Episode 8--The Sighing Lover--Dance of the Dead
Each episode of the Prisoner operates on at least three levels. These are the three chainsaws I'm juggling throughout our discussion of the show. The first chainsaw in the air is the story of the Prisoner himself: plot, pacing, backstory, chronology. It is the mundane way of interacting with art through immersion and identification in search of chills and spills and plenty of thrills. Nothing wrong with viewing the Prisoner, or Citizen Kane for that matter, in such a way of course, if that's what you want to do.
"And thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges." Shakespeare
Proponents of this view usually place Dance of the Dead as the second episode, shortly after Arrival, due to the Prisoner making several comments about how he is new to the Village. I believe this is an error as the story of the Prisoner is cyclical, not linear. As we saw in the previous episode, he is re-newed in this episode. He had left the barren winter wasteland of the village, but now has returned from the dead, bringing spring and renewal. This, then, is the secret meaning of the penny farthing and the spiraling whirligigs of parasols we see twirling throughout the show. It is Hamlet's mill, the umbrel of stars which hang upon the axis of the pole star; the streaming pastel banners that the spirits of the dead use to dance around the Maypole before reincarnating. So, of course, Number 6 keeps saying he is new in the Village. He is, for he is continually being created, dying, and being reborn.
The second chainsaw I have up in the air at the moment is the tale of the Prisoner as a moral biography of a man. It is the Shakespearean seven ages blueprint, and in DOTD the Prisoner is now the lover, sighing like a furnace. He is, as it were, a young man, recently returned home from his University wanderings. His recent birthday has brought him into his full maturity and he is the prototypical angry young man, full of piss and vinegar and ready to take on the world.
His mum is no longer the affectionate Mrs. Butterworth but is the new Number 2, an androgynous crone creepily portrayed by Mary Morris. She encourages the Prisoner to find a nice girl and settle down, and the Village suddenly seems to be teeming with spritely young vixens all vying for his attention. Even the post of Control is now filled by an attractive woman instead of some creepy weirdo. Of course, the Prisoner purposefully expresses interest in the one woman Number 2 doesn't want him to choose, his observer, Little Bo Peep.
In case you've forgotten, the tale of Little Bo Peep:
Little Bo Peep
She lost her sheep
And couldn't tell where to find them
Leave them alone!
And they'll come home,
Dragging their tails behind them.
Aleister Crowley explains, not entirely unseriously:
'Bo' is the root meaning Light, from which spring such words Bo Tree, bodhisattva, and Buddha.And 'Peep' is Apep, the serpent Apophis. This poem therefore contains the same symbol as that in the Egyptian and Hebrew Bibles.The snake is the serpent of initiation, as the Lamb is the Saviour.This ancient one, the Wisdom of Eternity, sits in its old anguish awaiting the Redeemer. And this holy verse triumphantly assures us that there is no need for anxiety. The Saviours will come one after the other, at their own good pleasure, and as they may be needed, and drag their tails, that is to say those who follow out their holy commandment, to the ultimate goal.
Which leads us to he third chainsaw, and the most dangerous one: the esoteric drama of the Prisoner's initiation. DOTD sees our hero as on the verge of making significant progress in his development. He must run the gauntlet in order to make it through the looking-glass, which he does both literally and figuratively, as it turns out. Number 2 points out to him that he only escaped the trial because his pursuers did not know he was already dead. But, paradoxically enough, through that death will come fertility. For such is the purpose of the sacrificial lamb.
Preparing to Cross the Fifth Threshold
Episode 8--Dance of the Dead
to be continued--be seeing you!
