happiness. The transition is apparent not only in the beginning of the preceding quotation but also in the following: "Je ne sais par quelle alchimie la tristesse d'hier se transforme en sensations de bonheur, mais un bonheur tranquille, un bonheur d'ombres." 41 Neither frivolous nor superficial, the happiness that Green experiences is another form of deep emotion, and we find it in his impressions of art. On reading Prometheus Unbound, he states: "C'est un torrent de musique. Jamais on n'a arraché à de simples mots un

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chant plus pur, plus continu." 4 - Although he disapproves of the ideas Shelly expressed on Providence, he maintains that the pleasure derived from the language is true, not dependent upon a mood. In reference to an exhibition of Chinese painting, he writes: "Il y avait peu de monde et j'ai pu me griser de ce que je voyais. Un petit paysage de saules m'a rendu si heureux que je ne savais plus comment faire pour le quitter." 4 3 And in the field of music an even more typical remark is found in a comment on Brahms: Ecouté avec un extrême plaisir le double concerto pour violon et violoncelle de Brahms. Il y a des passages auxquels tout ce que nous sommes, chair et âme, répond passionnément oui! Et je ne puis dire cela autrement. 4 4

Essentially this is the key to all of Green's understanding of joy, and the intensification of his response has convinced him that such happiness has no ordinary parallel in human experience. It is something religious and partially paralyzing which he has experienced several times since the age of eight, and he notices that it never depends on exterior circumstances, the latter being considered, apparently, as comfortable surroundings or the presence of a loved one. He calls this sort of happiness religious "à cause de son extrême gravité et à cause du mystère de son origine." 46 T h e several references to this joy need not be quoted, 4 6 but one is rather significant because of the interpretation he gives to it. One day in 1940 he records: J'ai senti que le bonheur était proche, humble comme un mendiant et magnifique comme un roi. Il est toujours là (mais nous n'en savons rien), frappant à la porte pour que nous lui ouvrions, et qu'il entre, et qu'il soupe avec nous. 47

No doubt the implication is due to his recent conversion, but however one considers this allegory, it is apparent that through such feelings of joy Green has had premonitions

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of mystical experience, thereby enabling Father Moeller to call him a "témoin de l'invisible." If we recall that one reason for becoming a Catholic in 1915 was precisely the joy that he sensed in complete response to something intangible and that this constitutes part of his attitude toward art, we find another combination of religion and emotion which characterizes Green's personality and work. Despite the exclusive quality of such feelings, he is still a human being who has moments of ordinary satisfaction, and he frankly admits: " J ' a i des moments de frivolité ridicule, j e veux dire que ma tristesse est souvent aussi frivole que ma j o i e . " 4 8 However that may be., it is clear that the importance he gives to deep emotion, be it in the violence of contrasts or in the tension of a single sensation, should naturally become an element of his critical reactions as well as serve to clarify why a large part of his spiritual life revolves around prayer, silence, and joy. In addition to these qualities and sincerity, there is a third and final element in Green's critical standards which also corresponds to his religious sensibility. T h i s is a feeling for nuances which develops into a taste for mystery. W e have already hinted at this feeling in mentioning his religious discussions with Gide, and we are familiar with the importance of mystery in his childhood. B u t in actual criticism we find a clearer expression of the qualities of nuances. In reference to Edmund Gosse's Father and Son, he writes: Que j ' a i m e cette économie de mots, cette rigueur dans le choix de l'expression, ce souci perpétuel de dire vrai!

11 y a au fond

de cela u n e émotion qui sans cesse affleure et d o n n e à ces phrases contenues et sévères une sorte de palpitation.• |e

He enjoys Racine because Racine's monsters never lose the feeling for nuance and thereby avoid becoming static personalities. Referring to Blake, he comments:

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Relu pour la centième fois le Jet d'eau. Cette phrase sur Phoebé réjouie, d'où vient qu'elle m'enchante ainsi? . . . Le balancement de cette phrase éveille en moi mille souvenirs d'enfance, tout un monde confus et heureux. 60

A similar power of allusion constitutes one of his main reasons for liking Keats. "Plus qu'un autre, je trois, Keats a eu ce don si rare d'évoquer d'une façon précise ce qu'il décrit à peine," 51 he says about Lamia. As for painting, surrealism does not please Green when the impossible looks organized, but a natural suggestion of the surreal brings forth favorable response. Incidentally, he owns two or three excellent paintings by Salvador Dali. Going back to another period, Green likes the early paintings of Corot. "Il serait intéressant de pouvoir noter ce qu'il n'indique pas dans ses paysages aussi bien que ce qu'il y indique, car son choix est réduit à l'irréductible, et c'est en cela qu'il me paraît grand." 52 Green's appreciation of nuances leads him to the familiar difficulty of being able to specify the nature of the allusion. Nevertheless, this type of sensibility is important because it shows an awareness of a spiritual life in the author, artist, or musician. Partially because of this quality Green was attracted to men like Pascal, Saint John of the Cross, and Blake. One aspect of nuance that is especially strong in Green is the suggestive power of reminiscence. As we have seen, this helped him to grow interested in Oriental thought. Now we discover this power playing an important role in his music criticism. He speaks of Cesar Franck's Psyche in these words: "C'est la musique d'une âme qui émigré vers le pays où le soleil ne brille qu'à travers la pluie et la brume; elle est heureuse, mais tristement, si l'on peut dire, et par le souvenir." 53 Here we find sadness and happiness both united in a past that was once real but which assumes an element of mystery in reminiscence. T h e power of music to recall the past eventually became so strong for

