Des Esseintes
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| + | "[[Des Esseintes]] is no admirer of [[Rabelais]] or [[Molière]], of [[Voltaire]] or [[Rousseau]]. Among the older French writers he read only [[Villon]], [[D'Aubigné]];, [[Bossuet]], [[Bourdaloue]], [[Nicole]], and especially [[Pascal]]." | ||
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| "Lest the reader should feel curious as to the course of [[Des Esseintes]]’ history, let us add that a serious [[nervous illness]] attacks him in his solitude, and that his doctor imperiously orders him to return to Paris and the common life. Huysmans, in a second novel, ‘[[Là-bas]],’ shows us what Des Esseintes eventually does in Paris. He writes a history of [[Gilles de Rais]], the wholesale murderer of the fifteenth century, to whom [[Moreau de Tours]]’ book (treating of [[sexual aberrations]]) has unmistakably called the attention of the [[Diabolist]] band, who are in general profoundly ignorant, but erudite on this special subject of [[erotomania]]. This furnishes M. Huysmans with the opportunity of burrowing and sniffing with swinish satisfaction into the most horrible filth. Besides this, he exhibits in this book the mystic side of [[decadentism]]; he shows us Des Esseintes become devout, but going at the same time to the ‘[[black mass]]’ with a hysterical woman, etc. I have no occasion to trouble myself with this book, as repulsive as it is silly. All I wished was to show the ideal man of decadentism."--''[[Degeneration (Nordau)|Degeneration]]'' (1892) by Max Nordau | "Lest the reader should feel curious as to the course of [[Des Esseintes]]’ history, let us add that a serious [[nervous illness]] attacks him in his solitude, and that his doctor imperiously orders him to return to Paris and the common life. Huysmans, in a second novel, ‘[[Là-bas]],’ shows us what Des Esseintes eventually does in Paris. He writes a history of [[Gilles de Rais]], the wholesale murderer of the fifteenth century, to whom [[Moreau de Tours]]’ book (treating of [[sexual aberrations]]) has unmistakably called the attention of the [[Diabolist]] band, who are in general profoundly ignorant, but erudite on this special subject of [[erotomania]]. This furnishes M. Huysmans with the opportunity of burrowing and sniffing with swinish satisfaction into the most horrible filth. Besides this, he exhibits in this book the mystic side of [[decadentism]]; he shows us Des Esseintes become devout, but going at the same time to the ‘[[black mass]]’ with a hysterical woman, etc. I have no occasion to trouble myself with this book, as repulsive as it is silly. All I wished was to show the ideal man of decadentism."--''[[Degeneration (Nordau)|Degeneration]]'' (1892) by Max Nordau | ||
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Revision as of 07:55, 22 May 2024
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"Des Esseintes is no admirer of Rabelais or Molière, of Voltaire or Rousseau. Among the older French writers he read only Villon, D'Aubigné;, Bossuet, Bourdaloue, Nicole, and especially Pascal." "Lest the reader should feel curious as to the course of Des Esseintes’ history, let us add that a serious nervous illness attacks him in his solitude, and that his doctor imperiously orders him to return to Paris and the common life. Huysmans, in a second novel, ‘Là-bas,’ shows us what Des Esseintes eventually does in Paris. He writes a history of Gilles de Rais, the wholesale murderer of the fifteenth century, to whom Moreau de Tours’ book (treating of sexual aberrations) has unmistakably called the attention of the Diabolist band, who are in general profoundly ignorant, but erudite on this special subject of erotomania. This furnishes M. Huysmans with the opportunity of burrowing and sniffing with swinish satisfaction into the most horrible filth. Besides this, he exhibits in this book the mystic side of decadentism; he shows us Des Esseintes become devout, but going at the same time to the ‘black mass’ with a hysterical woman, etc. I have no occasion to trouble myself with this book, as repulsive as it is silly. All I wished was to show the ideal man of decadentism."--Degeneration (1892) by Max Nordau |
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Des Esseintes is a fictional character and the protagonist of the French novel À rebours (1884) by Huysmans, he is an eccentric, reclusive snob and dandy.
He is said to have been partly based on Robert de Montesquiou, a French aristocrat who used his wit to shield himself from genuine human emotion, and partly on Francis Poictevin.
There are many similarities between Des Esseintes and Patrick Bateman, protagonist of American Psycho, both are relentless aesthetes, both are jaded.
See also
