Seminar on "The Purloined Letter"

Author(s): Jacques Lacan and Jeffrey Mehlman

Source: Yale French Studies, No. 48, French Freud: Structural Studies in Psychoanalysis (1972),
pp. 39-72
Published by: Yale University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2929623 .
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http://www.jstor.org
Jacques Lacan

in orderto determine the "proper"one(s). For betteror worse,in Englishwe

have (necessarily)chosen to normalizethe use of prepositions. We have thus
occasionallybeen obligedto charta course throughLacan's labyrinthrather
thanreproducethatlabyrinth whole. There has no doubtbeen a concomitant
loss (in syntacticalrichness)and gain (in clarity).
The notes we have added to the text (signed-Ed) are, on the whole,
explanationsof allusionsor clarifications oblique points.
of particularly
This text was originallywrittenin 1956 and-along with an introductory
postface-is the openingtextof the Ecrits.

-J. M.

Und wennes uns gluckt,

Und wenn es sich schickt,
So sind es Gedanken.

Our inquiryhas led us to the pointof recognizingthatthe repetition

automatism(Wiederholungszwang) findsits basis in what we have
called the insistenceof the signifyingchain.1 We have elaboratedthat
notionitselfas a correlateof the ex-sistence(or: eccentricplace) in
whichwe mustnecessarilylocate the subjectof the unconsciousif we
are to takeFreud's discoveryseriously.2 As is known,it is in therealm
of experienceinauguratedby psychoanalysisthatwe may graspalong
whatimaginarylines the humanorganism,in the mostintimatereces-
ses of its being,manifestsits capturein a symbolicdimension.I
The lesson of this seminar is intendedto maintainthat these
imaginaryincidences,far fromrepresenting the essence of our expe-
rience,reveal only what in it remainsinconsistentunless they are
relatedto the symbolicchain whichbinds and orientsthem.

1 The translationof repetitionautomatism-ratherthan compulsion-is

indicativeof Lacan's speculativeeffortto reinterpret
Freudian"overdetermina-
tion" in termsof the laws of probability.(Chance is automaton,a "cause not
revealedto human thought,"in Aristotle'sPhysics.)Whence the importance
assumed by the Minister'spassion for gamblinglater in Lacan's analysis.
Cf. Ecrits,pp. 41-61).-Ed.
2 Cf. Heidegger,Vom Wesen dar Wahrheit.Freedom,in this essay, is
perceivedas an "ex-posure."Dasein ex-sists,standsout "into the disclosure
in-sistence"whichpreservesthe disclo-
of what is." It is Dasein's "ex-sistent
sure of beings.-Ed.
3 For the meaningsLacan attributes to the termsimaginaryand symbolic,
see entriesfromthe Vocabulairede la Psychanalyse(Laplancheand Pontalis)
reproducedbelow.-Ed.

39
 Yale French Studies

We realize,of course,theimportanceof theseimaginaryimpregna-

tions (Prdgung)in those partializationsof the symbolicalternative
whichgive the symbolicchain its appearance.But we maintainthat
it is the specificlaw of thatchain whichgovernsthosepsychoanalytic
effectsthatare decisiveforthe subject: such as foreclosure(Verwer-
fung),repression(Verdrdngung), denial(Verneinung)itself-specifying
with appropriateemphasisthat these effectsfollow so faithfully the
displacement(Entstellung)of the signifierthat imaginaryfactors,
despite theirinertia,figureonly as shadows and reflectionsin the
process.4
But this emphasiswould be lavishedin vain, if it served,in your
opinion, only to abstract a general type from phenomena whose
particularityin our work would remainthe essentialthingfor you,
and whose originalarrangement could be brokenup onlyartificially.
Whichis whywe have decidedto illustrateforyou todaythe truth
which may be drawn fromthat momentin Freud's thoughtunder
study-namely,thatit is the symbolicorderwhichis constitutive for
the subject-by demonstrating in a storythedecisiveorientation
which
the subjectreceivesfromthe itinerary I
of a signifier.
It is that truth,let us note, which makes the very existenceof
fictionpossible. And in that case, a fable is as appropriateas any
othernarrativeforbringing it to light-at theriskof havingthefable's
coherenceput to the testin the process.Aside fromthatreservation,
a fictivetale even has the advantageof manifesting symbolicneces-
sity more purelyto the extentthat we may believe its conception
arbitrary.
Which is why,withoutseekingany further, we have chosen our
example fromthe verystoryin which the dialectic of the game of
even or odd-from whose study we have but recentlyprofited-
occurs.6 It is, no doubt, no accident that this tale revealed itself

4 For thenotionof foreclosure,the defencemechanismspecificto psychosis,

see entryfromthe Vocabulairebelow.
(and its relationto the Freudian"memory
5 For the notionof the signifier
trace,")see previousessay.-Ed.
6 Lacan's analysisof the guessinggame in Poe's tale entailsdemonstrating
the insufficiencyof an imaginaryidentification withthe opponentas opposed
to the symbolicprocess of an identification withhis "reasoning."See Ecrits,
p. 59.-Ed.

40
Jacques Lacan

propitiousto pursuinga course of inquirywhichhad alreadyfound

supportin it.
As you know, we are talkingabout the tale which Baudelaire
translatedunderthe title: La lettrevolge. At firstreading,we may
distinguish and the conditionsof thatnarration.
a drama,its narration,
We see quickly enough, moreover,that these componentsare
necessaryand that they could not have escaped the intentionsof
whoevercomposed them.
The narration,in fact, doubles the drama with a commentary
withoutwhichno mise en scene would be possible. Let us say that
the action would remain,properlyspeaking,invisiblefromthe pit-
aside from the fact that the dialogue would be expresslyand by
dramaticnecessitydevoid of whatevermeaning it mighthave for
an audience: -in otherwords,nothingof thedramacould be grasped,
neitherseen nor heard, without,dare we say, the twilighting which
the narration,in each scene, casts on the point of view that one of
the actorshad whileperforming it.
There are two scenes, the firstof which we shall straightway
designatethe primalscene, and by no means inadvertently, since the
second may be consideredits repetitionin the very sense we are
consideringtoday.
The primal scene is thus performed,we are told, in the royal
boudoir,so thatwe suspectthatthe personof the highestrank,called
the "exaltedpersonage,"who is alone therewhenshe receivesa letter,
is the Queen. This feelingis confirmedby the embarrassment into
whichshe is plungedby the entryof the otherexaltedpersonage,of
whom we have already been told prior to this account that the
knowledgehe mighthave of the letterin question would jeopardize
for the lady nothingless than her honor and safety.Any doubt that
he is in facttheKing is promptlydissipatedin thecourseof the scene
whichbeginswiththe entryof the MinisterD... At thatmoment,in
fact, the Queen can do no betterthan to play on the King's inat-
tentivenessby leaving the letteron the table "face down, address
uppermost."It does not,however,escape theMinister'slynxeye,nor
does he fail to notice the Queen's distressand thus to fathomher

41
 Yale French Studies

secret. From then on everythingtranspireslike clockwork.After

dealing in his customarymannerwith the business of the day, the
Minister draws from is pocket a letter similar in appearance to
the one in his view,and, havingpretendedto read it,he places it next
to the other.A bit more conversationto amuse the royal company,
whereupon,withoutflinchingonce, he seizes the embarrassingletter,
makingoffwithit, as the Queen, on whomnone of his maneuverhas
been lost,remainsunable to interveneforfearof attracting the atten-
tionof herroyalspouse,close at her side at thatverymoment.
Everythingmightthen have transpiredunseen by a hypothetical
spectatorof an operationin whichnobodyfalters,and whose quotient
is thattheMinisterhas filchedfromtheQueen herletterand that-an
even more importantresultthan the first-theQueen knows that he
now has it, and by no means innocently.
A remainderthatno analystwill neglect,trainedas he is to retain
whateveris significant,withoutalways knowingwhat to do withit:
the letter,abandoned by the Minister,and which the Queen's hand
is now freeto roll into a ball.
Second scene: in the Minister'soffice.It is in his hotel,and we
know-from the accountthePrefectof police has givenDupin, whose
specificgeniusforsolvingenigmasPoe introduceshereforthe second
time-that the police, returning
thereas soon as the Minister'shabit-
ual, nightlyabsences allow themto, have searchedthe hotel and its
surroundings fromtop to bottomforthelast eighteenmonths.In vain,
-although everyonecan deduce fromthe situationthatthe Minister
keeps the letterwithinreach.
Dupin calls on the Minister.The latterreceiveshim withstudied
nonchalance,affecting in his conversationromanticennui.Meanwhile
Dupin, whom this pretensedoes not deceive, his eyes protectedby
greenglasses,proceedsto inspectthepremises.Whenhis glancecatches
a rathercrumpledpiece of paper-apparentlythrustcarelesslyin a
division of an ugly pasteboardcard-rack,hanginggaudily fromthe
middle of the mantelpiece-he already knows that he's found what
he's lookingfor.His convictionis re-enforced
by theverydetailswhich