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Green that at times he had to refuse to listen, especially if the past had been extremely happy. If we now recall something to which he first referred in his Pamphlet, namely, the impossibility of enduring truly absorbing passion, we see the parallel between that and the danger of losing oneself in religious emotion. In terms of music criticism he reveals how he could sense the danger portrayed in Le Voyageur sur la terre. T h e origin of Green's interest in nuances, allusion, or power of suggestion lies in the element of mystery that naturally enshrouds everything that concerns the soul. T h e recurrence of the word mystery, now in connection with his critical standards, calls for a clarification of terminology. If his description of silence makes one think of mystical experience, we must distinguish between mystical and mysterious. Green helps greatly by asserting that a mystic sees clearly what he communicates with, whereas in mystery there is confusion. In the latter there is allusion which may lead to mystical experience but by no means inevitably. If there is a path from the mysterious to the mystical, it could be through visionary experience. 64 We know that M. Edme took this course and failed, but that does not eliminate visionary power as a permanent attraction for Green. Blake probably increases his interest in the subject since Blake was one of the first persons he wrote about. Green says: "Ce mot de vision est celui qui vient nécessairement sous la plume lorsqu'il s'agit de Blake," 55 and he calls him "un garçon imaginatif et visionnaire." 58 T h e latter quotation in particular makes one think of Green himself, especially if one remembers the early short stories, Le Visionnaire, Minuit, and the importance of dreams in his work. Whatever similarity exists between Blake and Green will have to be considered limited, however, because Green does not visualize the invisible as Blake did. His is much more an emotional ap-

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proach than an intellectual one, and that is why we find a statement such as this: Assis près du feu, j'ai relu d'une seule traite In the Closed Room, petit livre tranquille et mystérieux que j'aime beaucoup. L'auteur est une femme. Elle a ce don si rare parmi les hommes, le sens de l'invisible.67 T h e last five words explain precisely the use of the term mystery in Green's mind, and this is what he likes to find in an author or any artistic creator. He is irritated by the fact that Baudelaire never wrote some of the prose poems for which he left titles because the titles alone are provocative but much less rewarding than certain undeveloped phrases in Hawthorne's American Notebooks. For example: " 'Moonlight is sculpture, sunlight is painting.' Le livre est plein de petites paroles de ce genre, sans développement, sans bavardage, paroles d'un homme taciturne, rêveur, secret." 58 And elsewhere: "Me le rend cher, surtout, cette valeur qu'il donne au silence et à tout l'invisible." 59 Allusion and silence, which need no further discussion here, are only two of the qualities that Green attaches to mystery. Another important one is darkness. Throughout his work darkness pervades—be it time of day, colors, or moods. Therefore, to find it in his criticism is not surprising and, thanks to the way he describes it, we can better understand why it is so important to him. Commenting on the Sassetta of the Condé Museum, he observes: "Les couleurs m'ont déçu, tout d'abord: ce gris, ces bruns austères me paraissent tristes, puis ont pris à mes yeux leur véritable sens, qui est mystique." 6 0 This is why Green prefers evening or mist over a city as well as why he avoids going out in the brightness of morning. Similarly, he admires seventeenth-century music because it is "basse et

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rapide, profonde, mystérieuse comme un fleuve souterrain." 81 He writes, about Pelléas: "Quelle joie de pénétrer dans ce monde crépusculaire où les êtres se parlent comme au fond du sommeil!" 62 T h e connection between darkness, silence, and sadness is apparent enough for us to realize that the first, as an element of mystery, is natural to Green. He himself sums up the relationship in commenting upon two paintings by Filippo Lippi: Il y a dans ces toiles une lumière mystérieuse qui paraît encore toute enveloppée d'ombre, et qui est la lumière de certaines visions intérieures, une lumière en quelque sorte méditative. Que de silence dans ces deux toiles! e 3

We should understand, however, that to sense mystery in a work of art may enhance its importance, but the work is not a masterpiece therefore. He calls Botticelli's Derelitta a "tableau attirant par son mystère, certes, mais où je me refuse à voir de la grande peinture." 64 In art as in religion, sincerity, tension, and suggestion of the intangible must combine harmoniously so that those who participate in art or religion may sense the qualities of perfection in the creator. T r u e creation must spring from the soul. When Green senses this in a work of art, he is immediately aware of what essentially is an incipient union of souls. In everyday life this may explain why he claims to be always in love. In spiritual life, therefore, he has a natural inclination toward union with the Spirit, and, in order for that to become even remotely possible, he has frequently wished to discard physical hindrance. This is not limited to Minuit or to the period of interest in Buddhism, although mention of the desire to escape is naturally prevalent then. Dans les Héritiers du Majorat, d'Achim Arnim [iιc], copié ces mots: "Chaque homme recommence l'histoire du monde, chaque

