Shakespeare is in an enviable position. Nobody knows a thing about him, and they can speculate all they like, but what they have to deal with is his poems and his plays. And that's what counts. You don't need biographical information unless the work is unintelligible without it. It's most unfortunate that Dorothy Wordsworth kept a diary. I don't care whether William Wordsworth ever saw a field of golden daffodils, and I certainly don't care to know that he saw them on the seventeenth of March, or whenever it was.-- Margaret Atwood --
Have a great Tuesday!
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1 comment:
Can I extrapolate this sentiment? No? Too bad; I'm gonna, anyway.
This make sme think about actors and musicians as reported in today's media. Do I really care who's adopting children from Africa or how many times So-an-So has been married or what the Whosits have been doing on their "reality" TV show ("reality" here to be read with heavy sarcasm and mandatory air quotes)? No, not particularly.
Why can't I just enjoy an artist's music or an actor's oeuvre without needing extraneous biographical garbage? It doesn't strike me as necessary.
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