Round the Moon · Chapter
Imagination and Reality explained
The travelers study a selenographic map of the Moon, contrasting its rugged, southern-hemisphere continents and vast, dry 'seas' with Earth's geography.
What happens
The travelers study a selenographic map of the Moon, contrasting its rugged, southern-hemisphere continents and vast, dry 'seas' with Earth's geography. Michel Ardan poetically interprets the lunar seas as a 'map of life' divided into masculine and feminine hemispheres, while Barbicane and Nicholl methodically measure and catalog the features, debating the Moon's habitability and composition.
Themes in this chapter
Imagination vs. Reality
Michel Ardan's poetic, mythological view of the lunar map clashes with Barbicane and Nicholl's scientific, quantitative approach, illustrating the tension between imaginative and empirical perspectives.
The Sublime and the Unknown
The Moon's alien, rugged landscape—with its vast seas, craters, and untouched geological purity—evokes a sense of awe and the sublime, as the travelers contemplate a world without air or water.
Scientific Exploration and Discovery
Barbicane and Nicholl engage in detailed selenographic study, measuring lunar seas and mountains, reflecting the 19th-century drive to catalog and understand the Moon's geography.
Characters to notice
- Michel Ardan
Imaginatively interprets the lunar map as a 'map of life' with feminine and masculine hemispheres, comparing it to Scudery's map of tenderness.
- Impey Barbicane
Studies the lunar map geographically, measuring angles and diameters of seas and mountains, and dismisses the poetic interpretations.
- Captain Nicholl
Joins Barbicane in methodically analyzing the lunar surface, focusing on dimensions and geological features.
Key passages
“Have you ever seen the moon? ... No, sir, ... but I have heard it spoken of.”
A professor sarcastically asks a student if he has seen the moon, and the student wittily replies that he has only heard of it.
Opens the chapter by highlighting how few people have truly observed the moon through a telescope.
“It is the map of life, clearly divided into two parts, the one feminine, the other masculine. To the women, the right hemisphere; to the men, the left!”
Michel Ardan declares that the lunar map represents life itself, with the right half symbolizing women and the left half men.
Shows Michel's imaginative interpretation of the lunar seas as allegories for human experience.
“That is how the Anglo-Saxons of the 19th century treat the beautiful Diana, the blonde Phoebe, the amiable Isis, the charming Astarte, the Queen of Night, the daughter of Latona and Jupiter, the younger sister of the radiant Apollo!”
Michel Ardan protests when Barbicane calls the Moon 'green cheese,' defending the Moon's mythological and poetic names.
Highlights the clash between poetic reverence and scientific pragmatism.