Several years ago, a phrase came into my head on a dark day: “life is a jigsaw” – an analogy that had plenty more to offer. … More “Life is a Jigsaw”: Literary Shapes and Private Thoughts
There are two sides to privacy: the bright side and the dark side. It is often politics which brings these to the fore. I was pleased to stumble across an anecdote about Andrew Marvell from the mid-eighteenth century that celebrates (as well we might today) the value of an honest politician. … More An MP Turning Down a Secret Bribe? Bipolar Privacy
It is a great shame that it is so difficult to make personal experience count in professional or academic writing. The first time I attempted genuine research was looking at Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray through the lens of dysmorphophobia, or body dysmorphic disorder. Of course, it wasn’t random reading of somatoform disorder textbooks that brought this match to my attention, but personal experience. … More A Green Thought: Private Minds
Hypocrisy often challenges us because it is flagrantly public. So what of Andrew Marvell’s satire on Tom May, who switched his allegiances to Parliament? … More Public Hypocrites and Private Anger: Tom May’s Death
Andrew Marvell’s ‘Horatian Ode’ provides a fascinating story in the aftermath of one of the most ‘climacteric’ episodes in English history. What if it was a private poem, and not written for circulation? … More Measuring Privacy: An Horatian Ode
Both professionally and personally, privacy has been a daunting and fascinating topic over the past two weeks. A paper entitled ‘Denying Authorship: Marvell, Maniban and the Quest for Privacy’ was given in Geneva, followed by ‘Marvell in Manuscript and Print: Public and Private Experiences, 1649-1660’ at the University of Hull. … More Presenting Privacy: Marvell and London
