The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
Encyclopedia
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is a short novel
(51,500 words) by H. P. Lovecraft
, written in early 1927
, but not published during the author's liftetime. Set in Lovecraft's hometown of Providence
, Rhode Island, it was first published (in abridged form) in the May and July issues of Weird Tales
in 1941
; the first complete publication was in Arkham House's
Beyond the Wall of Sleep collection (1943
). The novel tells the story of young Charles Dexter Ward, who in 1918 becomes embroiled in the past, due to his fascination with the history of his wizard ancestor, Joseph Curwen (who'd left Salem
for Providence in 1692, and acquired notoriety for his haunting of graveyards, his apparent lack of aging, and his chemical experiments). Ward physically resembles Curwen, and attempts to duplicate his ancestor's cabbalistic and alchemical feats, eventually locating Curwen's remains and by means of his 'essential Saltes", resurrecting him. Ward's doctor, Marinus Bicknell Willett, becomes enmeshed in Ward's doings, investigating Curwen's old Pawtuxet bungalow which Ward has restored. The horrors of what Willett finds, and the crux of the identities of Ward and Curwen, form the hinge of horror on which the novel moves.
. Lovecraft wrote back: "So the Halsey house is haunted! Ugh! That's where Wild Tom Halsey kept live terrapins in the cellar--maybe it's their ghosts. Anyway, it's a magnificent old mansion, & a credit to a magnificent old town!" Lovecraft would make this house—renumbered as 100 Prospect—the basis for the Ward house in Charles Dexter Ward.
The following month, September 1925, Lovecraft read Providence in Colonial Times, by Gertrude Selwyn Kimball, a 1912 history that provided him with aspects of Charles Dexter Ward, such as the anecdotes about John Merritt and Dr. Checkley.
A possible literary model is Walter de la Mare
's novel The Return (1910), which Lovecraft read in mid-1926. He describes it in his essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature
" as a tale in which "we see the soul of a dead man reach out of its grave of two centuries and fasten itself on the flesh of the living".
The theme of a descendant who closely resembles a distant ancestor may come from Nathaniel Hawthorne
's The House of the Seven Gables
, which Lovecraft called "New England
's greatest contribution to weird literature
" in "Supernatural Horror in Literature".
Another proposed literary source is M. R. James
' short story "Count Magnus", also praised in "Supernatural Horror in Literature", which suggests the resurrection of a sinister 17th century figure.
and Donald Wandrei
.
family who (in the story's introduction) is said to have disappeared from a mental asylum after a prolonged period of insanity accompanied by minor, but unheard-of, physiological changes. The bulk of the story concerns the investigation conducted by the Wards' family doctor, Marinus Bicknell Willett, in an attempt to discover the reason for Ward's madness and the physiological changes. When Willett learns that Ward had spent the past several years attempting to discover the grave of his ill-reputed ancestor, Joseph Curwen, the doctor slowly begins to unravel the truth behind the legends surrounding Curwen, an eighteenth century shipping
entrepreneur
rumoured to have been an alchemist
, but in reality a necromancer and mass-murderer.
As Willett's investigations proceed, he finds that Charles had recovered Curwen's ashes, and through the use of magical formulae contained in documents found hidden in the wizard's former town house in Providence, Rhode Island
, was able to call forth Curwen from his "essential saltes" and resurrect him. Willett also finds that Curwen, who resembles Charles enough to pass for him, has murdered and replaced his modern descendant and resumed his evil activities. Unfortunately for Curwen, due to culture shock
, he is unable to entirely successfully impersonate Charles - his lack of understanding of the modern world leads to him (as Charles) being certified insane and imprisoned in an asylum.
While Curwen is locked up, Willett's continuing investigations lead him to a bungalow
in Pawtuxet Village
, which Ward had purchased under the influence of Curwen. It turns out that this house is on the site of an old farm which was Curwen's headquarters for his nefarious doings; beneath is a vast catacomb that the wizard had built to serve as his lair during his previous lifetime. During a horrific journey through this labyrinth, Willet discovers the full truth about Curwen's crimes and also the means of returning him to the grave. During the expedition it is also revealed that Curwen has been engaged in a long-term conspiracy
with certain other necromancers (associates from his previous life who have somehow escaped death) to raise and torture the world's wisest people in order to gain knowledge that will let them gain horrible power and threaten the future of mankind. Finally, while in Curwen's laboratory, Willett accidentally raises an ancient spirit (its identity is not made clear) which is an enemy of Curwen and his fellow necromancers. The doctor faints at this eventuality: he wakes up back in the bungalow. Willett finds that the entrance to the vaults has been sealed as if it had never existed, but finds a note from the spirit written in Latin
in an Anglo-Saxon
hand telling him to kill Curwen and destroy his body.