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homme la finit." Je me suis promené dans cette phrase comme dans une grande avenue ombrageuse qui conduirait droit hors de cette vie.68 H e has also been interested in the significance of roads and their role in man's mental activity, and he wonders whether such activity would decrease if we no longer had roads "par où nous enfuir." ββ T h i s seems to be another expression of man's desire to attain something beyond his immediate reach, an interpretation which receives support from Green's appreciation of Claudel's Connaissance de l'Est. "Les mots dans ces pages sont assemblés de telle sorte que par je ne sais quels sortilèges, l'esprit libéré s'échappe et redécouvre la grande route qui passe entre les étoiles." 8 7 He experiences similar feelings in art and music, for at one time or another paintings of Egyptian faces and themes from Bach seem to lead him into another world. Many people use the expression "to lose oneself in something," but they do so because whatever they are occupied with unexpectedly absorbs them. Green, on the other hand, knows that there is a more meaningful reality in another world, and he would like to be free to attain it. "Mes livres sont des livres de prisonnier qui rêve de liberté . . . ," 68 he writes, adding the ellipsis marks himself and thereby leaving the reader to assume that they refer to the physical instincts he has grown to detest. If we now relate the feeling of intense happiness and the awareness of mystery to the desire for self-liberation, the fanaticism of Adrienne, Joseph, M. Edme, and others becomes comprehensible. At the same time we can see that by exteriorizing his own problems in his creative composition, Green maintains his emotional balance in this world. Examination of his spiritual sensibility through his im-

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pressions of art reveals permanent characteristics because his response to creative force dates from an early age. He first became aware of religious power in art shortly after the First World War while listening to the opening measures of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony: La voix que j'entendais dans cette musique surnaturelle me parlait d'un univers infiniment plus étendu que je ne l'avais soupçonné; je reconnaissais avec étonnement que le sens du divin n'était pas l'apanage exclusif de l'Eglise.88 T h i s is why a poetic phrase could also lead him out of this world. It explains what he meant by art's being true, true in that it touches the essence of the soul, and this justifies the assumption that the study of his esthetic impressions can give clues to his religious nature. We have not dwelt upon these characteristics with the intention of idealizing Green. We have done so in order that the reader may be aware of the amount of religious sensitivity in him and in his fictional characters. A person of such a constitution must always feel that physical satisfaction is only partially rewarding. Sexual instinct will constantly bring moral man back to worldly reality, and if this drive is believed to lead away from Christian living, happiness cannot be found. In simple terms, it is a pity that Green is unable to stop believing something he does not feel. Faith is a support when unhappiness is one's lot, but faith may also be a source of unnecessary concern. In his contact with the arts he was subconsciously exaggerating the emotional, but, if the latter is Christian in essence, it seems criminal to have to frustrate it. Depth and sincerity of feeling, however, in contrast with intellectual moral restraint is the basis of Green's production. Consequently, even though he may repeat himself, we may be sure that he will continue to provide strong character por-

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trayais, and although aspects of his interpretations are particular to him, he will appeal to many who have similar emotions and a puritanical heritage. We must admit that the thorn of Puritanism cannot be extracted from Green even though he ends his diary for 1950 with an earnest plea-undated and therefore applicable to any year-which briefly elucidates his Christian romanticism and his desire to gain intellectual peace: J e crois que si l'on donnait le nom de Mal au manque de charité au lieu d'accabler le pauvre corps humain de cette malédiction, on ferait chavirer tout un faux christianisme et du même coup on ouvrirait le royaume de Dieu à des millions d'âmes. 7 "

NOTES

C H A P T E R I:

YOUTH AND CHRISTIAN FAITH

I. Journal, III, 1. 2. Ibid., V, 312. 3. Quand nous étions ensemble, p. 20. 4. Ibid., p. 15. 5. Ibid., p. 21. 6. Memories of Happy Days, p. 98. 7. Quand nous étions ensemble, p. 35. 8. Ibid., pp. 20-21. 9. Memories of Happy Days, p. 153. 10. Journal, I, 9. I I . In conversation with Green he used this term to describe the conversion. 12. Memories of Happy Days, p. 255. 13. Journal, III, 101. 14. Ibid., IV, 67. 15. Ibid., IV, 92. 16. Ibid., III, 84. 17. Ibid., II, 7. 18. Quand nous étions ensemble, pp. 32-33. 19. Journal, II, 107. 20. Pamphlet, p. 36. 21. Ibid., p. 16. 22. Ibid., p. 13. 23. Ibid., p. 20. 24. Ibid., p. 21. 25. Ibid., p. 23. 26. Suite anglaise, p. 57. 27. Pamphlet, p. 45. 28. Journal, II, 179. 29. Ibid., V, 260-61. A remark of the same nature is also found in Volume V, p. 294. A parallel with Pascal, the development of the idea of Hell, and the mention of faith over reason have been discussed to a certain extent by Marc Eigeldinger in his book Julien Green et la tentation de l'irréel. 30. Journal, I, 13. 31. Memories of Happy Days, p. 255. 32. Pamphlet, p. 13. 33. Ibid., p. 19. 34. Journal, III, 47. 35. Pamphlet, p. 17. 36. Ibid., p. 27. 37. Ibid., p. 40. 38. Journal, I, 57.

