Ariadnê: The Story of a Dream

by Ouida

Ariadnê - The Story of a Dream is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1888.Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1877

About the author

Ouida was the pen name of the English novelist Maria Louise Ramé (although she preferred to be known as Marie Louise de la Ramée).

During her career, she wrote more than 40 novels, children's books and collections of short stories and essays. She was an animal rights activist and animal rescuer, and at times owned as many as thirty dogs. For many years she lived in London, but about 1874 she went to Italy, where she died.

Ouida's work went through several phases during her career. In her early period, her novels were a hybrid of the sensationalism of the 1860s and the proto-adventure novels dubbed "muscular fiction" that were emerging in part as a romanticization of imperial expansion. Later her work was more along the lines of historical romance, though she never stopped comment on contemporary society. She also wrote several stories for children. One of her most famous novels, Under Two Flags, described the British in Algeria in the most extravagant of terms, while nonetheless also expressing sympathy for the French—with whom Ouida deeply identified—and, to some extent, the Arabs. This book went on to be staged in plays, and subsequently to be turned into at least three movies, transitioning Ouida in the 20th century.

Jack London cites her novel Signa, which describes an unschooled Italian peasant child who achieves fame as an opera composer, and which he read at age eight, as one of the eight reasons for his literary success.

Reviews

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ouida’s eleventh, 1877 novel, Ariadne, contains some of the author’s finest writing. Written during a period when Ouida had been rising in her popularity and readership, it is a work that is richly decorated with historical and mythological references and classical literary allusions that would be lost on many readers of the present age. It has gorgeously poetic descriptions of dreamscapes and sculpture gardens, and it offers lavish imagery of the beauty of 19th century Rome. In my opinion, it is best read in conjunction with the conclusion of her second book of essays, Critical Studies, because together they provide a really profound statement of the author’s vision of genius and aestheticism.

This time around, I also paired my reading of Ariadne with a musical soundtrack based on an emerging genre called “future kawaii” (a Japanophilic combination of future bass, juke/footwork, nightcore'd R&B, and trap). The soundtrack featured young Soundcloud artists such as Dj Sad Anime, Epikuro, Crosshatch, and DJA7VGO. The pointed, melodramatic sonic crescendos crested neatly upon the steady waves of lounge grooves and trap beats were the perfect accompaniment to the vivid visual descriptions, and the music was well-suited to the various plot twists of the core narrative.

The story concerns a fatal, trilateral intersection between the lives of an art-loving Roman cobbler who goes by the name Crispino, a stoic and masterful sculptor named Maryx, and a quasi-alexithymic and more than slightly sadistic heartthrob of a gentleman called Hilarion. The vertex among these three men centers on the devotion and artistic genius of a young girl of a woman whose has the rather ironic name of Gioja (meaning “joy”). A chance encounter between Gioja and Crispin at his workshop leads readers down a labyrinth of romance and heartbreak. It is a labyrinth in which the dream of the protagonist—a dream which depicts a mythological allegory of love—becomes flesh and is realized in the lived experiences of the four main characters. In brief, Gioja has the unique ability to produce works of greatness in sculpture. She is sheltered by Crispin and then schooled by Maryx—both of whom grow to love her deeply. Gioja, however, to her great misfortune, must fall in love with the devilishly handsome, womanizing Hilarion. This handsome gentleman, of course, cares only to woo her out of a sense of conquest and his own vanity. The set up makes for another wonderful drama from the inspired pen of Ouida.

A fair warning: readers should be aware that this novel does contain the kind of 19th century undertones of bigotry that are peppered throughout Ouida’s earlier novels. In my biased assessment, however, the harsher dialogical and descriptive undertones of this novel are clearly overshadowed by the mixed heritage of the leading woman of the story. Ouida’s choice to cast the product of, essentially, what would have been considered miscegenation, as both a central (title) character and a genius hints at the author’s ability to see beyond the xenophobic characterizations found in the introductory chapters in a way that is uncharacteristically nuanced for the period. In fact, Ouida’s use of Gioja as the angel woman in the story pairs this novel with her Folle Farine (1871) in some interesting ways. Most notably, it parallels the earlier novel with respect to: a) the orphaned status of the lead “angel” woman, b) the unreciprocated love and unfailing devotion of the lead woman, and c) the adoration of art in the lead woman (in the former, painting/drawing, in the latter, sculpture and poetry). There are other interesting connections too, but I won’t list them all here.

Although I believe that Ariadne is definitely one of Ouida’s finest novels, unfortunately I cannot say that it made it to the top of my list. Still, as always, I do highly recommend it!