::Serendipity::

Literature Losers? ________________________________________________________________

I've been reading some books about Lord Byron, Mary Godwin Shelly, Percy Shelly, William Godwin, E Nesbit and others. There was such an interesting thread of socialism and reformism between them all. I considered all these authors (with the exception of the notorious Lord Byron) to be somewhat innocent and chock full of morality. How naive I was! These people led lives that would rival any soap opera today. Babies out of wedlock (many, many babies in some cases with many, many different fathers), atheism running rampant and used as a reason for their philosophy and desire to have many partners. Communal living sounds great, right? Share and share alike. Marriage being the ultimate bondage bringing women down and taking away their indentities seems right, right? Having your "significant other" bring home other women they impregnated to live is with you is so much better then having a committed marriage relationship, giving the women so much freedom and happiness! Yeah, that concept sounds like it came from some selfish misogynistic jerk who wanted his cake and eat it too but could charm the ladies into buying his high brow superior intelligent philosophy. I get so burned up at these "men".

Now I think about the book Frankenstein and the genius there but knowing what I know about Mary Shelly's life at the time, I can never look at the book the same way again. I feel such amazing pity for her and frustration for her situation that she created. But Mary at least, found happiness later in life. Lord Byron even redeemed himself a bit in the end, becoming less selfish. At least the Greeks think he's the bomb.

Maybe I shouldn't be reading so many biographies about great authors, and just keep enjoying the literature. *sigh* But I was reading the biographies to interest me more in the literature! Learning where the inspiration came from really enriches the reading! Except when it irritates me more than an itchy rash.

I know, I'm weird. I think too much about this stuff and it shouldn't make a difference. Genius is genius, right? I just want my geniuses to be people I can admire and look up to. Not people who rival Erica Kane on All My Children.

I don't know why books matter so much to me... I guess because I quit school before I should have. (That's another story all together.) I've used books to continue learning in between babies and cooking and teaching and laundry. So I suppose I've used books as mentors. Some books are almost reverent to me. The thoughts on the pages hold a lot of meaning. They've helped me better my life. Yes, I read fluff a lot more then I read anything good for my brain, but that's not my point here! Should it matter so much to me? I'm nuts, aren't I? Totally bonkers.

Ever since I read Monsters: Mary Shelley and the Curse of Frankenstein, I've been bothered. Then I've read more biographies online and become even more bothered and irritated. It's official. I'm really weird if not barking nuts.

posted by Terri at 7/12/2007 09:19:00 AM >5 comments

5 Comments:

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