140

NOTES T O ι :

YOUTH AND CHRISTIAN

FAITH

39. Roger Martin du Gard, Jean Barois, p. 55. 40. Memories of Happy Days, p. 265. 41. Journal, I, 5-6. 42. Le Voyageur sur la terre, p. 6. 43. Ibid., p. 10. 44. Ibid., p. 14. 45. Ibid., p. 20. 46. Ibid., p. 31. 47. Ibid., p. 47. 48. Ibid., p. 64. 49. Ibid., p. 66. 50. Ibid., p. 105. 51. Les Clefs de la mort, p. 224. 52. Hebrews xi: 13. 53. Hebrews xi: 27. 54. It should be mentioned that it was taken from Job xl: 21 and not 16. 55. Hebrews xii: 1. 56. Hebrews χ: 31. 58. Journal, III, 49. 57. Mont-Cinire, p. 14. 60. Journal, I, 44. 59. Adrienne Mesurât, p. 23. 62. Ibid., I, 74. 61. Ibid., I, 54. 63. Monte-Cinire, p. 44. 64. Léviathan, p. 246. 65. L'Autre Sommeil, pp. 167-68. 66. Epaves, p. 105. 68. Journal, III, 171. 67. Ibid., pp. 255-56. 70. Ibid., V, 123. 69. Ibid., I, 105. 72. Ibid., p. 26. 71. Le Visionnaire, p. 17. 74. Ibid., p. 65. 73. Ibid., p. 30. 76. Ibid., IV, 240. 75. Journal, I, 14. 77. Le Voyageur sur la terre, p. 12. 78. Journal, I, 5. 79. Le Voyageur sur la terre, p. 58. 80. Mont-Cinère, p. 17. 82. Léviathan, p. 226. 81. Ibid., p. 223. 84. Journal, III, 149. 83. Ibid. 86. Adrienne Mesurât, p. 23. 85. Ibid., I, 13. 88. Epaves, pp. 105-6. 87. Leviathan, p. 110. 90. Ibid., p. 13. 89. Le Visionnaire, p. 151. 92. Ibid., p. 127. 91. Ibid., p. 66. 94. Ibid., I, 18. 93. Journal, I, 17. 96. Ibid., p. 182. 95. Le Visionnaire, p. 176. 98. Ibid., p. 151. 97. Ibid., p. 71. 100. Ibid., p. 129. 99. Ibid., p. 151. 101. Ibid., p. 151. 102. Eigeldinger, Julien Green, pp. 68-69. 103. Journal, V, 26. 104. Ibid., I, 103. 105. Ibid., I, 90. 106. Ibid., I, 151. 107. Le Visio7inaire, pp. 182-83. 108. Ibid., p. 129.

NOTES TO I i : T H E ANGUISH OF DEATH

CHAPTER II:

141

T H E ANGUISH OF DEATH

I. Journal, I, 118-19. 2. Quand nous étions ensemble, p. 28. 3. Le Voyageur sur la terre, p. 21. 4. Pamphlet, p. 31. 5. Quand nous étions ensemble, p. 31. 6. Ibid., p. 32. 7. Pamphlet, p. 30. 8. Journal, I, 119. 9. Ibid., I, 221. 10. Ibid., IV, 203. II. Ibid., I, 119. 12. Le Voyageur sur la terre, p. 63. 13. Les Clefs de la mort, p. 114. 14. Ibid., pp. 222-23. 15. Ibid., p. 223. 16. Mont-Cinère, p. 127. 17. Journal, I, 83-84. 18. Adrienne Mesurât, p. 165. 19. Ibid., p. 189. 20. Ibid., p. 190. 21. Ibid., p. 193. 22. Léviathan, p. 152. 23. Quand nous étions ensemble, p. 31. 24. Le Voyageur sur la terre, p. 60. 25. Mont-Cinère, p. 104. 26. Léviathan, p. 127. 27. Quand nous étions ensemble, p. 31. 28. Journal, I, 21. 29. Ibid., I, 95. 30. Mont-Cinère, p. 105. 31. Les Clefs de la mort, p. 116. 32. Wilhelm Stekel, Les Etats d'angoisse nerveux, p. 25. 33. Journal, I, 118. 34. M. C. Albrecht, "Psychological Motives in the Fiction of Julian Green," Journal of Personality, March 16, 1948, pp. 278-303. 35. Stekel, Les Etats d'angoisse, p. 25. 36. Ibid. 37. Adrienne Mesurât, pp. 282-86. 38. Edmond Jaloux, "Le Visionnaire," Les Nouvelles littéraires, March 24, 1934. 39. Le Visionnaire, pp. 251-53. 40. Stekel, Les Etats d'angoisse, p. 68. 41. Ibid. 42. Ibid., p. 110. 43. L'Autre Sommeil, p. 66. 44. Journal, I, 137. 45. Supra, p. 40. 46. Journal, I, 119. 47. Epaves, p. 283. 48. Ibid., p. 285. 49. Le Visionnaire, p. 172. 50. Ibid., p. 212. 51. Ibid., p. 243. 52. Ibid., p. 244. 53. Stekel, Les Etats d'angoisse, p. 599. 54. Journal, I, 21. 55. Ibid., I, 114. 56. Ibid., I, 117. 57. Ibid., I, 122. 58. Léviathan, p. 195. 59. Ibid., p. 222.

142

NOTES T O m :

60. Epaves, p. 284. 62. Leviathan, p. 289. 64. Journal, I, 160-61.

CHAPTER III:

T H E SOLACE O F

BUDDHISM

61. Le Visionnaire, p. 215. 65. L'Autre Sommeil, p. 173.

T H E SOLACE OF BUDDHISM

1. Journal, II, 39, and III, 24. 2. A. K. Coomaraswamy, Hindouisme et Bouddhisme, p. 85. 3. Journal, II, 43. 4. Minuit, p. 278. 5. Ibid., p. 284. 6. Ibid., pp. 232-33. 7. Alexandra David-Neel, Le Bouddhisme, p. 205. 8. Jean Herbert, Spiritualité hindoue, p. 67. 9. Minuit, p. 279. 10. Ibid., p. 279. 11. Ibid., p. 137. 12. Ibid., p. 281. 13. Journal, V, 236. 14. Minuit, p. 137. 15. Ibid., p. 283. 16. Vivekananda, Le Vedanta, translated by Jean Herbert, p. 36. 17. Minuit, p. 284. 18. Journal, II, 49. 19. Minuit, p. 284. 20. Herbert, Spiritualité hindoue, p. 106. 21. Minuit, p. 286. 22. Ibid., p. 289. 23. Ibid., p. 285. 24. Ibid., p. 294. 25. Journal, I, 83. 26. Minuit, p. 293. 27. Journal, I, 211. 28. Ibid., V, 235-36. 29. Minuit, p. 293. 30. Journal, II, 76. 31. Ibid., II, 37-38. 32. Ibid., II, 38-39. 33. Ibid., I, 7. 34. Minuit, p. 187. 35. Ibid., p. 289. 36. Journal, II, 37. 37. Minuit, p. 36. 38. Ibid., p. 94. 39. Ibid., p. 229. 40. Ibid., p. 283. 41. Ibid., p. 292. 42. Journal, II, 133. 43. Minuit, pp. 283-84. 44. Sainte-Thérèse de Jésus, Oeuvres Complètes, p. 892. 45. Minuit, p. 294. 46. Ibid., p. 289. 47. Abrégé de la doctrine de Saint Jean de la Croix, p. 35. 48. Ibid., p. 41. 49. Minuit, p. 288.

NOTES ΤΟ i v :

143

DESTINY'S BURDEN

50. Journal, II. 43. 51. Ibid., II, 38. 52. Ibid., I, 205. 53. Ibid., II, 47. 54. Ibid., II, 53. See also II, 75 and 153. 55. Herbert, Spiritualité hindoue p. 39. 56. Christmas Humphreys, Karma and Rebirth, p. 17. 57. Journal, II, 168-69. 58. Humphreys, Karma, p. 28. 59. Varouna, p. 76. 60. Ibid., p. 200. 61. Ibid., p. 174. 62. Ibid., p. 200. 63. Ibid., pp. 228-29. 64. Humphreys, Kama, pp. 67-68. 65. Journal, II, 55. 66. Ibid., II, 143. 67. Varouna, p. 11. 68. Journal, III, 73. 69. Ibid., V, 141. 70. Ibid. 71. Gaëton Picon, "J. Green et Varouna," Cahiers du Sud, October, 1941, p. 506. 72. Varouna, p. 140. 73. Ibid., p. 199. 74. Ibid., p. 204. 75. Ibid., p. 260. 76. Ibid., p. 252. 77. Ibid., p. 1. 78. Ibid., p. 199. 79. Ibid., p. 11. 80. Humphreys, Karma, p. 17. 81. Journal, II, 85. 82. Ibid., II, 153. 83. Humphreys, Karma, p. 36. 84. Helen-Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, I, 639. 85. Ibid., I, 642. 86. Journal, III, 101-2. 87. Si j'étais vous, p. 3. 88. Ibid., p. 10. 89. Journal, III, 70. 90. Si j'étais vous, p. 58. 91. Journal, IV, 200. 92. Ibid., IV, 35. 93. Ibid., V. 141. 94. Quoted by Humphreys, Karma, p. 75.

CHAPTER IV:

DESTINY'S BURDEN

1. Dayton Köhler, "Julian Green: Review, April-June, 1932, p. 140. 2. Ibid., p. 141. 3. 4. Ibid., I, 63. 5. 6. Léviathan, pp. 31-32. 7. 8. Journal, II, 111. 9.

Modern Gothic," Sewanee Journal, V, 249. Epaves, p. 166. Ibid., p. 279. Ibid., IV, 216.

144 10. 12. 13. 14. 16. 18. 20. 22. 24. 26. 28.

NOTES τ ο iv: d e s t i n y ' s Ibid., I, 31. Journal, IV, 36. R . M. Albérès, La Révolte Epaves, p. 31. Ibid., II, 186. Epaves, p. 39. Leviathan, p. 289. Supra, p. 22. Ibid., III, 211. Varouna, p. 215. Léviathan, p. 39.

burden

11. Epaves, p. 203.

des écrivains d'aujourd'hui, p. 67. 15. Journal, III, 113. 17. L'Autre Sommeil, p. 190. 19. Journal, IV, 163. 21. Journal, V, 290. 23. Journal, V, 106. 25. Ibid., II, 170. 27. Journal, II, 175. 29. Adrienne Mesurât, p. 79. 30. Gabriel Marcel, "Epaves," L'Europe nouvelle, April 9, 1932, p. 462. 31. Journal, III, 137-38. 32. Ibid., IV, 52. 33. L'Autre Sommeil, p. 117. 34. Ibid., p. 5. 36. Ibid., p. 75. 35. Ibid., p. 41. 38. Epaves, p. 3. 37. Ibid., p. 120. 40. Ibid., I, 87. 39. Journal, V, 86. 41. Ibid., IV, 205. 42. Léviathan, p. 298. 44. Epaves, p. 120. 43. Journal, III, 49. 45. Varouna, p. 228. 46. Journal, III, 263. 48. Léviathan, p. 47. 47. Ibid., I I I , 53-54. 49. Ibid., p. 105. 50. Ibid., p. 234. 51. Journal, I, 26. 52. Ibid., I, 55. 53. Ibid., III, 253. 54. Ibid., II, 155. 55. Varouna, p. 94. 56. Ibid., p. 143. 57. T h i s has been discussed by Charles Moeller in his chapter on Green in Littérature du XXe siècle et christianisme, pp. 33839. Father Moeller has portrayed Green's spiritual life from the Catholic point of view. Even though we both approach this matter chronologically, this study, by and large, does not draw sufficiently u p o n the novels for clarification. I d o not feel that he has presented a truly complete picture of Green, and in conversation G r e e n has agreed with me. 58. Catherine de Gênes, Traité du Purgatoire, p. 40. 59. Moeller, Littérature du XXe siècle et christianisme, p. 336. 60. Journal, IV, 240-41. 61. Varouna, p. 243.