Armed with this knowledge, Willett confronts Curwen at the asylum and succeeds in reversing the spell, reducing the undead
sorcerer
once again to dust. News reports reveal that Curwen's prime co-conspirators have met brutal deaths along with their households and their lairs have been destroyed, presumably the work of the spirit whom Willett raised.
Much of the plot is revealed in letters, documents and other historical sources discovered by both Ward and Willett.
Though considered one of Lovecraft's autobiographical characters, some details of the character seem to be based on William Lippitt Mauran, who lived in the Halsey house and, like Ward, was "wheeled...in a carriage" in front of it. Like the Wards, the Maurans also owned a farmhouse in Pawtuxet, Rhode Island
.
, seven miles from Salem
, on February 18, 1662. He flees to Providence from the Salem witch trials
in 1692. He dies, at least temporarily, in 1771 when he is killed in the course of a raid on his lair by a group of important Providence citizens who have got wind of only a few of his crimes. In his first life, Curwen was a successful merchant, shipping magnate, slave trader, and highly accomplished sorcerer. His magical powers are extensive. He has perfected a method of reducing the effects of aging so that by the time of his first death, when he was over a century old, he still appeared to be in his early forties at the most. He has the ability to resurrect the dead and converse with them, though to do so he must have the complete corpse which must be prepared in a special way to reduce it to the "essential saltes". He is able to summon Cthulhu Mythos
entities such as the god Yog-Sothoth
to assist him in his magic. It also seems clear that he was able to find a way to create a spell that would transcend time and inspire a descendant to become interested in him and his work and attempt to bring him back should he ever be slain.
Curwen makes extensive use of the resurrection spell to gain historical and occult
knowledge. To this end his agents scour the graveyards and tombs of the world for the corpses of illustrious persons which are then smuggled back to Providence, where Curwen temporarily raises them to torture their secrets out of them. In this endeavour he is assisted by two fellow necromancers and Salem exiles; Simon Orne, alias Joseph Nadeh, who lives in Prague
, and Edward Hutchinson, who masquerades as Baron Ferenczy in Transylvania
. These three, and an unknown accomplice in Philadelphia, are engaged in a vast conspiracy to use their ill-gotten knowledge to achieve ever greater powers for themselves.
When later resurrected by Ward, Curwen initially goes in disguise as "Dr. Allen" to avoid suspicion being aroused by his close resemblance to Ward. The undead Curwen shows vampiristic tendencies, attacking local travellers and breaking into houses to drink the blood of the inhabitants. It is not explicitly spelled out that the vampirism is a consequence of the spell, but Curwen is overheard arguing that "it must be red for three months," implying that the large quantities of meat and animal blood that "Allen" and Ward order from the local butcher shops are not sufficient to sustain the newly revived wizard
. Curwen immediately makes contact with Orne and Hutchinson, who have been alive and active all the while, and starts up his old plots once again. He soon murders Ward when he starts having doubts about what they are doing and assumes his identity.
and grave robbery, Curwen never hesitates to stoop to murder, torture or blackmail to achieve his ends; he also uses - and kills - vast numbers of living slaves as subjects for his experiments. He is, in sum, utterly evil.
Intriguingly, the ultimate goal of Curwen's activities is not completely specified and its interpretation is largely left to the reader. This ambiguity also affects, notably, the exact circumstances of Curwen's "first death". It seems clear, however, that his pursuits are at least remotely akin to those of Wilbur Whateley and his grandfather
, albeit with a probably far larger psychopathic and/or megalomaniac component. The closest thing to a description of Curwen's aims is contained in a passage describing the ashes central to his experiments:
Joseph Curwen may be inscribed in the line of characters in Lovecraft stories, including both villain
s and antiheroes, notable for their individualistic or egocentric demeanor, higher-than-average intelligence or charisma and usually low moral standards, who manage to deal actively with evil, unknown forces while at the same time avoiding the negative side-effects of such activities—even if the latter do affect a variable number of innocent people. Further examples of this archetype
in Lovecraft are Obed Marsh
, Alijah Billington
, Ephraim Waite
and Walter de la Poer and, to a lesser extent, Old Whateley
.
Despite Curwen's evil pursuits, he was still a complex man. The early biography given of him portrayed him as, while aloof from most social pursuits, a man possessed of some civic spirit and decency; he contributed to the funding of many civic expansion projects of his town, such as paving roads and building or rebuilding civic features. Furthermore, he treated his wife with remarkable grace and courtesy, though he married primarily to produce an heir and to improve his public image. His letters to his associate necromancers also show a great deal of warmth, portraying him as a man who was not without human feelings.
compares Willett's character to other "valiant counterweight[s]" in Lovecraft such as Thomas Malone in "The Horror at Red Hook
" (1925) and Henry Armitage in "The Dunwich Horror
"; like Willett, Armitage "defeats the 'villains' by incantations, and he is susceptible to the same flaws--pomposity, arrogance, self-importance--that can be seen in Willett."
