Robert Scheffer - Prince Narcissus (1896)

One challenging aspect of this blog will be posting reactions to works I’m currently reading, as well as attempting to retrace my path as I initially became interested in Decadent literature (with recommendations for good and not-so-good places to start). I’ll need to be clear which posts are which!

I recently finished Robert Scheffer’s novella Prince Narcissus (1896). It’s an outstanding example of a recurring motif in Decadent literature: a fabulously wealthy, handsome, intellectual young man of high position alienated by the vulgarity and stupidity of contemporary human society. Scheffer’s protagonist, Prince Mitrophane Moreano, becomes fascinated by his own beauty and - not surprisingly if you’ve read much Decadent literature - fascination soon becomes neurotic obsession. 

As Moreano ages and tries to preserve his looks or delude himself about them, Prince Narcissus becomes a deliciously morbid gothic tale about the cruelty of mortality. Moreano is forever comparing his own disintegration with the unchanging portraits with which he surrounds himself and identifies with as spiritual mirrors. This notion of the futility in denying death comes to flower in many Modernist writers, especially the Existentialists (e.g., Sartre's “The Wall”) though in a decidedly starker tone and style.

Meanwhile, Scheffer’s novella is a dark bubble bath of beautiful, imagery-filled text that's in love with language and blurs the already thin boundary between Decadence and rival movement Symbolism. Much of it takes place in Venice (Alexey Bogolyubov's painting Venice by Moonlight is shown above). The decor of Moreano's dwellings, his clothes, and even the city he is in are often described in exhaustive detail as a means of commenting on his inner psychology. Consider, for example, Moreano’s anthropomorphized description of Venice:

“She wanted to flourish in a quiet basin, nearby but safe from the indiscreet crowd of waves, that she might sit and admire herself there. And my own self, born mobile, captures and immobilizes my vision of humanity in the false water of mirrors, and I am satisfied with my own appearance.” 

As Scheffer builds layer upon layer of Poe-like atmosphere, lacing it with the occult, hysteria, ennui, opium, and financial ruination, it becomes tempting - as with many works of Decadent literature - to dismiss the whole thing as a gifted writer slumming in self-indulgent purple prose. This is probably one reason the Decadence movement is not, or at least appears not to be, treated as a serious school of literature. 

However, I find the movement’s mix of Naturalism’s slice-of-life, Romanticism’s high (in Decadence, often hysterical) emotions, and Modernism’s unsettled inner psychology utterly distinct. As outré as Prince Narcissus and Moreano are, one can easily find correspondences between them and the people and angst of the 21st Century. It’s an acquired taste, no doubt, but one that is extremely entertaining and thought-provoking. 

For a bibliophile - or anyone with a taste for decadence - it’s wonderful to secure Prince Narcissus in hardcover editions like this one by Snuggly Books. It’s a slender volume, rounded out by a small selection of Scheffer’s short fiction. The cover art is beautiful, and the feel of the book in your hands enticing. I only wish it included an introduction with background on Scheffer or a scholarly analysis of the novel itself. This would have been very welcome given the apparent lack of serious critical attention directed toward Decadent literature.

Prince Narcissus would be well-paired with similarly toned Decadent works, such as Bernardo Couto Castillo’s Asphodels or Count Eric Stenbock’s Studies of Death, both available in Snuggly hardcover editions. I’ll post about them in due course!