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"As they opposed no objection, saying that the patient was already in the death agony, I proceeded without hesitation."
Edgar Allan Poe, the scribe behind The Raven, is often considered the father of gothic literature. Quick to explore human nature rather than ghouls and vampires his short stories embrace the side of humanity that shocks the masses. Rae Wilson shares her observations on Poe's thought provoking tale and and invites you question the relationship between life and death..
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Pressure by Rae Wilson
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Dark Shadows - by David Fesliyan
https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★In the oral tradition of storytelling, Echoes in the Dark, delivers classic works of gothic fiction weekly. Hosted and curated by Ms. Rae (an award-winning educator, actor, and literary analyst) the collection of stories spans popular works by authors like Edgar Allan Poe as well as lesser known works by authors such as Guy de Maupassant. Each story is followed by a literary analysis.
If you’re looking to enjoy more classic literature, struggle to find the time to read, hate reading, or just love listening to stories, then this podcast is for you.
A Note on Content: While these stories are generally appropriate for listeners aged 12 and up, classic Gothic literature frequently explores themes of murder, romantic affairs, and "tortured souls." Stories are performed exactly as written in their original historical context.
If you are looking to learn more ways to boost your literary analysis visit:
Speaker 1: Welcome to Echoes in the
Dark, a podcast dedicated to the
oral
Speaker 1: tradition of
storytelling.
Speaker 1: If you're looking to
enjoy more classic literature,
struggle
Speaker 1: to find the time to read,
hate reading, or just love listening
Speaker 1: to stories, then this
podcast is for you.
Speaker 1: At the end of each story,
I'll share my analysis on the
story's
Speaker 1: deeper meanings.
Speaker 1: The Facts in the Case of
Monsieur Valmer by Edgar Allan Poe
Speaker 1: is a short story that was
originally published in 1845 in the
Speaker 1: American Review, a Whig
journal, and simultaneously in
Broadway
Speaker 1: Journal.
Speaker 1: It is estimated that Poe
wrote some 69 short stories.
Speaker 1: He also managed one novel
and several poems, with The Raven
Speaker 1: being one of his most
notable poems.
Speaker 1: The entire story is told
in first-person perspective.
Speaker 1: If you would like to
follow along, you can get a copy on
my
Speaker 1: website, better
essaywriting.com.
Speaker 1: And if you'd like to hear
more works by Poe and his
contemporaries,
Speaker 1: pick up some underused
and possibly archaic words, then
join
Speaker 1: me on Patreon.
Speaker 1: That's Stories with Ray,
Patreon CW Stories with Ray R A E,
Speaker 1: or click the link in the
show notes.
Speaker 1: The facts in the case of
Monsieur Valdemar.
Speaker 1: Of course I shall not
pretend to consider it any matter
for
Speaker 1: wonder that the
extraordinary case of Monsieur
Valdemar has
Speaker 1: excited discussion.
Speaker 1: It would have been a
miracle had it not, especially under
the
Speaker 1: circumstances, though the
desire of all parties concerned to
Speaker 1: keep the affair from the
public, at least for the present, or
Speaker 1: until we had farther
opportunities for investigation.
Speaker 1: Through our endeavors to
effect this, a garbled or
exaggerated
Speaker 1: account made its way into
society and became the source of
many
Speaker 1: unpleasant
misrepresentations and very
naturally of a great
Speaker 1: deal of disbelief.
Speaker 1: It is now rendered
necessary that I give the facts as
far as
Speaker 1: I can comprehend them
myself.
Speaker 1: They are succinctly
these.
Speaker 1: My attention for the last
three years had been repeatedly
drawn
Speaker 1: to the subject of
mesmerism, and about nine months ago
it occurred
Speaker 1: to me, quite suddenly,
that in the series of experiments
made
Speaker 1: hitherto, there had been
a very unremarkable and most
unaccountable
Speaker 1: omission.
Speaker 1: No person had as yet been
mesmerized in articulomortis.
Speaker 1: It remained to be seen
first whether in such condition
there
Speaker 1: existed in the patient
any susceptibility to the magnetic
influence,
Speaker 1: secondly, whether if any
existed it was impaired or increased
Speaker 1: by the condition,
thirdly, to what extent or for how
long a
Speaker 1: period the encroachments
of death might be arrested by the
process.
Speaker 1: There were other points
to be ascertained, but these most
excited
Speaker 1: my curiosity.
Speaker 1: The last in especially
from the immensely important
character
Speaker 1: of its consequences.
Speaker 1: In looking around me for
some subject by whose means I might
Speaker 1: test these particulars, I
was brought to think of my friend,
Speaker 1: Monsieur Ernest Valdemer,
the well-known compiler of the
Biblioteca
Speaker 1: Forensica, and author
under the Nom de Plume of Iskar
Marx,
Speaker 1: of the Polish versions of
Wallenstein and Gargentua.
Speaker 1: Monsieur Voldemir, who
has resided principally at Harlem,
New
Speaker 1: York since the year 1839,
is or was particularly noticeable
Speaker 1: for the extreme spareness
of his person, his lower limbs much
Speaker 1: resembling those of John
Randolph, and also for the whiteness
Speaker 1: of his whiskers, in
violent contrast to the blackness of
his
Speaker 1: hair, the latter, in
consequence, being very generally
mistaken
Speaker 1: for a wig.
Speaker 1: His temperament was
markedly nervous and rendered him a
good
Speaker 1: subject for mesmeric
experiment.
Speaker 1: On two or three
occasions, I had put him to sleep
with little
Speaker 1: difficulty, but was
disappointed in other results which
his
Speaker 1: peculiar constitution had
naturally led me to anticipate.
Speaker 1: His will was at no period
positively or thoroughly under my
Speaker 1: control, and in regard to
clairvoyance, I could accomplish
with
Speaker 1: him nothing to be relied
upon.
