Literature / Avatar (Théophile Gautier)

Avatar is a novella by Théophile Gautier, published in 1856. It is about a middle class man Octave de Saville being in love with Countess Prascovie Labinska, but she rejects him since she is already married to Count Olaf. He gains help from a physician, Balthazar Cherbonneau, by tricking Olaf to Body Swap with Octave.

A Silent Film adaptation was released in 1916, but it is lost.

It can be read at the Internet Archive.

Tropes

• Body Surf: Balthazar Cherbonneau body swaps Octave and Olaf, but they return to him to switch back. Olaf's soul is restored, but Octave's soul makes no attempt to return to his own body, leaving a corpse to Balthazar. Fearing he might be get accused of murder, he gets the idea to transfer his soul to the corpse and leaving his own body dead, with the false news that Balthazar died in an accident.
• Did Not Get the Girl: Despite putting all the effort into stealing Olaf's body and pretending to be her husband, in the end Octave was never be able to be with Prascovie.
• "Freaky Friday" Flip: Octave wants to win over Prascovie's love, Balthazar Cherbonneau helps him by tricking Prascovie's husband Olaf to fall asleep, and performs a spell on Octave so the two swap bodies.
• Hopeless Suitor: Octave pines for Prascovie, but Prascovie stays faithful to her husband Olaf.
• Love Triangle: Olaf and Prascovie are happy husband and wife, but Octave also desires to be with Prascovie.
• Possessing a Dead Body: The story ends with Balthazar Cherbonneau reversing the mind switch between the two men he'd conducted at the beginning of the story. The wannabe lover makes no effort to return to his body, leaving the doctor with a corpse. Suddenly he gets a brilliant idea, with the news that Balthazar died but left all his belongings to a young man.
• Preferable Impersonator: Subverted. Octave visits Balthazar Cherbonneau for help to win over Prascovie, Balthazar body swaps his and the husband Olaf. but the wife could tell it was not her husband, as he knew nothing about her or their pet names for each other, and refused to have anything to do with him.
• Shout-Out:
  • Chapter 1: This exchange happens between Octave and Balthazar Cherbonneau...
    Balthazar Cherbonneau: I read in your lustreless eyes, in the hopeless lassitude of your body, in the dull notes of your voice, the title of one of Shakespeare's plays as plainly as though it were stamped in gilt letters on the back of a morocco binding.
    Octave: And what is the play whose name I so unwittingly point for you?
    Balthazar Cherbonneau: Love's Labour's Lost!
  • Chapter 2: Octave says he and Prascovie are like Romeo and Juliet.
  • Chapter 6:
    • Romeo And Juliet is referenced again, Balthazar Cherbonneau says swapping bodies is difficult, but reassures Octave, saying Romeo was untroubled by the possibility him falling down from Juliet's balcony.
    • When about to perform his Body Swap spell, Balthazar Cherbonneau says "We are going to make a strange broth in our caldron, like Macbeth's witches, but without the ignoble sorcery of the North."
  • Chapter 7: When Olaf discovers he has switched bodies with a stranger, he gets reminded of similar strange stories, such as Peter Schlemihl.