Enigma otiliei
Published in 1938, in the interwar era, it is a realistic novel that involves both a vision and a modern structure by: fixing an urban environment within spatial landmarks, ambiguity of characters, interest in deviant psychic processes, reflection of the same character in the vision of others, sense critic of the narrator. The subject of the novel, transposed in the urban environment at the beginning of the twentieth century, is built on the realistic principle of mimesis and plausibility, starting from real facts (articles in the press about the death of the Popescus, whose death, Simion , the brother, invaded the house in search of money) and subsequently being presented fictitious events, in a credible manner.
The main theme is the social one, with two components, both Balzacian. He paints a social fresco of the Bucharest bourgeoisie from the beginning of the 20th century, under socio-economic determination. The image of society is the background of the maturation of a young man who, before making a career, lives the experience of love and family relationships. The theme of love does not occupy a foreground, but it creates this impression, because love is a defining feeling for any being. A significant sequence for the novel's theme is that of Felix Sima's arrival at the house of his uncle, Costache Giurgiuveanu. Entering the house, Felix witnesses a family scene: backgammon. The observation of Aglaa Tulea, the sister of old Costache, according to which the old man makes an “orphanage” directly targets Felix and Otilia, Aglae perceiving the young people as rivals to his brother's inheritance.
Another episode that illustrates the Balzacian theme is that in which old Costache's house is constantly monitored and besieged when the old man falls ill. When he suffers a strong stroke, old Costache thinks more seriously about Otilia's future and entrusts Pascalopol with three banknotes to deposit at the bank in his "little girl's" account, but he changes his mind. During the second attack of the old man's illness, Stanica takes advantage of the absence of Felix and Otilia and the inattention of Aglaa and steals the old man's money hidden under the mattress on which he was lying, causing his death. The initial title was "Otilia's Parents" - an allusion to the Balzacian theme of fatherhood. At the editor's suggestion, Călinescu opted for the title "Otilia's Enigma". The title suggests, therefore, Felix's inability to discern / rationalize Otilia's behavior and reactions. The subject of the novel begins unpredictably, following the arrival in the capital, from Iași, of the character Felix Sima.
The symmetry of the beginning and the end is achieved by describing the street and the house of old Costache from the perspective of Felix, the stranger / intruder from the Giurgiuveanu family, in different moments of his existence (in adolescence and about ten years later, "after the war"). The symmetry is also supported by Costache's answer to Felix's arrival, resumed at the end of the novel: "Nobody lives here". The action of the novel, consisting of 20 chapters, includes two epic plans: the erotic one (in which Otilia and Felix evolve) and the social one, related to the theme of inheritance - the mobilization of the Tulea clan to take possession of Costache Giurgiuveanu's fortune. The plot therefore develops on these two intertwining planes. The novel's conflict is based on the relations between the two related families. One family is that of Costache Giurgiuveanu, the owner of the fortune hunted by the Tulea clan, and Otilia Mărculescu, the orphaned teenager, the daughter of the second deceased wife. Felix Sima, the son of the old man's sister, who comes to Bucharest to study medicine, also appears here. The other family around which the subject of the work is organized is the family of old Costache's sister, Aglae, consisting of her husband Simion Tulea and her three almost adult children: Olimpia, Aurica and Titi.
Costache Giurgiuveanu is the central character of the novel because, directly or indirectly, he decides the destinies of the other characters. He is the type of the miser, enrolling in the descendants of Hagi-Tudose of Delavrancea or Harpagon of Moliere, but he distances himself from them by trying to overcome his condition. George Călinescu defends his character, denying his entry into the ranks of the Avars, arguing that Giurgiuveanu is humanized by his sincere love for Otilia, even if he fails to materialize it. Costache is old, but he hopes to live long. He is thirsty for money and life. He has a lot of affection for Otilia, but he practically does nothing to ensure her future or to adopt her.
Otilia impresses with the complexity of the soul, the unpredictability that surrounds it, with charm and delicacy. The author himself fixes his identity: "Otilia is my lyrical heroine, my projection outside, a lunar and feminine image ... Otilia is my silver mirror ...". Through Otilia, the novel acquires modernity. She breaks the classic patterns that unite them: a miser, an arivist, an old girl and countless others interested only in the material part of any relationship, she brings to the fore an existentialist issue. Otilia is admired by the boys from the University, envied by the relatives of the Tulea clan, vulgarly courted by Stanica, annoyed by Titi. Each of them will know more or less about her, but Otilia will remain, despite her evolution, "an enigma".
Aglae embodies a Balzacian character with an aggressive desire for enrichment, driven by an exacerbated and unjustified possessive instinct that triggers a hatred of inhuman proportions against the orphans in his brother's house. Trusting only in wealth, she disregards intellectual activity, being convinced that "whoever reads too much squeaks", and "college is ready for money boys". Money, in the morally degraded society, painted by the author, is the "supreme god", to whom all worship.
In my opinion, “Enigma Otiliei” is a realistic Balzacian novel through: the critical presentation of some aspects of the Bucharest society from the beginning of the 20th century, the theme of paternity and inheritance, the structure, the specifics of the descriptive sequences, the realization of some typologies, truthfulness, the narration in the third person. However, the book goes beyond the model of classical realism through its critical and polemical spirit, through elements of modernity (the ambiguity of the characters, the interest in deviant psychic processes, the modern characterization techniques).
