It recently struck me how odd it was during the story of Wuthering Heights that Catherine during her downward spiral due to TB should be described as having possessing an " un-earthly beauty. " How could anyone who was dying be described this way ? And what further fascinates me is that to die due to " consumption " as they called it, was looked on as a romantic death or something to be held as... I cant find the words to express this until I came across a documentary about the Bronte sisters and the brutal age they lived in.
Anyway on watching this documentary I learned this odd admiration was the victorian equivalent of " heroin chic " Of course a death from TB ( I just typed TV ) was not glamorous, just as a death from drugs is not, but the same silly attitudes reigned back then admiring the image of decay in what I expect was mainly women. Having said that I have witnessed this " chic " in someone once or rather the mild beginnings of it, and yes there was a certain heady dangerous beauty there. I think when the body weakens that vulnerability triggers the reproductive instincts of urgency and survival in the onlooker. A sharpening of perception that cuts through the mundane bullshit of everyday life. Something is happening, its ACTUALLY happening.
I shall post more about this soon on the other blog...
They were a death cult of sorts. Started with the 19th century Romantics who liked to sing songs about death and beauty; I guess this was adopted by the modern-day goths of the 80's and 90's. For other goths, flirting with death and a sense of mystery is a part of their image, or at least used to be for the more cerebral ones. I'm not sure if any real goths exist anymore.
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