Speaker 1: I always attributed my
failure at these points to the
disordered
Speaker 1: state of his health.
Speaker 1: For some months previous
to my becoming acquainted with him,
Speaker 1: his physicians had
declared him in a confirmed thisis.
Speaker 1: It was his custom,
indeed, to speak calmly of his
approaching
Speaker 1: dissolution, as of a
matter neither to be avoided nor
regretted.
Speaker 1: When the ideas to which I
have alluded first occurred to me,
Speaker 1: it was of course very
natural that I should think of
Monsieur
Speaker 1: Valdemar.
Speaker 1: I knew the steady
philosophy of the man too well to
apprehend
Speaker 1: any scruples from him.
Speaker 1: And he had no relatives
in America who would be likely to
interfere.
Speaker 1: I spoke to him frankly
upon the subject, and to my
surprise,
Speaker 1: his interest seemed
vividly excited.
Speaker 1: I say to my surprise, for
although he had always yielded his
Speaker 1: person freely to my
experiments, he had never before
given me
Speaker 1: any tokens of sympathy
with what I did.
Speaker 1: His disease was of that
character which would admit of exact
Speaker 1: calculation in respect to
the epoch of its termination in
death.
Speaker 1: And it was finally
arranged between us that he would
send for
Speaker 1: me about twenty four
hours before the period announced by
his
Speaker 1: physicians as that of his
disease.
Speaker 1: It is now rather more
than seven months since I received
from
Speaker 1: Monsieur Valdemer himself
the subjoined note.
Speaker 1: My dear Pierre, you may
as well come now.
Speaker 1: Denton and Faulkner are
agreed that I cannot hold out beyond
Speaker 1: tomorrow midnight.
Speaker 1: And I think they have hit
the time.
Speaker 1: Very nearly.
Speaker 1: Voldemir.
Speaker 1: I received this note with
him half an hour after it was
written,
Speaker 1: and in fifteen minutes
more I was in the dying man's
chamber.
Speaker 1: I had not seen him for
ten days and was appalled by the
fearful
Speaker 1: alteration which the
brief interval had wrought in him.
Speaker 1: His face wore a leaden
hue, the eyes were utterly
lusterless,
Speaker 1: and the emanciation was
so extreme that the skin had been
broken
Speaker 1: through by the
cheekbones.
Speaker 1: His expectoration was
excessive, the pulse was barely
perceptible,
Speaker 1: he retained nevertheless,
in a very remarkable manner, both
Speaker 1: his mental power and a
certain degree of physical strength.
Speaker 1: He spoke with
distinctness, took some palative
medicines without
Speaker 1: aid, and when I entered
the room, was occupied in penciling
Speaker 1: memoranda in a
pocketbook.
Speaker 1: He was propped up in the
bed by pillows.
Speaker 1: Doctors Denton and
Faulkner were in attendance.
Speaker 1: After pressing Valdemar's
hand, I took these gentlemen aside
Speaker 1: and obtained from them a
minute account of the patient's
condition.
Speaker 1: The left lung had been
for eighteen months in a semiosseous
Speaker 1: or cartilaginous state,
and was, of course, entirely useless
Speaker 1: for all purposes of
vitality.
Speaker 1: The right, in its upper
portion, was also partially, if not
Speaker 1: thoroughly, ossified,
while the lower region was merely a
mass
Speaker 1: of purulent tubercles
running one into another.
Speaker 1: Several extensive
perforations existed, and at one
point, permanent
Speaker 1: adhesion to the ribs had
taken place.
Speaker 1: These appearances in the
right lobe were of comparatively
recent
Speaker 1: date.
Speaker 1: The ossification had
proceeded with very unusual
rapidity.
Speaker 1: No sign of it had been
discovered a month before, and the
adhesion
Speaker 1: had only been observed
during the three previous days.
Speaker 1: Independently of the
thysis, the patient was suspected of
aneurysm
Speaker 1: of the aorta.
Speaker 1: But on this point, the
osseous symptoms rendered an exact
diagnosis
Speaker 1: impossible.
Speaker 1: It was the opinion of
both physicians that Monsieur
Valdemer
Speaker 1: would die about midnight
on the morrow, Sunday.
Speaker 1: It was then seven o'clock
on Saturday evening.
Speaker 1: On quitting the invalid's
bedside to hold conversation with
Speaker 1: myself, doctors Denton
and Faulkner had bidden him a final
farewell.
Speaker 1: It had not been their
intention to return, but at my
request,
Speaker 1: they agreed to look in
upon the patient about ten the next
night.
Speaker 1: When they had gone, I
spoke freely with Monsieur Valdemar
on
Speaker 1: the subject of his
approaching dissolution, as well as,
more
Speaker 1: particularly, of the
experiment proposed.
Speaker 1: He still professed
himself quite willing and even
anxious to
Speaker 1: have it made and urged me
to commence it at once.
Speaker 1: A male and a female nurse
were in attendance, but I did not
Speaker 1: feel myself altogether at
liberty to engage in a task of this
Speaker 1: character with no more
reliable witnesses than these
people,
Speaker 1: in case a such accident
might prove.
Speaker 1: I therefore postponed
operations until about eight the
next
Speaker 1: night, when the arrival
of a medical student with whom I had
Speaker 1: some acquaintance, Mr
Theodore Lentel, relieved me from
farther
Speaker 1: embarrassment.
Speaker 1: It had been my design
originally, to wait for the
physicians,
Speaker 1: but I was induced to
proceed first by the urgent
entreaties
Speaker 1: of Monsieur Valdemar, and
secondly by my conviction that I had
Speaker 1: not a moment to lose as
he was evidently sinking fast.
Speaker 1: Mr.
Speaker 1: Lintel was so kind to
accede to my desire that he would
take
Speaker 1: notes of all that
occurred, and it is from his
memoranda that
Speaker 1: what I now have to relate
is for the most part either
condensed
Speaker 1: or copied verbatim.
