Bruges-la-Morte

Hugues Viane is a widower who has turned to the melancholy, decaying city of Bruges as the ideal location in which to mourn his wife and as a backdrop for the narcissistic wanderings of his disturbed spirit. He becomes obsessed with a young dancer whom he believes is the double of his beloved wife, leading him to psychological torment and humiliation, culminating in a deranged murder. This 1892 work is a poet's novel, dense, visionary and haunting. Bruges, the 'dead city', becomes a metaphor for Hugues' dead wife as he follows its mournful labyrinth of streets and canals in a cyclical promenade of reflection and allusion--the ultimate evocation of Rodenbach's lifelong love affair with the enduring mystery and mortuary atmosphere of Bruges.

Hugues Viane este un vaduv care s-a orientat catre orasul melancolic si in degradare Bruges ca locatie ideala in care sa-si planga sotia si ca fundal pentru ratacirile narcisice ale spiritului sau tulburat. Devine obsedat de un tanar dansator pe care il crede dublul iubitei sale sotii, ducandu-l la chinuri psihologice si umilire, culminand cu o crima tulburata.