sadi ranson-polizzotti - tant mieux articles - Idols of perversity by Bram Dijkstra

The subtitle of this book says it all: "Fantasies of the Feminine in Fin-de-Siecle Culture." Sadly though, so much of what this book contains may have began as fantasy but ended with reality. Though an older book, this is not one to soon forget or an excuse not to buy and read and read again and again. Here is a book that speaks of the cult of the pale and dying Ophelia, the original grunge GenXer, all pale and tottering with a "vampire gaze", as if she were high on heroin, and about to fade. Women, in the late 1800s and early 1900s as now, somewhat, were creatures to be both revered and feared. In any event, they were creatures, quite unlike their male counterpart.
sadi ranson-polizzotti - tant mieux articles - Idols of perversity by Bram Dijkstra