Speaker 1: It wanted about five
minutes of eight when, taking the
patient's
Speaker 1: hand, I begged him to
state as distinctly as he could, to
mister
Speaker 1: Lintell, whether he,
Monsieur Valdemar, was entirely
willing
Speaker 1: that I should make the
experiment of mesmerizing him in his
Speaker 1: then condition.
Speaker 1: He replied feebly yet
quite audibly, Yes.
Speaker 1: I wish to be I fear you
have mesmerized, adding immediately
Speaker 1: afterwards, I fear you
have deferred it too long.
Speaker 1: While he spoke thus, I
commenced the passes which I had
already
Speaker 1: found most effectual in
subduing him.
Speaker 1: He was evidently
influenced with the first lateral
stroke of
Speaker 1: my hand across his
forehead, but although I exerted all
my powers,
Speaker 1: no further perceptible
effect was induced until some
minutes
Speaker 1: after ten o'clock, when
Drs.
Speaker 1: Denton and Faulkner
called according to appointment.
Speaker 1: I explained to them in a
few words what I designed, and as
they
Speaker 1: opposed no objection,
saying that the patient was already
in
Speaker 1: the death agony, I
proceeded without hesitation,
exchanging,
Speaker 1: however, the lateral
passes for downward ones and
directing
Speaker 1: my gaze entirely into the
right eye of the sufferer.
Speaker 1: By this time his pulse
was imperceptible and his breathing
was
Speaker 1: sturderous, and at
intervals of half a minute.
Speaker 1: This condition was nearly
unaltered for a quarter of an hour.
Speaker 1: At the expiration of this
period, however, a natural, although
Speaker 1: a very deep sigh escaped
the bosom of the dying man, and the
Speaker 1: sturderous breathing
ceased.
Speaker 1: That is to say, its
sturderousness was no longer
apparent.
Speaker 1: The intervals were
undiminished.
Speaker 1: The patient's extremities
were of an icy coldness.
Speaker 1: At five minutes before
eleven, I perceived unequivocal
signs
Speaker 1: of the mesmeric
influence.
Speaker 1: The glassy role of the
eye was changed for that expression
of
Speaker 1: uneasy inward examination
which is never seen except in cases
Speaker 1: of sleepwalking, and
which it is quite impossible to
mistake.
Speaker 1: With a few rapid lateral
passes I made the lids quiver as
incipient
Speaker 1: sleep, and with a few
more I closed them all together.
Speaker 1: I was not satisfied,
however, with this, but continued
the manipulations
Speaker 1: vigorously, and with the
fullest exertion of the will until
Speaker 1: I had completely
stiffened the limbs of the
slumberer, after
Speaker 1: placing them in a
seemingly easy position.
Speaker 1: The legs were at full
length, the arms were nearly so, and
reposed
Speaker 1: on the bed at a moderate
distance from the loin.
Speaker 1: The head was very
slightly elevated.
Speaker 1: When I had accomplished
this, it was fully midnight and I
requested
Speaker 1: the gentleman present to
examine Monsieur Valmer's condition.
Speaker 1: After a few experiments,
they admitted him to be in an
unusually
Speaker 1: perfect state of mesmeric
trance.
Speaker 1: The curiosity of both the
physicians was greatly excited.
Speaker 1: Dr.
Speaker 1: Denton resolved at once
to remain with the patient all
night,
Speaker 1: while Dr.
Speaker 1: Faulkner took leave with
a promise to return at daybreak.
Speaker 1: Mr.
Speaker 1: Lintel and the nurses
remained.
Speaker 1: We left Monsieur Valmer
entirely undisturbed until about
three
Speaker 1: o'clock in the morning,
when I approached him and found him
Speaker 1: in precisely the same
condition as when Dr.
Speaker 1: Faulkner went away.
Speaker 1: That is to say, he lay in
the same position.
Speaker 1: The pulse was
imperceptible, the breathing was
gentle, scarcely
Speaker 1: noticeable unless through
the application of a mirror to the
Speaker 1: lips.
Speaker 1: The eyes were closed
naturally, and the limbs were as
rigid
Speaker 1: as cold as marble.
Speaker 1: Still, the general
appearance was certainly not that of
death.
Speaker 1: As I approached Monsieur
Valdemar, I made a kind of half
effort
Speaker 1: to influence his right
arm into pursuit of my own, as I
passed
Speaker 1: the ladder gently to and
fro above his person.
Speaker 1: In such experiments with
this patient, I had never perfectly
Speaker 1: succeeded before, and
assuredly I had little thought of
exceeding
Speaker 1: now, but to my
astonishment, his arm very readily,
although
Speaker 1: feebly, followed every
direction I assigned it with mine.
Speaker 1: I determined to hazard a
few words of conversation.
Speaker 1: Monsieur Valdmere, I
said, are you asleep?
Speaker 1: He made no answer, but I
perceived a tremor above the lips
and
Speaker 1: was thus induced to
repeat the question again and again
at its
Speaker 1: third repetition.
Speaker 1: His whole frame was
agitated by a very slight shivering.
Speaker 1: The eyelids unclosed
themselves so far as to display a
white
Speaker 1: line of the ball.
Speaker 1: The lips moved
sluggishly, and from between them,
in a barely
Speaker 1: audible whisper, issued
the words Yes Asleep now.
Speaker 2: Do not wake me.
Speaker 2: Let me die so.
Speaker 1: I here felt the limbs and
found them as rigid as ever.
Speaker 1: The right arm, as before,
obeyed the direction of my hand.
Speaker 1: I questioned the sleep
waker again.
Speaker 1: Do you still feel pain in
the breast, Monsieur Valdme?
Speaker 1: The answer now was
immediate but even less audible than
before.
Speaker 2: No pain I am dying.
