ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Delmont's adoption of the mantle of Aeneas both inside the Underworld and in his relationships with his estranged wife Henriette and his mistress Cecile. The intertextual presences within Butor's novels serve a didactic purpose, forcing protagonist and reader to assess the relevance of past literature to their lives and to perceive the transformations in interpretation which each new environment casts upon our readings. The explicitly intertextual nature of the works signals Butor's break away from the more comfortable, realist novels of the nineteenth century and marks his position as a nouveau romancier. The story of Dido and Aeneas has grown out of the Aeneid's reception into a legend in its own right. The story of Dido and Aeneas has grown out of the Aeneid's reception into a legend in its own right.
