What are the three parts? There were usually three main ingredients put in glass retorts: Sulphur, Mercury, and Salt. These were considered the Sun, the Moon and the Earth, or spirit, soul, body.

The 16th century alchemist, Michael Maier, author of the alchemical text «Atalanta Fugiens» (a text that will prove crucial to Pale Fire) gives further information on the tri-part man. One of the important emblemata (images) in the book (No. XXXIX) explains the esoteric meaning of the riddle of the Sphinx. The usual answer to «what walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three in the evening» is «Man». Meier writes the following remark about the Sphinx’s riddle, in which he states that the esoteric solution is shown in occult geometry:

«But they who interpret concerning the Ages of Man are deceived. For a Quadrangle of Four Elements are of all things first to be considered, from thence we come to the Hemisphere having two lines, a Right and a Curve, that is, to the White Luna;

from thence to the Triangle which consists of Body, Soul and Spirit, or Sol, Luna and Mercury.»[140]

This solution is more complex than I can explain here. Whether this is comprehensible or not to laymen, the alchemists understood it. The important thing is the theme of Body/Soul/Spirit, which is Mercury/Luna/Sol, which, in our text, is also Gradus/Kinbote/Shade, three aspects of man in one. It is also fitting that the «common» answer to the Sphinx’s riddle fits Pale Fire, too. The lower instinctual nature (infant or animal) crawls on all fours. Gradus’ abnormally long arms give him a simian appearance; a grown (conscious ego) man walks upright independently (or «proudly») on two, and an old man accepts the help of a cane (higher wisdom/humility). John Shade, remember, walks with the help of a cane.

Jung posited that the «collective unconscious» consisted of «archetypes», templates common to all humans, although evinced with associations personal to each individual. The three most important archetypes were The Shadow, the Wise Old Man and the Anima. The Shadow is everything a person denies in one’s self and relegates to the unconscious. Psychic instability happens when the shadow contents push towards consciousness and cannot be kept hidden. This can lead either to psychosis, or the first step on the path to wholeness, what Jung termed «individuation». Individuation is achieved when the archetypes are faced and absorbed into consciousness.

«The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge, and it therefore, as a rule, meets with considerable resistance.»[141]

«Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.»[142]

It is not hard to make the connection that Gradus is akin to the Shadow. He is not only everything Kinbote detests, but Nabokov as well: brutish, mechanical, stupid, dull, un-clean, un-thinking, un-original and sadistic. Kinbote is deathly afraid of him, just as an unstable ego is fearful of being annihilated by the unleashing of the Shadow.

«There are far more people who are afraid of the unconscious than one would expect. They are even afraid of their own shadow. And when it comes to anima and animus, this fear turns to panic.»[143]

I won’t go into Jung’s alchemy much here, but it is important to note that he likens the Shadow to «Mercurius»:

«With a little self-criticism one can see through the shadow – so far as its nature is personal. But when it appears as an archetype (i.e. Mercurius) one encounters the same difficulties as with the anima and animus. In other words, it is quite within the bounds of possibility for a man to recognize the relative evil of his nature, but it is a rare and shattering experience for him to gaze into the face of absolute evil»[144]

Kinbote is a large man, a large ego. Narcissistic, self-serving, he is the epitome of what Jung terms «ego inflation». Here are some edifying quotes from Jung:

«Inflation magnifies the blind spot in the eye, and the more we are assimilated by the projection-making factor, the greater becomes the tendency to identify with it. A clear symptom of this is our growing disinclination to take note of the reactions of the environment and pay heed to them.»[145]

«Everyone who has dealings with such cases knows how perilous an inflation can be. No more than a flight of steps or a smooth floor is needed to precipitate a fatal fall.»[146]

«It is often tragic to see how blatantly a man bungles his own life and the lives of others yet remains totally incapable of seeing how much the whole tragedy originates in himself and how he continually feeds it and keeps it going. Not consciously, of course – for consciously he is engaged in bewailing and cursing a faithless world that recedes further and further into the distance. Rather, it is an unconscious factor which spins the illusions that veil his world. And what is being spun is a cocoon which in the end will completely envelop him»[147]

John Shade, as a poet, professor and spiritual seeker evinces the qualities of the higher man. Jung called this archetype the «Wise Old Man».

«The wise old man appears in dreams in the guise of a magician, doctor, priest, teacher, professor, grandfather, or any person possessing authority.»[148]

Wise Old Man is allied to the positive anima as a spiritual guide and is therefore often seen with a young girl. This may explain in part the relation of John and Hazel Shade.

The «triple» theme is can be found in the major structures of Pale Fire. The aforementioned alchemist, Michael Meiers’ unique structure of his book, Atalanta Fugiens, is referenced covertly in Pale Fire. It is an alchemical treatise of 50 discourses presented as fugues for three voices. It combined poetry, music and engraved illustrations, like the one above, called «emblemata». There is then commentary on each poem. Like other alchemists of the time, Meiers occasionally uses «argot», mystifying through anagrams and word play. The myth of Atalanta is at the core of alchemy, and I maintain at the core of Pale Fire, as well. Kinbote, in the foreword hints at this:

«I am witnessing a unique physiological phenomenon: John Shade perceiving and transforming the world, taking it