Undermining Body and Mind? The Impact of the Underground 193
Michael Mendelson has drawn attention to the fact that MacDonald
has recourse to underground imagery in “very different contexts to
very different thematic effects”.
15 The two texts discussed above effectively illustrate the two basic positions available: either, as in “The
Day Boy and the Night Girl”, the underground has no detrimental effect or, as in The Princess and the Goblin, it leads to degeneration and
regression – although not, as we have seen, of a necessarily definitive
or absolute nature.
Like MacDonald, Jules Verne returned time and again to underground locales in his work.
16 Indeed, Rosalind Williams uses
Verne to illustrate the difference between katabasis and the new form
of narrative in which the underground is dwelling place rather than
one-off destination: while Voyage au centre de la terre exemplifies
the former, Les Indes Noires (1877) epitomizes the latter. At the beginning of this novel, just one family – the Fords – are known to live
in the abandoned mine (the presence of their neighbours, the mad Silfax and his great-granddaughter Nell, is not revealed until much
later).
17 But after the Fords discover a vast coal seam, they are joined
by an entire community. Everyone who resides in the underground
does so of his own free will, and, once in the underground, is unlikely
to leave. A range of reasons for what may well seem a rather strange
decision are offered in the course of the novel: not only do the inhabitants of Coal City escape the pollution and inclement climate of the
Scottish surface, they also evade the tax man! Stress is also placed on
the health benefits to be gained by living in “ce milieu parfaitement
sain”: Simon Ford states that the mine is superior to summer seaside
resorts for those seeking cures, and maximizes the residents’ prospects
___________________________
15 Michael Mendelson, “The Fairy Tales of George MacDonald and the Evolution of a
Genre”, in For the Childlike: George MacDonald’s Fantasies For Children, pp. 3149 (p. 40). Other texts by MacDonald involving undergrounds include Phantastes
(1858), The Golden Key (1867), and The Princess and Curdie (1883).
16 Other texts by Verne which prominently feature undergrounds, caves or caverns include L’Ile mystérieuse (1875), Le Rayon Vert (1882), Sans dessus dessous (1889),
and Face au drapeau (1896).
17 The relationship between Silfax and Nell is unclear. The narrator states that he is
her “arrière-grand-père”, but Nell later refers to herself as “la petite-fille du vieux Silfax” and to the latter as her “grand-père”. Jules Verne, Les Indes noires (Paris:
L’école des lettres/Seuil, 1993), pp. 295, 301, 303. Subsequent references are to this
edition and are given after quotations in the main body of the text.
Michael Mendelson has drawn attention to the fact that MacDonald
has recourse to underground imagery in “very different contexts to
very different thematic effects”.
15 The two texts discussed above effectively illustrate the two basic positions available: either, as in “The
Day Boy and the Night Girl”, the underground has no detrimental effect or, as in The Princess and the Goblin, it leads to degeneration and
regression – although not, as we have seen, of a necessarily definitive
or absolute nature.
Like MacDonald, Jules Verne returned time and again to underground locales in his work.
16 Indeed, Rosalind Williams uses
Verne to illustrate the difference between katabasis and the new form
of narrative in which the underground is dwelling place rather than
one-off destination: while Voyage au centre de la terre exemplifies
the former, Les Indes Noires (1877) epitomizes the latter. At the beginning of this novel, just one family – the Fords – are known to live
in the abandoned mine (the presence of their neighbours, the mad Silfax and his great-granddaughter Nell, is not revealed until much
later).
17 But after the Fords discover a vast coal seam, they are joined
by an entire community. Everyone who resides in the underground
does so of his own free will, and, once in the underground, is unlikely
to leave. A range of reasons for what may well seem a rather strange
decision are offered in the course of the novel: not only do the inhabitants of Coal City escape the pollution and inclement climate of the
Scottish surface, they also evade the tax man! Stress is also placed on
the health benefits to be gained by living in “ce milieu parfaitement
sain”: Simon Ford states that the mine is superior to summer seaside
resorts for those seeking cures, and maximizes the residents’ prospects
___________________________
15 Michael Mendelson, “The Fairy Tales of George MacDonald and the Evolution of a
Genre”, in For the Childlike: George MacDonald’s Fantasies For Children, pp. 3149 (p. 40). Other texts by MacDonald involving undergrounds include Phantastes
(1858), The Golden Key (1867), and The Princess and Curdie (1883).
16 Other texts by Verne which prominently feature undergrounds, caves or caverns include L’Ile mystérieuse (1875), Le Rayon Vert (1882), Sans dessus dessous (1889),
and Face au drapeau (1896).
17 The relationship between Silfax and Nell is unclear. The narrator states that he is
her “arrière-grand-père”, but Nell later refers to herself as “la petite-fille du vieux Silfax” and to the latter as her “grand-père”. Jules Verne, Les Indes noires (Paris:
L’école des lettres/Seuil, 1993), pp. 295, 301, 303. Subsequent references are to this
edition and are given after quotations in the main body of the text.