NfOTES T O v :

T H E PURITAN'S FATE

CHAPTER V:

145

T H E PURITAN S FATE

I. Journal, III, 4-5. 2. Ibid., III, 272. 3. Ibid., III, 24. 4. Mona, p. 191. 5. Journal, IV, 102. 6. Ibid., III, 50. 7. Ibid., V, 286. 8. Ibid., V, 18. 9. Ibid., V, 241. 10. Ibid., IV, 319. II. Ibid., IV, 162. 12. Moira, p. 110. IS. Journal, IV, 251. 14. Ibid., III, 214. 15. Ibid., III, 88. 16. Ibid., V, 352. 18. Ibid., p. 90. 17. Moira, p. 74. 20. Journal, III, 206. 19. Ibid., p. 118. 21. Ibid., V, 42. 22. Ibid., V, 172. 23. Moïra, p. 112. 24. Journal, V, 43. 25. Ibid., IV, 163. 26. Ibid., V, 184. 27. Ibid., IV, 149. 28. Ibid., V, 90-91. 29. Ibid., V, 224. 30. Ibid., IV, 163. 31. Ibid., V, 233. 32. Ibid., IV. 148. 33. Ibid., IV, 180. 34. Ibid., IV, 178. 35. Ibid., V, 224. 36. Ibid., V, 171. 37. Ibid., III, 50. 38. Si j'étais vous, p. 113. 39. Journal, III, 64. 40. Ibid., IV, 194. 41. Ibid. 42. Ibid., V, 186. 43. Ibid., V, 231. 44. Moïra, p. 169. 45. Ibid., p. 190. 46. Ibid., p. 221. 47. Ibid., p. 229. 48. Figaro littéraire, April 14, 1951. 49. Moïra, p. 187. 50. Father Moeller provides the Church's answer in a footnote, stating that one must invoke the doctrine of "the spiriual man" according to Saint Paul and also refer to the testimony of the saints. Littérature du XXe siècle et christianisme, p. 315. 51. W. C. Greene, Moira, p. 125. 52. Ibid., p. 46. 53. Ibid., p. 59. 54. Ibid., p. 180. 55. Journal, V, 129-30. 56. Ibid., IV, 157. 57. The Complete Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley, p. 277. 58. Journal, V, 304.

146

NOTES T O v i :

C H A P T E R VI:

A CHRISTIAN

SENSIBILITY

A C H R I S T I A N SENSIBILITY

2. Ibid., I, 96. ]. Journal, I, 124. 4. Ibid., I, 93. 3. Ibid., I, 99. 6. Ibid., IV, 37. 5. Ibid., I l l , 161. 8. André Gide, Journal, p. 920. 7. Ibid., IV, 118. 10. Ibid., IV, 41. 9. Journal, IV, 109. 12. Ibid., IV, 77. 11. Ibid., V, 205. 14. Ibid., II, 33. 13. Ibid., IV, 54. 16. Ibid., III, 20. 15. Ibid., I, 150. 18. Suite anglaise, p. 214. 17. Ibid., I, 10. 20. Ibid., IV, 186. 19. Journal, IV, 244. 21. Ibid., IV, 200. 22. Ibid., IV, 161. 24. Ibid., V, 14. 23. Ibid., V, 9. 26. Ibid., IV, 200. 25. Ibid., V, 153. 27. Ibid., V, 75. 28. Memories of Happy Days, p. 314, and Gide, Journal, p. 883. 29. Journal, V, 59. 30. Ibid., V, 109. 31. La Table Ronde, April, 1951, p. 34. 32. Ibid. 33. Suite anglaise, pp. 18-19. 34. Journal, III, 127. 35. Ibid., I, 41-42. 36. Ibid., I, 107. 37. Ibid., IV, 38. 38. Ibid., III, 280. 39. Ibid., III, 201. 40. Ibid., IV, 212. 41. Ibid., II, 92. 42. Ibid., IV, 112. 43. Ibid., II, 117. 44. Ibid., IV, 219. 45. Ibid., IV, pp. 78-79. 46. Ibid., I, 245-46; II, 84-85, 97; III, 100, 114, 129. 47. Ibid., III, 9. 48. Ibid., II, 16. 49. Ibid., V, 295. 50. Ibid., 1, 57. 51. Ibid., II, 119. 52. Ibid., I, 35. 53. Ibid., II, 212. 54. For discussion of this topic one might consult Northrop Frye, Fearful Symmetry, pp. 7-8. 55. Suite anglaise, p. 61. 56. Ibid., p. 43. 57. Journal, II, 47-48. 58. Ibid., IV, 149. 59. Ibid., III, 129. 60. Ibid., II, 205. 61. Ibid., I, 99. 62. Ibid., I, 154-55. 63. Ibid., II, 79. 64. Ibid., II, 32.

