Homepage
Login
Profile
BookClubs
dmBox
Lokis (novella)Lokis. A Manuscript of Professor Wittembach (French: Lokis - Le manuscrit du professeur Wittembach) is an 1869 Prosper Mérimée horror fantasy novella. It was one of the last stories by Mérimée, started in July 1868 and published in the Revue des deux Mondes in September 1869. The title is a misspelling of the Lithuanian word lokys for "bear". The plot revolves around a young man who is suspected to be half-human half-bear. As such, the plot may be classified into a werewolf theme with some elements of vampirism (the motif of drinking blood repeats through the work). The novella primarily deals with the dual nature of human–beast. It also contrasts Western education and Christianity with pagan Lithuanian rituals and beliefs, on more broadly – cultured civilization with primordial wilderness.
Plot
The story is told from the point of view of an observer – professor Wittembach, a pastor and an amateur ethnographer - who comes to a Samogitian manor in rural Lithuania while on a mission to translate the Gospel of Matthew into Samogitian. The plot revolves around a young man, Count Michel Szémioth, who is suspected to be half-human half-bear, since he was born after his mother was mauled (and, as believed by peasants, raped) by a bear. Through the novel, the protagonist, Michel/Lokis, manifests signs of animal-like behavior until he finally kills his bride by a bite to her throat and runs away into the forest on his wedding night. Some critics consider the tale to be an inversion of the Beauty and the Beast, whereby the Beauty transforms a man into a Beast, rather than vice versa.
Free books android app tbrJar TBR JAR Read Free books online gutenberg
(0)More posts by @Angela
