The Television Transcript Project
Cultural References
in the "Cicely" episode of Northern Exposure
Notes:
At least one of the dates of these references do not jive with
the 1909 setting of Ned's memories. Not to worry.
This episode is largely Joel's imagining of Ned's
story. He imagines Holling ("Babe") in the
character of Abe, himself as Kafka, and so on. He imagines that Gertrude Stein is what Cicely
had for reading material (the G.S. quote is
from 1932).
The Cultural References - in order of reference in the program.
assayer
A chemist who analyzes ores and alloys for the value and amount of metals in them. (Old Ned knew where the assayer's
office used to be.)
mecca
A place regarded as the center of an activity or interest or as the goal of its practitioners or connoisseurs. From Mecca, Saudi Arabia, birthplace of
Muhammad and holy city of Islam.
(Ned referred to the town of Cicely as a "cultural
mecca".)
"Crime and Punishment," by Dostoyevsky
In this novel, the impoverished hero, Raskolnikov, is skeptical of moral/values judgments, is in intellectual rebellion against society. His theory that humanitarian ends justify evil leads him to murder. In prison, he realizes that happiness cannot be achieved by a reasoned plan of existence but must be earned by suffering. A murder mystery with compelling philosophical, religious, and social elements. (That was from an encyclopedia. I found it an excellent
book.)
(Kit was reading "Crime and Punishment"
with interest. Mary had read it.)
Dostoyevsky
(Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky) Russian writer. 1821 - 1881.
Nietzsche (NEE chee)
(Friedrich Nietzsche) German philosopher and writer. 1844 - 1900. Was credited by many as a great influence--theologians, psychologists, writers, poets (including
William Butler Yeats and
Rainer Maria Rilke). One of the most influential philosophers who ever lived, existentialism and deconstructionism owe much to him.
The Ubermensche was Nietzsche's conceptualized super-human being--a superman whose distance from the ordinary man is greater than the ordinary man's distance from an ape.
(Kit found Nietzsche's
Ubermensche concept
interesting.)
"I shall return."
U.S. general, Douglas MacArthur (1880 - 1964), said this in a message upon
leaving Corregidor in the Philippines, on 11 March 1942. (He did return,
victorious, in October 1944.)
(Mace also announced,
"I shall return.")
Botticelli (bot uh CHEL ee)
(Sandro Bottichelli) Florentine early Renaissance painter. 1445 - 1510.
Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" (1485) is well known (Venus on open shell on water). (Ned compared Cicely to
Botticelli's Venus)
Venus
An ancient Italian goddess: of gardens and spring. The Romans identified her with Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.
chandler
A merchant, or, a candle maker or candle seller. (A drunk sang a
song about the
chandler's wife.)
Gaia, Gaea, or Ge (GAY uh, JEE uh, JEE or GEE)
Ancient Greek goddess of the earth, mother of Uranus, Pontus, and the mountains; also mother, with Uranus, of the Titans, Cyclops, and Hecatonchires; mother of
various other beings, including the Erinyes.
(Cicely's interpretive dance was in honor of
Gaia.)
"Pigeons on the grass alas..."
Pigeons on the grass alas.
Pigeons on the grass alas.
Short longer grass short longer longer shorter
yellow grass. Pigeons large pigeons on the shorter
longer yellow grass alas pigeons on the grass.
If they were not pigeons what were they.
If they were not pigeons on the grass alas what
were they. He had heard of a third and he asked about
it it was a magpie in the sky. If a magpie in the sky
on the sky can not cry if the pigeon on the grass alas
can alas and to pass the pigeon on the grass alas and
the magpie in the sky on the sky and to try and to try
alas on the grass alas the pigeon on the grass the
pigeon on the grass and alas. They might be very well
they might be very well very well they might be.
Let Lucy Lily Lily Lucy Lucy let Lucy Lucy Lily
Lily Lily Lily Lily let Lily Lucy Lucy let Lily. Let
Lucy Lily.
-Gertrude Stein, from "Four Saints in Three Acts", 1932
(Young Ned's education included reading
"Pigeons on the grass alas..".)
Stein, Gertrude
U.S. author in France. 1874 - 1946.
Kafka, Franz
Austrian novelist and writer of short stories, born
in Prague. 1883 - 1924. Wrote on the anxieties and
alienation of 20th century man.
"Metamorphosis" was a long story of his - 1915. "The Castle" was a novel published posthumously - 1926.
(Franz Kafka is one of the characters in the
Cicely story. Ned believes "The Castle" was Mary's idea.)
