SOURCE: "Isis: The Cult of the Madonna," in Gérard de Nerval: The Mystic's Dilemma, The University of Alabama Press, 1980, pp. 226-36.

In the following excerpt, American educator and author Knapp explores the religious aspects of Isis and the role of the female in the work.

Nerval's narrative Isis (1845) is an expression of his syncretistic approach to religion and, in particular, an example of the immense role played by the feminine principle in his cosmology.

Isis takes place in Herculaneum and Pompeii, cities destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius A.D. 79. It is night. The moon shines brilliantly and the illusion of the past grandeur of these cities is complete. Nerval tells us that an ambassador in Naples had given a costume ball a few years earlier and in so doing had revived all the ancient Roman customs for the festivities: the dance, the chariot races, the...