Where Sally Rooney meets William Morris - exploring the links between 'Beautiful World, Where Are You' and the socialist writing of Victorian designer William Morris.
I had to reread this essay, as I wasn't in 'the right state of mind' when I read it the first time. So much to comment here! And so many questions left... 1) I don't see how the Round Table would be communist. Really. Even if its a product of fantasy, it still draws from medieval society, which was highly hierarchical; 2) Capitalism is not the first economic system to keep the bulk of population in poverty; 3) Art has, the way I see it, become something of a preserve of a few deemed 'intellectual' enough; 4) I think Ruskin highly cynical, as he definitely had no problems whatsoever in not only keeping but justifying a hierarchy of gender; 5) I'm left wondering if capitalism is worse than feudalism. I need to think and read more about this; 6) Return to a state of equality? Was there ever such a thing? And just to wrap up: I do think Morris was speaking from a position of privilege and that we must be very, very careful with nostalgia towards the past. There was beauty, but there was also plenty of violence and injustice. I'm afraid life was and still is brutal. Only in different ways.
Fascinating and insightful analysis. The past is certainly not a 'foreign country'.
Thank you. I totally agree, the past lives on with us in so many of the problems we face today.
I had to reread this essay, as I wasn't in 'the right state of mind' when I read it the first time. So much to comment here! And so many questions left... 1) I don't see how the Round Table would be communist. Really. Even if its a product of fantasy, it still draws from medieval society, which was highly hierarchical; 2) Capitalism is not the first economic system to keep the bulk of population in poverty; 3) Art has, the way I see it, become something of a preserve of a few deemed 'intellectual' enough; 4) I think Ruskin highly cynical, as he definitely had no problems whatsoever in not only keeping but justifying a hierarchy of gender; 5) I'm left wondering if capitalism is worse than feudalism. I need to think and read more about this; 6) Return to a state of equality? Was there ever such a thing? And just to wrap up: I do think Morris was speaking from a position of privilege and that we must be very, very careful with nostalgia towards the past. There was beauty, but there was also plenty of violence and injustice. I'm afraid life was and still is brutal. Only in different ways.