Pearl vs. Solaris

An Analysis of the Dream Visions Depicted in Pearl and Solaris

The medieval poem, Pearl, and the science fiction drama, Solaris, offer two uniquely similar takes on the “dream vision” genre. The narratives are based around the notion of loss and the spiritual and physical affects of that loss on those that mourn it. Solaris, directed by Steven Soderbergh, is arguably the cinematic incarnation of the Pearl poet’s literary poem, albeit with a more existential twist. The film takes the conventions of the dream vision employed by the Pearl poet, and gives them an existential slant by applying the poem’s “if clause” and its religious themes to notions of reality, existence, and the consequences that manifest themselves as alternatives to both. Comparing the two works not only enhances our appreciation for them, but it also allows us to form new and significant interpretations about the notions of divinity and mortality.

Despite Solaris’ sci-fi extensions and applications, and its distinct cultural differences when compared to those of Pearl’s, we cannot ignore the parallels between both works simply because the poem’s dream vision revolves around the speaker’s dau

Choice is what ultimately faces both the narrator and Kelvin as they near the end of their dream visions. The hardest choice for both of them to make is to objectively see and value their respective pearls as representations of true beauty, not the most beautiful truth that man can obtain or acknowledge. The lesson need not come with the thud of a morality tale, but rather through the individual's own accord. Whether or not this ability to self-educate is evident after Kelvin and the narrator awaken from their dream visions is debatable.

Pearl's narrator, up to this point, has invested all meaning and value into his pearl as the ultimate, ignorant to her value in the grander scheme of divine things. Kelvin, too, has committed a similar fallacy, one that Gibarian points out by equating Kelvin to a puppet: "But like all puppets, you think you're actually human. It's the puppet's dream, being normal…" (Solaris). Gibarian further argues that the puppet's dream is a betrayal, that normalcy is a construct without reward, a supposition based on perfection as perceived by imperfect beings. Gibarian does not encourage Kelvin to find God and salvation, but rather for Kelvin to save himself from believing that there is nothing after death; that life is obligated only to what is normal according to the puppet masters. He also encourages Kelvin not to conclude that his revelation only comes through Solaris: "Do you understand what I am telling you? There are no answers, only choices. If you keep thinking there is a solution [here], you'll die here." (Solaris)

Both works conclude at varying points in their narrators' decision-making process. The poem's narrator awakens without much indication that he has come around to the Pearl Maiden's point of view (Prior 28). He is happy about her place with God, despite his reluctance to find content with it on a personal level. The poem's final stanzas suggest that, at the very least, the narrator accepts the reality that she is dead and exists in another world, on a higher plane (28). The implied realization here is that the narrator's new vocation will be to become a "pearl" himself, by moving beyond the "I" and acknowledging that death indeed has no dominion, even after living a life spent living contrary to that conceit. The poem's "if clause" remains intact, distinguishing it from other visions in that it never reaches the kind of certainty and absolute closure provided in other visions (28).

Pearl, like Solaris, is often debated as being a “consolation,” a “primarily didactic” work within the dream vision genre that adapts certain narrative conventions of that genre to make the work function as an allegory (Prior 21). Ultimately, the exact kind of dream vision each work represents is not as important as how they both utilize conventions of the dream vision and present highly literary narratives that do nothing for show, everything for effect (Ebert).

Kelvin still believes that his pearl is truly his and his alone, while also being haunted by the possibility that the only self we know absolute is the one we use to determine others: our own.

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