Epic. Brilliant fictional recreation of the lives of 3 great Romantic poets - Byron, Shelley, Keats - and the women they were involved with - Byron's lovers Caroline Lamb and Augusta Leigh, Shelley's lover and wife Mary Godwin Shelley, and Keats' fiancee Fanny Brawne. The opening chapters also touch on the difficult life of Mary Shelley's mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman", a hugely influential book of feminist philosophy. The stories in "Passion" are told from the women's point of view, and in places they are harrowing, but always believable. Morgan must have done a huge amount of research to write this and get all the details and feelings so true. Caroline Lamb comes off very badly in the book, Augusta Leigh (who was Byron's half-sister) not too badly, while Mary Shelley has my complete admiration and sympathy. Lord Byron is portrayed as a fascinating, utterly charming, brilliant monster, while Shelley is something of a monster who fails to see how his ideas and the impulses that come from them finally kill Mary's love for him. The story of John Keats and Fanny Brawne has the smallest part in the book, but was the most emotionally affecting for me. His early death from tuberculosis was such a tragic loss. Note to self - must see the movie "Bright Star".

Purpose:  I keep handwritten book journals with notes toward reviews.  I need a new one and haven't purchased it yet. This entry will hold notes until I purchase my new journal.

 

Quote: "archery is a means of display, not combat" 

In discussion of A Gest of Robyn Hode

 

Analysis: The bow is for competitions, but in this ballad when Robin fights it's with a sword. This is an important distinction.  In my ROS (Robin of Sherwood) fanfic that I wrote some time ago, I portray both Robin Hoods shown in the series. It's a TV series that originally aired on the BBC. Robin of Loxley was portrayed by Michael Praed.  Robert of Huntingdon was portrayed by Jason Connery. The bow is Robin of Loxley's  weapon. The sword is Robert of Huntingdon's weapon.  The distinction is one of class in my fanfic.  Robin of Loxley is a peasant.  The bow would be primarily for hunting for food which is an outlawed activity contrary to the forest laws.  He is given a sword by Herne which is sacred.  It's not his primary weapon. Robert of Huntingdon is a nobleman who I portray as fighting in tournaments before he becomes Robin Hood.  The sword is his primary weapon. The sword is considered more honorable than the bow by members of his class.  This issue is brought up in my fanfic.  Robert of Huntingdon does use the bow, but has more of an affinity toward the sword because of his upbringing.

 

Quote: "This is, the poetry reminds us, Robin enjoying his 'downfall'.  It is not, as it often will often be in the nineteenth century, a statement that life au naturel is actually much better than the harassments of ordinary urban society."  In discussion of The Downfall of Robert, Earl of Huntington

 

Analysis: This Robin Hood makes the best of it like Shakespeare's Prospero on his island in The Tempest who has also been exiled from the halls of power.

 

Re comparison to 19th century poets--  The 19th century Romantics are in some ways precursors to the theorists who are responsible for the founding of the modern environmental movement.  There is an element of environmentalism in my fanfic interpretation of Robin of Loxley, but not in my portrayal of Robert of Huntingdon who is motivated very differently. 

 

I think that the ROS spelling "Huntingdon" emphasizes that he's a fictional character who never existed.  The really interesting thing is that David, Earl of Huntingdon, who is portrayed in ROS as Robert's father, was an actual historical personage who was the brother of the King of Scotland. I discovered this when I read The Normans of Scotland which is why I portray Robert as a Norman in my fanfic. I think it's very interesting that  this aristocratic exiled Robin Hood could be considered a member of the Scottish royal house--particularly when you consider the later historical development of Jacobitism which was an attempt to restore the Scottish House of Stuart to the English throne. I enjoy seeing historical continuities.

Epic. Brilliant fictional recreation of the lives of 3 great Romantic poets - Byron, Shelley, Keats - and the women they were involved with - Byron's lovers Caroline Lamb and Augusta Leigh, Shelley's lover and wife Mary Godwin Shelley, and Keats' fiancee Fanny Brawne. The opening chapters also touch on the difficult life of Mary Shelley's mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman", a hugely influential book of feminist philosophy. The stories in "Passion" are told from the women's point of view, and in places they are harrowing, but always believable. Morgan must have done a huge amount of research to write this and get all the details and feelings so true. Caroline Lamb comes off very badly in the book, Augusta Leigh (who was Byron's half-sister) not too badly, while Mary Shelley has my complete admiration and sympathy. Lord Byron is portrayed as a fascinating, utterly charming, brilliant monster, while Shelley is something of a monster who fails to see how his ideas and the impulses that come from them finally kill Mary's love for him. The story of John Keats and Fanny Brawne has the smallest part in the book, but was the most emotionally affecting for me. His early death from tuberculosis was such a tragic loss. Note to self - must see the movie "Bright Star".

Pinterest board: http://pinterest.com/runaway84/passion-a-novel-of-the-romantic-poets-by-jude-morg/

Passion is the third book I've read by Jude Morgan. Even though I've read Indiscretion and Charlotte and Emily, I still was fearful over Passion. Why? Well, because like the other two books I read, Passion is told from the perspectives of women, and I figured that Morgan was bound to screw up sometime. I'm very hesitant to read a book primarily about women and from their point of view when it has been written by a man, but let me tell you something: Sometimes, while reading his books, I've completely forgotten who the heck wrote it, because I'm so absorbed in the story. You know, some male authors will write female characters that are completely unrealistic and clearly exist in their own fantasies, but Morgan has written nothing but realistic, flawed women, and I thank him for that.

The book is told from the perspectives of four women from the Romantic era: Augusta Leigh, half sister to Lord Byron; Lady Caroline Lamb, one-time lover to Lord Byron; Mary Goodwin, author of Frankenstein, and eventual wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley; and Fanny Brawne, the love of John Keats' life. However, really, we see everyone from this era. Everyone. Some folks popped up and then left as fast, but some stuck around. It was like a revolving door of names: Polidori, Trewlany, Hunt, etc.

Augusta and Mary were the ones we seemed to hear the most from. We heard a bit from Caroline at the beginning, but once her affair with Byron was over, she only popped up now and again. My favorite to hear from was definitely Mary, and this wasn't the case at the beginning, but I started to realize that I enjoyed her parts more and more as the story went on.

I also enjoyed Fanny Brawne's parts, but we didn't hear much about her until the last part of the story, and unfortunately, Keats didn't show up regularly until the last one hundred pages. This is my only qualm, really, because of all the men were heard about in the story, Keats is my favorite.

It took me three weeks to read this, only because I was savoring it. I'd stop reading, and do some research about what I just read, or I'd just sit and think. I also made a Pinterest board to help me visualize the people and events I was reading about. I ended up getting a lot from this book, and it will probably influence my reading for a while. Because, you see, I haven't read a lot from the Romantic poets. Sure, when I saw Bright Star a few years ago, I read a little of Keats' stuff, but that was it. I'm very much inspired, after reading Passion, to dig into all the works I heard about in the book.

I guess I should say something of the writing. It was beautiful, not flowery, yet very readable. Each woman had their own distinctive voice and personality. The period was also evoked very well, and I definitely got lost in it. This book is definitely a keeper. I could see myself reading it again someday.

well written, but just a bit too overarching for my tastes. By the time I got to the last couple, I was tired of poets and the ladies who long for them.