The Battle of Pharsalus: Analysis of Major Characters
The Battle of Pharsalus, a pivotal conflict during the Roman Civil War, serves as a backdrop for an exploration of major characters who are intertwined with its historical significance. Central to this narrative is O., a classical scholar whose fragmented memories reflect his fascination with the battle and his attempts to locate its site in Greece. O.'s scholarly pursuits, though marked by awkward translations of Caesar's accounts, reveal his deep engagement with Roman history, particularly through the lens of his childhood curiosity. His life is further colored by his relationship with Odette, an artist's model whose complex persona evokes both admiration and turmoil, highlighting themes of love and jealousy.
Also significant is Uncle Charles, whose critical presence in O.'s life underscores the tension between scholarly aspiration and familial expectation, especially as he critiques O.'s attempts at understanding Caesar's narrative. The matriarchal figure of O.'s grandmother adds an element of gravity, embodying themes of memory, mortality, and the weight of tradition. As O. navigates these relationships, the Battle of Pharsalus emerges not just as a historical event but as a symbol reflecting internal conflicts and the search for meaning in a world shaped by personal and historical legacies. This interplay of characters and their connections to the battle invites readers to consider the broader implications of history on individual lives.
The Battle of Pharsalus: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Claude Simon
First published: La Bataille de Pharsale, 1969 (English translation, 1971)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Paris, France; on board a train in Europe; and Greece
Plot: Antistory
Time: 1968
O., the narrator and principal character in a series of events that are not told chronologically but are instead presented as the free play of his memory, which acts as a kind of “mobile,” circling and changing position around a few fixed points, the most important events of his life. O.'s profession is never stated, but he is a classical scholar of sorts, and he is fascinated by the Battle of Pharsalus, about which he read as a schoolboy and the exact location of which, as an adult, he has tried to find in the north of Greece. His translations of Caesar, however, are awkward, and his interest in Roman history is limited to this battle and to Caesar's profile on the coins and bills of the countries he visits on a train trip through Europe. O. is not a writer, but he is interested in the multiple meanings of words. Lists of Latin words, with their French meanings, are scattered throughout the narrative. the visual possibilities of letters fascinate him—the A in the word pantalon in an advertisement for a clothing store becomes a pair of pants. O. is not an artist, although he is writing an essay on a painting in a German museum and greatly admires battle paintings by Nicolas Poussin, Piero Della Francesca, and Paolo Uccello. Only briefly is O. seen in an office, which is probably in the old home on the family estate in southern France. He counts out small piles of money in it, just as Uncle Charles used to do, to pay the dirty, shadowy men waiting outside in the dark hallway. He still lives in this place, with a wife whom he does not love and two children whom he does.
Odette, O.'s lover, an artist's model with dark eyes and a cloud of black hair. Her child's face is made up like a “poisonous flower.” She sometimes lies among cushions, surrounded by porcelain and vases of flowers, wearing a Japanese kimono, after posing for the painter, Van Velden. Sometimes, she is with O., wearing a cheap street dress and chipped fingernail polish. Her promiscuity is well known and drives O. to behavior of which he is later ashamed.
Uncle Charles, a relative whom O. remembers as being in the office, which smells of old wine and tobacco, seated at his desk, holding a half-smoked cigar in his bony hand, wearing eyeglasses that reflect the light. He is correcting, and often ridiculing, the young O.'s translation of Caesar's account of the battle of Pharsalus.
O.'s grandmother, a matriarchal figure in her old-fashioned clothes of serge or dark silk, with a high collar and small tucks across the bodice, a cameo at her throat. There is majesty and importance in her position and her age. To the young boy, she represents death.