In a moment in which Dr. Willett's mind is confused and, trying to avert the influence of dark invocations by uttering the Lord's Prayer, he mixes them up, the result is described as "a mnemonic hodge-podge like the modernistic Waste Land
of Mr. T. S. Eliot
".
entity Yog-Sothoth
, who appears repeatedly as an element in an incantation. Joseph Curwen is the owner of a copy of the Necronomicon
(disguised as a book labelled Qanoon-e-Islam) and there are hints of cult activities in a fishing village that refer obliquely to the events narrated in "The Festival
". The story also contains references to the Dream Cycle
: Dr. Willett notices the "Sign of Koth
" chiselled above a doorway, and remembers his friend Randolph Carter
drawing the sign and explaining its powers and meaning.
Brian Lumley
expanded on the character of Baron Ferenczy, mentioned but never met in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, in his Necroscope series, specifically Book IV: Deadspeak, where Janos Ferenczy uses the Yog-Sothoth formula to call forth whole bodies from ash remains, and to return them to that state.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
(51,500 words) by H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
, written in early 1927
1927 in literature
The year 1927 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Random House, book publishers, is founded in New York City by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer.-New books:*James Boyd - Marching On...
, but not published during the author's liftetime. Set in Lovecraft's hometown of Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, Rhode Island, it was first published (in abridged form) in the May and July issues of Weird Tales
Weird Tales
Weird Tales is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine first published in March 1923. It ceased its original run in September 1954, after 279 issues, but has since been revived. The magazine was set up in Chicago by J. C. Henneberger, an ex-journalist with a taste for the macabre....
in 1941
1941 in literature
The year 1941 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Frank Herbert marries Flora Parkinson.*F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished work, The Last Tycoon, is edited and published by Edmund Wilson.-New books:...
; the first complete publication was in Arkham House's
Arkham House
Arkham House is a publishing house specializing in weird fiction founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to preserve in hardcover the best fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham. Arkham House...
Beyond the Wall of Sleep collection (1943
1943 in literature
The year 1943 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*George Orwell resigns from the BBC to become literary editor of Tribune.*Isaac Bashevis Singer becomes a naturalized citizen of the United States....
). The novel tells the story of young Charles Dexter Ward, who in 1918 becomes embroiled in the past, due to his fascination with the history of his wizard ancestor, Joseph Curwen (who'd left Salem
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
for Providence in 1692, and acquired notoriety for his haunting of graveyards, his apparent lack of aging, and his chemical experiments). Ward physically resembles Curwen, and attempts to duplicate his ancestor's cabbalistic and alchemical feats, eventually locating Curwen's remains and by means of his 'essential Saltes", resurrecting him. Ward's doctor, Marinus Bicknell Willett, becomes enmeshed in Ward's doings, investigating Curwen's old Pawtuxet bungalow which Ward has restored. The horrors of what Willett finds, and the crux of the identities of Ward and Curwen, form the hinge of horror on which the novel moves.
Inspiration
In August 1925, Lovecraft's Aunt Lillian sent him an anecdote about the house at 140 Prospect Street in ProvidenceProvidence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. Lovecraft wrote back: "So the Halsey house is haunted! Ugh! That's where Wild Tom Halsey kept live terrapins in the cellar--maybe it's their ghosts. Anyway, it's a magnificent old mansion, & a credit to a magnificent old town!" Lovecraft would make this house—renumbered as 100 Prospect—the basis for the Ward house in Charles Dexter Ward.
The following month, September 1925, Lovecraft read Providence in Colonial Times, by Gertrude Selwyn Kimball, a 1912 history that provided him with aspects of Charles Dexter Ward, such as the anecdotes about John Merritt and Dr. Checkley.
A possible literary model is Walter de la Mare
Walter de la Mare
Walter John de la Mare , OM CH was an English poet, short story writer and novelist, probably best remembered for his works for children and the poem "The Listeners"....
's novel The Return (1910), which Lovecraft read in mid-1926. He describes it in his essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature
Supernatural Horror in Literature
"Supernatural Horror in Literature" is a long essay by the celebrated horror writer H. P. Lovecraft surveying the field of horror fiction. It was written between November 1925 and May 1927 and revised in 1933-1934. It was first published in 1927 in the one-shot magazine The Recluse...
" as a tale in which "we see the soul of a dead man reach out of its grave of two centuries and fasten itself on the flesh of the living".
