Protagonist

Protagonist (pronounced proh-tag-uh-nist)

(1) The leading character or hero of a performance or literary work.

(2) A proponent for or a political or other cause (from an incorrect construction but now widely used).

(3) The leader or principal advocate of a political or other cause.

(4) The first actor in ancient Greek drama, who played not only the main role, but also other roles when the main character was off-stage and was thus first amongst deuteragonists and tritagonists.

1671: From the Ancient Greek πρωταγωνιστής (prōtagōnistḗs) (actor who plays the first part; principal character in a story, drama), the literal translation being “first combatant” and according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the word first appeared in English in 1671 in the writings of the English poet, literary critic, translator and playwright John Dryden (1631–1700).  The construct was πρῶτος (prôtos) (first) + ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs) (one who contends for a prize; a combatant; an actor), from the primitive Indo-European root per (forward (hence "in front of, first, chief")) + agōnistēs (actor, competitor), from agōn (contest), from the primitive Indo-European root ag- (to drive, draw out or forth, move).  The link between the two is the notion of one who contends for some prize in a contest (agōn).  The general meaning "leading person in any cause or contest" is from 1889. The mistaken sense of "advocate, supporter" (1935) is from misunderstanding of the Greek prōt- meaning the same as the Latin pro- (for; in favor of) (thus the comparison with antagonist).  The Deuteragonist "second person or actor in a drama", is attested from 1840.  The general meaning "leading person in any cause or contest" seems first to have been used only as late as 1889.  Linguistic sloppiness saw some, by 1935, add the sense of "advocate or supporter", probably from a misreading of the Greek prōt & prōtos, either equating or confusing it with the Latin pro (for).  More than tolerated, it seems in English to have become a standard meaning and is often used in sub-electoral politics.  The relatively rare silver medallist, the deuteragonist (second person or actor in a drama), is attested from 1840.

The protagonist’s opponent is the antagonist (from the Ancient Greek ἀνταγωνιστής (antagōnistḗs) (opponent)) and in classical Greek drama, the protagonist was the hero, the antagonist the villain.  A protagonist was central to the plot, although, there could be sub-plots, each narrative with its own protagonist.  There were plays with two protagonists tangled in one plot, but that happened where the first had died, the second then assuming the role.  Some playwrights would introduce false protagonists, soon to vanish.  Modern material (as opposed to the modernist), does not always adhere to the classical Greek form.  For content-providers, especially on screens, having multiple protagonists within the one plot is far from unusual.

In his highly recommended book The Surgeon of Crowthorne (1998), historian Simon Winchester (b 1944) noted the dispute between two of the great authorities in the matter of the English language: the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and Henry Watson Fowler (1858–1933), author of A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926).  The OED quoted Dryden’s passage from 1671 (the first known instance in English of “protagonist”) in which the poet used the word in the plural whereas, as Henry Fowler well knew, in any Greek drama there could only ever be one protagonist.  It had of course always been possible for a critic to write about protagonists if comparing two or more productions but that was a function of syntax, not meaning.  Henry Fowler disapproved of much which was modern and in the matter of a play with two protagonists, he rules not only was that wrong but also “absurd” because, a protagonist being the most important figure in the text, there couldn’t be two: “One is either the most important person or one is not”.  So Fowler’s entry of 1926 and the OED’s of two years later stood for decades as contrary judgements, factions in support of one or the other presumably forms from the handful of earnest souls on the planet who care about such things.  When Sir Ernest Gowers (1880–1966) revised A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (the second edition published in 1965), he retained Fowler’s original condemnatory paragraphs but added a coda, noting the original sense from Antiquity but acknowledging that in a dynamic, living language like English, meanings can shift and words can be re-appropriated, adding that in the case of “protagonist”, it seemed “The temptation to regard protagonist as the antonym of antagonist seems irresistible…”  In 1981 when the OED published one of their supplements, it was made clear Fowler was correct if the word is used in the context of Greek theatre (for which it was coined) but that English had moved on and there had for at least centuries been works of fiction with two or more characters of equal importance and it was both convenient and well understood by all when they were so labelled.            

Lindsay Lohan, vampiric protagonist

Directed by Tiago Mesquita with a screenplay by Mark Morgan, Among the Shadows is a thriller which straddles the genres, elements of horror and the supernatural spliced in as required.  Although in production since 2015, with the shooting in London and Rome not completed until the next year, it wasn’t until 2018 when, at the European Film Market, held in conjunction with the Berlin International Film Festival, that Tombstone Distribution listed it, the distribution rights acquired by VMI, Momentum and Entertainment One, and VMI Worldwide.  In 2019, it was released progressively on DVD and video on demand (VOD), firstly in European markets, the UK release delayed until mid-2020.  In some markets, for reasons unknown, it was released with the title The Shadow Within.

