NPPF Commentary 238, P. 168, Part I

[Vince & Shelly Maeder]

Plain text version

Line 238: empty emerald case
 
Mr. Kinbote begins by a discussion of the literal reference to the
cicada shell left after it has emerged from shedding its exoskeleton. 
Kinbote also references translators of Lafontaine's La Cigale et la
Fourmi and the cigale's companion, the ant, about to be embalmed in
amber.  Mr. Kinbote then recounts his many nature walks with Mr. Shade
were the latter would point out "curious natural objects" and ignores
Mr. Kinbote's admiration and desire to speak of life and literature as
well as desire to now at what point Mr. Shade was in recounting the
Zemblan king's adventures which he'd been regaling the poet.  I have an
image of a pestering man of low self-esteem seeking validation by
constantly attempting to divert discussion to himself, Mr. Kinbote, and
the poet deftly avoiding such discussions--a bit of word play and mental
games.
 
During these discussions there are references to the Canadian and
Austral Zones, Appalachia, the Diana flower, and the Atlantis flower. 
There are also peculiar grammatical mistakes such as Mr. Kinbote’s
reference "(see, frequently see [sic], note to line 181)" and "Shade
kept evading me, me [sic], who was hysterically. . . ."  Throughout the
passage there is interplay between the real, natural environment of the
Appalachians versus the imagined, artificial world of New Wye and the
Zemblan kingdom.  This is a strong metaphor for the interplay between
the true, real author and the proposed, imagined author of the work we
are reading.  
 
At the end of the passage, there is an extended reference to King
Alfred and Mr. Shade's attempt to stop Mr. Kinbote's repeated attempts
to bring up his own references to Zembla (making it more apparent that
his harassment of Mr. Shade in this area was not very subtle).  The last
line of the comment refers us out to his note at line 802.