The Revolution represents a sexy, attractive setting to make the emotions run high, to make the conflicts stronger in a context of life-or-death period.
I agree totally, she may have started out fascinated by the Revolution - she says so here (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books--a-revolting-obsession-history-is-fiction-said-robespierre-who-knew-how-it-would-treat-him-is-the-novelist-better-equipped-than-the-historian-to-find-human-truths-behind-the-mask-of-fact-1542080.html) - but by the time the novel finally appeared it had become that, a mere forcing chamber for high drama.
Mantel is not a robespierriste, she has not put forward any convincing political-ideological statement in this respect. I agree with you too. The reason I call her a Robespierrist is because she self-defines as one. She doesn't seem to she that it is a political position. I am guessing she is confusing being a Robespierrist with having a personal liking for somebody on the grounds of nice waistcoats and an air of tragedy.
It all boils down to commercial, psychoanalyzing swooning about strong male characters,
Hm, not so sure on this. In fact a PoGS seemed dedicated to weakening and emasculating her central male characters, well at least Robespierre and Camille. To me, it seems like she's almost trying to cut them down to size.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-07-31 08:19 pm (UTC)The Revolution represents a sexy, attractive setting to make the emotions run high, to make the conflicts stronger in a context of life-or-death period.
I agree totally, she may have started out fascinated by the Revolution - she says so here (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books--a-revolting-obsession-history-is-fiction-said-robespierre-who-knew-how-it-would-treat-him-is-the-novelist-better-equipped-than-the-historian-to-find-human-truths-behind-the-mask-of-fact-1542080.html) - but by the time the novel finally appeared it had become that, a mere forcing chamber for high drama.
Mantel is not a robespierriste, she has not put forward any convincing political-ideological statement in this respect.
I agree with you too. The reason I call her a Robespierrist is because she self-defines as one. She doesn't seem to she that it is a political position. I am guessing she is confusing being a Robespierrist with having a personal liking for somebody on the grounds of nice waistcoats and an air of tragedy.
It all boils down to commercial, psychoanalyzing swooning about strong male characters,
Hm, not so sure on this. In fact a PoGS seemed dedicated to weakening and emasculating her central male characters, well at least Robespierre and Camille. To me, it seems like she's almost trying to cut them down to size.