Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Perfume: The Story of a Murderer He lived to find beauty. He killed to possess it. By: Claudette Beginnings & Endings By: Claudette

Day 1-Beginnings Author Patrick Suskind Quick Write #1: The author: Intention and Purpose Bell Ringer: In consideration to developing the reader’s understanding of the context and culture the novel explain what purpose the novel serves in achieving this for the reader? Author Patrick Suskind Quick Write #1: Using evidence from the novel and what was implied through the narrator’s POV and the character Grenouille, list three facts you can support about the author’s background, cultural views on the true nature of man’s relationship with each other, on class & religion.

Patrick Süskind Date of Birth: March 26, 1949 in Ambach in Germany, a journalist and writer on language, studied Medieval and Modern History at the University of Munich and Aix-en-Provence . Before he wrote Perfume, he was a writer for television and his second novel, The Pigeon, was adapted as a play, staged at the BAC Theatre in London. His play, The Double-Bass was first staged in Munich in 1981 and has since become one of the most performed plays in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. His novella, The Story of Mr Sommer, was published in 1992 and like Perfume has been a huge success all over the world. Süskind resides almost anonymously in Munich. He has refused to give any interviews for over twenty years. There are no records of him being married or ever being in any serious relationships; he has no known children and very little is known about his personal life

Patrick Süskind His purpose and intentions: Test a theory of the sovereignty of scent: This novel takes as a premise that scent controls a large portion of human behavior, usually on an unconscious level. Show how we see others' lives as mere snippets: The tiny chapter divisions in the novel break the plot into very small pieces, reminiscent of some of Thomas Mann's works (famous German novelist and social critique on German soul). They also reinforce the egoism of man. (Nothing which does not concern Grenouille, and the gratification of his sense of smell, matters to him. only their scent and their beauty matter) Allegory on class and religion: Children and women are referred to and treated as subhuman. According to many philosophers and theologians the body with all its odors was only the temporary tomb of the soul. Socrates thought that odors reflected the social class to which a person belonged, meaning that an odor had a certain informative value. Thomas Mann a German novelist, short story writer, social critic and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate his analysis and critique of the European and German soul used modernized German and Biblical stories

Patrick Süskind His intentions: Test a theory of the sovereignty of scent: The novel as unique instrument-(a test of culture knowledge). “What is the difference between a rose whose delicate perfume transports us to another state, and a rose that looks just the same but has no scent and may as well be made of silk? It is perhaps a work of art, but not one that “imitates nature in her mode of operation”—that is, not one that prays.” The scented world constitutes a liturgy and to smell is to participate in the union of heaven and Earth, prayers ascending and descending. A scent or perfume was thought to express the “inner essence” or spiritual nature of a thing “the odor of sanctity”. Often the Virgin Mary or Jesus made their healing presence known and felt by the presence of fragrances, most often of roses or lilies. Many saints while alive were said to have emanated a heavenly scent and lived in a cloud profusely fragrant with wild flowers, spices, and aromatic herbs. But not all such odors were celestial and were exuded by benign beings or saintly souls. Demons, too, including the devil, announced their presence by smell —in their case a foul odor. “odor of sanctity”—the powerful fragrance emitted by and surrounding beautiful souls or saintly, purified human beings. Whether this was the scent of their own essence or the divine fragrance of the Holy Spirit When Saint Hubert breathed his last, there spread throughout Brittany an odor so sweet that it seemed as if God had brought together all the flowers of spring.” Many saints, like St. Francis Xavier, when disentombed, were found to be whole and sweet smelling though no spices or balm had been used to prepare the body.

Beginnings and Endings Jean-Baptiste Grenouille as the outsider Quick Write #2: What qualities does the protagonist possess as a tragic hero in this novel’s quest and how does Suskind use his depiction to symbolize man’s treatment of “the other/outsider”?

Day 2-Beginnings and Endings Jean-Baptiste Grenouille as the outsider Bell Ringer : Grenouille is introduced as "one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages" [p. 3]. Does Süskind manage to make him a sympathetic character, in spite of his murders and obsessions? Or do you find him wholly repellent? How might you explain Grenouille's actions? To what extent do his experiences shape his behavior? Do you think he is inherently evil?