Speaker 1: I did not think it
advisable to disturb him farther
just then,
Speaker 1: and nothing more was said
or done until the arrival of doctor
Speaker 1: Faulkner, who came a
little before sunrise, and express
unbounded
Speaker 1: astonishment at finding
the patient still alive.
Speaker 1: After feeling the pulse
and applying a mirror to the lips,
he
Speaker 1: requested me to speak to
the sleep waker again.
Speaker 1: I did so, saying Monsieur
Vladber, do you still sleep?
Speaker 1: As before, some minutes
elapsed ere a reply was made, and
during
Speaker 1: the interval the dying
man seemed to be collecting his
energies
Speaker 1: to speak.
Speaker 1: At my fourth repetition
of the question, he said very
faintly,
Speaker 1: almost inaudibly Yes,
still asleep dying.
Speaker 1: It was now the opinion,
or rather the wish of the
physicians,
Speaker 1: that Monsieur Vladimir
should be suffered to remain
undisturbed
Speaker 1: in his present apparently
tranquil condition until death
should
Speaker 1: supervene.
Speaker 1: And this, it was
generally agreed, must now take
place within
Speaker 1: a few minutes.
Speaker 1: I concluded, however, to
speak to him once more and merely
repeated
Speaker 1: my previous question.
Speaker 1: While I spoke, there came
a marked change over the countenance
Speaker 1: of the sleepwicker.
Speaker 1: The eyes rolled
themselves slowly open, the pupils
disappearing
Speaker 1: upwardly, the skin
adrenally assumed a cadaverous hue,
resembling
Speaker 1: not so much parchment as
white paper.
Speaker 1: And the circular, hectic
spots, which hitherto had been
strongly
Speaker 1: defined in the center of
each cheek, went out at once.
Speaker 1: I use this expression
because the suddenness of their
departure
Speaker 1: put me in mind of nothing
so much as the extinguishment of a
Speaker 1: candle by a puff of the
breath.
Speaker 1: The upper lip, at the
same time, withered itself away from
the
Speaker 1: teeth, which it had
previously covered completely.
Speaker 1: While the lower jaw fell
with an audible jerk, leaving the
mouth
Speaker 1: widely extended, and
disclosing in full view the swollen
and
Speaker 1: blackened tongue.
Speaker 1: I presume that no member
of the party then present had been
Speaker 1: unaccustomed to deathbed
horrors, but so hideous beyond
conception
Speaker 1: was the appearance of
Monsieur Valmer at this moment that
there
Speaker 1: was a general shrinking
back from the region of the bed.
Speaker 1: I now feel that I have
reached a point of this narrative at
Speaker 1: which every reader will
be startled into positive disbelief.
Speaker 1: It is my business,
however, simply to proceed.
Speaker 1: There was no longer the
faintest sign of vitality in
Monsieur
Speaker 1: Valbert, and concluding
him to be dead, we were consigning
him
Speaker 1: to the charge of the
nurses when a strong vibratory
motion was
Speaker 1: observable in the tongue.
Speaker 1: This continued for
perhaps a minute.
Speaker 1: At the expiration of this
period, there issued from the
distended
Speaker 1: and motionless jaw a
voice, such as it would be madness
in me
Speaker 1: to attempt describing.
Speaker 1: There are indeed two or
three epithets which might be
considered
Speaker 1: as applicable to it in
part.
Speaker 1: I might say, for example,
that the sound was harsh and broken
Speaker 1: and hollow, but the
hideous whole is indescribable for
the simple
Speaker 1: reason that no similar
sounds have ever jarred upon the ear
Speaker 1: of humanity.
Speaker 1: There were two
particulars, nevertheless, which I
thought then
Speaker 1: and still think might
fairly be stated as characteristic
of
Speaker 1: the intonation, as well
adapted to convey some idea of its
unearthly
Speaker 1: peculiarity.
Speaker 1: In the first place, the
voice seemed to reach our ears, at
least
Speaker 1: mine, from a vast
distance or from some deep cavern
within the
Speaker 1: earth.
Speaker 1: In the second place, it
impressed us.
Speaker 1: Me, I fear indeed that it
will be impossible to make myself
Speaker 1: comprehended, as
gelatinous or gluttonous matters
impress the
Speaker 1: sense of touch.
Speaker 1: I have spoken both of
sound and of voice.
Speaker 1: I mean to say that the
sound was one of distinct, of even
wonderfully
Speaker 1: thrilling distinct
syllabification.
Speaker 1: Monsieur Valmer spoke
obviously in reply to the question I
had
Speaker 1: propounded to him a few
minutes before.
Speaker 1: I had asked him it will
be remembered if he still slept.
Speaker 2: He now said Yes No I have
been sleeping and now I am dead.
Speaker 1: No person present even
affected to deny or attempt to
repress
Speaker 1: the unutterable,
shuddering horror which these few
words thus
Speaker 1: uttered were so well
calculated to convey.
Speaker 1: Mr.
Speaker 1: Lintle, the student,
swooned.
Speaker 1: The nurses immediately
left the chamber and could not be
induced
Speaker 1: to return.
Speaker 1: My own impressions I
would not pretend to render
intelligible
Speaker 1: to the reader.
Speaker 1: For nearly an hour we
busied ourselves, silently, without
the
Speaker 1: utterance of a word, in
endeavors to revive Mr.
Speaker 1: Lintel.
Speaker 1: When he came to himself,
he addressed ourselves again to an
Speaker 1: investigation of Monsieur
Baldmain's condition.
Speaker 1: It remained in all
respects as I have last described
it, with
Speaker 1: the exception that the
mirror no longer afforded evidence
of
Speaker 1: respiration.
Speaker 1: An attempt to draw blood
from the arm failed.
Speaker 1: I should mention too that
this limb was no farther subject to
Speaker 1: my will.
Speaker 1: I endeavored in vain to
make it follow the direction of my
hand.
