also ill have you know Voltaire wrote fanfic over Sophocles’ Oedipus King and that it is extremely Bad™. i suffered a whole semester studying it very seriously
like it’s supposed to be a “””””fancy intellectual rewriting”””””” according to my syllabus but really, that was just cringy fanfic
– the main character was A Textbook Self-Insert™: a brave hero compared to Herakles and Perseus, who is Noble and Perfect and has Paladin complex (and is blond)
– he had a love affair with Jocasta in the past and they’re Still In Love and this is like 99% of the plot
– Jocasta has a tragic angsty backstory and got raped
– the main story is not the plague or the search for the actual murderer, or anything you would expect from a play about Oedipus
– actually the plot is about how Perfect Self-Insert Paladin is accused of murdering Laius and his inner monologues about his Perfect Noble Love for Jocasta
– like, Oedipus is a minor character
– the major discovery of Oedipus, which should be the climax of the play, is actually stuck between two Perfect Paladin™ scenes
– Voltaire was considered as the best french dramaturgist of his time (or one of the best according to different sources). His Oedipus is not even the worst play on this subject
– Corneille, who is The Most Respected French Author from the 17th century, also wrote Oedipus King fanfic. The main character is Oedipus’ hidden sister (because why not) and the plot is about her fucking wedding (she wants to marry someone who’s actually related to her of whatever). It’s less cringy but more angsty than Voltaire’s.
– most of the Very Fancy And Serious poetic production of that time was cringy fanfic of greek mythology or the Bible
– so if you write cringy fanfiction don’t worry
– in 3 or 4 centuries from now your work will be studied as Very Interesting And Serious Literature in prestigious universities
– you go, it’s not fanfic it’s “rewriting” and theres plenty of literary theory about that don’t worry you’re doing fine
@epicene-street-light holy shit this is the funniest and kinda most motivating thing i’ve seen all day
@the-feeling-is-mutual yay!!!! u have the approval of your Local Literature Nerd haha
but for real literary history is petty & messy af & studying famous author’s inner lives (reading their letters, studying the conditions their work was published, etc.) is 1). extremely funny and 2). proves things really never changed.
one of my favorite literary anecdotes: Flaubert’s mistress, Louise Colet, who was a famous poetess & also married, had given him a stamp (to seal his letters) with a cheesy latin quote about love. he described this in Madame Bovary in a ironic way & Louise Colet was so mad about this she wrote a very petty poem about this. i love authors theyre so Extra
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