Thesis anyone?

Anyone need a thesis in psychology or literature?  How about 'Narcissistic Personality Disorder in Classic Literature?'  There's much worse out there, let me assure you, my favorite being 'Oedipal Complex in Good Night Moon,' yeah, I don't get it either!  In my last post, I mused upon why so many famous and beloved authoresses seem to be so familiar with the idea, namely Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and L.M. Montgomery.  What is it about narcissists that inspires great writing?  Is it that they make such lovely villains?  That's certainly necessary for a good story, but what makes a good writer?  Basically it is someone who can so describe in words, landscapes, people, situations, and other complex realities that we can see them in our mind's eye, feel them in our hearts, acknowledge them with our mind, all without ever actually seeing them, but feeling that we have known them in person.

I propose there is a four fold reason for this phenomenon in those significantly influenced by a narcissist.  This is not to say that every great writer was raised by a narcissist or all children of narcissists will be great writers!  Rather it seems far too curious a coincidence to be mere happenstance, thus I may theorize at will, but I leave it to the biographers and historians to say who the narcissist might have been in each of these women's lives.  First, a soul must express itself for we are creative beings, and when all other arts are forbidden, the imagination is sometimes our sole escape, creating elaborate worlds, stories, and characters to people our bleak and colorless lives to such an extent that our inner world is far more lovely and intricate than our real surroundings and relationships.

Second, when you live daily with such a person, who questions every blink, breath, movement, thought, look, sneeze and so forth, when you can hardly breath without criticism or permission, you become a keen observer of human behavior, learning painfully how to minimize the offense given for such grievous sins as hiccups and laughter or tears, you learn to read the least signs of others' moods and dispositions, lest you fall afoul of an already precarious situation by some inadvertent blunder that might have been prevented had you been paying attention to the other's mood.  This familiarity with humanity in general and in particular would be very useful for a budding writer in developing characters and cultures.

Third, when you have no solace in human company or relationships, solitude and peaceful surroundings are then your only solace (at least before social media!).  You escape outside (no matter the weather, it must be better than the subzero temperatures withindoors) and wander far and wide, learning to see beauty and hope everywhere, developing a love of nature and all her moods and aspects or perhaps histories or museums or fairy tales or a hundred other escapes fill that aching void in your heart that should be filled by human love and kindness.  As you learn the many facets of human behavior and mood, so too do you fill your mind with the intricacies of your given retreat, be it a forest or a drawing room, which in turn might allow you to recreate the phenomenon in words for others' perusal.

Lastly, writing is an escape, an outlet for otherwise pent up feelings, emotions, and experiences.  When you are not allowed either to laugh or cry, sometimes your only outlet is words, words, words.  Sometimes we write to understand ourselves or the world about us, sometimes to save ourselves from madness or exploding with the pressure.  Our fantasy worlds become more real and beautiful than our daily lives, into it we pour all our stifled passions and heady visions, so drab on the outside, but alive and bubbling as a fountain within and as easily staunched.  If you do write the thesis on this, remember to cite this article!  Enjoy!

The novel is already written, and it is good!

Many people are familiar with L.M. Montgomery's works, if not with the author herself, for 'Anne of Green Gables' is almost as classic a novel as 'Pride and Prejudice,' and the television adaptations have their own place in many hearts around the globe even if they've never read the books.  While I love the Anne books, to paraphrase a character in 'Anne's House of Dreams,' in referring to her own childhood sorrows compared to the more tragic life of another character, "your own unhappiness is only that of a child with no one to love them."  At first it seems an odd thing to say, for is not sorrow and misery, especially in children, an abhorrent thing no matter what?  What matter degrees?, but as some theorize that there are seven circles of Hell, I have come to realize she is right.  Yes, Anne has a rough start, a very unhappy and friendless early life, but she knows that, and while tragic, a mind can eventually wrap itself around that and come to peace with itself.  Anne has dwelt in the first or second circle of Hell, certainly, but eventually she does find love and acceptance and Home.

I have long theorized that the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen are very familiar with what we now call narcissistic personality disorder because of certain characters in their novels, but Montgomery had hitherto stumped me, she wrote as one who might be familiar with the topic, especially in the above mentioned book there is certainly a character that seems thus afflicted, but then again, Anne and 'Emily of New Moon,' while certainly having tragic beginnings, were not themselves raised or significantly influenced by such a personality.  Then I reread The Blue Castle, and I had no more doubts, though I'm beginning to wonder if all the great classical authoresses have been significantly impacted by a narcissist?

While we see a little of what it is to be raised by a narcissist in 'Jane Eyre,' it is rather a brief glimpse. The Blue Castle takes a good long look at the subject and even includes a look at the extended family.  But then it moves on to the inward struggles of recovery from narcissistic abuse and even examines the mindset of the victim after she has been freed, as she wonders that anyone could actually loves her.  Some people reading this book might wonder at the idea of anyone having such a wretched, drab existence (I cannot call it a life) and think it all fancy, but there are others, like me, who will identify with the main character so much that she could be a long lost sister, and rejoice and cry by turns, or perhaps, gain hope and confidence that they are not crazy or alone in their struggles and that there is hope even for them.  I've wanted to write a novel like this, but happily I don't have to.  Montgomery's lesser known novel is an excellent read in itself, but particularly for those who suspect or are struggling with these issues, it offers a source of hope in a world that often thinks us mad in saying that our own mothers could be so awful.  I can stick with my paltry little fairytales as Montgomery has already written a veritable fairy tale upon the subject.

As to Anne's conundrum of her sad childhood, what could be worse than no one to love you?  Growing up unloved but not even knowing it, for the word and concept are so twisted and tortured that the child has no concept of what it truly is or means, perhaps they believe they will be loved when they do something to deserve it (not that they ever will) or perhaps they hate themselves for being so awful their parent(s) can't love them.  One can live with the truth of not being loved, but when one thinks one is loved (or will be under the right circumstances) and that is not true, that is the very definition of the seventh circle of Hell: to think one walks in Eden only to find oneself a resident of Hell, where hatred, indifference, and manipulation are called love, and Love itself is a concept beyond finding out or understanding.  But Montgomery does an excellent job of showing the conditions of such a wretched life but also the hope of healing and happiness if one is willing to address them.  It's an enchanting tale, and maybe it will help you or someone you know discover that they can have life and love indeed!

Who needs real when you have virtual?

Here's an amusing look at modern 'community,' well worth a look!