It was Lindsay Lohan’s first film since The Canyons (2013).  In Among the Shadows, she plays a character married to an EU politician, a hint it’s somewhere on the horror continuum, the twist being she’s also a vampire.  Which makes sense.  When you think about it.  What unfolds is a murky mix of political intrigue and mass-murder in which the vampire and a woman with her own secrets are thrown together as protagonists struggling to stop the politician being horribly slaughtered by a pack of werewolves.

That may have been the flaw in the plot.  A film in which most of the members of the European Council, European Commission and (perhaps especially) the European Parliament are murdered by werewolves, preferably in the bloodiest ways imaginable, would probably have been a blockbuster.  Even without social distancing, from Bristol to Berlin, the queues outside cinemas would likely have stretched for blocks.  As it was, without the bodies of eurocrats piled high, critical and commercial reaction was muted, some interesting technical points raised about the editing and even the sequence of filming.  Still, it’s Lohan-noir, Lindsay as a vampire, gruesome killings, werewolves and a Scottish detective, just the movie for a first date during a pandemic.  There is a trailer.

Act

Act (pronounced akt)

(1) Anything done, being done, or to be done; deed; performance.

(2) The process of doing.

(3) A formal decision, law, or the like, by a legislature, ruler, court, or other authority; decree or edict; statute; judgment, resolve, or award (with initial capital when part of a name).  An act is created by a legislature passing a bill.

(4) An instrument or document stating something done or transacted.

(5) One of the main divisions of a play or opera.

(6) A short performance by one or more entertainers, usually part of a variety show or radio or television program or the personnel of such a group.

(7) A false show; pretense; feint.

(8) In scholasticism (a medieval school of philosophy), (1) activity in process; operation, (2) the principle or power of operation, (3) form as determining essence & (4) a state of realization, as opposed to potentiality (an occurrence effected by the volition of a human agent, usually opposed at least as regards its explanation to one which is causally determined).

(9) To do something; exert energy or force; be employed or operative.

(10) To reach, make, or issue a decision on some matter.

(11) To operate or function in a particular way; perform specific duties or functions.

(12) To produce an effect; perform a function; to behave or conduct oneself in a particular fashion.

(13) To pretend; feign.

(14) to represent (a fictitious or historical character) with one's person; to perform as an actor.

(15) To serve or substitute (usually followed by for).

(16) To actuate, to move to action; to actuate; to animate (obsolete).

(17) As ACT, the initialization for Australian Capital Territory, a federal territory created for the establishment of Canberra as Australia’s capital city.

(18) In certain English universities, a thesis maintained publicly by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student.

(19) In mathematics, construed with on or upon, of a group; to map via a homomorphism to a group of automorphisms.

(20) In Scottish law, to enact, decree (obsolete).

1350–1400: From the Middle English act & acte, from the Old French acte, from the Latin ācta (register of events), plural of āctum (decree, law (later “something done”)), noun use of the past participle of agere (to set in motion, drive, drive forward", hence "to do, perform" and figuratively "incite to action; keep in movement, stir up" a verb with a broad range of meaning in Latin, including "act on stage, play the part of; plead a cause at law; chase; carry off, steal”), the construct being āg- (past participle stem) + -tum (the neuter past participle suffix) and directly from the Latin āctus (a doing; a driving, impulse, a setting in motion; a part in a play), the construct being āg- + -tus (the suffix of verbal action); the ultimate source was the primitive Indo-European héǵeti. The word partially displaced deed (which endured also to enjoy a specific meaning in law), from the Old English dǣd (act, deed).  Source of it all was the primitive Indo-European root ag- (to drive, draw out or forth, move).  The present participle is acting, the past participle acted.

The theatrical (part of a play (from the 1510s)) and the early fifteenth century legislative senses of the word existed also in Latin although the idea of "one of a series of performances in a variety show" seems not to have been in use until the 1890s although such forms of entertainment were by then long-established.  The (usually disparaging) use to suggest a "display of exaggerated behavior" is from 1928, extended from the theatrical sense.  The "act of God” (a natural force or event uncontrollable by man) was first recorded in 1726 as a legal term to refer to matters in which plaintiffs could not sue for compensation or relief because the consequent losses could not by anyone have been “…guarded against by the ordinary exertions of human skill and prudence so as to prevent its effect.”  Even Adolf Hitler (who wasn't fond of of churches and priests (the Roman Catholic ones he called "black crows") found it often convenient to invoke the name of the Almighty) found the concept helpful, describing the destruction of the Hindenburg dirigible in 1937 as “an act of God”.  The word had been in the language of law for a while, an act in the 1590s understood as something "in the process" and legal scholars link this with the late sixteenth century use of act as a euphemism for "sexual intercourse”.

