The choice for this topic is rooted, first of all, in my undergraduate work in English, second, in my morbid fascination with suicidal women, and third, in my (seemingly)indiscriminate taste in literature(s). My undergraduate work in English, chosen two years ago over Philosophy, renders me neither an expert, scholar, or credential-buttressed sage; it rather is a sign of my rabid, insatiable fandom of the printed page. My morbid fascination with suicidal women writers began with Kate Chopin's "The Awakening," in which the female protagonist kills herself (quite sanely), and soon blasted into full blown hysteria when I discovered, with fear, trembling, and later awe, that real (non-fiction) women writers, such as Virginia Woolf, had done the deed and grasped the silver noose, sometimes for startling reasons. My seemingly indiscriminate taste in literature means simply, without any appeal to reason or Venn circles, that I'm a fan of many genres and many writers, and usually take some amount of pleasure, of varying degrees, in most forms of literature. So, when given the opportunity to start a blog and hereafter be known with the status of blogger, I determined rather quickly that I would blog on writers: living, dead, and suicidal. As for Virginia Woolf, she is the perennial suicidal woman writer: her name occupies a place in literature, British literature, women's literature, and is featured in the title of a play, a movie, and now a blog, dedicated to her and her ilk.
With this blog I hope to entertain others while at the same time expose them to writers of whom they may never have heard, which hopefully will foster audience interest in writers of literature and, perhaps, an appreciation and awareness of the most tortured of human souls, the suicidal writer. Although features of this blog will frequently be dark, this blog is not intended to be a downer and will only be so for ultra sensitive types. The rest of us will have fun, for what better way to stave off the lure of the silver noose than to have fun? Hopefully, after reading this blog devotedly, you will be able to answer the question, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" with a reverberating "I AM!"
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3 comments:
I must say, as someone with only a tepid enthusiasm for suicidal female authors, my interest has certainly been piqued. What strange and morbid wonders await me in this gloom filled mausoleum they call a "blog?" I am anxious to read the next post, to be sure.
One of my favorite poets is dead, was living, was suicidal, and female. Yes, I am talking about Sylvia Plath. I love her use of short sentences and her dark tone. I recommend that you go to youtube and search "Ariel read by Sylvia Plath." It is stunning to say the least.
Hmm.. I am now interested in reading a post about suicidal women, and why this subjects intrigues you. Do you have any pieces of literature you can put on about this subject that you wrote in the past?
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