SOURCE: "Sylvie: The Method of Myth," in Nineteenth-Century French Studies, Vol. XII, Nos. 1 & 2, Fall-Winter, 1983, pp. 96-104.

Below, Thompson addresses the function of myth in Sylvie, focusing on Nerval's use of colors and treatment of memory to suggest a fantastic world. The critic finds in the story an overflowing of the "unreal from amid the real."

Gérard de Nerval's Sylvie provides not only evidence of the author's predilection for an "other," "spiritual," or mythical world—a possible escape from time—but also an example in itself of transcending myth. Since it is meant to both celebrate and exemplify a timeless spirituality, Sylvie suggests this aspect of its own critique: how well, or with what emphasis, do we recall the story after the passage of time? Some recall best the character Sylvie, the countryside of Le Valois, the fêtes, the ruined architecture. Others may retain a strong physical...