The verb was a mid fifteenth century development from the noun and most of the modern senses in English probably are from the noun.  In the mid 1400s, it began with the sense of "to act upon or adjudicate in legal matters” before from circa 1600 coming to be used in the familiar general meaning of "to do, perform, transact", extended to things in the sense of "do something, exert energy or force”, by 1751, a use which would become increasingly common in physics and cosmology.  In theatrical performances, from the 1590s it meant to "perform as an actor" (intransitive) and by the 1610s "represent by performance on the stage" (transitive). The meaning "perform specific duties or functions," often on a temporary basis, had come into use by 1804 and was given a new legitimacy when the Duke of Wellington (1769–1852; UK prime-minister 1828-1830) was described as “acting prime-minister” between November-December 1834 while awaiting the return from Italy of the king’s appointee.  One verb form which in general use didn’t survive was co-act ("to act together in a performance), noted from circa 1600 and which begat co-action; co-active; co-actor etc although co-act (and variations) is still sometimes used in scientific papers.

To “act on” in the sense of "to exert influence upon" entered general use in the 1810s, the adoption encouraged by the increasing appearance of the phrase in scientific literature.  To “act up” came by 1900 mean "be unruly" (in reference to a horse in the same way bolter (ie “to bolt” in the sense of “gallop off without warning”)) was used, a reversal of the earlier meaning "acting in accordance with a duty, expectation, or belief” which dates from 1645.  To “act out” (behave anti-socially) was part of the jargon of psychiatry noted first in 1974; it meant "expressing one's unconscious impulses or desires", following “acting out” (abnormal behavior caused by unconscious influences) from 1945.

The idiomatic forms are legion.  “To get into the act” (participate) dates from 1947 and “to get (one's) act together” (organize one's chaotic life) is said not to have been used until the mid-1970s which seems surprising but more than one source records this.  The idea of the “one-act” was borrowed from the literal “one act play” (a performance consisting of a single act), noted since 1888, the figurative use suggesting either brevity or inadequacy depending on context.  The verb overact (to go too far in action) faded from use except in its original sense from the theatre where it described an actor “playing a part with too much emphasis; an extravagant and unnatural manner”.  The theatrical slang encapsulating this was “chewing the scenery", which sounds modern but dates from the 1630s.  To “act one’s age” is to behave in a manner befitting the maturity one is presumed to have attained at a certain stage in life.  An “act of faith” is to embark on a course of action on either (1) a basis of trust rather than any guarantee or (2) as a demonstration one's religious faith.

Acts & Scenes

William Shakespeare agitprop.

The act is a major division in many performance pieces such as plays, film, opera etc and frequently (though not of necessity) consists of a number of scenes, the concept dating from the theatre of antiquity.  Traditionally, the division of a work into acts and scenes was undertaken by the author but such delineations, especially of older material, can be made by critics or those applying academic analysis and where the notion of authorship can become blurred (such as a film director interpreting a text), there can be variations from the original, something sometimes controversial.  The application of the concept (and the labels) of acts and scenes is widely applied to many forms of entertainment, sometimes to provide a structural framework and sometimes, one suspects, to lend a not always deserved gravitas.  In the production of more recent material, commercial imperatives can also dictate the divisions, the single intermission a common occurrence which renders a performance inherently a two-stage event in some sense.

The three-act structure.

The number of acts in a piece need not bear any relationship to its length although this certainly is the general tendency, a one act play usually a deliberately short work.  Although the five act structure had until the early nineteenth century been most frequently used by playwrights, many analysts suggest this was a kind of formalism, a deferential (and perhaps devotional) nod to William Shakespeare (circa 1564–1616) who usually adhered to the five act model in his plays.  The bard had his reasons and there is a discernible rhythm as his five acts evolve but none the less, even in the most intricate of his plays, it’s possible convincingly to map onto them the now conventional three act structure.

The three act structure.

The three-act structure can simply and unexceptionally be understood as the beginning, the middle and the end.  It is in act one that the nature of the conflict is established and the identities of the protagonist and antagonist are revealed (or in the case of the latter, at least alluded to.  During the second act, difficulties will arise, these the dramatic device which seem to create the insurmountable obstacle which much defeat the protagonist.  In the third act, there will be a climax (and perhaps anti-climaxes), the point at which all seems finally lost for the protagonist.  However, despite it all, the protagonist prevails and, even if they die, the circumstances will be such that resolution attained is sufficient to satisfy the moral point to be made.

F Scott Fitzgerald with wife Zelda (Zelda Sayre, 1900-1948).

F Scott Fitzgerald’s (1896–1940) oft-quoted phrase “there are no second acts in American lives” appears as a fragment in his posthumously published, unfinished novel The Last Tycoon (1941) but he first published it in the early 1930s in the essay My Lost City, a kind of love letter to New York.  The quote is frequently misunderstood as an observation that for those Americans who suffer disgrace or destitution, there is no redemption, no coming back.

Second (third, fourth etc) act specialist: Lindsay Lohan mug-shots 2007-2011.

