So many interesting questions raised by these lives! The biographer Christopher Fitz-Simon has done a good job of presenting the raw material behind tSo many interesting questions raised by these lives! The biographer Christopher Fitz-Simon has done a good job of presenting the raw material behind the life-stories of these English-born theatre folk living and and working and eventually dominating the Irish stage scene. But Fitz-Simon barely scratches the surface of delving into the meanings behind their lives. The story of London-born Alfred Willmore in particular deserves more analysis - or maybe artistic treatment! If anyone merits a "novelized treatment" of their eventful life, it would surely be London-born Alfred Willmore, who re-invents himself as the Celtic-speaking Gaelic loving "Micheal MacLiammoir" of Cork.
Of course, actors change their names all the time, or have their names changed for them. Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Cary Grant, John Wayne! Alfred Willmore changed his ethnicity, his religious, his essence. For the twentieth century in particular, it's fascinating to consider the meanings when a representative of a dominant, "colonizing" ethnicity appropriates an identity from a previously subject, "colonized" group.
The fact that Willmore was "artistic", flamboyant and gay adds another dimension. It's remarkable to observe how "MacLiammoir and Edwards" were such a prominent "couple" in the world of Dublin's cultural life for six decades without being "read" as transgressive or "homosexual."
Surely the culminating and defining "moment" of their lives occurred in the 1960s when the two crafted a one-man theatre piece based on the life and writings of Oscar Wilde. MacLiammoir achieved a remarkable success in "The Importance of Being Oscar," and after the initial run in Dublin, the production traveled to London, New York, and eventually it played on international tours of the USA, South America, and Europe.
I just learned from this book about their friendship and tumultuous theatrical relationship with Orson Welles. I had no idea that Welles made his professional acting debut at the Gate Theatre -which was managed by Edwards and MacLiammoir - in Dublin, in 1930 - when he was just 16! I think I'm going to have to read Simon Callow's massive biography of Welles in order to learn more....more
This captivating and enlightening biography has been a excellent "read" for me - I recently returned from a week in Poland, dividing my time between WThis captivating and enlightening biography has been a excellent "read" for me - I recently returned from a week in Poland, dividing my time between Warsaw and Krakow.
It's not only a "conventional" biography - it's also a study of how the Poles lost their territorial integrity and what was left of their sovereignty in 35 fate-full years, from 1760 to 1795.
How odd that "the Last King of Poland" and "German" Empress of Russia Catherine should have been lovers for a brief time in the 1750s! "You can't make this stuff up." ...more
Okay, not really a good book - but interesting as a historical artefact of "celebrity" in a very different time. The author Marion Crawford created a Okay, not really a good book - but interesting as a historical artefact of "celebrity" in a very different time. The author Marion Crawford created a scandal when she published articles and books in the early 1950s that included memories of her service as governess to the Royal Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. The royal family and their circle where shocked, shocked at the flagrant breach of decorum and "proper behavior." They dropped Crawford, cut off her connections to the royal world, and made clear their disgust with her failure to conform to the traditional expectations of discretion.
The 21st century reader of this book will look in vain for anything remotely scandalous in Crawford's account of the Queen Elizabeth II's early years. Instead, the reader comes away with an impression of cringe-worthy flattery and fawning adoration.
Thinking about the innocence and wholesomeness of the image of the British Royal Family in the early 1950s - and contrasting it with the very public airing of scandals, quarrels, and real family drama in the 2020s - it's a little startling to reflect that such different "worlds" are encompassed within a single lifespan, that of the current monarch. Indeed, "Elizabeth the Queen" begins with the reverent announcement (in November 1948) of the much anticipated birth of the future King Charles III:
"'Madam, Sir Dermot Kavanagh would like to speak to you. . .'
"Then, instead of his usually gentle tones, I heard him burst out exuberantly, 'Crawfie, I wanted you to be the first outside the palace to know. It's a boy!'. . .
"It was perhaps 20 minutes past nine when I hung up the receiver. Soon the bulletin would be ringing around the world. But for the moment, George [Crawford's husband] and I shared the precious privilege of being among the first to know that Princess Elizabeth had just given birth to a baby boy who, one day, would reign over us."...more
I wish I could give this book 2.5 stars - what I mean is that I enjoyed reading it, but I didn't really think it was a good book. As I see it, "The ByI wish I could give this book 2.5 stars - what I mean is that I enjoyed reading it, but I didn't really think it was a good book. As I see it, "The Byzantine Lady" is comprised of ten separate biographies that don't cohere into a book. In my view, it lacks analysis or even an interpretative framework which would explain why these particular lives have been narrated, and other relevant or contemporary lives have not. Are these lives meant to be seen as representative? Or are they exceptional? Furthermore. Nicol never really explores the meaning of gender as a lived reality in this time period.
I'm not at all familiar with Byzantine History - or with this time period in general. Nicol consults and has clearly mastered a wide range of impressive primary sources here. But - as if this were a project of one of my students - I wish that Nicol had worked a little harder to develop a workable and practical thesis. And it would have been good too for the title to more accurately reflect the way that nearly all the women who lives are told in this book were either Empresses or Queens. ...more
Yooperprof
>
Books:
biography
(326)
Loading...