The theme of a descendant who closely resembles a distant ancestor may come from Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
's The House of the Seven Gables
The House of the Seven Gables (novel)
The House of the Seven Gables is a Gothic novel written in 1851 by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne and published the same year by Ticknor and Fields of Boston. Hawthorne explores themes of guilt, retribution, and atonement in a New England family and colors the tale with suggestions of the...
, which Lovecraft called "New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
's greatest contribution to weird literature
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
" in "Supernatural Horror in Literature".
Another proposed literary source is M. R. James
M. R. James
Montague Rhodes James, OM, MA, , who used the publication name M. R. James, was an English mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge and of Eton College . He is best remembered for his ghost stories, which are regarded as among the best in the genre...
' short story "Count Magnus", also praised in "Supernatural Horror in Literature", which suggests the resurrection of a sinister 17th century figure.
Reaction
Lovecraft was displeased with the novel, calling it a "cumbrous, creaking bit of self-conscious antiquarianism". He made little effort to publish the work, leaving it to be published posthumously in Weird Tales by August DerlethAugust Derleth
August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...
and Donald Wandrei
Donald Wandrei
Donald Albert Wandrei was an American science fiction, fantasy and weird fiction writer, poet and editor. He wrote as Donald Wandrei. He was the older brother of science fiction writer and artist Howard Wandrei...
.
Plot summary
The title character, Charles Dexter Ward, is a young man from a prominent Rhode IslandRhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
family who (in the story's introduction) is said to have disappeared from a mental asylum after a prolonged period of insanity accompanied by minor, but unheard-of, physiological changes. The bulk of the story concerns the investigation conducted by the Wards' family doctor, Marinus Bicknell Willett, in an attempt to discover the reason for Ward's madness and the physiological changes. When Willett learns that Ward had spent the past several years attempting to discover the grave of his ill-reputed ancestor, Joseph Curwen, the doctor slowly begins to unravel the truth behind the legends surrounding Curwen, an eighteenth century shipping
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
rumoured to have been an alchemist
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, but in reality a necromancer and mass-murderer.
As Willett's investigations proceed, he finds that Charles had recovered Curwen's ashes, and through the use of magical formulae contained in documents found hidden in the wizard's former town house in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, was able to call forth Curwen from his "essential saltes" and resurrect him. Willett also finds that Curwen, who resembles Charles enough to pass for him, has murdered and replaced his modern descendant and resumed his evil activities. Unfortunately for Curwen, due to culture shock
Culture shock
Culture shock is the anxiety, feelings of frustration, alienation and anger that may occur when a person is emplaced in a new culture.One of the most common causes of culture shock involves individuals in a foreign country. Culture shock can be described as consisting of one or more distinct phases...
, he is unable to entirely successfully impersonate Charles - his lack of understanding of the modern world leads to him (as Charles) being certified insane and imprisoned in an asylum.
While Curwen is locked up, Willett's continuing investigations lead him to a bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
in Pawtuxet Village
Pawtuxet Village
Pawtuxet Village is a section of the towns of Warwick and Cranston, Rhode Island. It is located at the point where the Pawtuxet River flows into the Providence River and Narragansett Bay.- History :...
, which Ward had purchased under the influence of Curwen. It turns out that this house is on the site of an old farm which was Curwen's headquarters for his nefarious doings; beneath is a vast catacomb that the wizard had built to serve as his lair during his previous lifetime. During a horrific journey through this labyrinth, Willet discovers the full truth about Curwen's crimes and also the means of returning him to the grave. During the expedition it is also revealed that Curwen has been engaged in a long-term conspiracy
Cabal
A cabal is a group of people united in some close design together, usually to promote their private views and/or interests in a church, state, or other community, often by intrigue...
with certain other necromancers (associates from his previous life who have somehow escaped death) to raise and torture the world's wisest people in order to gain knowledge that will let them gain horrible power and threaten the future of mankind. Finally, while in Curwen's laboratory, Willett accidentally raises an ancient spirit (its identity is not made clear) which is an enemy of Curwen and his fellow necromancers. The doctor faints at this eventuality: he wakes up back in the bungalow. Willett finds that the entrance to the vaults has been sealed as if it had never existed, but finds a note from the spirit written in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
in an Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
hand telling him to kill Curwen and destroy his body.
Armed with this knowledge, Willett confronts Curwen at the asylum and succeeds in reversing the spell, reducing the undead
Undead
Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
sorcerer
Sorcerer
-Gaming:* Sorcerer , a 2002 tabletop role playing game made by Ron Edwards* Sorcerer , a 1984 interactive fiction computer game made by Infocom...
once again to dust. News reports reveal that Curwen's prime co-conspirators have met brutal deaths along with their households and their lairs have been destroyed, presumably the work of the spirit whom Willett raised.
Much of the plot is revealed in letters, documents and other historical sources discovered by both Ward and Willett.