However, from politics to pop culture, there are many examples of temporarily disreputable Americans resurrecting their public lives from all but the most ignominious opprobrium.  Fitzgerald was a professional writer and his observation was an allusion to the structure used by playwrights in traditional three-act theater: (1) problem, (2) complication & (3) solution.  He thought the nature of the American mind was to prefer to skip the second act, going straight from a problem to finding a solution.  His point was well-made and it’s one of the themes of the narrative which underlies the discussions (which became arguments and sometimes squabbles) of military and political strategy between Washington and London during the Second World War.

Typology

Typology (pronounced tahy-pol-uh-jee)

(1) The doctrine or study of types or pre-figurative symbols.

(2) A systematic classification or study of types and the systematic classification of the types of something according to their common characteristics.

(3) In linguistics, the study and classification of languages according to structural features, especially patterns of phonology, morphology, and syntax, without reference to their histories.

(4) In archaeology, the result of the classification of things according to their characteristics.

(5) In Biblical scholarship, the study of symbolic representation, particularly the origin and meaning of Scripture types.

(6) In theology, the doctrine or study of types or of the correspondence between them and the realities which they typify.

1835–1845:  A compound word, the construct being typo- + -logy.  The Middle English type (symbol, figure, emblem) was from the Latin typus, from the Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos) (mark, impression, type), from τύπτω (túptō) (I strike, beat).  The –ology suffix was also a construct, built from -o- (an interconsonantal vowel) +‎ -logy.  The English -logy suffix originates with loanwords from the Greek, usually via Latin and French, where the suffix (-λογία) is an integral part of the word loaned such as astrology from astrologia, the practice since the sixteenth century.  The French -logie is a continuation of the Latin -logia, ultimately from the Ancient Greek -λογία (-logía).  In Greek, the suffix is an -ία (-ía) abstract from λόγος (logos) (account, explanation, narrative), itself a verbal noun from λέγω (légō) (I say, speak, converse, tell a story).  In English, the suffix has long been productive, especially to form the names of scientific disciplines, analogous to names of disciplines loaned from the Latin, such as geology from geologia.  Original compositions of terms with no precedent in Greek or Latin become common in the late eighteenth century, sometimes imitating French or German templates; insectology (after the French insectologie (1766) and terminology after German terminologie (1801).  From the nineteenth century, the suffix was applied to words with no Greek or Latin origin, such as undergroundology (1820) and hatology (1837).  In the twentieth century, it began liberally to be applied to for amusing yet useful words (such as Kremlinology) and sometime satirically (garbageology, burgerology, footballology et al).  Typology & typologist are nouns and typological & typologic are adjectives; the noun plural is typologies.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

In pop-psychology, one of the most popular tests is the so-called "16 Personalities Test", a multi-choice exercise in typology which determines one’s place in the sixteen.  The model is that of the original Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) which uses a combination of four letters to represent different personality types.  The four letters are drawn from:

(E) Extraversion: How much one focuses on the outer world versus inner world.

(I) Introversion: How much one focuses on the inner world vs. outer world.

(S) Sensing: How one processes information through the senses and concrete experience.

(N) Intuition: How one processes information through patterns and possibilities.

(T) Thinking: How one makes decisions based on objective analysis and logic.

(F) Feeling: How one makes decisions based on subjective values and emotions.

(J) Judging: How one prefers a structured, organized, and planned lifestyle.

(P) Perceiving: How one prefers a flexible, adaptable, and spontaneous lifestyle.

Bolted on to the four letter string is an additional –A or –T.  The (-A) applies to those who are Assertive Advocates who see things through a filter that values humanity and want to have people (in limited introverted doses) in their lives.  The (-T) people are Turbulent Advocates who are more likely to go beyond merely wanting people in their lives.

Lindsay Lohan, suspected ESFP

Most sites which list celebrities as illustrative examples of the type categorize Lindsay Lohan as ESFP (Entertainer) although some also put her in the INFJ (advocate) list and variation between tests is not unusual because a single different answer can change the allocation.  For an actor to be found to be "an entertainer" is obviously uncontroversial, the interest presumably in the appended -A or -T which would depend on variations in the answers.  The test has always been popular although the profession doesn’t regard as serious science and its origin actually was a reaction by someone who though the orthodox scientific approaches were needlessly complex.  In its original form it was first published in 1944 and has been often since revised.  Pseudoscience or not, it’s great fun and there are worse ways of deciding whether or not to marry one’s boyfriend.  Grouped into four categories, the sixteen types are:

Analysts

(1) Architect (INTJ-A / INTJ-T): Imaginative and strategic thinkers, with a plan for everything.

(2) Logician (INTP-A / INTP-T): Innovative inventors with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.

(3) Commander (ENTJ-A / ENTJ-T): Bold, imaginative and strong-willed leaders, always finding a way – or making one.

(4) Debater (ENTP-A / ENTP-T): Smart and curious thinkers who cannot resist an intellectual challenge.

Diplomats

(5) Advocate (INFJ-A / INFJ-T): Quiet and mystical, yet very inspiring and tireless idealists.

(6) Mediator (INFP-A / INFP-T): Poetic, kind and altruistic people, always eager to help a good cause.

