Category: Literary Vignettes
-
Greeneland revealed
John BrooksCheshire, United Kingdom Whether or not bipolar disorder enhances artistic expression is a contentious topic.1 Graham Greene (1904–1991), a renowned twentieth-century author, believed that his illness was an essential part of the material of his novels.2 As a troubled teenager, he underwent psychoanalysis following a bout of depression. In his more mature years, he…
-
John Polidori, physician and writer
Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain He thought, in fine, that the dreams of poets were the realities of life.—Polidori, The Vampire Some have regarded John William Polidori as the inventor of the vampire ghost story style. Born in 1795 in the City of Westminster, he was the son of Gaetano Polidori, who had come to England in…
-
The illness and death of Jane Austen
The final years of Jane Austen were overshadowed by a mysterious illness that has long since been a subject of speculation and debate. Her health began to decline in early 1816, when she was around forty years old. Her letters from that period make occasional references to fatigue and bouts of illness, but she tended…
-
George Orwell: Obsessed with rats
Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “Of all the horrors—a rat.”– George Orwell, 1984 It is said that author George Orwell (1903–1950), born Eric Blair, was “obsessed” with rats.1 Rats are mentioned in his novels, essays, diaries, and letters. As he got older, he became more rat-obsessed. He has been called “a kind of literary pied piper dancing…
-
On Voltaire, Akakia, De Maupertuis, and another Akakia
Avi OhryTel Aviv, Israel When in 1718 François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778) was released from incarceration at the Bastille, he changed his name to Voltaire. Soon he became an “enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher, famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and separation…
-
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it…
-
John Keats statue
Arpan K. BanerjeeSolihull, England John Keats, born in London in 1795, is one of the finest Romantic poets of the English language. He died at the age of twenty-five in Rome, where he had gone to recover from tuberculosis. The house where he spent the last years of his life, at the base of the…
-
Charlotte Gilman, Weir Mitchell, and “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Jack RiggsMorgantown, West Virginia, United States Charlotte Perkins Gilman lived a complex and controversial life.1 A prolific writer and lecturer, she advocated for the social, economic, and civic liberation of women.1 She was also a nationalist, eugenicist, and white supremacist.1 Despite her prominent feminist role, “today, Charlotte is primarily remembered for her haunting story [‘The…
-
Agatha Christie’s poisons: Better dying through chemistry
Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “Everything is a poison. Nothing is a poison. It is all a matter of dose.”– Claude Bernard, French physiologist (1813–1878) Agatha Christie (1890–1976) wrote sixty-six detective novels, fourteen collections of short stories, and three plays. She is the best selling fiction writer ever published, with two billion books sold. Her works have…