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Re: Soliloquies, American writers, Greek Gods
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Penny wrote:
Just to confuse Charles further, I recommend reading James Hirsh, ‘
Shakespeare and the History of Soliloquies’ (AUP 2003), in which it is argued that ‘
soliloquies’, talking as though in a thought-bubble to oneself, was not an
available concept at the time; and that Hamlet is speaking to be heard by the
King and Polonius in hiding. He wants them to think he is contemplating
suicide. Not all these interpretations are compatible, it’s true – but it’s worth
trying to believe a few of them before breakfast; and maybe not deciding on
the preferred one before elevenses. (Good heavens! My word processor has never
heard of elevenses.)
Best wishes, Penny.
Dear Penny,
Many thanks for pointing me at J.E.Hirsh, of whom I had never heard. It is
flattering to discover that my prehistoric ideas are being caught up with, as
well as refreshing to see that old British customs are still alive and
flourishing in Liverpool, even if the processor is ignorant of them. After much
searching, I found that the “to be” topic is a currently a matter of great
debate: eg here _http://www.shaksper.net/archives/2003/0802.html_
(http://www.shaksper.net/archives/2003/0802.html) .
The idea that Hamlet’s apparently suicidal thoughts are deliberately
deceptive fits pleasingly with what I’ve already said, and is attractive. However,
we seem to be straying rather far from this particular forum, and I think I’d
better quit this thread. I have to say, though, that being puzzled is not the
same as being confused. I try quite hard to think clearly and express myself
ditto.
Susan Elizabeth Sweeney wrote:
Since I have published three essays on the subject of VN's Americanness, I
might as well respond to Charles's remarks. VN certainly identified himself
as an American writer (requesting, for example, that all of his books be
catalogued as "American Literature," SL 454) and often said so when interviewed in
Montreux. He was familiar with, if not necessarily fond of, many canonical
and contemporary American writers (including Poe, Emerson, Hawthorne,
Melville, James, Eliot, Pound, Frost, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Faulkner), and
influenced many others. He set some of his major novels in the United States and
published all of his English works, and English translations of his Russian
works, there, remarking that “It is in America that I found my best readers”
(SO 10). VN also remained an American citizen even after settling in
Switzerland—where he still followed national politics, celebrated the moon
landing, contemplated moving to California, and paid US taxes. At any rate,
American literature includes many immigrants as well as many expatriates.
Having said that, we must also remember that VN, who disliked pigeonholing
authors according to national identity, once remarked that "the writer's art
is his real passport" (SO 63). Indeed, he seems to have become an "American
writer," in part, by deliberately redefining that term.
Thanks also to SES for being prepared to contribute seriously to the topic
of VN’s sense of national identity. I fully understand that this sense has
become rather tainted since the end of WW2, but I cannot dismiss it entirely.
National identities continue to be heavily stressed and promoted, not least by
Americans. I can certainly agree that VN was technically an American, in the
sense that Einstein and von Braun were also technically Americans. A
culturally stateless person would be naturally grateful and feel a sense of
obligation to a state which welcomed him, along with all the other huddled masses. I
would never even hint that VN was not familiar with the authors listed by
SES. Many of them, and many other American authors (Bierce comes to mind), spent
time in England and Europe, some of them for quite long and formative
periods, but they remain essentially American. I submit. Since VN continued to pay
US taxes, why didn’t he stay in America? I hesitate to answer.
SES remarks that VN influenced many American authors, but my question about
the reverse influence of American authors on VN is not addressed. Most
American authors have been influenced by Old World authors: how could they not be?
Most mentally alert Europeans, and other nationals, follow US national
politics, and celebrated the moon landing, which, I also submit, was seen as a
triumph for mankind, and not an exclusively nationalistic (nasty word)
achievement. In what other country could VN’s works be logically catalogued, and under
what heading? I would have thought that VN’s very “best reader”, no contest,
would have been Graham Greene, an exceptionally un-American literary figure,
in whose works Americans are not warmly presented. Harry Lime is cast, in at
least one powerful key scene, as Mephistopheles (Faust), and/or Satan (the
Bible).
Stan Kelly-Bootle wrote:
Homer's audiences KNEW the characters & endings and BELIEVED the stories;
the Gods and Goddesses, mortals and semis were REAL not mythic.
Some portion of Homer’s audiences knew the stories and their endings. But
every story, like every old joke, was once new to everybody at some stage in
their lives. As for the Greeks implicitly believing that the Gods, Goddesses,
mortals and semi-mortals were real: I very seriously doubt that. It is, imho,
a bad mistake to take it for granted that early or ancient man was more
stupid than modern man. The reverse is more likely, and in fact there is every
reason for thinking that early man, and especially the Greeks, were more
intelligent, and had keener minds than the human specimens of today. Cro-Magnon
man actually had a bigger brain than modern man. However, the Greeks had a much
deeper sense of how little they were in control of their destinies ---
perhaps that serves to indicate their higher intelligence. Their personification
of the Gods, the Fates and the Furies was therefore more vivid. Petersen’s
excellent film, Troy, presents this outstandingly well, imho. Who, today, can
honestly say that they control their own lives? How, precisely, does
free-will operate, when your father is shot by mistake, or your inheritance is
confiscated, and you are exiled, force majeure?
I wonder what SKB means by saying that VN’s novels are uniquely
anti-didactic? No matter how closely a writer holds the mirror up to nature, even the
most faithful reproduction is bound to be selective in its details. And all
literature entertains: even if the only person who enjoys the entertainment is
the writer him- or herself. Art instructs insidiously.
Charles
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