|
|
Article: The aesthetics of intimacy: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and her readers.
- Article from:
- Papers on Language & Literature
- Article date:
- March 22, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Southern Illinois University. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
I
[Lady Holdernesse] is tenderly attach'd to the polite Mr. Mildmay, and sunk in all the Joys of happy Love notwithstanding she wants the use of her 2 hands by a Rheumatism, and he has an arm that he can't move. I wish I could send you the particulars of this Amour, which seems to me as curious as that between 2 Oysters, and as well worthy the serious Enquiry of the Naturalists.(1)
In this bit of gossip excerpted from a letter of March, 1724, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu reveals a delightful intimacy with her subject and audience that characterizes that large group of her epistles to her sister, the Countess of Mar, written from 1721 to 1727. Keenly aware of ...