42
 Jacques Lacan

seem to contradictthe descriptionhe has of the stolenletter,withthe

exceptionof the format,whichremainsthe same.
Whereuponhe has but to withdraw, after"forgetting"his snuff-box
on thetable,in orderto returnthefollowingday to reclaimit-armed
with a facsimileof the letterin its presentstate. As an incidentin
the street,preparedforthe propermoment,drawstheMinisterto the
window,Dupin in turnseizes theopportunity to snatchtheletterwhile
substituting the imitation,and has only to maintainthe appearances
of a normalexit.
Here as well all has transpired,
if not withoutnoise,at least with-
out all commotion.The quotientof the operationis thatthe Minister
no longerhas the letter,but, far fromsuspectingthat Dupin is the
culpritwho has ravishedit fromhim,knowsnothingof it. Moreover,
whathe is leftwithis farfrominsignificant forwhatfollows.We shall
returnto whatbroughtDupin to inscribea messageon his counterfeit
letter.Whateverthe case, the Minister,whenhe triesto make use of
it, will be able to read thesewords,writtenso thathe may recognize
Dupin's hand: "...Un desseinsi funeste/ S'il n'est digned'Atreeest
digne de Thyeste," whose source, Dupin tells us, is Crebillon's
Atree.7
Need we emphasize the similarityof these two sequence? Yes,
fortheresemblancewe have in mindis not a simplecollectionof traits
chosen only in orderto delete theirdifference. And it would not be
enoughto retainthosecommontraitsat the expenseof the othersfor
the slightesttruthto result.It is ratherthe intersubjectivityin which
the two actionsare motivatedthatwe wishto bringintorelief,as well
as the threetermsthroughwhichit structures them.8
The special statusof these termsresultsfromtheircorresponding
simultaneously to thethreelogicalmomentsthroughwhichthedecision

7 "So infamousa scheme,/ If not worthyof Atreus,is worthyof

Thyestes."The linesfromAtreus's monologue in ActV, SceneV ofCrdbillon's
playreferto his plan to avengehimself by serving his brother
thebloodof
thelatter'sownsonto drink.-Ed.
8 This intersubjective
settingwhichcoordinatesthreetermsis plainlythe
Oedipalsituation.The illusorysecurity
of theinitialdyad(KingandQueenin
thefirstsequence)willbe shatteredbe theintroduction of a thirdterm.-Ed.

43
 Yale French Studies

is precipitatedand the threeplaces it assigns to the sujects among

whomit constitutesa choice.
That decision is reached in a glance's time.9 For the maneuvers
whichfollow,howeverstealthilytheyprolongit, add nothingto that
glance,nor does the deferring of the deed in the second scene break
the unityof thatmoment.
This glancepresupposestwo others,whichit embracesin its vision
of the breach leftin theirfallaciouscomplementarity, anticipatingin
it the occasion for larcenyaffordedby that exposure. Thus three
moments,structuring threeglances,borneby threesubjects,incarnated
each timeby different characters.
The firstis a glancethatsees nothing:theKing and thepolice.
The second, a glance which sees that the firstsees nothingand
deludes itselfas to the secrecyof whatit hides: the Queen, thenthe
Minister.
The thirdsees that the firsttwo glances leave what should be
hiddenexposed to whomeverwould seize it: theMinister,and finally
Dupin.
In order to grasp in its unitythe intersubjective complex thus
described, we would willinglyseek a model in the techniquelegend-
arilyattributed to the ostrichattemptingto shielditselffromdanger;
for that techniquemightultimatelybe qualifiedas political,divided
as it hereis amongthreepartners:the secondbelievingitselfinvisible
because the firsthas its head stuckin the ground,and all the while
lettingthe third calmly pluck its rear; we need only enrich its
proverbialdenominationby a letter,producingla politique de l'au-
truiche,forthe ostrichitselfto take on forevera new meaning.10
Given the intersubjectivemodulus of the repetitiveaction, it
remainsto recognizein it a repetitionautomatismin the sense that
interestsus in Freud's text.
The pluralityof subjects,of course,can be no objectionforthose
who are long accustomed to the perspectivessummarizedby our

9 The necessaryreferencehere may be found in "Le Temps logique et

l'Assertionde la certitudeanticipee,"Ecrits,p. 197.
10La politique de l'autruichecondensesostrich(autruche),other people
(autrui),and (the politicsof) Austria(Autriche).-Ed.

44
JacquesLacan

formula: the unconsciousis the discourseof the Other.11And we

will not recallnow whatthe notionof the immixture of subjects,
recently introduced in ourre-analysisofthedreamofIrma'sinjection,
adds to thediscussion.
Whatinterests us todayis themannerin whichthesubjectsrelay
each otherin theirdisplacement duringtheintersubjective repetition.
We shall see thattheirdisplacement is determined by theplace
whicha puresignifer-the purloined letter-comes to occupyin their
trio.And thatis whatwill confirm forus its statusas repetition
automatism.
It does not,however, seemexcessive, beforepursuing thislineof
inquiry, to ask whether thethrustofthetaleand theinterest we bring
to it-to the extentthattheycoincide-donotlie elsewhere.
May we viewas simplya rationalization (in ourgruff jargon)the
factthatthestoryis toldto us as a policemystery?
In truth, we shouldbe rightin judgingthatfacthighly dubiousas
soonas we notethateverything whichwarrants suchmystery concern-
ing a crimeor offense-itsnatureand motives,instruments and
execution;theprocedure usedto discovertheauthor, and themeans
employedto convicthim-is carefully eliminated hereat the start
of each episode.
The act of deceitis, in fact,fromthebeginning as clearlyknown
as the intrigues of the culpritand theireffects on his victim.The
problem, as exposedto us,is limitedto thesearchforandrestitution
of theobjectof thatdeceit,and it seemsratherintentional thatthe
solutionis alreadyobtainedwhenit is explainedto us. Is thathow
we arekeptin suspense?Whatever creditwe mayaccordtheconven-
tionsof a genreforprovoking a specificinterestin the reader,we
shouldnot forgetthat"theDupin tale,"thisthe secondto appear,
is a prototype, and thatevenifthegenrewereestablished in thefirst,
it is stilla littleearlyfortheauthorto playon a convention. 12

11 Such would be the crux of the Oedipus complex: the assumptionof a

desire whichis originallyanother's,and which,in its displacements,
is per-
petuallyotherthan "itself."-Ed.
12 The first"Dupin tale" was "The Murdersin the Rue Morgue."- Ed.

45
 Yale FrenchStudies

It would,however, be equallyexcessiveto reducethewholething

to a fable whose moralwould be that in orderto shieldfrom
inquisitiveeyesone of thosecorrespondences whosesecrecy is some-
timesnecessary to conjugalpeace,it suffices toleavethecrucialletters
lyingabouton one'stable,eventhough themeaningful sidebe turned
facedown.For thatwouldbe a hoaxwhich,forout part,we would
neverrecommend anyonetry,lest he be gravelydisappointed in
hishopes.
Mighttherethenbe no mystery otherthan,concerning thePrefect,
an incompetence issuingin failure-wereit notperhaps,concerning
Dupin,a certaindissonance we hesitateto acknowledge between, on
theone hand,theadmittedly penetrating, though, in theirgenerality,
notalwaysquiterelevant remarks withwhichhe introduces us to his
methodand, on theother,themanner in whichhe in factintervenes.
Werewe to pursuethissenseof mystification a bit further we
mightsoon beginto wonderwhether, fromthatinitialscenewhich
onlytherankof theprotagonists saves fromvaudeville, to thefall
intoridiculewhichseemsto awaittheMinister at theend,it is not
thisimpression thateveryone is beingdupedwhichmakesforour
pleasure.
And we wouldbe all themoreinclinedto thinkso in thatwe
wouldrecognize in thatsurmise, alongwiththoseof you who read
us, thedefinition we oncegavein passingofthemodemhero,"whom
ludicrousexploitsexaltin circumstances of utterconfusion." 13

But are we ourselvesnot takenin by theimposingpresenceof

theamateurdetective, prototype of a latter-day swashbuckler, as yet
safefromtheinsipidity of our contemporary superman?
A trick...sufficientforus to discernin thistale,on thecontrary,
so perfect a verisimilitudethatit maybe said thattruthherereveals
its fictive
arrangement.
For suchindeedis the direction in whichtheprinciples of that
verisimilitudelead us. Enteringintoitsstrategy, we indeedperceivea
new dramawe maycall complementary to thefirst,in so faras the

13 Cf. "Fonctionet champde la parole et du langage"in Ecrits.Translated

by A. Wilden,The Languageof the Self (Baltimore,1968).