NOTES TO v i : a

CHRISTIAN

65. Ibid., II, 119. 67. Ibid., IV, 17. 69. Ibid., II, 189.

SENSIBILITY

66. Ibid., II, 187. 68. Ibid., V, 319. 70. Ibid., V, 362.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

WORKS BY JULIAN GREEN USED IN T H I S STUDY Adrienne Mesurât. Paris, Plön, 1927. L'Autre Sommeil. Paris, Gallimard, 1931. "Entretiens avec André Gide," La Table Ronde, April, 1951. Epaves. Paris, Pion, 1932. "Fragments de 'Journal,' " Le Figaro Littéraire, April 14, 1951. Journal, I, 1928-1934. Paris, Pion, 1938. Journal, II, 1935-1939. Paris, Pion, 1939. Journal, III, 1940-1943. Paris, Pion, 1946. Journal, IV, 1943-1945. Paris, Pion, 1949. Journal, V, 1946-1950. Paris, Pion, 1951. Léviathan. Paris, Pion, 1929. Memories of Happy Days. New York, Harper and Bros., 1942. Minuit. Paris, Plön, 1936. Moira. Paris, Pion, 1950. Mont-Cinère. Paris, Pion, 1926. Pamphlet contre les catholiques de France (first edition under pseudonym, Théophile Delaporte, Paris, 1924). Editions de la Baconnière, Neuchâtel, 1944. Quand nous étions ensemble. Les Oeuvres Nouvelles. Vol. II. Editions de la Maison Française, New York, 1943. Si j'étais vous. Paris, Pion, 1947. Suite anglaise. Les Cahiers de Paris, 1927. Varouna. Editions de la Maison Française, New York, 1941. Le Visionnaire. Paris, Pion, 1934. Le Voyageur sur la terre; Les Clefs de la mort; Christine; Léviathan. Paris, Pion, 1930.

150

BIBLIOGRAPHY

O T H E R SOURCES Abrégé de la doctrine de Saint Jean de la Croix (first edition by Editions de la Vie Spirituelle, Paris, 1925). Paris, Editions du Seuil, 1948. Albérès, René-Marill. La Révolte des écrivains d'aujourd'hui. Paris, Corrêa, 1949. Albrecht, M. C. "Psychological Motives in the Fiction of Julian Green," Journal of Personality, March 16, 1948, pp. 278-303. Blavatsky, Helen-Petrovna. The Secret Doctrine. Los Angeles, Theosophy Co., 1925. Catherine de Gênes. Traité du Purgatoire. Ligugé (Vienne), Editions de la Vie Spirituelle, 1922. Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. Hindouisme et Bouddhisme. Translated by René Aliar and Pierre Ponsoye. Paris, Gallimard, 1949. David-Neel, Alexandra. Le Bouddhisme, ses doctrines et ses méthodes. Monaco, Editions du Rocher, 1936. Eigeldinger, Marc. Julien Green et la tentation de l'irréel. Paris, Editions des Portes de France, 1947. Frye, Northrop. Fearful Symmetry, a Study of William Blake. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1947. Gide, André. Journal 1889-1939. Paris, Gallimard, 1949. Greene, William Chase. Moira—Fate, Good and Evil in Greek Thought. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1944. Herbert, Jean. Spiritualité hindoue. Paris, Albin Michel, 1947. Humphreys, Christmas. Karma and Rebirth. London, J o h n Murray, 1943. Jaloux, Edmond. "La Visionnaire," Les Nouvelles littéraires, March 24, 1934. Kohler, Dayton. "Julian Green: Modem Gothic," Sewanee Review, April-June, 1932. Marcel, Gabriel. "Epaves," L'Europe nouvelle, April 9, 1932. Martin du Gard, Roger. Jean Barois. Paris, Gallimard, 1921. Moeller, Charles. Littérature du X X e siècle et christianisme. Vol. I. Paris, Castermann, 1953. Picon, Gaëton. "J. Green et Varouna," Cahiers du Sud, October, 1941.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

151

Sainte-Thérèse de Jésus. Oeuvres complètes. Paris, Editions du Seuil, 1949. Shelley, Percy Bysshe. Complete Works. London, Oxford University Press, 1907. Stekel, Wilhelm. Les Etats d'angoisse nerveux. Translated by Lucien Hahn. Paris, Payot, 1930. Vivekananda. Le Vedanta. Translated by Jean Herbert. Paris, Adrien Maisonneuve, 19S8.

INDEX Absurdity, 83-84 Adrienne Mesurât, role of death in, 37-38 American Field Service, xii Beauty, related to sin, 107-9; related to melancholy, 127 Beethoven, Ninth Symphony, 137 Bible, reading of, 4; quotations from, 18-19; assurance of salvation in, 111 Blake, William, 10, 30, 133 Brontë, Charlotte, 122 Buddhism, 52; training of mind in, 55; obstacles in, to Green, 55, 78-79, 84 Catholicism, conversion to, xii, 5; ancestral ties with, 6; denial of, 26; criticism of. 11-12, 26-28; in Minuit, 61 Communion of Saints, 95 Conversion, reasons for, 5-7; secondary, of 1932, 22; its significance, 50-51; of 19)9, 75, 76, 9597 Death, Daniel's sensitivity to, in Le Voyageur sur la terre, 16; fear of, 51, 35. 36, 37-39: fascination of, 33, 47, 48; linked to religion, 35-37; images of, 3941; religious basis for fear of, 39, 45; linked to love. 41-42, 44; as an instinct, 42; Oriental attitude toward, 66

