The Enigma of Otilia by George Calinescu
original title: enigma otiliei
George Calinescu, an important interwar critic and prose writer, illustrates his theoretical and critical conception of the novel, considering Balzac the essential model. The critic rejects the Proustianism present in the novels of his time (Camil Petrescu), opting for the realistic, Balzacian model, to which he still adds some modern elements, especially in terms of characters. They illustrate a canonical humanity, through the typologies in which it falls, giving objectivity to the novel. The characters are defined by a single feature, fixed at the beginning of the novel, and do not evolve, except for Felix. The rest represent the classic, Balzacian characters: coquettish (Otilia), refined aristocrat (Pascalopol), old girl (Aurica), greedy (Aglae), miser (old Costache), aristocrat (Stanica Ratiu), mentally weak (Titi).
George Calinescu also builds his characters according to their ethics. Thus, some actors are dominated by morality (Felix, Otilia, Pascalopol), and others by petty interests (Aglae, Stanica). This conception is an antithetical one. For example, Felix's intelligence contrasts with Titi's imbecility, and Otilia's mysterious femininity with Aglaa's ugliness.
A conservatory student, endowed with an artist's behavior, she represents the type of coquette, but she also embodies the feminine mystery. It impresses with the complexity of the soul, the unpredictability that surrounds it, with charm and delicacy. The author himself fixes her 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. He breaks the classic patterns that unite them: a miser, an aristocrat, an old girl and countless others interested only in the material part of any relationship, bringing to the fore an existentialist problem. The girl is always surrounded by admirers and her paternal lover by "Pope Giurgiuveanu", then by Felix, by Pascalopol, a stranger who had been around her since she was little and whose feelings are not clear at all. She is admired by the boys from the University, envied by the members of the Tulea clan, vulgarly courted by Stanica, annoyed by Titi. All of them will know more or less about her, but Otilia will remain, with all her evolution, "an enigma".
A feature of Otilia is her generosity, on the night of Felix's arrival in the house of old Costache, not having a room ready, it offers her room, an opportunity for Felix to discover among the mixture of lace, scores, French novels, boxes of powder and perfumes, part of Otilia's exuberant personality.
The character reveals his identity through indirect characterization, through his deeds and behavior, through the way he speaks and through the relationships with the other characters. Thus, the description of the face room corresponds to the Balzacian model, which proposes the focusing technique. The description of the setting in which she lives becomes a way of penetrating the character's psychology, and Otilia's room, through the captured details, speaks about the spontaneous and disordered character of the girl. She lives life to the fullest and nothing prevents her from laughing out loud or being melancholy: "I feel like laughing, running, flying. Do you want to run? Let's run!"
It is presented directly by the narrator, who attributes to Felix the role of observer at the beginning of the novel: "the olive face, with a small nose and blue eyes, looks even more childish between the many curls and the lace collar". The portrait of the character is completed by other features, such as good taste in clothing: "Thin girl, dressed in a very wide dress on the lap, but tight in the middle ...".
Self-characterization completes the portrait of Otilia, who knows her status as a tolerated being, forced to solve her own life problems. Although she is superficial, it is interesting that she is aware of this typically feminine superficiality: "When you spoke of ideals, I thought I did not wipe the dust off the piano," "We girls, Felix, are mediocre and my only merit is that I realize that. "
