unique vs ordinary
Posted by P. Bingham on March 31, 1998 at 16:54:24:
In response to Penetration, written by Ken on March 31, 1998 at 13:57:31
] Of course, there have been plenty of unhappy geniuses in the world, define genius how you will. But I think the unhappy & lonely genius stereotype is just that, on the whole.
One of the most stark examples of pain and genious is that of Leonardo da Vinci. I remember crying over my term paper that I wrote on him in college. Can you imagine? My sensitivity can sometimes be embarrassing. I laugh at myself now. He was a man whose head was filled with so much but his lifetime was not enough to fullfill it. He was terribly cognicent of this and it wounded him on a daily basis throughout the latter years of his life. He is another that comes to my mind when I think of Jane Austen. Leonardo died a very old man with a young mind that was not ready to go. Jane Austen died still basically quite young, whose mind too was not quite ready to go. Despite what we know of her gifts today (her books and her fine example of being a female in man's world, not to mention being a thinker in a seemingly superficial world) I tend to think that Jane was very disappointed with her life and that of her sister's. Not that I think she was not proud of what she did do, but rather she was disappointed in what she did not do.
] If you could offer the choice to JA, lonely genius vs. social, um, averageness?, which do you think she would choose?
I often think on this very thing myself. Of course she would be happy either way as she would not experience the difference. Ignorance is bliss. But I can't help but feel that she would have preferred to be a little more accepted and I think it shows in her writing. She was trapped underneath the hypocracys of her day. Intelligence can be very lonely indeed. It's much easier to just accept things the way they are and be happy than it is to have the insightfulness and knowledge that what is happening around you is cruel and unfair. That can easily lead to embitterness and that in itself is a terrible illness.
Patricia
not making any sense at all! Oh well! Sorry, I haven't got much sleep lately!
- Making perfect sense Arnessa 00:03:19 4/02/98
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