Matt Roth (to Jansy) "Are you
saying that these descriptions are at odds? I don't think so, since Shade too
mentions the crimson bars on the dark Vanessa's wings. These flame-like bars
draw Kinbote's attention, as well. So the Admirable is both dark &
flame-like at the same time, depending upon your focus."
JM: You comments are very
objective. Leland de la Durantaye emphasized, in "Pale Fire", a "thieving"
dimension whereas, without disagreeing with him, I consider "Pale Fire" to be
examplary of "deceit." In "Strong Opinions" (p.11) Nabokov states that "all art is deception and so is nature; all is deception in that
good cheat, from the insect that mimics a leaf to the popular enticements of
procreation." before he continues, stating that "deception in chess, as in art, is only part of the game; it's part
of the combination, part of the delightful possibilities, illusions, vistas of
thought, which can be false vistas, perhaps..."
My observation about different
manifest Vanessas ("dark and red") is probably a "false vista," but it
still delights me, in its link to my hypothesis concerning authorial intention.
In my interpretation, Kinbote couldn't mention the Greek root for
"engendering a shiny luminous appearance" directly, so he circumvented it
through the indication of an "orphic divinity" ( "Phanes") in connection to
the Vanessas, probably hinting at the source that inspired coinages, such as
phenomenon,phenotype,phenocopy to indicate "deceitful nature, and its
expression in art" (Vanessa's mimetism and the relation bt. Shade and
Kinbote or, from a new perspective, the relation between Sybil and
Kinbote).
There are still manifold interpretations about a
Vanessa mimetism, perhaps they will lead one only to "false
vistas of thought" ... As I understand it, right now (I'm open to
change my opinion) Shade(Nabokov) would be the "originator" ("genotype") for
other "phanes-like" manifestations ( Sybil, Kinbote, Gradus,
as "phenotypes" of what remains hidden or recessive in him). In what way
would Kinbote copy Shade? Not physically, I'm sure, although Kinbote was full of
artful disguises.
A writer can lead one into one direction without
invalidating another one (the orphic belief in serial lives and
re-incarnation). While perusing the internet I also read another curious item in
relation to the Vanessa butterfly reproductive cycle. (I'll only
mention what I can still remember and I don't know if it's
scientifically precise) Every year three batches of Vanessas emerge,
two of these with a short-life span, from egg/larvae/butterfly ie, birth and
death, whereas the later one (which emerges in August or September) hybernates,
flies to Mexico and returns to procreate five or six months later. Shade's
Vanessa falls into the short-lived brood. I have no idea if this fits into "Pale
Fire" or relates to the "IPH" thematic.
.............................................................................................................................................................................................
Returning to Matt Roth's
quote and information about "Kinbote's note to 270: It is so like the heart of a scholar in
search of a fond name to pile a butterfly genus upon an Orphic divinity on top
of the inevitable allusion to Vanhomrigh, Esther! [...]
According to some sources, the three primary Orphic divinities are
Phanes, Uranus, and Cronus. In the Pale Fire cosmology, these are related to the
Vanessa, Kinbote (Uranist), and Father Time (more on him in a different
post).
Any other
ideas?
JM: I
was led from orphic "Phanes" to "phaneros" and, unexpectedly to "phanein".
Initially, my attention was centered on the meaning of "light-giver" and
"manifestation" associated to Phanes. Then to the hidden "evanescence" ( sudden
manifestation like a flare in an "epiphany"). Finally, researching on an
independent issue ("phenocopy") I found its links to "phanein" meaning
to "making manifest." (perhaps inspiring other coinages, such as
phenotype and phenomenon). One of the wiki-entries denied any connection
between Phanes/Phanessa and the butterfly's name, Vanessa. Another one, related
to phenotype, led me along a completely differenet
lane.
According to a
wiki-source, the Greek
"phainein" inspired Richard Goldschmidt to coin the word "phenocopy".
"Phenotype" was created earlier by Wilhelm L.
Johannsen, while "phenomenon" was referred to Kant *.
The amazing thing is that the first example of a
"phenocopy" * described the Vanessa butterfly. I learned that
it can mimic other unrelated butterflies, when living under similar
environmental conditions and changed its appearance when it lived in another
site.
In my opinion, this is a fascinating link to
Pale Fire's Vanessa and Kinbote's very informed commentary ( it almost makes me
believe he and Shade are the same person!).
Another point that caused me to reconsider
Shade's lines and Kinbote's commentary about them, derives from Shade's
insistence about seeing Sybil in the guise of a "dark Vanessa", whereas
Kinbote elaborated about its flaming red/orange color and how
this "individual" butterfly danced as a flame, it flared and vanished,
only to reappear before it was dissolved by the
growing "shade."
Not only Kinbote's commentary about "orphic
divinity" (as observed by Matt Roth) suggests that CK was more knowledgeable
about butterflies than it was to be expected of him, but also the item about
"phenocopy" (something Nabokov wouldn't have ignored since he was an expert on
butterlies and mimetism) is striking, because also Shade might
not have known about that.
This might be an instance in which Nabokov
is speaking through Kinbote and Shade. It occurs to me that chess-pieces
may be black and white, but also black and red (or orange?). Shade's "dark
Vanessa" (Sybil) might stand for the black chess-pieces, Kinbote's would be the red ones. The divine chess-player
could be Nabokov himself, in the guise of
Shade?
..................................................................................................
* (Wiki) A phenocopy is an individual whose phenotype
(generally referring to a single trait), under a particular environmental
condition, is identical to the one of another individual whose phenotype is
determined by the genotype. In other words the phenocopy environmental condition
mimics the phenotype produced by a gene. The term was coined by Richard
Goldschmidt in 1935[1]. He used it to refer to forms, produced by some
experimental procedure, whose appearance duplicates or copies the phenotype of
some mutant or combination of mutants. A phenocopy is not a type of mutation, it
is an environmentally induced, non-hereditary phenotypic modification that
resembles a similar phenotype produced by a gene mutation (genocopy).
An
example of a phenocopy are the Vanessa genus of butterflies who can change
phenotype based on the local temperature. If introduced to Lapland they mimic
butterflies localised to this area and if localised to Syria they mimic
buterflies of this area. These phenotypes aren't inherited and are solely due to
environment.