Sex in the life of an artist, however, plays an infinitely4 less important part than egotism, the desire to be above.
The so-called normal man, who works, eats, sleeps, reproduces himself, and, at his death leaves the world exactly as he found it is probably subnormal.
He differs very little from the animals who do exactly the same things in the same way and seem perfectly6 pleased with the endless repetition of an immutable7 life ritual.
Dissatisfaction is really the element which we must consider when we try to draw a line of[Pg 217] cleavage between men and the animals. Dissatisfaction breeds either neurosis or creation.
The dissatisfied person, devoid8 of intellectual resources, either commits a crime or kills himself or goes off into another world thru the door that leads into insanity9.
The dissatisfied person gifted with powers of self-expression, makes the world in which he lives better, more beautiful or more comfortable. That sort of achievement presupposes a certain amount of healthy sadism, the courage to criticise10, to offer suggestions, to force the products of one's mind upon the community, to say "look at me, I am perfect or, at least, better than you."
Every budding actor assumes unconsciously that he can delineate a r?le better than the other histrionic lights of his time; every new novelist must assume that he can tell a story more attractively than his readers could picture it to themselves, etc., etc.
The artist who is willing to yield, soon relapses into the ranks of the business men. Whoever panders11 to the popular taste of his time may derive12 therefrom financial advantages but very little egotistical gratification.
The real artist must know that he is right and[Pg 218] must not be, therefore, soft clay to be moulded by any one else's desires.
The Male Artist, if married to a submissive, masochistic wife, may live happily with her for a time. Egotists, male or female, however, need flattery. Familiarity breeds contempt. Flattery must come from a constantly changing source or lose its power, as drugs do when we grow accustomed to them.
Flattery coming from a pretty woman whose attraction has not been weakened by daily contact will soon lead the artist husband into forbidden paths. Unless endowed with the wisdom of the musician's wife in "The Concert," his wife will soon be granted a divorce on the ground of his too obvious infidelity.
Woe14 to the male artist who takes unto himself a female artist for his wife. As I said in the preceding chapter, sadist plus sadist equals divorce suit for cruelty alleged15 by both parties. In this type of matrimonial castastrophy, the fault lies more frequently with the wife than with the husband.
Female Artists are more unbearable16 than male artists. They are more touchy17, more easily offen[Pg 219]ded and angered, more apt to suspect the people in their environment of harboring veiled hostility18. The reason for that state of things is not far to seek.
Women require infinitely more flattery than men do. Not that a craving19 for attention is by any means a typically feminine trait. That craving has been forced upon them by the masculine domination.
We have made woman inferior to man politically, socially, economically, we have, as Adler would word it, put her "below." Until we allow her to rise to man's level, she will never feel safe and will constantly require assurances of her superiority, at least, from the men who fancy her looks and enjoy her company.
The Woman Who Accomplishes Things in this world, who, in spite of woman's handicap in her dealings with the world, wins recognition as a painter, sculptor20, writer, singer, etc., feels, and justly so, that she deserves more credit for her accomplishment21 than a man would. Winning power in a man's world is for the woman who reaches that aim ethically22, that is, without bartering23 her sexual favors for success, as difficult as it would be for a Jew to arrive in a bigoted24 Christian25 community, for a[Pg 220] negro to establish his prestige in a white anglo-saxon environment.
Having reached the top after much fighting, she never feels as secure as a man would under similar circumstances. Her ego5 is steadily26 on the defensive27 and whatever interferes28 with her ego maximation appears to her dangerous and hateful.
The female artist who marries a male artist will soon become jealous of him. Every bit of publicity29 he receives is something which he has stolen from her, which he should, she thinks, if he loved her enough, have renounced30 in her favor.
The female artist who marries a man incapable31 of artistic achievement, may be violently attracted to him sexually. Her egotism, on the other hand, prompts her to disparage32 him and to scorn his judgment33 of her. However much he may admire her, his praise lacks weight in her estimation. He is not a member of the enchanted34 circle.
A word from "one in the know", insignificant35 as he may be, will bring a smile to her lips, a flash of pleasure in her eyes, which will cut her mate to the quick. I have observed many a time an angry tension in the face of the business husband of some actress or singer when she would visibly gloat over[Pg 221] the not too disinterested36 praise of some trashy professional.