Speaker 1: The only real indication,
indeed, of the mesmeric influence
Speaker 1: was now found in the
vibratory movement of the tongue,
whenever
Speaker 1: I addressed Monsieur
Valmer a question.
Speaker 1: He seemed to be making an
effort to reply, but had no longer
Speaker 1: sufficient volition.
Speaker 1: To queries put to him by
any other person than myself, he
seemed
Speaker 1: utterly insensible,
although I endeavored to place each
member
Speaker 1: of the company in
mesmeric rapport with him.
Speaker 1: I believe that I have now
related all that is necessary to an
Speaker 1: understanding of the
sleepwaker's state at this epoch.
Speaker 1: Other nurses were
procured, and at 10 o'clock I left
the house
Speaker 1: in company with the two
physicians and Mr.
Speaker 1: Lentel.
Speaker 1: In the afternoon we all
called again to see the patient.
Speaker 1: His condition remained
precisely the same.
Speaker 1: We had now some
discussion as to the propriety and
feasibility
Speaker 1: of awakening him.
Speaker 1: But we had little
difficulty in agreeing that no good
purpose
Speaker 1: would be served by so
doing.
Speaker 1: It was evident that, so
far, death, or what is usually
termed
Speaker 1: death, had been arrested
by the mesmeric process.
Speaker 1: It seemed clear to us all
that to awaken Monsieur Valmer would
Speaker 1: be merely to ensure his
instant, or at least his speedy,
dissolution.
Speaker 1: From this period until
the close of last week, an interval
of
Speaker 1: nearly seven months, we
continued to make daily calls at
Monsieur
Speaker 1: Valmer's house,
accompanied now and then by medical
and other
Speaker 1: friends.
Speaker 1: All this time the sleep
waker remained exactly as I have
last
Speaker 1: described him.
Speaker 1: The nurse's attentions
were continual.
Speaker 1: It was on Friday last
that we finally resolved to make the
experiment
Speaker 1: of awakening or
attempting to awaken him.
Speaker 1: And it is the perhaps
unfortunate results of this latter
experiment,
Speaker 1: which has given rise to
so much discussion in private
circles,
Speaker 1: to so much of what I
cannot help thinking unwarranted
popular
Speaker 1: feeling.
Speaker 1: For the purpose of
relieving Monsieur Valmer from the
mesmeric
Speaker 1: trance, I've made use of
the customary passes.
Speaker 1: These for a time were
unsuccessful.
Speaker 1: The first indication of
revival was afforded by a partial
descent
Speaker 1: of the iris.
Speaker 1: It was observed, as
especially remarkable, that this
lowering
Speaker 1: of the pupil was
accompanied by the profuse
outflowing of a
Speaker 1: yellowish echor from
beneath the lids, of a pungent and
highly
Speaker 1: offensive odor.
Speaker 1: It was now suggested that
I try to influence the patient's arm
Speaker 1: as heretofore.
Speaker 1: I made the attempt and
failed.
Speaker 1: Dr.
Speaker 1: Faulkner then intimidated
a desire to have me put a question.
Speaker 1: I did so as follows.
Speaker 1: Monsieur Valmer, can you
explain to us what are your feelings
Speaker 1: or wishes now?
Speaker 1: There was an instant
return of the hectic circles of the
cheeks,
Speaker 1: the tongue quivered or
rather rolled violently in the
mouth,
Speaker 1: although the jaws and
lips remained rigid as before, and
at
Speaker 1: length the same hideous
voice which I have already described
Speaker 1: broke forth.
Speaker: For God's sake, quick,
quick, put me to sleep.
Speaker: Or quick, waken me, quick!
Speaker: I say to you that I am
dead.
Speaker 1: I was thoroughly unnerved
and for an instant remained
undecided
Speaker 1: what to do.
Speaker 1: At first I made no
endeavor to recompose the patient,
but failing
Speaker 1: in this through total
abeyance of the will, I retraced my
steps
Speaker 1: and as earnestly
struggled to awaken him.
Speaker 1: In this attempt, I soon
saw that I should be successful, or
Speaker 1: at least I soon fancied
that my success would be complete,
and
Speaker 1: I am sure that all in the
room were prepared to see the
patient
Speaker 1: awaken.
Speaker 1: For what really occurred,
however, it is quite impossible that
Speaker 1: any human being could
have been prepared.
Speaker 1: As I rapidly made the
mesmeric passes, amid ejaculations
of
Speaker 1: TED, Dead, absolutely
bursting from the tongue and not
from
Speaker 1: the lips of the sufferer,
his whole frame at once, within the
Speaker 1: space of a single minute
or even less, shrunk, crumbled,
absolutely
Speaker 1: rotted away beneath my
hands.
Speaker 1: Upon the bed, before that
whole company, there lay a nearly
Speaker 1: liquid mass of loathsome
or detestable putrid sense.
Speaker 1: So that was The Facts in
the Case of Monsieur Valmer by Edgar
Speaker 1: Allan Poe.
Speaker 1: This uh surprisingly is
my first time coming across this
story.
Speaker 1: I formerly owned a book
that was a collection of Poe's
stories.
Speaker 1: I the young teenage me
was very uh infatuated with Poe's
works.
Speaker 1: I loved reading his
stories, and I have to say, I am so
glad
Speaker 1: that I did not read this
as a teenager because my teenage
self
Speaker 1: would not have understood
all of the medical terminology in
Speaker 1: this story.
Speaker 1: I appreciate the
description, but by golly, recording
this,
Speaker 1: I had to definitely look
up a lot of words and practice
pronouncing
Speaker 1: them.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1: But was it worth it?
Speaker 1: Well, it was fun.
Speaker 1: It was fun to cry out
things like dad, dude.
Speaker 1: So I don't mind the fact
that I had to look up putrescense in
Speaker 1: order to uh get to that
lovely moment of being an old man
screaming
Speaker 1: out loud.
Speaker 1: So let's see.