(7) Protagonist (ENFJ-A / ENFJ-T): Charismatic and inspiring leaders, able to mesmerize their listeners.

(8) Campaigner (ENFP-A / ENFP-T): Enthusiastic, creative and sociable free spirits, who can always find a reason to smile.

Sentinels

(9) Logistician (ISTJ-A / ISTJ-T): Practical and fact-minded individuals, whose reliability cannot be doubted.

(10) Defender (ISFJ-A / ISFJ-T): Very dedicated and warm protectors, always ready to defend their loved ones.

(11) Executive (ESTJ-A / ESTJ-T): Excellent administrators, unsurpassed at managing things – or people.

(12) Consul (ESFJ-A / ESFJ-T): Extraordinarily caring, social and popular people, always eager to help.

Explorers

(13) Virtuoso (ISTP-A / ISTP-T): Bold and practical experimenters, masters of all kinds of tools.

(14) Adventurer (ISFP-A / ISFP-T): Flexible and charming artists, always ready to explore and experience something new.

(15) Entrepreneur (ESTP-A / ESTP-T): Smart, energetic and very perceptive people, who truly enjoy living on the edge.

(16) Entertainer (ESFP-A / ESFP-T): Spontaneous, energetic and enthusiastic people – life is never boring around them.

The difference between between Typology and Allegory in Biblical scholarship

Typology is an approach to the interpretation of the Scriptures found in the New Testament itself and in the writings of the early Church, which sees certain people and events in the Old Testament (Types) as foreshadowing things fulfilled in the New Testament (Antitypes). This is related to, but distinct from, allegory.  The opinions of those in the early Church were never monolithic, the view being that Scripture had different levels of meaning which included the literal or historical sense of the text, but could also have an allegorical, or a typological meaning.  A text also has a moral sense and an anagogical or mystical sense. That a text had an allegorical or typological meaning did not negate the historical sense, it being just another way of understanding the text.

Typology stresses the connection between actual persons, events, places, and institutions of the Old Testament, and their corresponding reality in the New Testament which they foreshadowed.  Moses the Lawgiver foreshadows Christ, the ultimate Lawgiver.  Aaron, the high priest, foreshadows Christ, the ultimate High Priest.  Manna, which fed the people in the wilderness foreshadows the Christ the Heavenly Bread (the Eucharist), which provides ultimate spiritual nourishment.  The classic example is probably the The Burning Bush which foreshadows the Theotokos.  In the book of Exodus, God calls Moses on Mount Horeb from the midst of a bush which "was burning, yet it was not consumed".  The Church sees the Unburnt Bush on Horeb as a type of the Most Holy Theotokos, who gave birth to Christ while still while remaining a virgin.

Allegory finds hidden or symbolic meaning in the Old Testament, which is inherent in text and does not depend on a future historical fulfillment; for example, I Corinthians 9:8-10 sees the law forbidding the muzzling of an ox while it treads the corn as having the hidden meaning that a minister of the Gospel should be supported by the people he ministers to.  The Song of Solomon is also often interpreted as an allegory of God (the Lover), and His love for His people (the beloved). The allegorical approach also often sees multiple correspondences in a given narrative which illustrate some point. For example, St Paul explicitly uses allegory in Galatians 4, in which he sees the child of the slave woman (Hagar) as representing those under the Law, while the child of the free woman (Sarah) as representing those under the New Covenant, and the casting out of Hagar and Ishmael as representing the inferiority of the Old Covenant to the New (Galatians 4:21-31).

Pale

Pale (pronounced peyl)

(1) Light-colored or lacking in color.

(2) Someone lacking their usual intensity of color due to fear, illness, stress etc.

(3) Not bright or brilliant; dim.

(4) Faint or feeble; lacking vigor (mostly archaic).

(5) To seem less important, significant, remarkable etc, especially when compared with something or someone else.

(6) A stake or picket, as of a fence.

(7) An enclosing or confining barrier; enclosure; a district or region within designated bounds; to encircle or encompass.

(8) Limits; bounds (now rare except if used figuratively in the phrase “beyond the pale”).

(9) In heraldry, an ordinary (band) in the form of a broad vertical stripe at the centre of an escutcheon.

(10) In shipbuilding, a shore used inside to support the deck beams of a hull under construction.

(11) In some of the dialectical English spoken in southern Africa, a euphemism for white.

1375-1400: From the Middle French Palle, from the twelfth century Old French paile & paleir (pale, light-colored (pâle in the Modern French)), from the Latin pallidus (pale, pallid, wan, colorless), from pallēre (be pale, grow pale) from the primitive Indo-European root pel- (pale) of which pallid is a doublet.  Pel was a significant root in many languages and productive, forming all or part of appall; falcon; fallow (in its adjectival sense), pallid, pallor, palomino, Peloponnesus, polio & poliomyelitis.  The linkages were many including the Sanskrit palitah (gray) & panduh (whitish, pale), the Greek pelios (livid, dark) & polios (gray (of hair, wolves, waves)), the Latin pallere (to be pale) & pallidus, the Old Church Slavonic plavu, the Lithuanian palvas (sallow), the Welsh llwyd (gray) and the Old English fealo & fealu (dull-colored, yellow, brown).  Pel also forms the root of words for "pigeon" in Greek (peleia), Latin (palumbes) and Old Prussian (poalis).