46
JacquesLacan

latterwas whatis termeda playwithout wordswhereastheinterest

of thesecondplayson theproperties of speech.14
If it is indeedclearthateachof thetwoscenesof therealdrama
is narratedin thecourseof a different dialogue,it is onlythrough
accessto thosenotionssetforth inourteaching thatonemayrecognize
thatit is notthussimplyto augment thecharmof theexposition, but
thatthedialoguesthemselves, in theoppositeuse theymakeof the
powersof speech,takeon a tensionwhichmakesof thema different
drama,one whichour vocabulary will distinguish fromthe firstas
persisting in thesymbolic order.
The firstdialogue-between thePrefectof policeand Dupin-is
playedas between a deafmanandonewhohears.Thatis,it presents
the real complexity of whatis ordinarily simplified,withthe most
confused results,in thenotionof communication.
This exampledemonstrates indeedhow an act of communication
maygivetheimpression at whichtheorists toooftenstop: ofallowing
in its transmission buta singlemeaning, as thoughthehighlysignifi-
cantcommentary intowhichhe whounderstands integratesit,could,
becauseunperceived by himwhodoes notunderstand, be considered
null.
It remainsthatif only the dialogue'smeaningas a reportis
retained, mayappearto dependon a guarantee
its verisimilitude of
exactitude. But heredialoguemaybe morefertile thanseems,if we
demonstrate itstactics:as shallbe seenbyfocusing on therecounting
of ourfirstscene.
For the double and even triplesubjectivefilterthrough which
thatscenecomesto us: a narration by Dupin'sfriend and associate
(henceforth to be called the generalnarrator of the story)-ofthe
accountby whichthePrefect revealsto Dupin-thereporttheQueen
gave him of it, is not merelythe consequenceof a fortuitous
arrangement.
If indeedtheextremity to whichtheoriginalnarrator is reduced
precludes heraltering anyof theevents, it wouldbe wrongto believe

14 The completeunderstanding of whatfollowspresupposesa rereadingof

the shortand easily available textof "The PurloinedLetter."

47
 Yale French Studies

thatthe Prefectis empoweredto lend her his voice in this case only
by thatlack of imaginationon whichhe has, dare we say, the patent.
The factthatthe messageis thusretransmittedassuresus of what
may by no means be takenforgranted: thatit belongsto the dimen-
sion of language.
Those who are here knowour remarkson the subject,specifically
thoseillustratedby thecountercase of the so-calledlanguageof bees:
in whicha linguist15can see only a simple signalingof the location
of objects, in other words: only an imaginaryfunctionmore dif-
ferentiatedthan others.
We emphasizethatsuch a formof communication is not absentin
man, howeverevanescenta naturallygiven object may be for him,
split as it is in its submissionto symbols.
Somethingequivalentmay no doubtbe graspedin the communion
establishedbetweentwo personsin theirhatredof a commonobject:
except that the meetingis possible only over a singleobject,defined
by those traitsin the individualeach of the two resist.
But such communicationis not transmissiblein symbolicform.
It may be maintainedonly in the relationwiththe object. In such a
manner it may bring togetheran indefinitenumberof subjects in
a common"ideal": the communicationof one subject with another
withinthe crowd thus constitutedwill nonethelessremainirreducibly
mediatedby an ineffablerelation.16
This digressionis not only a recollectionof principlesdistantly
addressed to those who imputeto us a neglectof non-verbalcom-
munication: in determiningthe scope of what speech repeats, it
preparesthe questionof what symptomsrepeat.
Thus the indirecttellingsiftsout the linguisticdimension,and the
generalnarrator,by duplicatingit, "hypothetically" adds nothingto
it. But its role in the second dialogue is entirelydifferent.

15 Cf. Emile Benveniste,"Communicationanimale et langage humain,"

Diogene, No. 1, and our addressin Rome,Ecrits,p. 178.
16 For the notion of ego ideal, see Freud, Group Psychologyand the
Analysisof the Ego.-Ed.

48
JacquesLacan

For thelatterwillbe opposedto thefirst likethosepoleswe have

distinguishedelsewherein languageand whichare opposedlikeword
to speech.
Whichis to say thata transition is madeherefromthedomain
ofexactitude to theregisteroftruth.Now thatregister, we darethink
we needn'tcomeback to this,is situatedentirely elsewhere, strictly
speakingat theveryfoundation It is locatedthere
ofintersubjectivity.
wherethesubjectcan graspnothing buttheverysubjectivity which
an Otheras absolute.We shallbe satisfied
constitutes hereto indicate
its place by evokingthedialoguewhichseemsto us to meritits at-
tribution as a Jewishjoke by thatstateof privation through which
the relationof signifier to speechappearsin the entreaty which
bringsthe dialogueto a close: "Whyare you lyingto me?" one
charactershoutsbreathlessly. "Yes, whydo you lie to me saying
you'regoingto Cracowso I shouldbelieveyou'regoingto Lemberg,
whenin realityyou are goingto Cracow?"17
We mightbe prompted to ask a similarquestionby thetorrent of
logicalimpasses,eristicenigmas, paradoxesand evenjestspresented
to us as an introductionto Dupin'smethodif thefactthattheywere
confidedto us by a would-bediscipledid not endowthemwitha
newdimension through thatact of delegation. Suchis theunmistak-
able magicof legacies:thewitness's is thecowlwhichblinds
fidelity
and laysto restall criticismofhis testimony.
Whatcould be moreconvincing, moreover, thanthe gestureof
layingone's cardsface up on the table? So muchso thatwe are
momentarily persuadedthatthemagicianhas in factdemonstrated,
as he promised, how his trickwas performed, whereashe has only

17 Freud commentson this joke in Jokes and Their Relation to the

Unconscious,New York, 1960,p. 115: "But the moreserioussubstanceof the
joke is whatdetermines the truth...Is it the truthif we describethingsas they
are withouttroublingto considerhow our hearerwill understandwhat we
say?... I thinkthatjokes of thatkindare sufficiently differentfromtherestto
be given a special position: What theyare attackingis not a person or an
institutionbut the certaintyof our knowledgeitself,one of our speculative
possessions."Lacan's textmay be regardedas a commentary on Freud'sstate-
ment,an examinationof the corrosiveeffectof the demands of an inter-
subjectivecommunicative situationon any naive notionof "truth."-Ed.

49
 Yale FrenchStudies

renewed it in stillpurerform:at whichpointwe fathom themeasure

of the supremacy of thesignifierin the subject.
Such is Dupin's maneuver whenhe startswiththe storyof the
childprodigywho takesin all his friends at thegameof evenand
odd withhistrickofidentifying withtheopponent, concerningwhich
we have nevertheless shownthatit cannotreachthe firstlevel of
theoretical elaboration, namely: intersubjective alternation,
without
immediately stumbling on thebuttress of itsrecurrence.18

We are all thesametreated-somuchsmokein oureyes-to the

namesofLa Rochefoucauld, La Bruyere, Machiavelli andCampanella,
whoserenown, by thistime,wouldseembutfutilewhenconfronted
withthechild'sprowess.
FollowedbyChamfort, whosemaximthat"it is a safewagerthat
everypublicidea,everyacceptedconvention is foolish,sinceit suits
thegreatest number," willno doubtsatisfy all whothinktheyescape
its law, thatis, precisely, the greatestnumber.That Dupin accuses
the Frenchof deceptionforapplyingthe wordanalysisto algebra
will hardlythreaten our pridesince,moreover, the freeingof that
termforotheruses oughtby no meansto provokea psychoanalyst
to intervene and claimhisrights. Andtherehe goesmakingphilolog-
ical remarkswhichshouldpositively delightany loversof Latin:
whenhe recallswithoutdeigningto say any morethat"ambitus
doesn'tmeanambition, religio,
religion,homines honestmen,"
honesti,
whoamongyouwouldnottakepleasurein remembering.. .whatthose
wordsmeanto anyonefamiliar withCiceroand Lucretius. No doubt
Poe is havinga goodtime....
But a suspicionoccursto us: mightnotthisparadeof erudition
be destinedto revealto us thekeywordsof our drama?Is notthe
magicianrepeating his trickbeforeour eyes,withoutdeceivingus
this time about divulging his secret,but pressinghis wagerto the

18 Cf. Ecrits,p. 58. "But what will happen at the followingstep (of the
game) when the opponent,realizingthat I am sufficiently clever to follow
him in his move,will showhis own clevernessby realizingthatit is by playing
the fool that he has the best chance to deceive me? From then on my
reasoning is invalidated,since it can only be repeated in an indefinite
oscillation..."

50
 JacquesLacan

pointof reallyexplaining
it to us withoutus seeinga thing.That
wouldbe thesummit oftheillusionist's
art: throughoneofhisfictive
creationsto trulydelude us.
And is it not such effectswhichjustifyour referring,
without
malice,to a numberof imaginary heroesas real characters?
As well,whenwe are opento hearingthewayin whichMartin
Heideggerdisclosesto us in thewordaletheiatheplayof truth, we
a secretto whichtruth
rediscover herlovers,and
has alwaysinitiated
through whichtheylearnthatit is in hidingthatshe offers
herself
to themmost truly.
Thus evenif Dupin'scomments did not defyus so blatantly to
believein them,we shouldstillhave to makethatattempt against
theoppositetemptation.
Let us trackdown[depistons] hisfootprintstherewheretheyelude
[depiste]us.19And firstof all in thecriticism by whichhe explains
thePrefect's lackofsuccess.We alreadysawit surface in thosefurtive
gibesthePrefect, in thefirstconversation,failedto heed,seeingin
themonlya pretext forhilarity.
Thatitis,as Dupininsinuates,because
a problemis too simple,indeedtoo evident,thatit may appear
obscure,willneverhave any morebearingforhimthana vigorous
rub of therib cage.
Everything is arranged to inducein us a senseof thecharacter's
imbecility.Whichis powerfully articulatedby the factthathe and
his confederates neverconceiveof anything beyondwhatan ordinary
roguemightimagineforhidingan object-thatis, precisely the all
too well knownseriesof extraordinary hidingplaces: whichare
promptly cataloguedforus, fromhiddendesk drawsto removable
tabletops,fromthedetachablecushionsof chairsto theirhollowed
out legs,fromthereversesideof mirrors to the"thickness"of book
bindings.