Charles Dexter Ward
Ward is born in 1902; he is 26 in 1928, at the time the story takes place.Though considered one of Lovecraft's autobiographical characters, some details of the character seem to be based on William Lippitt Mauran, who lived in the Halsey house and, like Ward, was "wheeled...in a carriage" in front of it. Like the Wards, the Maurans also owned a farmhouse in Pawtuxet, Rhode Island
Pawtuxet Village
Pawtuxet Village is a section of the towns of Warwick and Cranston, Rhode Island. It is located at the point where the Pawtuxet River flows into the Providence River and Narragansett Bay.- History :...
.
Description
Ward's ancestor, born in present-day Danvers, MassachusettsDanvers, Massachusetts
Danvers is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts, Danvers is most widely known for its association with the 1692 Salem witch trials, and for its famous asylum, the Danvers State Hospital.-17th century:The land...
, seven miles from Salem
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
, on February 18, 1662. He flees to Providence from the Salem witch trials
Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
in 1692. He dies, at least temporarily, in 1771 when he is killed in the course of a raid on his lair by a group of important Providence citizens who have got wind of only a few of his crimes. In his first life, Curwen was a successful merchant, shipping magnate, slave trader, and highly accomplished sorcerer. His magical powers are extensive. He has perfected a method of reducing the effects of aging so that by the time of his first death, when he was over a century old, he still appeared to be in his early forties at the most. He has the ability to resurrect the dead and converse with them, though to do so he must have the complete corpse which must be prepared in a special way to reduce it to the "essential saltes". He is able to summon Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
entities such as the god Yog-Sothoth
Yog-Sothoth
Yog-Sothoth is a cosmic entity of the fictional Cthulhu Mythos and the Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft. Yog-Sothoth's name was first mentioned in his novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward...
to assist him in his magic. It also seems clear that he was able to find a way to create a spell that would transcend time and inspire a descendant to become interested in him and his work and attempt to bring him back should he ever be slain.
Curwen makes extensive use of the resurrection spell to gain historical and occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
knowledge. To this end his agents scour the graveyards and tombs of the world for the corpses of illustrious persons which are then smuggled back to Providence, where Curwen temporarily raises them to torture their secrets out of them. In this endeavour he is assisted by two fellow necromancers and Salem exiles; Simon Orne, alias Joseph Nadeh, who lives in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, and Edward Hutchinson, who masquerades as Baron Ferenczy in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. These three, and an unknown accomplice in Philadelphia, are engaged in a vast conspiracy to use their ill-gotten knowledge to achieve ever greater powers for themselves.
When later resurrected by Ward, Curwen initially goes in disguise as "Dr. Allen" to avoid suspicion being aroused by his close resemblance to Ward. The undead Curwen shows vampiristic tendencies, attacking local travellers and breaking into houses to drink the blood of the inhabitants. It is not explicitly spelled out that the vampirism is a consequence of the spell, but Curwen is overheard arguing that "it must be red for three months," implying that the large quantities of meat and animal blood that "Allen" and Ward order from the local butcher shops are not sufficient to sustain the newly revived wizard
Wizard
Wizard may refer to:- Fictional characters :* Wizard or magician, a person in fantasy or mythology who has studied and practices magic** Wizard , a character in L...
. Curwen immediately makes contact with Orne and Hutchinson, who have been alive and active all the while, and starts up his old plots once again. He soon murders Ward when he starts having doubts about what they are doing and assumes his identity.
Assessment
Curwen is a man of great cunning, foresight and intelligence; he is also a man of boundless arrogance and cruelty. Aside from his black magicBlack magic
Black magic is the type of magic that draws on assumed malevolent powers or is used with the intention to kill, steal, injure, cause misfortune or destruction, or for personal gain without regard to harmful consequences. As a term, "black magic" is normally used by those that do not approve of its...
and grave robbery, Curwen never hesitates to stoop to murder, torture or blackmail to achieve his ends; he also uses - and kills - vast numbers of living slaves as subjects for his experiments. He is, in sum, utterly evil.
Intriguingly, the ultimate goal of Curwen's activities is not completely specified and its interpretation is largely left to the reader. This ambiguity also affects, notably, the exact circumstances of Curwen's "first death". It seems clear, however, that his pursuits are at least remotely akin to those of Wilbur Whateley and his grandfather
The Dunwich Horror
"The Dunwich Horror" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Written in 1928, it was first published in the April 1929 issue of Weird Tales . It takes place in Dunwich, a fictional town in Massachusetts...
, albeit with a probably far larger psychopathic and/or megalomaniac component. The closest thing to a description of Curwen's aims is contained in a passage describing the ashes central to his experiments:
- Could it be possible that here lay the mortal relics of half the titan thinkers of all the ages; snatched by supreme ghouls from crypts where the world thought them safe, and subject to the beck and call of madmen who sought to drain their knowledge for some still wilder end whose ultimate effect would concern, as poor Charles had hinted in his frantic note, "all civilisation, all natural law, perhaps even the fate of the solar system and the universe"?
