La Vénus d'Ille ([lavenysdij], "The Venus of Ille") is a short story by French writer Prosper Mérimée. It was written in 1835 and published in 1837. It tells the story of a statue of Venus that comes to life and kills the son of its owner, whom it believes to be its husband. This is based on a popular medieval story, of which William of Malmesbury wrote the earliest known version.[1]
The narrator, an archeologist, is visiting the town of Ille in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. A friend of his recommends him to M. de Peyrehorade, who is familiar with the Romanruins in the area. When he arrives, he discovers that M. de Peyrehorade's son, Alphonse, is to be married to a certain Mademoiselle de Puygarrig, and the narrator is invited to the wedding.
A marble statue of Venus similar to the bronze described in Prosper Mérimée's Vénus d'Ille
Meanwhile, M. de Peyrehorade shows the narrator his new discovery: a bronze statue of Venus Pudica. The narrator judges the statue to be very old and deciphers the inscription. Both men marvel at her fierce gaze; she is as frightening as she is beautiful.
Before the wedding, the groom decides to play a game of Paume, and he slips the wedding ring intended for his fiancée onto a finger of the statue. He wins the game, but his opponents swear revenge. He accidentally leaves the ring with the statue; and when he goes back later to retrieve it, he discovers that the statue has closed her fingers around it. The narrator does not believe Alphonse's story, since Alphonse has been drinking heavily at the reception, and he goes to bed.
During the night, the narrator hears heavy footsteps climbing the stairs; but he assumes that it is a drunken Alphonse going to bed. In the morning, after the cock's crow, he hears the same steps retreating down the stairs. Suddenly, there is screaming and commotion. The narrator runs down the hall to find a crowd of people surrounding the dead Alphonse, who looks as though he died in a fiery embrace.
At first, he suspects that it was the rival faction from the game of Paume; but later he hears the story of Alphonse's wife, who others claim has gone crazy. She says that the statue entered the room, embraced her husband, and spent the entire night with him in her arms. In the morning, the statue left him there and returned to her pedestal.
The narrator leaves town to return to Paris. He later hears that M. de Peyrehorade has died, and his wife had the statue melted down and turned into a bell for the local church. The narrator remarks that since the bell has been installed, the crops have been destroyed twice by frost.
Charactersedit
The narrator, an archeologist from Paris on vacation in Ille
M. de Peyrehorade, the owner of the statue
Mme de Peyrehorade, M. de Peyrehorade's wife
Alphonse, M. de Peyrehorade's son
Mlle de Puygarrig, Alphonse's fiancée and later wife
Vénus, the statue maudite
le Catalan
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Stories by Foreign Authors (French II)/The Venus of Ille
French Wikisource has original text related to this article:
In 1931, the story was adapted as "The Bronze Venus," a 30-minute episode of the radio show The Witch's Tale. It was also adapted as a 60-minute episode of an Italian TV anthology series called The Devil's Games. It was directed by famed Italian horror film director Mario Bava, with his son Lamberto Bava co-directing. The TV episode was never dubbed in English. It was also adapted into the Guy Maddin film Twilight of the Ice Nymphs. In 1967, director Janusz Majewski, who would later adapt Mérimée's novella Lokis as a feature film, directed a 22-minute-long, black-and-white television adaptation of La Vénus d'Ille, titled Wenus z Ille (The Venus of Ille).
Referencesedit
^The Young Man Betrothed to a Statue, Paull Franklin Baum, PMLA, Vol. 34, No. 4 (1919).
^The Penguin guide to compact discs yearbook, 1995 - Page 321 "Venus was written in 1919-21 and is based on a libretto by Schoeck's school-friend, Armin Rueger; ..."
October 28, 2023
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources La Venus d Ille news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message La Venus d Ille la venys dij The Venus of Ille is a short story by French writer Prosper Merimee It was written in 1835 and published in 1837 It tells the story of a statue of Venus that comes to life and kills the son of its owner whom it believes to be its husband This is based on a popular medieval story of which William of Malmesbury wrote the earliest known version 1 La Venus D Ille Short story by Prosper MerimeeText available at WikisourceCountryFranceLanguageFrenchGenre s Fantasy horrorPublicationPublished in1835Publication date1837 Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Characters 3 Adaptations 4 ReferencesPlot summary editThe narrator an archeologist is visiting the town of Ille in the Languedoc Roussillon region of France A friend of his recommends him to M de Peyrehorade who is familiar with the Roman ruins in the area When he arrives he discovers that M de Peyrehorade s son Alphonse is to be married to a certain Mademoiselle de Puygarrig and the narrator is invited to the wedding nbsp A marble statue of Venus similar to the bronze described in Prosper Merimee s Venus d IlleMeanwhile M de Peyrehorade shows the narrator his new discovery a bronze statue of Venus Pudica The narrator judges the statue to be very old and deciphers the inscription Both men marvel at her fierce gaze she is as frightening as she is beautiful Before the wedding the groom decides to play a game of Paume and he slips the wedding ring intended for his fiancee onto a finger of the statue He wins the game but his opponents swear revenge He accidentally leaves the ring with the statue and when he goes back later to retrieve it he discovers that the statue has closed her fingers around it The narrator does not believe Alphonse s story since Alphonse has been drinking heavily at the reception and he goes to bed During the night the narrator hears heavy footsteps climbing the stairs but he assumes that it is a drunken Alphonse going to bed In the morning after the cock s crow he hears the same steps retreating down the stairs Suddenly there is screaming and commotion The narrator runs down the hall to find a crowd of people surrounding the dead Alphonse who looks as though he died in a fiery embrace At first he suspects that it was the rival faction from the game of Paume but later he hears the story of Alphonse s wife who others claim has gone crazy She says that the statue entered the room embraced her husband and spent the entire night with him in her arms In the morning the statue left him there and returned to her pedestal The narrator leaves town to return to Paris He later hears that M de Peyrehorade has died and his wife had the statue melted down and turned into a bell for the local church The narrator remarks that since the bell has been installed the crops have been destroyed twice by frost Characters editThe narrator an archeologist from Paris on vacation in Ille M de Peyrehorade the owner of the statue Mme de Peyrehorade M de Peyrehorade s wife Alphonse M de Peyrehorade s son Mlle de Puygarrig Alphonse s fiancee and later wife Venus the statue maudite le Catalan nbsp Wikisource has original text related to this article Stories by Foreign Authors French II The Venus of Ille nbsp French Wikisource has original text related to this article La Venus d IlleAdaptations editThe Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck drew on the story for his 1922 opera Venus as well as on the similar novella The Marble Statue Das Marmorbild by German writer Joseph von Eichendorff 2 In 1931 the story was adapted as The Bronze Venus a 30 minute episode of the radio show The Witch s Tale It was also adapted as a 60 minute episode of an Italian TV anthology series called The Devil s Games It was directed by famed Italian horror film director Mario Bava with his son Lamberto Bava co directing The TV episode was never dubbed in English It was also adapted into the Guy Maddin film Twilight of the Ice Nymphs In 1967 director Janusz Majewski who would later adapt Merimee s novella Lokis as a feature film directed a 22 minute long black and white television adaptation of La Venus d Ille titled Wenus z Ille The Venus of Ille References edit The Young Man Betrothed to a Statue Paull Franklin Baum PMLA Vol 34 No 4 1919 The Penguin guide to compact discs yearbook 1995 Page 321 Venus was written in 1919 21 and is based on a libretto by Schoeck s school friend Armin Rueger Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title La Venus d 27Ille amp oldid 1166021550, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
