- 著者
-
藤井 仁奈
- 出版者
- 文教大学
- 雑誌
- 言語文化研究科紀要 = Bulletin of The Bunkyo University Graduate School of Language and Culture (ISSN:21892709)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.2, pp.69-92, 2016-03-16
In the famous novel called “Bruges-la-Morte” by Georges Rodenbach, the name of Ophelia is used for the depiction of the city of Bruges. It is described as a dead woman, just like the wife of the main character Hugues. Ophelia, the dead wife and the city Bruges are all described as dead women. On the other hand, Hugues is alive of course, and the contrast is quite clear.◆However, in the essay called “Bruges”,which was written before the novel, we cannot regard Ophelia as the same dead woman in the novel. In the essay, Rodenbach describes Bruges as the dethroned queen who is dying, but not completely dead. When the narrator is surrounded by silence, he imagines that he can hear the voices of the things around him, which say he cannot live any longer. A visage of Ophelia appears in this imagination. She is the person whose soul is salvaged by the water from her agony.◆These descriptions of Ophelia are in contrast with each other. In the novel, Hugues realizes he is alive in the dead city when he thinks of his dead wife just as Ophelia. In the essay, the narrator perceives Ophelia’s soul in the dying city when he has a consciousness of the order of the things, which means all things are going to be dead and mortal. Both of them are described with the scenery of the water of the canals, but they are quite different.◆In this paper, I want to analyze the essay in detail and compare it with the description of Ophelia of the novel.