Against the Grain · Chapter
XV explained
Des Esseintes' enthusiasm for the 'digester' quickly fades as his dyspepsia worsens, leading to severe hallucinations and physical decline.
What happens
Des Esseintes' enthusiasm for the 'digester' quickly fades as his dyspepsia worsens, leading to severe hallucinations and physical decline. He recalls the religious music of his Jesuit schooling, particularly plainsong, which he reveres above all other religious music. He reflects on his disdain for secular music and its public performance, preferring the solitary, ascetic music of the Middle Ages. His condition deteriorates, and in a moment of lucidity, he is horrified by his own appearance and sends for his Paris doctor, oscillating between hope and despair.
Themes in this chapter
Illness and Neurosis
Des Esseintes experiences a severe physical and mental decline, with hallucinations, fevers, and digestive issues dominating the chapter.
Religion and Spirituality
The chapter delves into Des Esseintes' nostalgia for the plainsong and liturgical music of his Jesuit upbringing, contrasting it with modern, secularized religious music.
Escapism and Solitude
Des Esseintes rejects public music performances and prefers solitary, introspective experiences, such as listening to Schubert's lieder or recalling monastic chants.
Characters to notice
- Des Esseintes
Suffers from worsening dyspepsia, hallucinations, and physical deterioration; recalls his childhood experiences with religious music at the Jesuit college.
- the doctor
Summoned by Des Esseintes in a desperate attempt to cure his nervous disorders.
- the servant
Assists Des Esseintes during his illness and is sent to fetch the doctor.
- Edgar Allan Poe
Mentioned in comparison to the emotional impact of Schumann and Schubert's music on Des Esseintes.
Key passages
“After blazing up like a fire of straw, his enthusiasm for the 'digester' was extinguished with a like rapidity.”
His excitement for the digester faded as quickly as it had flared up.
Describes the fleeting nature of Des Esseintes' interest in the device.
“In comparison with this magnificent plainsong, created by the genius of the Church, impersonal, anonymous as the organ itself, whose inventor is unknown, all other religious music seemed to him secular, profane.”
Compared to plainsong, which he saw as the pure, anonymous voice of the Church, all other religious music felt worldly and irreverent.
Highlights Des Esseintes' reverence for traditional Gregorian chant over later compositions.
“He thought he was done for; then, in spite of the exhaustion that crushed him down, the fierce energy of a man at bay brought him to a sitting posture in his bed, lent him strength to write a letter to his Paris doctor.”
Believing he was dying, he mustered a desperate strength to sit up and write to his doctor.
Shows his sudden shift from despair to a fight for survival.