As an adjectival descriptor of color, it seems first, from the early fourteenth century to have been applied to human skin-tone and complexion to convey the sense of “whitish appearance, bloodless, pallid".  From the mid-fourteenth century it began to be used as a modifier to nuance the tones of colors in the sense of “lacking chromatic intensity, approaching white".  Late in the century, use was extended to non-human objects or substances (such as ales and other liquors) at which time it became also a frequent figurative form.  Paleface, is said to be a translation of a Native American word form noted in several dialects meaning "European"; attested from 1822 in American English, there are suggestions the tale may be apocryphal and a creation of the palefaces themselves.

The noun paling (stake, pole, stake for vines) was an early thirteenth century adoption of the circa 1200 Anglo Latin from the Old French pal and directly from the Latin palus (stake, prop, wooden post), source also of the Spanish and Italian palo, from the primitive Indo-European pakslo-, a suffixed form of the root pag- (to fasten) and a doublet of pole.  By the 1550s, the adjective form existed to refer to a fence made from palings, formed by connecting the pointed vertical stakes by horizontal rails above and below.

Romanian Vlad the Impaler postage stamp, 1976.

Paling is a word still used in fencing and impale is related.  In the 1520s, impale meant "to enclose with stakes, fence in", from the French empaler or directly from the Medieval Latin impalare (to push onto a stake).  The now better remembered sense "pierce with a pointed stake" (as torture or capital punishment) dates from circa 1610-1630.  In the popular imagination it’s associated especially with the Romanian Vlad the Impaler (Vlad III, circa 1430-circa 1477, thrice Voivode of Wallachia, 1448-Circa 1477).  One of his favorite methods of torture and execution (there’s often a bit of overlap in these matters) was said to be impalement but some of the more lurid tales of his cruelty may be from the imagination of the medieval mind though his rule is thought to have been severe.  Regardless, he remains a Romanian folk hero.

From the late fourteenth century paling came to refer to the constructed boundary as well as the components, understood generally to describe a "fence of pointed stakes", Paler as a surname meaning "fence-builder" being recorded from late twelfth century.  Another Middle English form of the word in the sense of "fence, paling, wall of an enclosure" sense, based on the plural, was the late fourteenth century pales or palis, the surname Paliser attested from early in the century.  Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) used the variant Palliser in his “parliamentary novels” (1864-1879) as the name for the repressed protagonist; Trollope took care with the selection of his character’s names.

Palisade (a fence of strong stakes), is attested from circa 1600 and was from the fifteenth century French palisade, from the Provençal palissada, from palissa (a stake or paling), from the Gallo-Roman palicea, from the Latin palus (stake) from the primitive Indo-European pakslo-.  The earlier Italian form was palisade, noted since the 1580s.  Palisades entered military jargon circa 1690 and described "close rows of strong pointed wooden stakes fixed in the ground as a defensive fortification", a use which remains a standard part of costal defenses against seaborn invasion.  The trap-rock precipices along the Hudson River opposite New York City were named The Palisades in 1823.  The word remains popular with property developers searching for a word with connotations of elevation and luxury.

Three images of a pale Lindsay Lohan.

In English, pale, pallid and wan imply an absence or faintness of color, especially when used to describe the human countenance.  Pale suggests a faintness or absence of color, which may be natural when applied to objects but when used to descript a human face usually means an unnatural and often temporary absence of color, as arising from sickness or sudden emotion.  Pallid, used almost exclusively to describe the human countenance, implies an excessive paleness induced by intense emotion, disease or death.  Wan implies a sickly paleness, usually as a consequence of illness.

The figurative sense of "limit, boundary, restriction" dates from circa 1400 and referenced the notion of "an enclosed space," hence "district or region within determined bounds" and later it meant "territory held by power of a nation or people".  The more modern idiomatic use, referring to the behavior of a person as “beyond the bounds of morality or social acceptability”, is not without critics but now so common it’s doubtless now the assumed meaning.  Using the phrase in the modern sense, in 2009, during one of their many squabbles, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson (b 1941) said of his Liverpool counterpart, Rafael Benitez (b 1960), "…he's beyond the pale”.  It’s said they’ve not since made up.

The English Pale in Medieval Ireland (1450).

