The Forbidden Forest: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Forbidden Forest: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the lives of various pivotal figures intertwined within a narrative that explores themes of time, love, and existential struggle. Central to the story is Stefan Viziru, a political economist grappling with his obsession over time and existence, who seeks to relive a blissful moment with his ideal love, Ileana, amid the backdrop of war. His wife, Ioana, embodies devotion and practicality, yet tragically perishes alongside their child, highlighting the personal costs of conflict. Ileana, an object of Stefan’s desire, embodies ideal love yet faces her own struggles, representing the allure and pain of unattainable dreams.
Supporting characters, such as the philosophical Petre Biris and the ambitious Spiridon Vadastra, provide contrasting perspectives on ambition, morality, and identity, enriching the narrative's exploration of human experience. Philosophical inquiries arise through Biris's existential ponderings, while Vadastra's cunning reflects the moral complexities of ambition and survival during tumultuous times. Additionally, figures like Anisie offer spiritual guidance, pushing Stefan toward deeper self-awareness, while Stella serves as a tempting force that complicates his journey. The interplay of these characters against the backdrop of historical turmoil serves not only to deepen the narrative but also to present a multifaceted view of love, loss, and the human condition.
The Forbidden Forest: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Mircea Eliade
First published: La Forêt interdite, 1955 (English translation, 1978)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Romania
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: 1936–1948
Stefan Viziru (shteh-FAHN vee-ZEE-rew), a tall, slender but sturdy, and handsome thirty-four-year-old political economist. He earned his doctorate in political science in Paris and is working for the Romanian Ministry of National Economy. Although happily married, with a young child, he is obsessed with his entrapment in time. He tries unsuccessfully to use his talents as a painter to project himself into cosmic time. He experiences cosmic time when he meets his ideal love, Ileana, in the Forest of Baneasa, the setting of his childhood; he spends the remainder of the novel searching for Ileana so he can reenact that timeless moment of bliss. He finally encounters Ileana in a forest near Paris, where they prepare to enter cosmic time together, through death.
Ioana Viziru (YWAHN-ah), the twenty-six-year-old wife of Stefan. Beautiful, intelligent in practical ways, and utterly devoted to her husband, she cannot understand his fixation with the burden of time. An excellent wife and mother, she dies with her baby Razvan during a bombing raid.
Ileana Sideri (eel-YAH-nah see-DEH-ree), a beautiful, tall, dark-haired woman in her twenties who falls in love with Stefan. Although she initially mistakes him for the famous author Ciru Partenie, they nevertheless have a brief but passionate affair. He then leaves her even though she begs him to stay; they meet later in Portugal, where they undergo another painful separation. He spends the remainder of the novel searching for her as the embodiment of ideal love. They enter into a final union, both actual and mystical, in the concluding scene of the book.
Petre Biris (PEH-treh bee-REEZ), an indigent, witty, and tubercular professor of philosophy and Stefan's closest friend and confidant. He is preoccupied with the higher concerns of philosophy, particularly those of an existential nature, and considers himself a devoted disciple of Martin Heidegger. He is also the world authority on the works of Ciru Partenie, a famous Romanian novelist and dramatist whom he has never met. He, like Ileana, mistakes Stefan for Partenie but quickly indulges Stefan in his crisis over time, calling him a Proustian who cannot be an artist and a normal human being simultaneously. He loves to play intellectual games and falls passionately in love with the beautiful Catalina, but to no avail. He dies of tuberculosis.
Spiridon Vadastra (SPEE-ree-dohn vah-DAHS-trah), formerly known as Spiru Gheorghe Vasile (SPEE-rew GYOHR-geh vah-SEE-leh), a young, highly ambitious lawyer and one-eyed confidence man, an articulate and enormously clever picaresque character. He changed his name because he is ashamed of his destitute family background. He dreams of becoming Romania's greatest pianist and writes outrageous letters to Henry Ford, hoping to curry his favor and become his country's conduit to the American Dream. An obvious embodiment of Hermes the trickster, he supports whoever is in power, switching sides after the war from Communism to Anglo-American capitalism. Ostensibly killed in a bombing raid in London during the war, he reappears in Paris to spy on Stefan six years later.
Gheorghe Vasile, Vadastra's father, a retired secondary school teacher of literature and history. A witty, pleasant drunk who misses nothing, he wants to preserve Romanian culture, especially from the barbarian Russians, so he hides his valuable books and art treasures in a tomb near his town just as the Russians are taking over.
Ciru Partenie (KEE-rew pahr-TEH-nee), a famous novelist and dramatist in his mid-thirties. Romania's principal existential writer, he bears an uncanny resemblance to Stefan and is constantly mistaken for him. He is killed in a cross fire when mistaken for Stefan. The opportunist Bibicescu attempts to capitalize on his work by finishing his last play, The Wake.
Dan Bibicescu (bee-bee-CHEHS-kew), a brilliant, idiosyncratic playwright, actor, director, and opportunist in his thirties. He is a disciple of the famous British director Gordon Craig and wants desperately to become the director of the National Theater of Romania. He builds his career on the unfinished work of Partenie and is so driven by ambition that he casually switches political positions to attain his goal. He dies at the end of the novel.
Bursuc (BUR-suhk), a middle-aged, amoral, opportunistic theology student who will do anything to retain his favored position. Although he believes in nothing, he becomes a monk just before the Russians invade Romania as a means of furthering his career. He spends the majority of the novel exhorting people, especially Stefan, to repent of their sins and preparing them for the Second Coming of Christ.
Anisie (AHN-zee), an elderly spiritual guide for Stefan. Having had a near-death experience, he has devoted himself to menial tasks and has learned to live in the present moment without distraction from memory or desire. He teaches Stefan to begin to find a way out of profane time and into sacred, or cosmic, time.
Stella Zissu (STEH-lah ZEE-zew), Anisie's Dionysian counterpart. She becomes the sexual temptress of Stefan and helps to release him from his inhibitions. Stefan recognizes her as the embodiment of Circe or Calypso because she is young, tall, and red-haired, and she possesses alluring forest-green eyes.
Catalina (kah-tah-LEE-nah), an attractive young actress who is in love with Bibicescu. Although the object of Biris' devoted attention, she shares in the pseudomythic roles that Bibicescu mistakes for life. She takes him to task when he misuses Partenie's final, unfinished play for his own advancement. She dies of a hemorrhage at the end of the novel.
Irina Ivascu (ee-REE-nah ee-VAHS-kew), the young, dark-haired, attractive, and dedicated wife of Vadastra. Unlike her amoral husband, she is a highly moral and devoutly religious woman who is helpful and caring toward Stefan. Possessing prophetic powers, she warns Stefan that he must live life fully and drop his obsession with time and death.
Misu Weissman, a middle-aged, wealthy Jewish supporter of Bibicescu's plan to establish a National Theater of Romania. A practical but intelligent man, he helps Stefan during his final journey to Paris but dies shortly thereafter.