Speaker 1: If you want to know some
of these definitions in the story,
Speaker 1: I encourage you to join
me on Patreon.
Speaker 1: There you'll find little
vocabulary games, activities, as
well
Speaker 1: as more stories that are
not shared in this podcast.
Speaker 1: And it's good times.
Speaker 1: It's good times.
Speaker 1: You can also um hear more
of my thoughts on these stories,
share
Speaker 1: your thoughts with me on
these stories and connect with other
Speaker 1: like-minded folks, people
who just can't get enough of these
Speaker 1: gothic tales.
Speaker 1: Speaking of this gothic
tale, um and building my vocabulary,
Speaker 1: the I there's some words
where I'm like, gosh, let's bring
this
Speaker 1: back.
Speaker 1: Let's let's use this word
more in life.
Speaker 1: And I think putrescence
is gonna be one of those words I'm
gonna
Speaker 1: try to use at least once
a week.
Speaker 1: Um the abandoned fruit
left in the sun provided or created
such
Speaker 1: putrescense that my
stomach was immediately turned uh
long after
Speaker 1: the fruit had been thrown
away.
Speaker 1: So there.
Speaker 1: There's my first attempt,
my first attempt for the week.
Speaker 1: I encourage you to
attempt putrescense in your own
spare time
Speaker 1: and joyful endeavors.
Speaker 1: What do we get from this
story?
Speaker 1: Well, all right, so my
initial thoughts.
Speaker 1: Um, just a just a little
note here.
Speaker 1: You you might be like,
Mr.
Speaker 1: Lintel, what kind of
student name is that?
Speaker 1: So, Mr.
Speaker 1: Theodore Lintel.
Speaker 1: So back when this story
was written, it was popular in the
day
Speaker 1: to for some authors to
leave a line after a letter and
letting
Speaker 1: the reader fill in the
blank for the name, right?
Speaker 1: So we had a uh Edith
Wharton story, I believe it was
Edith Wharton
Speaker 1: uh story that also did
the same thing, where there was just
Speaker 1: a letter and a line, and
then the reader can use their own
imagination.
Speaker 1: I think that's kind of a
fun idea.
Speaker 1: Use your own imagination
to fill in the blank for the story.
Speaker 1: In one way, it allows the
reader um not to be influenced by
Speaker 1: what a last name might
imply to be someone's ethnicity,
race,
Speaker 1: um, where they are from,
their location, right?
Speaker 1: So the story is about
Monsieur Valmer, and we have to
assume
Speaker 1: that he is um originally
from France or some French speaking
Speaker 1: heritage, because we have
M.
Speaker 1: Monsieur.
Speaker 1: Um, and then you know
you've got Valmer, Valmer.
Speaker 1: However, the author, Poe,
didn't really want us to make any
Speaker 1: assumptions about the
background of the narrator, the
doctors,
Speaker 1: or the student.
Speaker 1: So we know this is taking
plot place in America because this
Speaker 1: guy has no relatives in
America that would interfere.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 1: So he's not from this
country, he doesn't have relatives
here.
Speaker 1: We don't want to make
assumptions about this narrator.
Speaker 1: The narrator actually has
a name in a lot of Poe's works.
Speaker 1: The narrator has no name.
Speaker 1: And this is uh first
person.
Speaker 1: So uh Poe just gives us a
P, my dear P.
Speaker 1: I just threw in the name
Pierre because that's what came to
Speaker 1: my mind.
Speaker 1: And then we have D and F.
Speaker 1: So I gave us Drs.
Speaker 1: Denton and Faulkner.
Speaker 1: I don't know why.
Speaker 1: My brain was just like
Faulkner sounds like a good name.
Speaker 1: D, I was struggling with,
and all that came out of my head was
Speaker 1: Denton after
considerable.
Speaker 1: I had to pause and really
think, D, D.
Speaker 1: I could have also said
doctors Douglas and um Phallus.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 1: So just the fact that
we're not giving these names allows
us
Speaker 1: to not think, oh, well,
this person is originally from
America
Speaker 1: or not from America.
Speaker 1: This person is um of an
Italian background or uh German
background
Speaker 1: or Russian or Jewish
background.
Speaker 1: We make zero assumptions.
Speaker 1: Um telling you this
because I gave you these names, and
I don't
Speaker 1: want for you to make
assumptions about the uh
qualifications,
Speaker 1: skills, interest,
meanings, desires of these
characters based
Speaker 1: on the names.
Speaker 1: And yes, Lintel, that's
my creation.
Speaker 1: There was this one, it
was my first time seeing this the
way
Speaker 1: it was written out.
Speaker 1: Um, Mr.
Speaker 1: Theodore, capital L line
lowercase L.
Speaker 1: I'm like, why couldn't
you just give us Theodore L?
Speaker 1: And then I could have
said Mr.
Speaker 1: Theodore Lawless or Mr.
Speaker 1: Theodore Lincoln.
Speaker 1: But no, you give me
beginning L, ending L.
Speaker 1: That's annoying.
Speaker 1: Maybe it was a fun little
like um uh you know puzzle for the
Speaker 1: reader, little little
game with the reader.
Speaker 1: Can you think of a name
that starts with an L and ends with
Speaker 1: an L?
Speaker 1: But I just thought of
Lintel.
Speaker 1: And then as I'm reading
this, I just kept thinking of
lentils,
Speaker 1: the food, and my brain
just kept laughing.
Speaker 1: So anyway, there you have
it.
Speaker 1: What are we, what are
some questions about this story?
Speaker 1: Um, gosh, do I have any
questions?
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say no.
Speaker 1: I don't really have any
questions.
Speaker 1: Sometimes with these
stories, I am left with more
questions
Speaker 1: than answers, but I think
Poe does a very good job of giving
Speaker 1: us everything we need to
know and not leaving us with any
major
Speaker 1: questions by the end.
Speaker 1: Um and oh, Monsieur
Valmire, I'm just taking a note at
this.