Joseph Curwen may be inscribed in the line of characters in Lovecraft stories, including both villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
s and antiheroes, notable for their individualistic or egocentric demeanor, higher-than-average intelligence or charisma and usually low moral standards, who manage to deal actively with evil, unknown forces while at the same time avoiding the negative side-effects of such activities—even if the latter do affect a variable number of innocent people. Further examples of this archetype
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...
in Lovecraft are Obed Marsh
The Shadow Over Innsmouth
The Shadow Over Innsmouth is a novella by H. P. Lovecraft. Written in November-December 1931, the story was first published in April 1936; this was the only fiction of Lovecraft's published during his lifetime that did not appear in a periodical....
, Alijah Billington
The Lurker at the Threshold
The Lurker at the Threshold is a short novel in the Cthulhu Mythos genre of horror. It was written in 1945 by August Derleth, based on two short fragments written by H. P. Lovecraft, who died in 1937, and published as a collaboration between the two authors. According to S. T...
, Ephraim Waite
The Thing on the Doorstep
"The Thing on the Doorstep" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft, part of the so-called Cthulhu Mythos universe of horror fiction. It was written in August 1933, and first published in the January 1937 issue of Weird Tales.-Inspiration:...
and Walter de la Poer and, to a lesser extent, Old Whateley
The Dunwich Horror
"The Dunwich Horror" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Written in 1928, it was first published in the April 1929 issue of Weird Tales . It takes place in Dunwich, a fictional town in Massachusetts...
.
Despite Curwen's evil pursuits, he was still a complex man. The early biography given of him portrayed him as, while aloof from most social pursuits, a man possessed of some civic spirit and decency; he contributed to the funding of many civic expansion projects of his town, such as paving roads and building or rebuilding civic features. Furthermore, he treated his wife with remarkable grace and courtesy, though he married primarily to produce an heir and to improve his public image. His letters to his associate necromancers also show a great deal of warmth, portraying him as a man who was not without human feelings.
Marinus Bicknell Willett
An H. P. Lovecraft EncyclopediaAn H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia
An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia is a reference work written by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz. It covers the life and work of American horror fiction writer H. P...
compares Willett's character to other "valiant counterweight[s]" in Lovecraft such as Thomas Malone in "The Horror at Red Hook
The Horror at Red Hook
"The Horror at Red Hook" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft. Written on August 1–2, 1925, it was first published in the January 1927 issue of Weird Tales.-Inspiration:...
" (1925) and Henry Armitage in "The Dunwich Horror
The Dunwich Horror
"The Dunwich Horror" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Written in 1928, it was first published in the April 1929 issue of Weird Tales . It takes place in Dunwich, a fictional town in Massachusetts...
"; like Willett, Armitage "defeats the 'villains' by incantations, and he is susceptible to the same flaws--pomposity, arrogance, self-importance--that can be seen in Willett."
Literary references
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward contains reference to a number of books and authors, both real and fictitious. Most of them are presented in chapter II, when Joseph Curwen's 17th-century library is being inspected by Mr. Merrit. They include:- ParacelsusParacelsusParacelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist....
- Agricola
- Van Helmont
- Sylvius
- GlauberJohann Rudolf GlauberJohann Rudolf Glauber was a German-Dutch alchemist and chemist. Some historians of science have described him as one of the first chemical engineers...
- BoyleRobert BoyleRobert Boyle FRS was a 17th century natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor, also noted for his writings in theology. He has been variously described as English, Irish, or Anglo-Irish, his father having come to Ireland from England during the time of the English plantations of...
- Boerhaave
- Becher
- StahlGeorg Ernst StahlGeorg Ernst Stahl was a German chemist and physician.He was born at Ansbach. Having graduated in medicine at the University of Jena in 1683, he became court physician to Duke Johann Ernst of Sachsen Weimar in 1687...
- Qanoon-e-IslamQanoon-e-IslamQanoon-e-Islam: or, the Customs of the Moosulmans of India is a book describing the culture and rituals of Indian Muslims in the nineteenth century. It was written by Jaffur Shurreef and translated into English by Gerhard Andreas Herklots in 1832...
- Hermes TrismegistusHermes TrismegistusHermes Trismegistus is the eponymous author of the Hermetic Corpus, a sacred text belonging to the genre of divine revelation.-Origin and identity:...
(in Mesnard's edition) - Turba PhilosophorumTurba PhilosophorumThe Turba Philosophorum, also known as Assembly of the Philosophers, is one of the oldest European alchemy texts, translated from the Arabic, like the Picatrix...