Catherine the Great (Catherine II, 1729–1796; reigning empress of Russia 1762-1796) created the cherta (postaoyannoy yewreskoy) osedlosti (Pale of Settlement) in Russia in 1791. This was the name given to the western border region of the country (modern-day Belarus & Moldova and parts of the Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia and western Russia) in which Jews were allowed to live, the motive being to restrict trade between Jews and native Russians.  In a process something like COVID-19 travel exemptions, some Jews were allowed, as a concession, to live “beyond the pale”.  Pales had been enforced in other European countries for similar political reasons.  During the late Medieval period, the Pale (An Pháil in the Irish), often described as the English Pale (An Pháil Shasanach or An Ghalltacht), was that part of Ireland administered directly the English government and the Pale of Calais was formed by the French as early as 1360.

The first printed instance of the phrase is in John Harington's (1560-1612) lyric poem The History of Polindor and Flostella (1657).  In the verse Ortheris withdraws with his beloved to a country lodge for “quiet, calm and ease” but later they’re tempted to wander:

"Both Dove-like roved forth beyond the pale to planted Myrtle-walk".

Clearly it was conveyed no good comes from venturing beyond the pale for soon the lovers are set upon by attacked by armed robbers with “many a dire killing thrust”.

Absinthe or Absinth

Absinthe or Absinth (pronounced ab-sinth)

(1) A green, aromatic liqueur (alcohol content 45-74%), made with wormwood and other herbs, it has a bitter, liquorice flavour; has from time-to-time been banned in many Western countries.  Technically, because of the high wormwood content, it’s a gin.  The colloquial name was green fairy.

(2) An alternative name for the herb Artemisia absinthium (grande wormwood); essence of wormwood which correctly should be spelled only absinth).

(3) Bitterness; sorrow (archaic except for poetic use).

(4) A shade (a spectrum from yellow-green to a quite bright hue),labeled on color charts as “absinthe green”.

(5) A rare alternative name for the sagebrush (US).

1350-1470: From the French absinthe (essence of wormwood (short for extrait d'absinthe)), from the Latin absinthium (wormwood and a doublet of absinthium), from the Ancient Greek ἀψίνθιον (apsínthion) (wormwood) of uncertain origin although its speculated the source may be a Persian root (spand or aspand, or the variant esfand) which meant Peganum harmala, also called Syrian Rue which, while not actually a variety of rue, is another famously bitter herb.  The alternative etymology is that the genus was named after Queen Artemisia, the wife and sister of Mausolus, ruler of Caria 377–353.  When Mausolus died, he was buried in the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and traces of the ruins can still be seen at Bodrum in modern-day Turkey.  In the Hellenic myths, Ἄρτεμις (Artemis) was  goddess of the hunt, and protector of the forest and children; her equivalent in Roman mythology was Diana.  Absinthe & absinthism are nouns and absinthic is an adjective; the noun plural is absinthes.

The highly alcoholic, anise-flavored liquor originally made from grande wormwood, anise, and other herbs was first distilled in 1842, lending its name to the yellow-green color which became commercially available in the late 1800s.  The early spelling was absinth (which survived longer than absynthe and absenta) and although extinct in English use, absinth is the spelling variant most commonly applied to varieties of the spirit produced in Central and Eastern Europe and is specifically associated with Bohemian-style absinthes.  The wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) plant itself has long been figurative of "bitter" sorrow and was known in English as absinth in English from circa 1500; the earlier tradition, drawn from the Old English, used the word in the Latin form.  The drink first gained popularity in Europe after being consumed in some abundance by French soldiers in Algiers.  In North Africa, there was a long fascination with absinthe, historians noting it had been associated with “magical properties” as far back as ancient Egypt.

Before being outlawed in many Western countries in the early twentieth century, it was known colloquially as the green fairy, a “green muse” who would visit to liberate the visions of poets and artists.  The health authorities fretted over the alleged hallucinogenic qualities and, after a bit of a moral panic, imposed a ban.  Historians of such things suspect the spirit probably generally didn't induce hallucinations to anywhere near the extent of the legends of the era suggest and that its reputation was probably gained from excessive consumption of mixes with unusually high concentrations of wormwood being sold, the regulation of the content of strong drink paying little attention to anything except the taxable component (alcohol).  However, absinthe is again available in Australia; a 750 ml (25 oz) bottle of Vedrenne Elie Arnaud Denoix Mythe including a drip-spoon (sugar cubes not included) is available at Aus$100.00.

Death in the afternoon

Death in the Afternoon, also called The Hemingway or Hemingway Champagne, is a mix of absinthe and Champagne, invented by Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) himself.  The concoction shares its name with a novel from his “bullfighting, bull-slinging, & bullshit” period (Death in the Afternoon (1932)), the recipe published in a 1935 anthology of cocktails with contributions from noted authors. 

(1) Pour one jigger of absinthe into a Champagne glass.

(2) Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness.

(3) Drink three to five of these, slowly.

Traditional French Method

(1) Pour a shot (1oz/30ml) of absinthe into a tall, wide rimmed glass.

(2) Rest specially slotted absinthe spoon across top of the glass.

(3) Place a sugar cube atop absinthe spoon.