Linzer torte
A sweet pastry, often made with powdered nuts, having
a filling of red jam and a lattice crust. (Rosyln and
Franz Kafka enjoyed
Linzer torte when they first met.)
Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt
Genesis 19:15-17, 26 (Mary referred to this
story when she met Franz Kafka.)
Jezebel
A wicked shameless woman, from I Kings 18:4, 21:5-15
(and probably more). (Sally disparagingly described herself
as a
Jezebel.)
Yeats, William Butler
Irish poet, dramatist, and essayist. 1865 - 1939.
The Leaders of the Crowd
They must to keep their certainty accuse
All that are different of a base intent;
Pull down established honor; hawk for news
Whatever their loose fantasy invent
And murmur it with bated breath, as though
The abounding gutter had been Helicon
Or calumny a song. How can they know
Truth flourishes where the student's lamp has shone,
And there alone, that have no solitude?
So the crowd come they care not what may come.
They have loud music, hope every day is renewed
And heartier loves; that lamp is from the tomb.
-William Butler Yeats, 1921
(The Salon activities included poetry readings of authors such as
William Butler Yeats.)
Rilke, Rainer Maria
Austrian poet, born in Prague. 1875 - 1926. (male.)
"There are quite a number of people in the reading room.... They are inside the books. They move, sometimes, within the pages like sleepers turning over between two dreams. Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading!"
-Rainer Maria Rilke
(The Salon activities included poetry readings of authors such as
Rainer Maria Rilke.)
Antigone (an TIG uh NEE)
A daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. Defied her uncle, King Creon, by performing funeral rites over her brother, Polynices. Was condemned to be entombed alive in a cave. (Young Ned called his poem
"Between Antigone".)
Muse of Poetry
There are two classical Muses of Poetry: Calliope (epic poetry), and Erato (lyric poetry). (Young Ned fell in love with the
Muse of Poetry.)
tableau vivant
A representation of a picture, statue, scene, etc. by
one or more persons suitably costumed and posed. (The Salon's
activities included a
tableau vivant.)
Rembrandt
(Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn [or van Ryn])
Dutch painter. 1606 - 1669. (Roslyn referred to
a Rembrandt to exemplify a valuable work of
art.)
Hegelian dialectic
Characterization of the philosophy of Hegel and his
followers: an interpretive method, originally used
to relate specific entities or events to the absolute
idea, in which some assertible proposition (thesis)
is necessarily opposed by an equally contradictory
proposition (antithesis), the mutual contradiction
being reconciled on a higher level of truth by a
third proposition (synthesis).
(Instead of counting to three before enforcing what he wanted, Kit
sought to educate [and show off?] as well: he recited the
Hegelian dialectic.)
Hegel, George Wilhelm Friedrich
German philosopher. 1770 - 1831.
Wheels of Fate
Three goddesses ruled peoples lives via a spinner's wheel in Roman and Greek mythology. They cut and spun the thread of life. In Roman myth, the goddesses were the Parcae; in Greek myth, the Moirai. They were the daughters of Zeus and Themis. Clotho spins the thread, Lachesis shakes the rod to decide a person's fate, how long the thread will be. Atropos cuts the thread and records the decision on a tablet.
(Kit ominously referred to
the wheels of fate when
he predicted a visit from Mace.)
Jael and Sisera and the tent spike
Judges 4:18-22 (Mary's associate told this
story in hopes it held a
good plan against Mace.)
Hannibal
Carthaginian (N. Africa, near Tunis) general who
crossed the Alps and invaded Italy. (Son of Hamilcar
Barca.) 247 - 183 B.C.
(To meet Mace, Roslyn
used Hannibal's strategy against
the Romans at Cannae.)
Cannae
(kah NEE - though Old Ned says kun EYE)
Ancient town in S.E. Italy. In 216 B.C., Hannibal
defeated the Romans here.
(Roslyn
used Hannibal's strategy against Mace.)
"Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth..."
Ecc 11:9-10 (wording is from the King James version)
"Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart
cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the
ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes:
but know thou, that for all these things God will
bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow
from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh;
for childhood and youth are vanity."
(Kit read this passage for the
funeral.)
Lincoln Brigade
During the Spanish Civil war (1936-9), groups of foreign volunteers formed International Brigades for the Republican side, against the Nationalists (fascists). A total of 37,000 volunteers in all, from 1936-8, mostly in the start of that time frame. The volunteers included a small number of women. These International Brigades (seven in all) were effective operations, organized and directed by the Comintern (Communist International, HQ in Paris).
The Brigades were divided into battalions of nationalities. One American battalion was the Abraham Lincoln Battalion.
(Ned heard a rumor that Roslyn became a member of the
Lincoln Brigade.)
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