- GeberPseudo-GeberPseudo-Geber is the name assigned by modern scholars to an anonymous European alchemist born in the 13th century, sometimes identified with Paul of Taranto, who wrote books on alchemy and metallurgy, in Latin, under the pen name of "Geber". "Geber" is the shortened and Latinised form of the name...
's Liber Investigationis - ArtephiusArtephiusArtephius or or was an independent Alchemist from Al-Andalus, he has been known as the author of numerous works of Alchemical texts, now extant only in Latin...
's Key of Wisdom - ZoharZoharThe Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
- Albertus MagnusAlbertus MagnusAlbertus Magnus, O.P. , also known as Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne, is a Catholic saint. He was a German Dominican friar and a bishop, who achieved fame for his comprehensive knowledge of and advocacy for the peaceful coexistence of science and religion. Those such as James A. Weisheipl...
(in Peter Jammy's edition) - Raymond Lully's Ars Magna et Ultima (in Zetsner's edition)
- Roger BaconRoger BaconRoger Bacon, O.F.M. , also known as Doctor Mirabilis , was an English philosopher and Franciscan friar who placed considerable emphasis on the study of nature through empirical methods...
's Thesaurus Chemicus - FluddRobert FluddRobert Fludd, also known as Robertus de Fluctibus was a prominent English Paracelsian physician, astrologer, mathematician, cosmologist, Qabalist, Rosicrucian apologist...
's Clavis Alchimiae - Trithemius's De Lapide Philosophico
- the NecronomiconNecronomiconThe Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire appearing in the stories by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in...
(fictional)
In a moment in which Dr. Willett's mind is confused and, trying to avert the influence of dark invocations by uttering the Lord's Prayer, he mixes them up, the result is described as "a mnemonic hodge-podge like the modernistic Waste Land
The Waste Land
The Waste Land[A] is a 434-line[B] modernist poem by T. S. Eliot published in 1922. It has been called "one of the most important poems of the 20th century." Despite the poem's obscurity—its shifts between satire and prophecy, its abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location and time, its...
of Mr. T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
".
Cthulhu Mythos
Charles Dexter Ward contains the first mention of the Cthulhu MythosCthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
entity Yog-Sothoth
Yog-Sothoth
Yog-Sothoth is a cosmic entity of the fictional Cthulhu Mythos and the Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft. Yog-Sothoth's name was first mentioned in his novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward...
, who appears repeatedly as an element in an incantation. Joseph Curwen is the owner of a copy of the Necronomicon
Necronomicon
The Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire appearing in the stories by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in...
(disguised as a book labelled Qanoon-e-Islam) and there are hints of cult activities in a fishing village that refer obliquely to the events narrated in "The Festival
The Festival (short story)
"The Festival" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft written in October 1923 and published in the January 1925 issue of Weird Tales. It is considered to be one of the first of his Cthulhu Mythos stories.-Inspiration:...
". The story also contains references to the Dream Cycle
Dream Cycle
The Dream Cycle refers to a series of stories by author H. P. Lovecraft. These stories concern themselves with "The Dreamlands": a vast, alternate dimension that can be entered via dreams.-Geography:The Dreamlands is apparently divided into four regions:...
: Dr. Willett notices the "Sign of Koth
Sign of Koth
The Sign of Koth is a symbol in H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. It is only referenced by name in two stories, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. Koth itself is referenced on other occasions. In at least one of the Sign's appearances it is ascribed effects of...
" chiselled above a doorway, and remembers his friend Randolph Carter
Randolph Carter
Randolph Carter is a recurring protagonist in H. P. Lovecraft'sfiction and a thinly disguised alter ego of Lovecraft himself. The first tale in which Carter appears--"The Statement of Randolph Carter" --is based on one of Lovecraft's dreams....
drawing the sign and explaining its powers and meaning.
Brian Lumley
Brian Lumley
Brian Lumley is an English horror fiction writer.Born in County Durham, he joined the British Army's Royal Military Police and wrote stories in his spare time before retiring with the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1 in 1980 and becoming a professional writer.He added to H. P...
expanded on the character of Baron Ferenczy, mentioned but never met in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, in his Necroscope series, specifically Book IV: Deadspeak, where Janos Ferenczy uses the Yog-Sothoth formula to call forth whole bodies from ash remains, and to return them to that state.
Adaptations
- In 19631963 in filmThe year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....
, Roger CormanRoger CormanRoger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
filmed a loose adaptation of the story titled The Haunted PalaceThe Haunted PalaceThe Haunted Palace is a 1963 horror film released by American International Pictures, starring Vincent Price, Lon Chaney Jr., and Debra Paget in a story about a village held in the grip of a cult. The film was directed by Roger Corman, and is usually listed as one in his series of eight films...
starring Vincent PriceVincent PriceVincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
and Lon Chaney, Jr.Lon Chaney, Jr.Lon Chaney, Jr. , born Creighton Tull Chaney, was an American character actor. He was best known for his roles in monster movies and as the son of famous silent film actor, Lon Chaney...