A sense of smell Smell as allegory/extended metaphor In social & cultural life as well as in literature the nose is a familiar feature in the many proverbs & sayings. The nose also forms the external section of the olfactory organ one smells more when one breathes through the nose, which generally benefits mood and memory. As in Plato's time, the predominantly negative significance given to smell assign this sense a place at the bottom as the sense of lust, desire and impulse as most smells were to be gotten rid of because they carried the stamp of animalism. Eg. Clear as the nose on your face, don’t cut off your nose to spite your face, keep your nose to the grindstone, being drag about by the nose

Themes Black humor Emotionally or mentally inadequate people Condition of humanity-Seeing others' lives as mere snippets Grenouille as an agent of death Class- Women & Children as subhuman Religion-Theory of the sovereignty of scent

Settings 18th century France Fish Market Orphanage Tannery Ponte Au Change Perfume Shop Massif Central Montpellier Grasse

FUN FACTS More than 12 million copies have been sold and translated into 46 languages. This novel was on the bestselling list of the German weekly news magazine "Der Spiegel" for nine years. Some editions of Perfume have as their cover image Antoine Watteau's painting Jupiter and Antiope, which depicts a murdered woman. 51 chapters total. Patrick Süskind refuses the literary world largely is almost no interviews, does not appear in public and there are hardly any photos of him. Only three photos are found of him on the internet.

Adaptions A film adaption, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, co-written and directed by Tom Tykwer, premiered in Germany on September 14th 2006. A Russian musical adaptation of the novel, Perfumer, premiered on December 5th 2010 in Moscow. The song "Scentless Apprentice", by the American band Nirvana, was inspired by Perfume. The band's lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain often described the novel as one of his favorite books. The song "Herr Spiegelmann" from the Portuguese metal band Moonspell contains an excerpt from the book. The song "Red Head Girl" by French duo Air is inspired by Perfume. The song You smell so good by German band Rammstein was inspired by the book, which is the lead singer's favorite book. Marilyn Manson credits the novel as one of the inspirations behind the title of his second album, Smells like Children. The episode “Sense Memory" of the television show Criminal Minds was inspired by the novel. The song "Nearly Witches (Ever Since We Met)" by American band Panic! At The Disco is inspired by Perfume. In 2006, French fashion designer Thierry Mugler created a perfume coffret that held fifteen perfumes that were based on the movie Perfume. The coffret cost sept cent dollars.

Fun Facts Fun Facts Quotes Quotes Challenge: Who said it ? “When they finally did dare it, at first with stolen glances and then candid ones, they had to smile. They were uncommonly proud. For the first time they had done something out of love.” -? “Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will.” – ? "Impossible! It is absolutely impossible for an infant to be possessed by the devil. An infant is not yet a human being; it is a pre-human being and does not yet possess a fully developed soul. Which is why it is of no interest to the devil. Can he talk already, perhaps? Does he twitch and jerk? Does he move things about in the room? Does some evil stench come from him?“-? “But to eat a human being? They would never, so they thought, have been capable of anything that horrible. And they were amazed that it had been so very easy for them and that, embarrassed as they were, they did not feel the tiniest bite of conscience.”- ?

Fun Facts Fun Facts Quotes Answers to Quotes Challenge: Who said it? “When they finally did dare it, at first with stolen glances and then candid ones, they had to smile. They were uncommonly proud. For the first time they had done something out of love.” - Narrator “Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will.” – Baldini "Impossible! It is absolutely impossible for an infant to be possessed by the devil. An infant is not yet a human being; it is a pre-human being and does not yet possess a fully developed soul. Which is why it is of no interest to the devil. Can he talk already, perhaps? Does he twitch and jerk? Does he move things about in the room? Does some evil stench come from him?“- Father Terrier “But to eat a human being? They would never, so they thought, have been capable of anything that horrible. And they were amazed that it had been so very easy for them and that, embarrassed as they were, they did not feel the tiniest bite of conscience.” – The Mob in Grasse

References Süskind, Patrick. Perfume. Trans. John E. Woods. New York: Vintage International, 1986. Gradesaver.com 1999-2011 GradeSaver LLC. Youtube.com