Flattery. The artist is at the mercy of the flattery lavished37 on him or her by a fellow artist and absolutely blind to the flatterer's ulterior motives38. A great musician who died recently was an easy victim to every budding musician who would sycophantically39 sing his praises. The mere40 statement "if I could ever hope to sing a few notes like you" enabled any young exploiter who could approach him to negotiate a "loan."
For the reasons I have mentioned in the preceding pages, the woman artist is even more easily victimised, financially or sentimentally41 than the male artist.
Sexual jealousy42 wrecks43 the unions of artists with non-professional mates. Sexual jealousy and professional jealousy make the union of two artists a very problematical expedient44 for the attainment45 of happiness.
Fortunately, very few heartbreaks result from the steady grinding of the divorce mills in concert land, opera land or stageland.
The egotistical artist loves himself more than he could ever love any other human being. Separa[Pg 222]tion from his life mate does not mean loneliness to him. He remains46 in his own company, to his mind, the best company on earth. And furthermore his egotism tells him, and rightly so in the majority of cases, that being as wonderful as he is, he cannot fail to meet soon "the great love" of his life. And he will probably embark47 upon another experiment with the same optimism and with the same results.
点击收听单词发音
1 artistic | |
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的 | |
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2 platitudinous | |
adj.平凡的,陈腐的 | |
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3 disturbance | |
n.动乱,骚动;打扰,干扰;(身心)失调 | |
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4 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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5 ego | |
n.自我,自己,自尊 | |
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6 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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7 immutable | |
adj.不可改变的,永恒的 | |
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8 devoid | |
adj.全无的,缺乏的 | |
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9 insanity | |
n.疯狂,精神错乱;极端的愚蠢,荒唐 | |
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10 criticise | |
v.批评,评论;非难 | |
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11 panders | |
v.迎合(他人的低级趣味或淫欲)( pander的第三人称单数 );纵容某人;迁就某事物 | |
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12 derive | |
v.取得;导出;引申;来自;源自;出自 | |
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13 lasting | |
adj.永久的,永恒的;vbl.持续,维持 | |
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14 woe | |
n.悲哀,苦痛,不幸,困难;int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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15 alleged | |
a.被指控的,嫌疑的 | |
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16 unbearable | |
adj.不能容忍的;忍受不住的 | |
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17 touchy | |
adj.易怒的;棘手的 | |
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18 hostility | |
n.敌对,敌意;抵制[pl.]交战,战争 | |
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19 craving | |
n.渴望,热望 | |
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20 sculptor | |
n.雕刻家,雕刻家 | |
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21 accomplishment | |
n.完成,成就,(pl.)造诣,技能 | |
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22 ethically | |
adv.在伦理上,道德上 | |
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23 bartering | |
v.作物物交换,以货换货( barter的现在分词 ) | |
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24 bigoted | |
adj.固执己见的,心胸狭窄的 | |
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25 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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26 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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27 defensive | |
adj.防御的;防卫的;防守的 | |
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28 interferes | |
vi. 妨碍,冲突,干涉 | |
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29 publicity | |
n.众所周知,闻名;宣传,广告 | |
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30 renounced | |
v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 );宣布放弃;宣布与…决裂;宣布摒弃 | |
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31 incapable | |
adj.无能力的,不能做某事的 | |
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32 disparage | |
v.贬抑,轻蔑 | |
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33 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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34 enchanted | |
adj. 被施魔法的,陶醉的,入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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35 insignificant | |
adj.无关紧要的,可忽略的,无意义的 | |
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36 disinterested | |
adj.不关心的,不感兴趣的 | |
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37 lavished | |
v.过分给予,滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38 motives | |
n.动机,目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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39 sycophantically | |
adv.sycophantic(阿谀的,拍马的)的变形 | |
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40 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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41 sentimentally | |
adv.富情感地 | |
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42 jealousy | |
n.妒忌,嫉妒,猜忌 | |
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43 wrecks | |
n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 );(事故中)遭严重毁坏的汽车(或飞机等);(身体或精神上)受到严重损伤的人;状况非常糟糕的车辆(或建筑物等)v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 );使(船舶)失事,使遇难,使下沉 | |
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44 expedient | |
adj.有用的,有利的;n.紧急的办法,权宜之计 | |
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45 attainment | |
n.达到,到达;[常pl.]成就,造诣 | |
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46 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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47 embark | |
vi.乘船,着手,从事,上飞机 | |
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