Speaker 1: He did a Polish version,
he wrote a Polish version of a
story,
Speaker 1: so maybe um he came from
Poland.
Speaker 1: Um anyway, whatever.
Speaker 1: That that doesn't really
matter.
Speaker 1: This old man was just
like, oh, I'm gonna waste away and
die.
Speaker 1: So what was his initial
condition?
Speaker 1: His initial disease,
condition, illness, what have you.
Speaker 1: So the doctors told our
narrator that this old man um had
tuberculosis
Speaker 1: and he was in the last
dying stages of this disease.
Speaker 1: And if you're not
familiar, tuberculosis is a
condition in which
Speaker 1: chronical physical
wasting is caused alongside symptoms
like
Speaker 1: coughing up blood, chest
pain, fever, um, this is before we
Speaker 1: had antibiotics.
Speaker 1: So it was an infection of
the lungs, right?
Speaker 1: This is a bacterial
infection of the lungs that was
highly contagious,
Speaker 1: and a lot of people died
from this back in the day.
Speaker 1: Now, if you um are not
new to this podcast and listen to
the
Speaker 1: story Um The Lady's
Bell's Maid, the main character, the
maid,
Speaker 1: um, in that story, she
had uh recovered from a severe bout
of
Speaker 1: tuberculosis.
Speaker 1: So it wasn't easy to
recover from this disease.
Speaker 1: So if you haven't
listened to that story, definitely
check it
Speaker 1: out.
Speaker 1: It's a fun one, lots of
characters in that one.
Speaker 1: I do my best to maintain
those voices.
Speaker 1: Um, a little side note
for this one, I really wanted to
have
Speaker 1: find a short story.
Speaker 1: Why do I do this to
myself?
Speaker 1: Uh I had a story planned
out, and there's a word in there
that
Speaker 1: I thought, ooh, you know
what?
Speaker 1: I know it's of the time
period, but I'm not, it just feels
really
Speaker 1: racist right now.
Speaker 1: And so I don't really
want to record it right now.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna think
about it, decide if it's worth
recording.
Speaker 1: And I had another piece
on the back burner, and I look at
that,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, oh man,
this is also some slavery things
going
Speaker 1: on in here.
Speaker 1: I had multiple words
used.
Speaker 1: I don't know that I feel
like saying all that right now.
Speaker 1: I just I'm down with
preserving art, but I also don't
want to
Speaker 1: um revive stereotypes and
um uh gosh.
Speaker 1: I want to say negative
connotations, but that's not the
phrasing
Speaker 1: I'm looking at.
Speaker 1: I don't want to revive
racist terminology purely to
preserve
Speaker 1: art.
Speaker 1: So I'm still thinking,
how do I treat those stories?
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 1: You let me know what you
think.
Speaker 1: Maybe I'll do a word
substitution.
Speaker 1: I don't know, I'll have
to think about that.
Speaker 1: Um because those are good
stories.
Speaker 1: Um, and they were just
using the vocabulary of the time in
in
Speaker 1: one particular instance,
using the vocabulary of the people
Speaker 1: in that region for that
time period.
Speaker 1: So that's gotta mean
something.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I didn't feel
like throwing around the N-word for
Speaker 1: like a good hour as I
fumble these recordings.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I was like, you
know what?
Speaker 1: Let's go do some Poe.
Speaker 1: Haven't done any Poe in a
while.
Speaker 1: Poe is my trusted friend,
I love Poe.
Speaker 1: Let's do it.
Speaker 1: And then, oh, this story
I haven't read before, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: short.
Speaker 1: Uh, let's do it.
Speaker 1: And it's a very short
story, but by golly, looking up all
these
Speaker 1: words took a very long
time.
Speaker 1: Um, but it was worth it
for me.
Speaker 1: And so I hope it was a
little bit worth it for you.
Speaker 1: Let's do it.
Speaker 1: Okay, so no big
questions.
Speaker 1: We got everything we need
here.
Speaker 1: What do we learn from
this story?
Speaker 1: Well, this is this really
interesting idea of what is death.
Speaker 1: Um does it matter if we
know when we're going to die?
Speaker 1: Should we be allowed to
choose how we die if we if we have
the
Speaker 1: option to choose?
Speaker 1: And a lot of sci-fi
movies address that question, right?
Speaker 1: Um, even in some
countries, there are the right to
die laws,
Speaker 1: so people who have
terminal illnesses can apply to have
the
Speaker 1: right to choose how they
want to go out.
Speaker 1: They don't want to wait
to be in pain, so severe pain, that
Speaker 1: they're just praying day
and night for things to end.
Speaker 1: And isn't that
interesting?
Speaker 1: We have Monsieur Valmer
who reaches a point where he's just
Speaker 1: screaming, get it over
with people, like either wake me up
or
Speaker 1: let me die.
Speaker 1: Like basically, I'm
already dead, so it's kind of hard
to say
Speaker 1: kill me, but get me out
of this state that I have been in
for
Speaker 1: seven months.
Speaker 1: Um and I think not only
is Poe asking us to look at death in
Speaker 1: and of itself, so not
just looking at if you had got the
opportunity
Speaker 1: to choose how you leave
this earth or when you leave this
earth,
Speaker 1: would you want that
power?
Speaker 1: Would you want to be able
to make that decision?
Speaker 1: Um but also this idea
that death, what is death anyway?
Speaker 1: It's something that
someone else states, right?
Speaker 1: The doctors confirm the
death.
Speaker 1: But if the guy still
talking, is he dead?
Speaker 1: Is the fact that there's
voice but no body, is that a state
Speaker 1: of death?
Speaker 1: What is death?
Speaker 1: So Poe brings up a really
good question.
Speaker 1: What is death?
Speaker 1: Or is death really just
when there ceases to be anything
resembling
Speaker 1: that person, right?
Speaker 1: Where you're just a lump
mass.