19We should like to presentagain to M. Benvenistethe questionof the

antithetical sense of (primalor other)wordsafterthe magisterialrectification
he broughtto the erroneousphilologicalpath on which Freud engaged it
(cf. La Psychanalyse, vol. 1, pp. 5-16).For we thinkthatthe problemremains
intact once the instanceof the signifierhas been evolved. Bloch and Von
Wartburgdate at 1875 the firstappearance of the meaning of the verb
de'pisterin the seconduse we make of it in our sentence.

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Afterwhich,a momentof derisionat thePrefect's errorin de-

ducingthatbecausetheMinister is a poet,he is notfarfrombeing
mad, an error,it is argued,whichwouldconsist,but thisis hardly
negligible, simplyin a falsedistribution of themiddleterm,sinceit
is farfromfollowing fromthefactthatall madmenare poets.
Yes indeed.But we ourselves are leftin thedarkas to thepoet's
superiorityin theartof concealment-even ifhe be a mathematician
to boot-sinceour pursuitis suddenly thwarted, draggedas we are
into a thicketof bad arguments directedagainstthe reasoningof
mathematicians, whonever,so faras I know,showedsuchdevotion
to theirformulae as to identify themwithreasonitself.At least,let
us testifythatunlikewhatseemsto be Poe's experience, it occasional-
ly befallsus-with our friendRiguet,whose presencehere is a
guarantee thatourincursions intocombinatory analysisare notlead-
ingus astray-tohazardsuchseriousdeviations (virtualblasphemies,
according to Poe) as to cast intodoubtthat'4x2plus px is perhaps
not absolutelyequal to q," withoutever-herewe give the lie to
Poe-havinghad to fendoffanyunexpected attack.
Is notso muchintelligence beingexercisedthensimplyto divert
our ownfromwhathad beenindicatedearlieras given,namely, that
thepolicehave lookedeverywhere: whichwe wereto understand-
vis-a-visthe area in whichthepolice,not withoutreason,assumed
the lettermightbe found-intermsof a (no doubttheoretical) ex-
haustionof space,but concerning whichthetale'spiquancydepends
on our accepting it literally:thedivisionof the entirevolumeinto
numbered"compartments," whichwas the principlegoverning the
operation, beingpresented to us as so precisethat"thefiftieth part
of a line,"itis said,couldnotescapetheprobing oftheinvestigators.
Have we not thentherightto ask how it happenedthattheletter
was notfoundanywhere, or ratherto observethatall we have been
toldofa morefar-ranging conception ofconcealment doesnotexplain,
in all rigor,thattheletterescapeddetection, sincethearea combed
did in factcontainit,as Dupin'sdiscovery eventually proves.

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JacquesLacan

Must a letterthen,of all objects,be endowedwiththeproperty

of nullibiety: to use a termwhichthe thesaurus knownas Roget
picksup fromthesemiotic utopiaof BishopWilkins?-0
It is evident("a littletoo self-evident")21
thatbetweenletterand
placeexistrelations forwhichno Frenchwordhas quitetheextension
of theEnglishadjective:odd.Bizarre,bywhichBaudelaireregularly
translatesit,is onlyapproximate. Let us saythattheserelations
are...
singuliers,fortheyare theveryones maintained withplace by the
signifier.
You realize,of course,thatourintention is notto turntheminto
"subtle"relations, noris our aim to confuseletterwithspirit,even
if we receivetheformer by pneumatic dispatch, and thatwe readily
admitthatonekillswhereastheotherquickens, insofaras thesignifier
-you perhapsbegin to understand-materializes the agencyof
death.1 But if it is firstof all on themateriality of thesignifierthat
we have insisted, thatmateriality is odd [singulire]in manyways,
thefirstofwhichis notto admitpartition. Cut a letterin smallpieces,
and it remainstheletter it is-and thisin a completely differentsense
thanGestalttheorie wouldaccountforwhichthedormant vitalismin-
forming its notionof thewhole.23
Languagedelivers itsjudgment towhomever knowshowtohearit:
through theusageof thearticleas partitive particle.It is therethat
spirit-ifspiritbe livingmeaning-appears, no less oddly,as more
availableforquantification thanits letter.To beginwithmeaningit-
self,whichbearsour saying:a speechrichwithmeaning["pleinde

20 The very one to which JorgeLuis Borges,in workswhich harmonize

so well with the phylumof our subject,has accorded an importancewhich
othershave reducedto its properproportions. Cf. Les Tempsmodernes,June-
July1955,pp. 2135-36and Oct. 1955,pp. 574-75.
21 Underlinedby the author.
22 The reference is to the "death instinct,"
whose "death,"we shouldnote,
lies entirelyin its diacriticaloppositionto the "life" of a naive vitalismor
naturalism.As such, it may be comparedwith the logical momentin Ldvi-
Strauss'sthoughtwhereby"nature"exceeds,supplements, and symbolizesitself:
the prohibitionof incest.-Ed.
23 This is so truethatphilosophers, in thosehackneyedexampleswithwhich
they argue on the basis of the singleand the multiple,will not use to the
same purposea simplesheetof whitepaper rippedin the middleand a broken
circle,indeed a shatteredvase, not to mentiona cut worm.

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 Yale FrenchStudies

signification"],
just as we recognize a measureof intention ["de Pin-
tention"]in an act, or deplorethatthereis no morelove ["plus
d'amour"];or storeup hatred["de la haine"]and expenddevotion
["du devouement"], and so muchinfatuation ["tantd'infatuation"] is
easilyreconciledto the factthattherewill alwaysbe ass ["de la
cuisse"]forsale and brawling ["du rififi"]amongmen.
Butas fortheletter-beittakenas typographical character,epistle,
or whatmakesa manof letters-wewillsay thatwhatis said is to
be understoodto theletter[a la lettre],thata letter[une lettre]awaits
you at thepost office,or eventhatyou are acquaintedwithletters
[que vous avez des lettres]-neverthat thereis letter[de la lettre]
anywhere, whatever the context, evento designateoverduemail.
For thesignifier is a unitin its veryuniqueness,
beingby nature
symbolonly of an absence.Whichis whywe cannotsay of the
purloinedletterthat,like otherobjects,it mustbe or not be in a
particular place but thatunlikethemit willbe and notbe whereit
is, wherever it goes.24
Let us, in fact,look morecloselyat whathappensto thepolice.
We are sparednothing concerning theproceduresused in searching
the area submitted to theirinvestigation:fromthedivisionof that
space into compartments fromwhichthe slightest bulk could not
escape detection, to needlesprobingupholstery, and,in theimpos-
sibilityof soundingwood witha tap,to a microscope exposingthe
wasteof any drilling at thesurfaceof its hollow,indeedtheinfini-
tesimalgapingof theslightest abyss.As thenetwork tightensto the
pointthat,not satisfied withshakingthepagesof books,thepolice
taketo counting them,do we notsee spaceitselfshedits leaveslike
a letter?
But the detectives have so immutable a notionof the real that
theyfail to noticethattheirsearchtendsto transform it into its

24 Cf. Saussure,Cours de linguistique

generale,Paris, 1969,p. 166: "The
precedingamountsto sayingthatin languagethereare only differences. Even
more: a difference presupposesin generalpositivetermsbetweenwhichit is
established,butin languagethereare onlydifferenceswithoutpositiveterms."-
Ed.

54
JacquesLacan

object.A traitbywhichtheywouldbe able to distinguish thatobject

fromall others.
This wouldno doubtbe too muchto ask them,not becauseof
theirlack of insight butratherbecauseof ours.For theirimbecility
is neitherof theindividual northecorporative variety;its sourceis
subjective.It is the realist'simbecility, whichdoes not pause to
observethatnothing, however deepin thebowelsof theeartha hand
mayseekto ensconceit,willeverbe hiddenthere, sinceanother hand
can alwaysretrieve it, and thatwhatis hiddenis neverbutwhatis
missingfromits place,as thecall slip putsit whenspeakingof a
volumelost in a library.And evenif the book be on an adjacent
shelfor in thenextslot,it wouldbe hiddenthere,howevervisibly
it mayappear.For it can literally be said thatsomething is missing
fromitsplaceonlyofwhatcan changeit: thesymbolic. For thereal,
whatever upheavalwe subjectit to,is alwaysin its place; it carries
it gluedto its heel,ignorant of whatmightexileit fromit.
And, to returnto our cops,who tookthe letterfromtheplace
whereit was hidden,howcouldtheyhaveseizedtheletter?In what
theyturned between theirfingers whatdid theyholdbutwhatdid not
answerto theirdescription. "A letter,a litter":in Joyce'scircle,they
playedon thehomophony of thetwowordsin English. 25Nor does
theseeming bitof refusethepolicearenowhandling revealits other
natureforbeingbuthalftorn.A different seal on a stampofanother
color,themarkof a different handwriting in thesuperscription are
herethemostinviolablemodesof concealment. And if theystopat
thereverseside of theletter, on which,as is known,therecipient's
addresswas written in thatperiod,it is becausethe letterhas for
themno othersidebutits reverse.
Whatindeedmighttheyfindon its observe?Its message,as is
oftensaid to our cybernetic joy?... But does it notoccurto us that
thismessagehas alreadyreacheditsrecipient and has evenbeenleft
withher,sincetheinsignificant scrapof papernow represents it no
less wellthantheoriginalnote.