Destiny, feeling of uselessness, 8182; feeling of instability, 86-87; fatigue, 88; the unfathomable in man's nature, 89-90; defiance of, 92-93; lessons from, 93-94; indifference toward, 94; acceptance of, 98; in title Moira, 100, 104 Divine Comedy, the, 33, 39 Dreams, inspiration of, in Hinduism, 57; use of, in Varouna, 7475. Epaves, feeling for religion in, 21 Faith, characteristics of, 9-11; possible loss of, 12-13 Fear, origins of, in Green, 33; religious bases of, 45-47 Gide, André, 23, 119; discussions with, 124-26 Green, Julian, family origin, xi; war experiences, xii, xiv; prizes, xiii, xiv; religious upbringing, 34; religious fluctuations, 191520, 7-8; pseudonym, 8-9; nature of conflict, 192)·}), 14; religiosity of late '20's, 20; accentuation of spiritual undercurrent in 19)2, 22; mixture of Protestantism and Catholicism, 24; effort to shrug off Protestantism, 26; criticism of religion, 27-29; search for personal credo, 2930; awareness of death, 34; fear

154 of death. 37; conflict of desires in Le Visionnaire, 49; subduing fear of death, 50-52; reasons for interest in Orient, 52; comments on Minuit, 59; attitudes toward metempsychosis, 71; Oriental influence after 19)9, 7779; concern with passing of time, 82-83; description of self in Varouna, 96-97; result of 1939 conversion, 98; belief in sin, 102; effort to unite intellect and emotion, 111; desire for simplicity in religion, 120-21 Greene, William C„ Moira, 11213 Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 126, 134 Hebrew, study of, 95 Herbert, George. 96 Heredity, bonds of, 6; in Varouna, 71 Hinduism, unity of universe in, 55 Hypocrisy, in Mont-Cinère, 25; in Le Visionnaire, 27-28, 30 Individualism, of parents' practices, 4; of Green, 7, 12, 23-25, 27, 119-20 Johnson, Samuel, 126 Joy, 5, 7, 130-31 Karma, ideas contained in, 67; universal soul in, 73, 78; concept of destiny in, 76; in Si j'ctais vous, 76-77 Keats, John, 132 Leviathan, feeling for religion in. 21; death in, 38-39; Gide's comment on, 119 Liberation, spiritual, 51-52, 98-99, 135-36 Lippi, Filippo, 135 Love, linked to death, 41; repression of, 42

INDEX

Maritain, Jacques, 97 Melancholy, 22, 126-27; relationship to prayer, 127-28; to silence, 128-29 Metempsychosis, 67, spiral of improvement in, 70; Green's opinion of, 71; Green's attitude toward, after 1939, 78 Minuit, illusion in, 54; mental concentration in, 55; unity of universe in, 56; Green's problem in, 58; comedy in, 60; Christian elements in, 61 ff; effect of, on opinion of death, 6667 Moira, implication of title, 100. 104, 112; Joseph and Praileau in 103-4; Green's rewards from; 114-15; see also Beauty, Salvation, Sin Mont-Cinère, feeling for religion in, 20-21; criticism of Protestantism in, 25-26 Music, suggestive power of, 13233; seventeenth century, 134-35 Mystery, 5, 10, 131; distinguished from mystical, 133 Mythology, 71, 72 Nirvana, as liberation, 54; parallel in Christianity, 62; Green's attitude toward, after 19)9, 7778 Pamphlet,

interpretation

of,

9,

11, 12

Pascal, Blaise, 11 Protestantism, upbringing in, 3-4; in Le Voyageur sur la terre, 21; in Mont-Cinère, 25; criticism of, 25-26; in Minuit, 6162; importance of, in Moira, 114-16 Providence, criticism Varouna, 94

of, 26; in

155

INDEX

Puritanism, role of conscience in, 51-52; thorn of, 52, 101, 106, 109, 138; exaggeration of, 106-7 Ramakrishna, 53, 57, 62 Renan, Ernest, 29, 30 Saint Catherine of Genoa, 95-96 Saint John of the Cross, 64-65 Saint Theresa of Avila, 62-63 Salvation, 105, 107; possibility of. in beauty, 107-9; in reconciliation of opposites, 109, 110-11; authority of Bible in. 111; doubt about, 124 Security, feeling of, 5, 6, 16; hereditary, 6 Sexual instinct, force of, 99; monotony of, 100; hatred of, 100; justification for, 101, 107-8 Shelley, Percy B., remarks on Catholics and Protestants, 115 Silence, 128-29 Sin, Joseph's idea of, in Moira, 101; Green's belief in, 102; as temptation, 102-4; educational value of, 104-5; relationship to beauty, 107-9

Sincerity, in criticism, 117-19; in religion, 119-21 Solitude, 84-85, 127-28 Stekel, Wilhelm, 41, 42, 44, 45, 49 Tension, emotional, 121-24 Titian, 126-27 Varouna, cause and effect in, 6870; use of metempsychosis in, 71-72; Green's characteristics in, 71 -75 Violence, element of, in faith, 10; in connection with Spanish Inquisition, 11; emotional struggle behind, 121-23 ì'isionnaire, Le, feeling for religion in, 23; criticism of religion in, 27-29; uniting love and death in, 44-45; fascination of death in, 48-49 Vivekananda, 53, 54 Voyageur stir la terre, Le, apprehension in, 15-16; Protestant background of, 19; mixture of religious backgrounds in, 24