(4) Slowly drizzle ice-cold water over sugar cube so water is evenly displaced into absinthe until drink is diluted to a ratio between 3:1 and 5:1.

(5) Stir gently and enjoy.

Bohemian Method

(1) Pour a shot (1oz/30ml) of absinthe into a tall, wide rimmed glass.

(2) Put lump of sugar on a spoon and dip it in the absinthe until cube is saturated.

(3) Hold spoon over glass and set the cube alight; it will bubble and caramelize.

(4) When flame has died down, stir sugar into absinthe.

(5) Add iced-water until drink is diluted to a ratio between 3:1 and 5:1.

(6) Stir gently and enjoy.

French purists disapprove of these Bohemian ways, claiming the caramelizing of the sugar impairs the true flavor of absinthe.

Ernest Hemingway wasn’t the only one fond of the green fairy.  Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) is claimed to have said “After the first glass of absinthe you see things as you wish they were. After the second you see them as they are not. Finally you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.”  He applied his empirical research into the spirit’s psychoactive and degenerative properties in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890-1891) in which the eponymous protagonist takes those staples of decadent Victorian hedonism, opium and absinthe, in seedy places among London's Docklands.

The French poet Paul Verlaine (1844–1896) was famously fond of absinthe, his lust for the spirit shared with his lover and fellow poet Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891), the pair having a drunken tiff during which Rimbaud was shot, sustaining a minor wound.  After that, Verlaine’s alcoholism worsened and he died in poverty, on his deathbed damning as “the green witch” which governments should ban.  Rimbaud may have been more open-minded, one of his works containing the line: “Wise pilgrims, let us reach / The Absinthe with its green pillars.”  Shortly after being shot, he renounced poetry, briefly serving in the military before deserting to take up a life in commerce.

Le Buveur d'absinthe (The Absinthe Drinker (1859)) by Édouard Manet (1832-1883).

The first major painting by the French painter Édouard Manet was Le Buveur d'absinthe, a study of an alcoholic rag-picker who frequented the area around the Louvre.  The work caused a stir in polite society because of its seedy realism and the concern at the time about the corrosive effects of absinthe among Parisian bohemians and although there’s nothing to prove Manet was even an occasional drinker of the stuff, he did among some gain the reputation on the basis of "guilt by association".  Very few in the art establishment liked the painting and even Manet would later admit the earliest version of the work contained technical flaws but it was the content which so offended and there was something of the "shock of the new" in that it was one of the first depictions of Absinth drinking in representational art.  Manet submitted Le Buveur d'absinthe for inclusion in the Paris Salon in 1859 and almost unanimously the selection committee voted "non".  The establishment may not have wanted moral  degeneracy hanging in their galleries but the avant garde wanted little but and Manet's painting was among the first admitted to the Salon des Refusés (literally "exhibition of rejects") in 1863.  

A Le Buveur d'absinthe (The Absinthe Drinker) (1901) by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973).

A Le Buveur d'absinthe would be also be painted by Pablo Picasso, competed in the autumn of 1901, just as his “blue period” was beginning.  Although nowhere near as monochromatic as later blue period works such as Femme aux Bras Croisés (Woman with Folded Arms (1901-1902)) or La Vie (Life (1903)), the work is an early example of the themes associated with this phase, melancholy, alienation & desolation.  The blue period began after Picasso became depressed over the suicide of a close friend and for some years he would explore aspects of human misery.  For someone who looks this unhappy absinthe might be a good choice but it disn't suit everyone.  The French symbolist writer Alfred Jarry (1873-1907) was renowned for his particularly erratic and eccentric behavior, often indulged in while drinking in Paris’s absinthe cafes and it’s said, with his face painted green, he once rode his bicycle through a village to celebrate the joy of the spirit.  He died of consumption, the severity of his condition aggravated by drug and alcohol use.

Absente Absinthe Refined.

Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) was known to drink absinthe, not anything unusual at the time and while he suffered from what would now be called “mental health issues” (then it was simply “went mad”), what part the drink played in his breakdown isn’t known although in letters to friends, he did note the effect it had on his work.  The mere connection however was enough for Crillon Importers to collaborate with Absente to produce the Van Gogh themed packaging for Absente Absinthe Refined when in 1999 it was the first brand to offer the green fairy in the US since it was banned in 1912.  Absente made much of its spirit being “authentic” by which they meant it was distilled from wormwood and therefore contained thujone, the fabled and allegedly psychoactive substance naturally present in the herb and the reason for the original ban although cautiously, when permitting sales in 1999, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives limited the thujone content to 10 milligrams per liter.

Lindsay Lohan in absinthe green, 2019.

Once one of France’s most famous poets and essayists, Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) was probably no more fond of absinthe than any other strong drink but he certainly didn’t avoid the green fairy, even writing the poem Enivrez-vous (Get drunk) in which its mentioned.  For years he drank heavily and used a variety of opioids before suffering a massive stroke in 1866, lingering in a semi-paralysis for almost a year before dropping dead.