Максим Шраер – Набоковская Европа. Литературный альманах. Ежегодное издание. Том 2 (страница 29)

«What kind of people seek new combinations? They are the men of thought, who have finely differentiated brains coupled with the sensitivity of a woman and the emotionality of a child. They are the slenderest, most delicate branches on the great tree of humanity: they bear the flower and the fruit. Many become brittle too soon, many break off. Differentiation creates in its progress the fit as well as the unfit; wits are mingled with nitwits – there are fools with genius and geniuses with follies…»[135]

If Nabokov read this, would he not be delighted with this astute characterization? Nabokov, the poet/genius/madman, often spoke of his «combinational» mode of creativity.

Jung’s views on the fluidity of past/future, and acausal space/time relationships (synchronicity) square nicely with Nabokov’s.

«For, in the last resort, we are conditioned not only by the past, but by the future, which is sketched out in us long beforehand and gradually evolves out of us. This is especially the case with a creative person who does not at first see the wealth of possibilities within him, although they are all lying there already.»[136]

«What poet or composer has not been so beguiled by certain of his ideas as to believe in their novelty? We believe what we wish to believe. Even the greatest and most original genius is not free from human wishes and their all-too-human consequences»[137]

Interestingly, it was discovered in 2004 that there had been a short story written in 1915 titled «Lolita» by a German author named Heinz von Eschwege, about a middle-aged man obsessed with a young girl. Nabokov never acknowledged this. Some say it was a case of cryptomnesia.

Perhaps it was; he could have read it as a very young man and forgotten. Is that the case with Pale Fire? Hardly – he is clearly playing with the whole motif, beginning with the title. His many allusions in Pale Fire to lesser artists slyly demonstrate his superiority. In response to criticism from Edmund Wilson, he had this to say:

«Finally – Mr. Wilson is horrified by my «instinct to take digs at great reputations’. Well, it cannot be helped; Mr. Wilson must accept my instinct, and wait for the crash.»[138]

Had he read Jung’s several writings on the subject of cryptomnesia? Most likely, I would say, the influence is pervasive, and yet Jung will remain the most hidden and most essential source for this most abstruse work. This using the work of (often lesser) writers also suggests Jung’s study of alchemy, for Nabokov is taking the prima materia of other works and turning them into his own literary gold.

Tri-partite Man: A Solution for Understanding the Relationship

Of the Three Main Characters of «Pale Fire» By Mary Ross

In my work in progress, «Art, Alchemy and Failed Transcendence: Jungian Influences in Nabokov’s Pale Fire», I assert that the three main characters, Shade, Kinbote and Gradus, represent the three parts of man: the lower conscious, the ego conscious and the higher conscious.

Although similar to Freud’s Id/Ego/Superego, Jung’s interpretation has more breadth and depth, allowing for the creative aspects of the psyche. Jung claimed that the unconscious held both the higher and lower aspects of the Self. To correlate with alchemy I prefer maintaining a tri-part definition, as Jung himself stated it is essentially that.

«If we are to do justice to the essence of the thing we call spirit, we should really speak of a «higher’ consciousness rather than of the unconscious, because the concept of spirit is such that we are bound to connect it with the idea of superiority over the ego-consciousness.»[139]

The notion of the tri-part person did not originate with Freud’s Id, Ego, and Superego. The tri-part man has been described with slightly different terminology through the ages. Some terminology has been confused or conflated, such as spirit/soul, spirit/mind, mind/ego, soul/ego, soul/unconscious, body/unconscious, etc., but basically they fall into the below categories:

A person who has let go of their ego defenses by facing and incorporating the unconscious, according to Jung’s theory of Individuation, is then said to be the whole Self.

Jung delved into alchemy and found correlations for his theories within the texts. Ancient Greek alchemy attributes the «Emerald Tablet», an essential alchemical text of 14 aphorisms, to the legendary/mythic Hermes Trismegistus. Number 13 states: «I am called Hermes Trismegist, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world.»

What are the three parts? There were usually three main ingredients put in glass retorts: Sulphur, Mercury, and Salt. These were considered the Sun, the Moon and the Earth, or spirit, soul, body.

The 16^th century alchemist, Michael Maier, author of the alchemical text «Atalanta Fugiens» (a text that will prove crucial to Pale Fire) gives further information on the tri-part man. One of the important emblemata (images) in the book (No. XXXIX) explains the esoteric meaning of the riddle of the Sphinx. The usual answer to «what walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three in the evening» is «Man». Meier writes the following remark about the Sphinx’s riddle, in which he states that the esoteric solution is shown in occult geometry:

«But they who interpret concerning the Ages of Man are deceived. For a Quadrangle of Four Elements are of all things first to be considered, from thence we come to the Hemisphere having two lines, a Right and a Curve, that is, to the White Luna;

from thence to the Triangle which consists of Body, Soul and Spirit, or Sol, Luna and Mercury.»[140]

This solution is more complex than I can explain here. Whether this is comprehensible or not to laymen, the alchemists understood it. The important thing is the theme of Body/Soul/Spirit, which is Mercury/Luna/Sol, which, in our text, is also Gradus/Kinbote/Shade, three aspects of man in one. It is also fitting that the «common» answer to the Sphinx’s riddle fits Pale Fire, too. The lower instinctual nature (infant or animal) crawls on all fours. Gradus’ abnormally long arms give him a simian appearance; a grown (conscious ego) man walks upright independently (or «proudly») on two, and an old man accepts the help of a cane (higher wisdom/humility). John Shade, remember, walks with the help of a cane.

Jung posited that the «collective unconscious» consisted of «archetypes», templates common to all humans, although evinced with associations personal to each individual. The three most important archetypes were The Shadow, the Wise Old Man and the Anima. The Shadow is everything a person denies in one’s self and relegates to the unconscious. Psychic instability happens when the shadow contents push towards consciousness and cannot be kept hidden. This can lead either to psychosis, or the first step on the path to wholeness, what Jung termed «individuation». Individuation is achieved when the archetypes are faced and absorbed into consciousness.

«The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge, and it therefore, as a rule, meets with considerable resistance.»[141]

«Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.»[142]

It is not hard to make the connection that Gradus is akin to the Shadow. He is not only everything Kinbote detests, but Nabokov as well: brutish, mechanical, stupid, dull, un-clean, un-thinking, un-original and sadistic. Kinbote is deathly afraid of him, just as an unstable ego is fearful of being annihilated by the unleashing of the Shadow.

«There are far more people who are afraid of the unconscious than one would expect. They are even afraid of their own shadow. And when it comes to anima and animus, this fear turns to panic.»[143]

I won’t go into Jung’s alchemy much here, but it is important to note that he likens the Shadow to «Mercurius»:

«With a little self-criticism one can see through the shadow – so far as its nature is personal. But when it appears as an archetype (i.e. Mercurius) one encounters the same difficulties as with the anima and animus. In other words, it is quite within the bounds of possibility for a man to recognize the relative evil of his nature, but it is a rare and shattering experience for him to gaze into the face of absolute evil»[144]

Kinbote is a large man, a large ego. Narcissistic, self-serving, he is the epitome of what Jung terms «ego inflation». Here are some edifying quotes from Jung:

«Inflation magnifies the blind spot in the eye, and the more we are assimilated by the projection-making factor, the greater becomes the tendency to identify with it. A clear symptom of this is our growing disinclination to take note of the reactions of the environment and pay heed to them.»[145]

«Everyone who has dealings with such cases knows how perilous an inflation can be. No more than a flight of steps or a smooth floor is needed to precipitate a fatal fall.»[146]