The film was advertised as "Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
's The Haunted Palace," but it was not based on Poe's poem of the same titleThe Haunted Palace (poem)"The Haunted Palace" is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. The 48-line poem was first released in the April 1839 issue of Nathan Brooks' American Museum magazine...
.
- In 19921992 in filmThe year 1992 in film involved many significant films. -Top grossing films:-Awards:Academy AwardsGolden Globe AwardsNational Film Awards...
, Dan O'BannonDan O'BannonDaniel Thomas "Dan" O'Bannon was an American motion picture screenwriter, director and occasional actor, usually in the science fiction and horror genres.-Early life and career:...
filmed a more faithful adaptation, The ResurrectedThe ResurrectedThe Resurrected is a 1992 horror film, released direct to video. It was directed by Dan O'Bannon and starred John Terry, Jane Sibbett, Chris Sarandon and Robert Romanus. It is an adaptation of the H. P...
, starring John TerryJohn Terry (actor)John Terry is an American film, television, and stage actor.-Early life:Terry was born in Florida, where he attended Vero Beach High School. He was also educated at the prestigious Loomis Chaffee prep school in Windsor, Connecticut, and began a career building original custom log homes in North...
and Chris SarandonChris SarandonChris Sarandon is an American actor who was married to actress Susan Sarandon between 1968 and 1979. He is best known for playing Prince Humperdinck in the film The Princess Bride, the vampire Jerry Dandridge in Fright Night and Detective Mike Norris in the first entry of the Child's Play series,...
.
- In 2001, DreamCatcher Interactive Inc. published a videogame adaptation for the PC (developed by Wanadoo Edition) under the name Necronomicon: The Dawning of Darkness. All the character's names from the book were changed, as well as the ending.
Other appearances
- The American death metal band NileNile (band)Nile is an American death metal band from Greenville, South Carolina, formed in 1993. Their music and lyrics are inspired by Ancient Egyptian/Near Eastern mysticism, history, religion, and art, as well as stories by H. P. Lovecraft.- History :...
has a song called "The Essential Salts" on their 2007 CD IthyphallicIthyphallic (album)- Papyrus Containing the Spell to Preserve Its Possessor Against Attacks from He Who Is in the Water :"Papyrus Containing the Spell to Preserve Its Possessor Against Attacks from He Who Is in the Water" is Nile's first single, originally released only as a music download through Nuclear Blast's...
, which contains references to the NecronomiconNecronomiconThe Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire appearing in the stories by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in...
and the practice of summoning a body from a person's "essential salts." - The computer game World of WarcraftWorld of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
has a character named Dextren Ward, located in the Stockades. There are also three trainers in Undercity with the surnames 'Charles', 'Dexter' and 'Ward' respectively, plus a character named 'Tillinghast' (Curwen's wife's maiden name). All of these are undead. - In the Tiger LilliesTiger LilliesThe Tiger Lillies are a three-piece band, formed in 1989 and based in London. They have toured worldwide and won acclaim with their opera Shockheaded Peter....
album, Mountains of Madness, there is a song titled "Charles Dexter Ward" that refers to the story. - The rock band called HIM wrote a song called "Borellus", whose first verse is a partial reading of the first chapter of The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward.
- The computer game Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath NolderDarkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath NolderDarkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder is a first-person 3D adventure / horror thriller video game. It takes place in an imaginary "Lovecraftian" place called Wellsmoth. It is the first in an expected series of three games. The second game being Darkness Within: The Dark Lineage.The story of...
makes mention in its in-game documentation to someone named Curwen. It is never revealed in-game what exactly this Curwen does, but necromancy is implied. - In Fall 2009 Open Circle Theater in Seattle produced an original adaptation of Charles Dexter Ward for the stage, using Lovecraft's original title, Madness Out of Time.
Publications
- At the Mountains of Madness, and Other Novels (hardcover), S. T. Joshi (ed.), Sauk City, WI: Arkham House, 1985. ISBN 0-87054-038-6. Definitive version.
- The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (paperback) published by Del Rey, ISBN 0-345-35490-7.
- Waking up Screaming: Haunting Tales of Terror (mass market paperback) published by Del Rey, 2003. ISBN 978-0345458292
External links
- The H. P. Lovecraft Archive includes additional information and photographs
- "Sources of Necromancy in Charles Dexter Ward", The Cthulhu Mythos: A Guide.
- The Haunted Palace (1963) at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- The Resurrected (1992) at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...