Speaker 1: So maybe death isn't even
the body in the coffin, um but it's
Speaker 1: simply the disintegration
of mind, body, voice, the spirit,
Speaker 1: all the things.
Speaker 1: So pretty big question
there.
Speaker 1: Oh, power, you're big
questions.
Speaker 1: Ooh.
Speaker 1: And then we have the
narrator, like, was it right for him
to
Speaker 1: want to try this
experiment?
Speaker 1: Now, as uh vegan, I am
not really into experimenting on
animals,
Speaker 1: but I understand the
importance of these types of
experiments,
Speaker 1: some experiments, mind
you, when we look at testing
medication
Speaker 1: um in order to save
animal species or save the human
race, animal
Speaker 1: testing, it's what's
done, right?
Speaker 1: Um, and it's important.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna lie about
that.
Speaker 1: And so then what this man
is doing, think of it as a clinical
Speaker 1: trial.
Speaker 1: It's been tested on in
other ways, but this is the final
stage
Speaker 1: in that clinical trial
before methods are.
Speaker 1: Are approved for all of
humanity.
Speaker 1: And maybe what he can
find out from working with this
dying
Speaker 1: man, maybe this is
something that can help other people
um prolonging
Speaker 1: life just a little bit
longer so that family members can
come
Speaker 1: and say goodbye or
something to that effect.
Speaker 1: I do like the fact that
they're reaching a point where the
the
Speaker 1: physician and the
narrator all agree there's really no
benefit
Speaker 1: to the patient by us
waking him right now.
Speaker 1: We wake him up, he's just
gonna be in more pain.
Speaker 1: So what's the point?
Speaker 1: And they let him stay in
that state.
Speaker 1: Now one could say it's an
act of kindness because why have
right
Speaker 1: now he's kind of
peaceful?
Speaker 1: So why have him wake up
just to be in immense pain and
suffering
Speaker 1: and then die?
Speaker 1: That doesn't sound ideal.
Speaker 1: But then the fact that
they waited seven months and brought
Speaker 1: in other people to take a
look and check him out, you know.
Speaker 1: I wonder they they
mentioned like inviting over other
doctors,
Speaker 1: and I just wonder if like
people were inviting over their
friends
Speaker 1: and being like, hey,
check this out.
Speaker 1: This this this guy's like
not really awake, you know.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I could I can imagine
that maybe one of the the nurses um
after
Speaker 1: hours is like, hey, come
take a look at this weird body I'm
Speaker 1: having to watch.
Speaker 1: I don't know, probably
not.
Speaker 1: Maybe so.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 1: What would you do?
Speaker 1: Would you be like, hey,
come check this out, guys?
Speaker 1: Um, so there's that.
Speaker 1: And yeah, it's it's a
it's a it's an interesting one.
Speaker 1: I think the the questions
here are pretty straightforward.
Speaker 1: Um should we have control
over death?
Speaker 1: Do we want control over
death?
Speaker 1: Um what is death?
Speaker 1: Um, yeah.
Speaker 1: What what is what is the
right thing to do for the sake of
experimentation
Speaker 1: and medicine?
Speaker 1: Um these are all really
good questions.
Speaker 1: Really, really deep
questions.
Speaker 1: That's kind of all I got
for you on this one.
Speaker 1: Uh I mean, it's okay.
Speaker 1: I got one more, which is
the narrator was obsessed with being
Speaker 1: able to try this
experiment.
Speaker 1: Finally got to try the
experiment.
Speaker 1: Do you really think he
repeated this experiment after this
case?
Speaker 1: I don't think so.
Speaker 1: I I think he got freaked
out by the end.
Speaker 1: Um maybe he maybe he did,
but I I kind of had it, highly doubt
Speaker 1: it.
Speaker 1: So, with that being said,
that desire to do something, to try
Speaker 1: something, and then you
do it and you try it, and then
you're
Speaker 1: just like, oh, well, I
got what I wanted, but was it really
Speaker 1: what I wanted?
Speaker 1: Was it worth it?
Speaker 1: That's a really big
question that a lot of us face every
day.
Speaker 1: Even ordering on Amazon.
Speaker 1: You want something, you
say you want something, you get what
Speaker 1: you want, and you're
like, oh man, I don't even use that
thing
Speaker 1: that I ordered.
Speaker 1: Um, you get the job that
you want, the girl that you want,
the
Speaker 1: guy that you want, the
kids that you want.
Speaker 1: And everything always
turns out just a little bit
differently
Speaker 1: than we expected.
Speaker 1: Hopefully, you're not
like, oh my gosh, these kids, I
gotta
Speaker 1: return them.
Speaker 1: Why on earth?
Speaker 1: Why on earth did I have
these kids?
Speaker 1: Hopefully that's not the
case.
Speaker 1: But um, in the case of
Monsieur Valmer, I think there's a
lot
Speaker 1: we have learned or can
learn from the passions, excitement,
Speaker 1: interest, uh,
self-interest of the narrator,
right?
Speaker 1: He didn't do this to
benefit the old man or science at
all.
Speaker 1: He did it purely for his
own interest.
Speaker 1: We have a lot to learn
from Monsieur Valmer, the man who
was
Speaker 1: dying, wasting away, and
the fact that he chose to
participate
Speaker 1: in this test and the
doctors right society's allowance
for doctors
Speaker 1: and companies to prolong
life medication, just taking some
aspirin
Speaker 1: to reduce the possibility
of a stroke or medication prolonging
Speaker 1: life.
Speaker 1: Is it right?
Speaker 1: Is any of it right?
Speaker 1: Are any things that we do
to prolong life?
Speaker 1: Or in life, are they
right?
Speaker 1: So, yeah, good times, my
friends.
Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed this
story, and I uh hope to connect with
Speaker 1: you on Patreon soon.
Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed this
story and do come back for another
Gothic
Speaker 1: Tale.