Les masques de la nudité (Eugène Demolder, La dame au masque)
The Masks of Nakedness – Eugène Demolder’s La dame au masque

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the first of four stories in Eugène Demolder’s Quatuor. The motifs of the mask and hidden identity, mainstays of European culture, in the tale by the Belgian Symbolist writer flirt with the possibility of crossing boundaries in the quest for complete, untrammelled freedom. Presented from the perspective of a young, provincial dandy, the romantic game between a “rebellious” artist and a bewitching, masked stranger turns out to be a battle of wills between a shy, lovelorn seamstress (a working class woman) and a bourgeois incapable of transcending his class prejudices. The references to Flemish mystics and alchemy scattered throughout the text imply that the protagonist might possibly experience a spiritual transformation if he takes a chance and “crosses boundaries”, but the denouement suggests his utter failure in this regard.

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