Lately I have been thinking about fine arts...music, paintings, classic literature, poetry, dance...and I have fostered a deep love and appreciation for them. I am in gratitude to my husband for sharing that love with me, even making my love for these things expand. We go together quite well the two of us.
Yesterday I finished Jane Eyre. It was a book that I have been wanting to read for some years now. I read each page carefully, as not to miss any meaning or description given. It was a challenge for me to do this because it isn't necessarily easy to read and understand (not to mention my boys didn't like me to read it when I should have been on their watch). But the experience was made all the sweeter by really delving in to the story as best as I could.
Jane Eyre will definitely be ranked among my favorites. I loved the themes of passion and reason. I loved that the heroine was a character with true integrity and strong values. I would recommend this book to everyone. It was truly a great classic. I found Wuthering Heights intriguing, but it is much more Gothic and sad to me. Jane Eyre was truly satisfying and was one of those rare books that didn't leave me wanting at all.
I love classic literature. I love it the best of any other genre. I love being challenged. I love how beautifully put and well described the actual character of individuals are in this genre. I suppose that specifically I speak of Victorian novels, although I love historical fiction as well.
I love the Victorian era and wonder what life would have been like then. The novels set in this period are often very romantic (think Jane Austen books). And I realize that life was difficult for people that didn't have great wealth. Still, was there really a time when women were so accomplished as to speak multiple languages, to paint, write, and play musical instruments so fluently? Was there really a period in which people sat together in one great room and entertained each other with said accomplishments? Can you imagine sitting at the knees of your family and friends and listening to them tell stories or sing or read poetry? I think the world we live in today would do well to remember times past.
Perhaps things seem better than what they really were, but even so I love the idea.
Christmas music has been added to the vocal and piano music frequently heard in our home (Brian teaches voice, I teach piano). Maybe that is another reason I have been thinking about the arts lately. I feel that art is a medium that is used to produce expressions and feelings that we would otherwise not be capable to. In many instances it lifts us higher and evokes feelings in our very souls that are difficult to describe. Whether it is a breathtaking piece of art or a sweet melody, art is a beautiful gift to the human race. And isn't it neat that we wouldn't have art without the talents and gifts that are bestowed to us? I don't consider myself a great artist or writer, but I'm grateful that I know how to appreciate these things. And I'm in awe and appreciative of those that do create art.
Sometimes I think in the virtual and at times artificial world we live in today, people forget the arts, or at least how majestic and inspiring they can be. What can replace a live performance of Chopin or Liszt? What can compare to coming face to face with an original masterpiece painting? Or what feels better than the weight of a book in your hand and the smell of real paper pages?
Don't get me wrong. I don't hate technology nor do I despise this day and age. But sometimes I do wonder how it would have been to live a in a world a few hundred years younger than this one.
