It is sitting in my bedroom late at night and feeling fizzled out that makes the writing of blogs seem appropriate. Monday we had our last meeting before one of our members, Bree went back for a friends wedding in Montana (that’s under the Hudson river, on the other side of Alaska apparently). And as myself and Bree in particular are or will be at our birthhouse – only for a short time, we are going to record ourselves finding a book that we loved during childhood to echo the Mary Lamb essay ‘Last of the Mahometans’ in which the author finds a ‘fatal book’ which triggers for the author and as a prerogative of our performance, a certain perception shift in the eyes of her younger self.
The essay is about Mary Lamb finding a text on the ‘character’ Mahomet (what appears to be the late Victorian variation of Mohammed) with some pages in the being being torn out, and upon her chance encounter becoming obsessed with the story to the point of delirium.
The idea is an intersting one. As we discussed ages ago, it seems that the younger self of Mary Lamb lived in a controlled environment. She then deviated from this environment, her house, by breaking into a locked library and by chance encountering this text. She then obsessed, believes, becomes hysterical and is supposedly saved by the wise words of a friend and brought back to reality by attending a fair and being bought lots of new toys and gaining lots of friends.
What we found interesting in this text is the undertones of politics and feminism within the essay itself. Upon looking closely at the inference of the text, it appears that the child author was left alone quite a lot during childhood and forbidden from reading. It is as mentioned, chance that brings her into contact with this text (some version of the Quran? it is not specified) and the undertones of materialism when she after becomes distracted by the fair, by things, toys, games, and by society.
It is quite an unsual essay to read. Obivously grounded in the beliefs of the time. So we are using it, and will be dubbing ou voices in the words of Mary, upon encountering the text over the vidoes shot for the performance.