25 Cf. Our ExaminationRound his Factificationfor Incaminationof Work

in Progress,Shakespeare& Co., 12 rue de I'Oddon,Paris, 1929.

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 Yale FrenchStudies

If we could admitthata letterhas completed its destinyafter

fulfilling its function, the ceremony of returning letterswouldbe a
less commoncloseto theextinction of thefiresof love'sfeasts.The
signifier is notfunctional. And themobilization of theelegantsociety
whosefrolicswe are following wouldas wellhaveno meaning if the
letteritselfwerecontent withhavingone.For it wouldhardlybe an
adequatemeansof keepingit secretto inform a squad of cops of its
existence.
We mightevenadmitthattheletterhas an entirely different (if
no moreurgent) meaningfortheQueenthan the one understood by
theMinister. The sequenceofeventswouldnotbe noticeably affected,
notevenifit were strictlyincomprehensible to an uninformed reader.
For it is certainly not so for everybody, since,as the Prefect
pompously assures to
us, everyone's derision,"the disclosureof the
document to a thirdperson, whoshallbe nameless," (thatnamewhich
leapsto theeyelikethepig'stailtwixttheteethof old Ubu) "would
bringin questionthehonorof a personageof mostexaltedstation,
indeedthatthe honorand peace of theillustrious personageare so
jeopardized."
In thatcase,it is notonlythemeaning butthetextofthemessage
whichit wouldbe dangerous to placein circulation,and all themore
so to theextentthatit mightappearharmless, sincetherisksof an
indiscretion unintentionally committed by one of theletter'sholders
wouldthusbe increased.
Nothing thencan redeemthepolice'sposition, and nothing would
be changedby improving their"culture."Scriptamanent:in vain
wouldtheylearnfroma de luxe-edition humanism theproverbial les-
son whichverbavolantconcludes.May it but please heaventhat
writings remain,as is ratherthe case withspokenwords: forthe
indelibledebtofthelatterimpregnates ouractswithitstransferences.
Writings scatter to the winds blank checksin an insanecharge. 26

And weretheynot suchflying leaves,therewouldbe no purloined

letters.
27

sentence
26 The original presents an exemplary in translation:
difficulty
"Les dcrits au ventles traitesen blancd'unecavaleriefolle."The
emportent

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JacquesLacan

But whatof it? For a purloinedletterto exist,we mayask, to

whomdoes a letterbelong?We stresseda momentago theoddity
implicit in returninga letterto himwhohad butrecently givenwing
to its burning pledge.And we generally deemunbecoming suchpre-
maturepublications as the one by whichthe Chevalierd'1Tonput
severalof his correspondents in a ratherpitifulposition.
Mighta letteron whichthesenderretainscertainrightsthennot
quitebelongto thepersonto whomit is addressed?or mightit be
thatthelatterwas neverthereal receiver?
Let's takea look: we shallfindillumination in whatat firstseems
to obscurematters:thefactthatthetale leavesus in virtually total
ignoranceof the sender,no less thanof thecontents, of theletter.
We are toldonlythattheMinister immediately recognizedthehand-
writing of the addressand onlyincidentally, in a discussionof the
Minister's camouflage,is it said thattheoriginalseal boretheducal
armsoftheS ... family. As fortheletter's bearing,we knowonlythe
dangersit entailsshouldit comeintothehandsof a specificthird
party,and thatits possessionhas allowedtheMinister to "wield,to
a verydangerous extent,forpoliticalpurposes," thepowerit assures
him over the interested party.But all thistellsus nothingof the
messageit conveys.
Love letteror conspiratorial letterof betrayalor letterof
letter,
mission,letterof summonsor letterof distress, we are assuredof
butone thing:theQueenmustnotbringit to theknowledge of her
lordand master.
Now theseterms,farfrombearingthenuanceof discredit they
have in bourgeoiscomedy,take on a certainprominence through
allusionto hersovereign, to whomshe is boundby pledgeof faith,

blank (bank) drafts(or transfers)are not deliveredto theirrightfulrecipients

(the sense of de cavalerie,de complaisance).That is: in analysis,one finds
absurd symbolicdebtsbeingpaid to the "wrong"persons.At the same time,
the mad, drivenqualityof the paymentis latentin traite,whichmightalso
referto the day's tripof an insane cavalry.In our translation,we have dis-
placed the "switch-word"-joining the financialand equestrianseries-from
traiteto charge.-Ed.
and purloinedletters-feuillesvolantesand
27 Flyingleaves (also fly-sheets)
lettresvolees-employdifferent meaningsof the same wordin French.-Ed.

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 Yale FrenchStudies

and doublyso, sinceherrole as spousedoes not relieveherof her

dutiesas subject,butratherelevatesherto theguardianship of what
royaltyaccordingto law incarnates of power: and whichis called
legitimacy.
Fromthenon, to whatever vicissitudestheQueenmaychooseto
subjecttheletter,it remainsthattheletteris thesymbolof a pact,
and that,evenshouldtherecipient notassumethepact,theexistence
of thelettersituatesherin a symbolic chainforeign to theone which
constitutesherfaith.This incompatibility is provenby thefactthat
the possessionof the letteris impossibleto bringforward publicly
as legitimate,and thatin orderto havethatpossessionrespected, the
Queen can invokebutherrightto privacy, whoseprivilege is based
on thehonorthatpossessionviolates.
For shewhoincarnates thefigure ofgraceand sovereignty cannot
welcomeeven a privatecommunication withoutpowerbeingcon-
cerned,and she cannotavail herselfof secrecyin relationto the
sovereign without becoming clandestine.
Fromthenon, theresponsibility of theauthorof thelettertakes
secondplace to thatof its holder: for the offenseto majestyis
compounded by hightreason.
We say: theholderand not thepossessor.For it becomesclear
thattheaddressee's proprietorshipofthelettermaybe no lessdebat-
able thanthatof anyoneelse intowhosehandsit comes,fornothing
concerning theexistence oftheletter can returnto goodorderwithout
thepersonwhoseprerogatives it infringesuponhavingto pronounce
judgment on it.
All of this,however,does not implythatbecause the letter's
secrecyis indefensible,thebetrayal of thatsecretwouldin anysense
be honorable. The honestihomines, decentpeople,willnotgetoffso
easily.Thereis morethanone religio,and it is not slatedforto-
morrow thatsacredtiesshallceaseto rendus in two.As forambitus:
a detour,we see, is not alwaysinspiredby ambition. For if we are
takingone here,by no meansis it stolen(thewordis apt),since,to
lay our cardson the table,we have borrowedBaudelaire'stitlein
orderto stressnot,as is incorrectly claimed,theconventional nature

58
JacquesLacan

of thesignifier,butratherits priority 2- It
in relationto thesignified.
remains, nevertheless,thatBaudelaire,despitehis devotion, betrayed
Poe by translating as "la lettre
volee" (the stolen letter)
his title:
thepurloined a titlecontaining
letter, a wordrareenoughforus to
findit easierto defineits etymology thanits usage.
To purloin,saystheOxforddictionary, is an Anglo-French word,
thatis: composedof the prefixpur-,foundin purpose,purchase,
purport,and of the Old Frenchword: loing, loigner,longi. We re-
cognizein thefirstelementtheLatinpro-,as opposedto ante,in so
faras it presupposes a rearin front of whichit is borne,possiblyas
its warrant,indeedeven as its pledge(whereasante goes forthto
confront whatit encounters).As forthesecond,an old Frenchword:
loigner,a verbattributing place au loing(or, stillin use, longe),it
does not meanau loin (faroff),but au longde (alongside);it is a
questionthenof puttingaside, or, to invokea familiarexpression
whichplayson thetwomeanings:mettre a gauche(toputto theleft;
to put amiss).
Thus we are confirmed in our detourby the veryobjectwhich
drawsus on intoit: forwe are quitesimplydealingwitha letter
whichhas ben diverted fromits path; one whosecoursehas been
prolonged (etymologically,thewordof thetitle),or,to revertto the
languageof thepostoffice, a letterin sufferance.29

Here then,simpleand odd,as we are toldon theveryfirst page,

reducedto its simplestexpression, is the singularity of the letter,
whichas thetitleindicates, is thetruesubjectof thetale: sinceit
can be diverted, it musthave a coursewhichis properto it: the
traitby whichits incidenceas signifier is affirmed. For we have
learnedto conceiveof thesignifier as sustaining itselfonlyin a dis-
placement comparable to thatfoundin electric newsstripsor in the
rotatingmemories of our machines-that-think-like men,thisbecause

28 See our discussionof Levi-Strauss's

statement-"thesignifier
precedesand
determines the signified"-inthe previousessay.-Ed.
29 We revivethisarchaism(forthe French: lettreen souffrance).The sense
is a letterheld up in the course of delivery.In French,of course,en souf-
francemeans in a state of suffering as well.-Ed.

