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New historical obsession
(narrated Dinosaur Comics style because my inner fangirl sounds surprisingly like t-rex)
Ok, guys, I have a New Historical Obsession. And it is....
... Alexander Dumas Fils (or, as I like to call him, Little Dumas. But I will call him Dumas Fils here because that it is what everyone else calls him).
Guys, Dumas Fils fell in love with a courtesan who had consumption. And he convinced her to run away with him to the country. And then she went back to Paris because she liked her lifestyle and tragically died of consumption.
And then he wrote a book about it and now it's a romantic cliche! It's possible that he even threw money at her feet at a party and declared "I have paid for my whore."!
Bottom line is, even if the woman you love died of consumption and also was a bit of a whore, having something that actually happens to you turn into a literary cliche is kind of the best thing ever. Right?
(Her name was Marie Duplessis she had lots of famous lovers other than Dumas fils. So allow me to upgrade the previous paragraph. Even if you die of consumption and sort of get your agency taken away by being turned into a fictional character, becoming a literary cliche is still the best thing ever.)
Back story: I saw La Traviata at the San Francisco Opera yesterday and it was brilliant. People who are in the Bay Area: go see it! It was good opera, and also it was well-staged, which is in my experience not a common combination.
Ok, guys, I have a New Historical Obsession. And it is....
... Alexander Dumas Fils (or, as I like to call him, Little Dumas. But I will call him Dumas Fils here because that it is what everyone else calls him).
Guys, Dumas Fils fell in love with a courtesan who had consumption. And he convinced her to run away with him to the country. And then she went back to Paris because she liked her lifestyle and tragically died of consumption.
And then he wrote a book about it and now it's a romantic cliche! It's possible that he even threw money at her feet at a party and declared "I have paid for my whore."!
Bottom line is, even if the woman you love died of consumption and also was a bit of a whore, having something that actually happens to you turn into a literary cliche is kind of the best thing ever. Right?
(Her name was Marie Duplessis she had lots of famous lovers other than Dumas fils. So allow me to upgrade the previous paragraph. Even if you die of consumption and sort of get your agency taken away by being turned into a fictional character, becoming a literary cliche is still the best thing ever.)
Back story: I saw La Traviata at the San Francisco Opera yesterday and it was brilliant. People who are in the Bay Area: go see it! It was good opera, and also it was well-staged, which is in my experience not a common combination.