So many modern Muses
A few years ago, while researching a book whose first three chapters are currently under my bed, I stumbled across something that reminded me of an important point about writing historical fiction. Researching, I think, In for a Penny, I had come across this quote by William Hazlitt (from a series of lectures he gave in 1818): "I am a great admirer of the female writers of the present day; they appear to me like so many modern Muses." What a patronizing jerk! I thought. Those women aren't there to inspire YOU, they're artists who do their own creating! Then, while reading the essay "Representing Culture: 'The Nine Living Muses'" by Elizabeth Eger in Women, Writing, and the Public Sphere, 1700-1830 , which discusses the 1779 painting this engraving is based on: (via Wikimedia Commons ) by Richard Samuel ( this link takes you to a large version of the painting at the National Portrait Gallery website , and this link takes you to an explanation of e...