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 Yale FrenchStudies

of thealternatingoperation whichis itsprinciple, requiring it to leave

itsplace,eventhoughit returns to it by a circularpath. 30

This is indeedwhathappensin therepetition automatism. What

Freudteachesus in thetextwe are commenting on is thatthesubject
mustpass through thechannels ofthesymbolic, butwhatis illustrated
hereis moregripping still:it is notonlythesubject, butthesubjects,
graspedin theirintersubjectivity, who line up, in otherwordsour
to whomwe herereturn,
ostriches, and who,moredocilethansheep,
modeltheirverybeingon themoment of thesignifying chainwhich
traverses them.
If whatFreuddiscovered and rediscovers witha perpetually in-
creasingsenseof shockhas a meaning, it is thatthedisplacement of
thesignifier determines thesubjectsin theiracts,in theirdestiny, in
theirrefusals,in theirblindnesses, in theirendand in theirfate,their
innategiftsand social acquisitionsnotwithstanding, withoutregard
forcharacter or sex,and that,willingly or not,everything thatmight
be considered thestuffof psychology, kitand caboodle,willfollow
thepathof thesignifier.
Herewe are,in fact,yetagainat thecrossroads at whichwe had
leftour dramaand its roundwiththequestionof thewayin which
the subjectsreplaceeach otherin it. Our fableis so constructed as
to showthatit is the letterand its diversion whichgovernstheir
entriesand roles.If it be "in sufferance," theyshallendurethepain.
Should theypass beneathits shadow,theybecomeits reflection.
Fallingin possession oftheletter-admirable ambiguity oflanguage-
its meaningpossessesthem.
So we are shownbytheheroofthedramain therepetition ofthe
verysituation whichhis daringbrought to a head,a first time,to his
triumph. If he nowsuccumbs to it,it is becausehe has shifted to the
secondpositionin the triadin whichhe was initially third,as well
as thethief-andthisby virtueof theobjectof his theft.

30 See Ecrits,p. 59: ". . . it is not unthinkable

thata moderncomputer,by
discoveringthe sentencewhich modulateswithouthis knowingit and over
a long periodof timethe choicesof a subject,would win beyondany normal
proportionat the game of even and odd..."

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 JacquesLacan

For ifit is, nowas before, a questionofprotecting theletterfrom

inquisitive eyes,he can do nothing but employthe same technique
he himselfhas alreadyfoiled: leave it in the open? And we may
properly doubtthathe knowswhathe is thusdoing,whenwe see
himimmediately captivated by a dual relationshipin whichwe find
a
all thetraitsof mimetic lureor of an animalfeigning death,and,
trappedin thetypically imaginary situationof seeingthathe is not
seen,misconstrue thereal situation in whichhe is seennot seeing.31
And whatdoes he fail to see? Preciselythe symbolicsituation
whichhe himself was so well able to see, and in whichhe is now
seen seeinghimself notbeingseen.
The Ministeracts as a manwhorealizesthatthepolice'ssearch
is his own defence, sincewe are toldhe allowsthemtotalaccessby
his absences: he nonetheless failsto recognizethatoutsideof that
searchhe is no longerdefended.
This is the veryautruicherie whoseartisanhe was, if we may
allow our monster to proliferate,butit cannotbe by sheerstupidity
thathe nowcomesto be itsdupe.32
For in playingthepartoftheone whohides,he is obligedto don
the role of the Queen,and even the attributes of femininityand
shadow,so propitious to theact of concealing
Not thatwe are reducing thehoarycoupleof Yin and Yang to
the elementary opposition of darkand light.For its preciseuse in-
volveswhatis blinding in a flashoflight,no lessthantheshimmering
shadowsexploitin ordernot to lose theirprey.
Here signand being,marvelously asunder,revealwhichis vic-
toriouswhentheycome intoconflict. A man man enoughto defy
to the pointof scorna lady'sfearsomeire undergoes to thepoint
of metamorphosis the curseof the signhe has dispossessed herof.
For thissignis indeedthatof woman,in so faras she invests
herverybeingtherein, founding it outsidethelaw,whichsubsumes

31 See Vocabulaireentryon the imaginary below.

32 Autruicheriecondenses,in addition to the previous terms,deception
Do we not findin Lacan's proliferating
(tricherie). "monster"something of the
protonpseudos,the "firstlie" of Freud's 1895 Project: the persistent
illusion
whichseems to structurethe mentallife of the patient?-Ed.

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 Yale FrenchStudies

hernevertheless, originarily, nay,offetish.

in a positionof signifier, 33

In orderto be worthy ofthepowerofthatsignshehas butto remain

immobile in its shadow,thusfinding, moreover,liketheQueen,that
simulation of masteryin inactivity thatthe Minister's"lynxeye"
alonewas able to penetrate.
This stolensign-herethenis man in its possession:sinister in
thatsuchpossession maybe sustained onlythrough thehonoritdefies,
cursedin callinghimwho sustainsit to punishment or crime,each
of whichshatters his vassalageto theLaw.
There mustbe in this sign a singularnoli me tangereforits pos-
session,liketheSocraticstingray,to benumbitsmanto thepointof
makinghimfallintowhatappearsclearlyin his case to be a state
of idleness.
34
For in noting,as thenarrator does as earlyas thefirstdialogue,
thatwiththeletter'suse its powerdisappears, we perceivethatthis
remark, strictly
speaking,
concerns preciselyitsuse forendsofpower
-and at thesametimethatsucha use is obligatory fortheMinister.
To be unableto rid himself of it,theMinisterindeedmustnot
knowwhatelse to do withtheletter.For thatuse placeshimin so
totala dependence on theletteras such,thatin thelongrunit no
longerinvolvestheletterat all.
We meanthatforthatuse trulyto involvetheletter, theMinister,
who,afterall, wouldbe so authorized by his serviceto his master
the King,mightpresentto the Queen respectful admonitions, even
werehe to assuretheirsequelbyappropriate precautions,-or initiate
an actionagainsttheauthorof theletter, concerning whom,thefact
thathe remainsoutsidethestory'sfocusrevealstheextentto which

33 The fetish,as replacementforthemissingmaternalphallus,at once masks

and revealsthe scandal of sexual difference. As such it is the analyticobject
par excellence.The femaletemptation to exhibitionism,
understoodas a desire
to be the (maternal)phallus,is thustantamount to beinga fetish.-Ed.
34 See Plato's Meno: "Socrates,. . . at thismomentI feelyou are exercising
magic and witchcraft upon me and positivelylayingme underyour spell until
I am just a mass of helplessness.If I may be flippant, I thinkthat not only
in outwardappearance but in other respectsas well you are like the flat
stingray thatone meetsin the sea. Wheneveranyonecomesinto contactwith
it, it numbshim,and thatis the sortof thingyou are doingto me now..."-
Ed.

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JacquesLacan

it is notguiltand blamewhichare in questionhere,butratherthat

signofcontradiction and scandalconstituted bytheletter, in thesense
in whichtheGospelsaysthatit mustcomeregardless of theanguish
of whomever servesas its bearer,-orevensubmittheletteras ev-
alone concerns us; it suffices forus to knowthatthewayin which
he willhaveitissuein a StarChamber fortheQueenor theMinister's
disgrace.
We willnotknowwhytheMinister doesnotresortto anyofthese
uses,and it is fitting thatwe don't,sincetheeffect of thisnon-use
alone concernsus; it suffices forus to knowthatthewayin which
theletterwas acquiredwouldpose no obstacleto anyof them.
For it is clear thatif the use of the letter,independent of its
meaning,is obligatory forthe Minister, its use forends of power
can onlybe potential, sinceit cannotbecomeactualwithout vanish-
ingin theprocess,-butin thatcase theletterexistsas a meansof
poweronlythrough thefinalassignations ofthepuresignifier, namely:
byprolonging itsdiversion, makingit reachwhomever itmayconcern
througha supplementary transfer, thatis, by an additionalact of
treasonwhoseeffects theletter's gravity makesit difficult to predict,
-or indeedby destroying theletter, theonlysuremeans,as Dupin
divulgesat the start,of beingrid of whatis destinedby natureto
signify theannulment of whatit signifies.
The ascendancy whichtheMinisterderivesfromthe situation is
thusnota function of theletter, but,whether he knowsit or not,of
the role it constitutes for him. And the Prefect'sremarksindeed
present himas someone"whodaresall things," whichis commented
upon significantly: "thoseunbecoming as well as thosebecoming a
man,"wordswhosepungency escapesBaudelairewhenhe translates:
"ce qui est indigned'un hommeaussi bienque ce qui est dignede
lui" (thoseunbecoming a manas well as thosebecoming him).For
in its originalform,the appraisalis farmoreappropriate to what
mightconcerna woman.
This allowsus to see theimaginary importof thecharacter, that
relationin whichtheMinister
is, thenarcissistic is engaged, thistime,
no doubt,without knowing it. It is indicated as wellas earlyas the

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secondpage of the Englishtextby one of the narrator's remarks,

whoseformis worthsavoring:the Minister'sascendancy, we are
told, "would dependupon the robber'sknowledgeof the loser's
knowledge oftherobber."Wordswhoseimportance theauthorunder-
scoresby havingDupin repeatthemliterally afterthenarrationof
the scene of the theftof the letter.Here again we may say that
Baudelaireis imprecisein his languagein havingone ask,theother
confirm,in these words: "Le voleur sait-il?..." (Does the robber
know?),then: "Le voleursait..." (therobberknows).What?"que
la personnevolee connaltson voleur"(thatthe loser knowshis
robber).
For whatmatters to therobberis not onlythatthesaid person
knowswho robbedher,but ratherwithwhatkindof a robbershe
is dealing;forshe believeshimcapableof anything, whichshould
be understood as her havingconferred upon him thepositionthat
no one is in factcapableof assuming, sinceit is imaginary,thatof
absolutemaster.
In truth, it is a positionof absoluteweakness,but not forthe
personofwhomwe are expectedto believeso. The proofis notonly
thattheQueendaresto call thepolice.For she is onlyconforming
to herdisplacement to thenextslotin thearrangement of theinitial
triadin trusting to theveryblindness requiredto occupythatplace:
"No moresagaciousagentcould,I suppose,"Dupinnotesironically,
"be desiredor evenimagined." No, if she has takenthatstep,it is
lessoutofbeing"drivento despair,"as we aretold,thanin assuming
the chargeof an impatience bestimputedto a specularmirage.
For theMinister is keptquitebusyconfining himselfto theidle-
nesswhichis presently his lot.The Minister, in pointof fact,is not
altogethermad.35 That'sa remarkmadeby thePrefect, whoseevery
wordis gold: it is truethatthe gold of his wordsflowsonlyfor
Dupinand willcontinue to flowto theamountof thefifty thousand
francsworthit willcosthimbythemetalstandard oftheday,though

35 BaudelairetranslatesPoe's "altogethera fool" as "absolumentfou." In

optingfor Baudelaire,Lacan is enabledto allude to the realm of psychosis.-
Ed.

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Jacques Lacan

not withoutleavinghim a marginof profit.The Ministerthenis not

altogether mad in his insanestagnation, and thatis whyhe will behave
accordingto the mode of neurosis.Like the man who withdrewto an
island to forget,what? he forgot,-so the Minister,throughnot
makinguse of the letter,comes to forgetit. As is expressedby the
persistenceof his conduct.But the letter,no morethanthe neurotic's
unconscious,does not forgethim. It forgetshim so little that it
transforms him more and more in the image of her who offeredit to
his capture,so thathe now will surrenderit, followingher example,
to a similarcapture.
The featuresof that transformation are noted, and in a formso
characteristicin theirapparentgratuitousness that theymightvalidly
be comparedto the returnof the repressed.
Thus we firstlearn thatthe Ministerin turnhas turnedthe letter
over, not, of course, as in the Queen's hasty gesture,but, more as-
siduously,as one turnsa garmentinside out. So he must procede,
accordingto the methodsof the day forfoldingand sealing a letter,
in orderto freethe virginspace on whichto inscribea new address.36
That address becomes his own. Whetherit be in his hand or
another,it will appear in an extremelydelicate femininescript,and,
the seal changingfromthe red of passion to the black of its mirrors,
he will imprinthis stamp upon it. This oddity of a lettermarked
with the recipient'sstamp is all the more strikingin its conception,
since,thoughforcefully articulatedin thetext,it is not evenmentioned
by Dupin in the discussionhe devotes to the identification of the
letter.
Whetherthat omissionbe intentionalor involuntary, it will sur-
prise in the economyof a work whose meticulousrigoris evident.
thattheletterwhichthe Minister,in
But in eithercase it is significant

36 We felt obliged to demonstrate the procedureto an audience with a

letterfromthe period concerningM. de Chateaubriandand his searchfor a
secretary.We were amused to findthat M. de Chateaubriandcompletedthe
firstversionof his recentlyrestoredmemoirsin the verymonthof November
1841 in whichthepurloinedletterappearedin Chamber'sJournal.MightM. de
Chateaubriand'sdevotionto the power he decriesand the honor whichthat
devotionbespeaksin him (the gifthad not yet been invented),place him in
the categoryto which we will later see the Ministerassigned: among men
of geniuswithor withoutprinciples?

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pointof fact,addressesto himselfis a letterfroma woman: as though

thiswere a phase he had to pass throughout of a naturalaffinityof
the signifier.
Thus the aura of apathy,vergingat times on an affectationof
effeminacy;the displayof an ennuiborderingon disgustin his con-
versation; the mood the authorof the philosophyof furniture 37 can
elicit fromvirtuallyimpalpable details (like that of the musical in-
strument seems intendedfora character,all
on the table), everything
of whose utteranceshave revealedthe most viriletraits,to exude the
oddest odor di feminawhen he appears.
Dupin does not fail to stressthat this is an artifice,describing
behindthebogus finery thevigilanceof a beastof preyreadyto spring.
But thatthisis the veryeffectof the unconsciousin theprecisesense
that we teach that the unconsciousmeans that man is inhabitedby
the signifier:could we finda morebeautifulimage of it thanthe one
Poe himselfforgesto help us appreciateDupin's exploit? For with
this aim in mind,he refersto those toponymicalinscriptionswhich
a geographicalmap, lest it remainmute,superimposeson its design,
and whichmay become the object of a guessinggame: who can find
the name chosen by a partner?-notingimmediatelythat the name
mostlikelyto foil a beginnerwill be one which,in largelettersspaced
out widelyacross the map, discloses,oftenwithoutan eye pausingto
notice it, the name of an entirecountry...
Justso does the purloinedletter,like an immensefemale body,
stretchout across the Minister'sofficewhen Dupin enters.But just
so does he alreadyexpectto findit, and has only,withhis eyesveiled
by greenlenses,to undressthat huge body.
And thatis whywithoutneedingany morethanbeingable to listen
in at the door of ProfessorFreud, he will go straightto the spot in
whichlies and lives whatthatbody is designedto hide,in a gorgeous
centercaughtin a glimpse,nay,to the veryplace seducersname Sant'
Angelo's Castle in theirinnocentillusionof controlling
the City from
withinit. Look! betweenthecheeksof thefireplace,there'sthe object

37 Poe is theauthorof an essaywiththistitle.

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Jacques Lacan

already in reach of a hand the ravisherhas but to extend... The

question of decidingwhetherhe seizes it above the mantelpieceas
Baudelaire translates,or beneathit, as in the originaltext,may be
abandoned withoutharm to the inferencesof thosewhose profession
is grilling.
38

Were the effectiveness of symbols39 to cease there,would it mean

that the symbolicdebt would as well be extinguished?Even if we
could believeso, we would be advisedof the contrary by two episodes
whichwe may all the less dismissas secondaryin thattheyseem,at
firstsight,to clash with the restof the work.
First of all, there'sthe business of Dupin's remuneration,
which,
far frombeing a closingpirouette,has been presentfromthe begin-
ning in the ratherunselfconscious questionhe asks the Prefectabout
the amount of the reward promised him, and whose enormous-
ness, the Prefect,however reticenthe may be about the precise
figure,does not dreamof hidingfromhim,even returning lateron to
referto its increase.
The fact that Dupin had been previouslypresentedto us as a
virtualpauper in his etherealshelteroughtratherto lead us to reflect
on the deal he makes out of deliveringthe letter,promptlyassured
as it is by the check-bookhe produces. We do not regard it as
negligiblethatthe unequivocalhintthroughwhichhe introducesthe
matteris a "storyattributedto the character,as famous as it was
excentric,"Baudelairetellsus, of an EnglishdoctornamedAbernethy,
in which a rich miser,hoping to sponge upon him for a medical
opinion,is sharplytold not to take medicine,but to take advice.

38 And even to the cook herself.-J.L.

The paragraphmightbe read as follows: analysis,in its violationof the
imaginaryintegrity of the ego, findsits fantasmaticequivalentin rape (or
castration,as in the passage analyzedin the previousessay).But whetherthat
"rape" takes place fromin frontor frombehind(above or below the man-
telpiece)is, in fact, a question of interestfor policemenand not analysts.
Implicitin the statement is an attackon those who have become wed to the
ideologyof "maturationaldevelopment"(libidinalstageset al) in Freud (i. e.,
the ego psychologists).-Ed.
39 The allusion is to Levi-Strauss'sarticleof the same title ("L'efficacit6
symbolique") in L'A nthropologie structurale.-Ed.

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Do we not in factfeelconcernedwithgood reasonwhenforDupin

what is perhapsat stake is his withdrawalfromthe symboliccircuit
of theletter-we who becometheemissariesofall thepurloinedletters
whichat least for a time remainin sufferance with us in the trans-
ference.And is it not theresponsibility theirtransference entailswhich
we neutralizeby equatingit withthe signifier most destructiveof all
signification,namely: money.
But that's not all. The profitDupin so nimblyextractsfromhis
exploit,if its purposeis to allow him to withdrawhis stakesfromthe
game, makes all the more paradoxical, even shocking,the partisan
attack,the underhandedblow, he suddenlypermitshimselfto launch
againstthe Minister,whose insolentprestige,afterall, would seem to
have been sufficiently deflatedby the trickDupin has just played
on him.
We have alreadyquoted the atrociouslinesDupin claimshe could
not help dedicating,in his counterfeit letter,to the momentin which
the Minister,enragedby the inevitabledefianceof the Queen, will
thinkhe is demolishingher and will plunge into the abyss: facilis
descensusAverni, 40 he waxes sententious, adding that the Minister
cannotfail to recognizehis handwriting, all of which,since depriving
of any dangera mercilessact of infamy,would seem, concerninga
figurewho is not withoutmerit,a triumphwithoutglory,and the
rancorhe invokes,stemmingfroman evil turndone him at Vienna
(at the Congress?) only adds an additionalbit of blackness to the
whole.41
Let us consider,however,more closely this explosion of feeling,
and morespecificallythemomentit occursin a sequenceof acts whose
successdependson so cool a head.
It comes just after the momentin which the decisive act of
the letterhavingbeen accomplished,it may be said that
identifying
Dupin alreadyhas the letteras much as if he had seized it, without,
however,as yetbeingin a positionto rid himselfof it.

Virgil'sline reads: facilis descensus Averno.

40
Corneille,Le Cid (II, 2): "A vaincresans peril,on triomphesans
41 Cf.
gloire."(To vanquishwithoutdangeris to triumphwithoutglory).-Ed.

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He is thus, in fact,fullyparticipantin the intersubjectivetriad,

and, as such,in themedianpositionpreviouslyoccupiedby theQueen
and the Minister.Will he, in showinghimselfto be above it,revealto
us at the same timethe author'sintentions?
If he has succeededin returning
the letterto its propercourse,it
remainsforhim to make it arriveat its address.And thataddress is
in the place previouslyoccupied by the King, since it is therethat
it would re-enterthe orderof the Law.
As we have seen, neitherthe King nor the Police who replaced
him in that positionwere able to read the letterbecause that place
entailedblindness.
Rex et augur,the legendary,archaic qualityof the words seems
to resoundonly to impressus withthe absurdityof applyingthemto
a man. And the figuresof history,forsome timenow, hardlyencour-
age us to do so. It is not naturalfor man to bear alone the weight
of the highestof signifiers.
And the place he occupies as soon as he
dons it may be equally apt to become the symbol of the most
outrageousimbecility. 42

Let us say that the King here is investedwith the equivocation

naturalto the sacred,withtheimbecilitywhichprizesnone otherthan
theSubject.43
That is what will give theirmeaningto the characterswho will
follow him in his place. Not that the police should be regardedas
constitutionally and we knowtherole of pikesplantedon the
illiterate,
campus in the birthof the State. But the police who exercisetheir
functionshere are plainlymarkedby the formsof liberalism,thatis,
by those imposed on them by masterson the whole indifferent to

42 We recall the wittycoupletattributed beforehis fall to the mostrecent

in date to have ralliedCandide'smeetingin Venice:
"II n'est plus aujourd'huique cinq rois sur la terre,
Les quatrerois des carteset le roi d'Angleterre."
(There are only fivekingslefton earth: fourkingsof cards and the kingof
England.)
43 For the antithesisof the "sacred,"see Freud's "The AntitheticalSense
of PrimalWords."The idiomtenir a' in thissentencemeans bothto prize and
to be a functionof. The two senses-King and / as Subject-are implicitin
Freud's frequentallusionsto "His Majestythe Ego."-Ed.

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eliminatingtheir indiscreettendencies.Which is why on occasion

wordsare not mincedas to whatis expectedof them: "Sutorne ultra
crepidam,just take care of your crooks. We'll even give you
scientific
means to do it with.That will help you not to thinkof truths
you'd be betteroffleaving in the dark."45
We know thatthereliefwhichresultsfromsuch prudentprinciples
shall have lasted in historybut a morning'stime,that already the
march of destinyis everywherebringingback-a sequel to a just
aspirationto freedom'sreign-an interestin thosewho troubleit with
theircrimes,whichoccasionallygoes so far as to forgeits proofs.It
may even be observed that this practice,which was always well
receivedto theextentthatit was exercisedonlyin favorof thegreatest
number,comes to authenticatedin public confessionsof forgeryby
the very ones who mightvery well object to it: the most recent
manifestation of thepre-eminence over thesubject.
of the signifier
It remains,nevertheless, that a police recordhas always been the
object of a certainreserve,of whichwe have difficulty understanding
thatit amply transcendsthe guild of historians.
It is by dintof thisvanishingcreditthatDupin's intendeddelivery
of the letterto the Prefectof police will diminishits import.What
now remainsof the signifierwhen, already relieved of its message
for the Queen, it is now invalidatedin its text as soon as it leaves
the Minister'shands?
It remainsfor it now only to answerthatveryquestion,of what
remainsof a signifierwhen it has no more signification.
But this is
the same questionasked of it by the personDupin now findsin the
spot markedby blindness.
For thatis indeed the questionwhichhas led the Ministerthere,
if he be the gamblerwe are told and which his act sufficientlyin-
dicates.For the gambler'spassion is nothingbut thatquestionasked
of the signifier,
figuredby the automatonof chance.

44 From Pliny,35, 10, 35: "A cobblernot beyondhis sole.. ."-Ed.

45 This proposal was openly presentedby a noble Lord speakingto the
Upper Chamberin whichhis dignityearnedhim a place.

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"What are you, figureof the die I turnover in your encounter

(tychJ)with my fortune?`6 Nothing,if not that presence of death
which makes of human life a reprieveobtained from morningto
morningin the name of meaningswhose signis yourcrook.Thus did
Scheherazadefor a thousandand one nights,and thus have I done
foreighteenmonths,suffering the ascendancyof this sign at the cost
of a dizzyingseriesof fraudulentturnsat the game of even or odd."
So it is thatDupin, fromthe place he now occupies,cannothelp
feelinga rage of manifestly femininenatureagainsthim who poses
such a question. The prestigiousimage in which the poet's inven-
tivenessand the mathematician'srigor joined up with the serenity
of the dandyand the eleganceof the cheat suddenlybecomes,forthe
verypersonwho invitedus to savorit. the truemonstrum horrendum,
for such are his words,"an unprincipledman of genius."
It is here thatthe originof thathorrorbetraysitself,and he who
experiencesit has no need to declare himself(in a most unexpected
manner)"a partisanof the lady" in order to reveal it to us: it is
known that ladies detest calling principlesinto question,for their
charmsowe much to the mystery of the signifier.
Whichis whyDupin will at last turntowardus themedusoidface
of the signifiernothingbut whose obverseanyoneexcept the Queen
has been able to read. The commonplaceof the quotationis fitting
for the oracle that face bears in its grimace,as is also its source in
tragedy: "...Un destinsi funeste,/ S'il n'est digne d'Atrc6e,est digne
de Thyeste."47
So runsthe signifier's
answer,above and beyondall significations:
"You thinkyou act whenI stiryou at themercyof thebonds through
whichI knot your desires.Thus do theygrowin forceand multiply
in objects,bringingyou back to the fragmentation
of your shattered

46 We note the fundamental oppositionAristotlemakes betweenthe two

herein theconceptualanalysisof chancehe givesin his Physics.
termsrecalledA
Many discussionswould be illuminatedby a knowledgeof it.
47 Lacan misquotesCrebillon (as well as Poe and Baudelaire) here by
writingdestin(destiny)insteadof dessein(scheme).As a resulthe is free to
pursue his remarkabledevelopmenton the tragic Don Juan ("multiplyin
objects ... stone guest).-Ed.

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 Yale French Studies

childhood.So be it: such will be your feast untilthe returnof the

stone guestI shall be foryou since you call me forth."
Or, to returnto a more moderatetone,let us say, as in the quip
with which-along with some of you who had followedus to the
ZurichCongresslast year-we renderedhomageto thelocal password,
the signifier'sanswer to whomeverinterrogatesit is: "Eat your
Dasein."
Is that then what awaits the Minister at a rendez-vouswith
destiny?Dupin assuresus of it,but we have alreadylearnednot to be
too credulousof his diversions.
No doubtthe brazencreatureis herereducedto the stateof blind-
ness whichis man's in relationto the letterson the wall thatdictate
his destiny.But what effect,in callinghim to confrontthem,may we
expectfromthe sole provocationsof the Queen, on a man like him?
Love or hatred.The formeris blindand will make him lay down his
arms. The latteris lucid,but will awaken his suspicions,But if he is
trulythe gamblerwe are told he is, he will consulthis cards a final
timebeforelayingthemdown and, upon readinghis hand,will leave
the table in timeto avoid disgrace.48
Is thatall, and shall we believe we have decipheredDupin's real
strategyabove and beyond the imaginarytrickswithwhich he was
obliged to deceive us? No doubt, yes, for if "any point requiring
reflection," as Dupin statesat the start,is "examinedto best purpose
in the dark," we may now easily read its solutionin broad daylight.
It was alreadyimplicitand easy to derivefromthe titleof our tale,
accordingto the veryformulawe have long submittedto yourdiscre-
tion: in whichthe sender,we tell you, receivesfromthe receiverhis
own message in reverseform.Thus it is that what the "purloined
letter,"nay, the "letterin sufferance"means is that a letteralways
arrivesat its destination.

Mehlman
Translatedby Jeffrey

48 Thusnothingshall(have)happen(ed)-thefinalturnin Lacan'stheatre
of thatemptypresent
of lack.Yet withinthesimplicity themostviolentof
(pre-)Oedipal
dramas-Atreus,Thyestes-shall haveplayeditselfout.-
silently
Ed.

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