What's in a Name?

"...That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
                - Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

And so much for Shakespeare and roses...
What ho, what ho, what ho everyone!

Well, I had sort of an idea that I would burst onto this blogging scene with a long and clever post about any number of things. I even had some of what I would say planned out in my head. (my excuse for this: I'm an introvert) Then a thing called Time got right smack in the way and I couldn't seem to get around it. So, and to the relief of not a few readers, I feel sure, this post will be much shorter than originally planned.

Then too, after the contributions of Aunty Em and Marta, really, what is one to say? Thank you, Aunty and Marta. Though, as you both know, and the rest of you may come to realize, having nothing to say has never stopped me from saying it in the past and shall not, I think, do so any time soon.

You know, hang Time. This shall be a long post and I for one don't much care. I shall also mention that while I was thinking about what to say, I also thought of reasons why everyone would read a long post if I posted one. Read on, therefore, dear readers, and you shall see why you should read all this. First, I simply knew Teresa would read it. (if for no other reason than some weary sense of duty) (c.f. Captain Ryder in the Intro...) (PS you're great SO :) Emily, now, has always been kind to me and so she too, I knew, would read it. Marta is a very polite person and so I knew she'd read it, hoping I'd say something worthwhile by at least the last paragraph. I'm starting to hope so too. Nick, being a conscientious and forgiving man, ready to believe the best of anyone, would of course read it for those reasons. And Nathan, well, though I've met you but briefly I feel like some tenacious sense of curiosity may yet carry you through... 

Now we come to it. I have dubbed myself the resident Art Expert (having recently taken Art Appreciation) as well as the blog's Romance Columnist (having always taken an interest in what is now known colloquially as " 'shipping"). Not having any other sort of expertise, my contributions shall further consist merely of musings and affirming comments on other people's deep and clever posts.

Art: I don't actually know much about Art, and furthermore I thought Emily's post covered that topic rather well for the present.

Romance: At first I thought that Charles and Julia would never work out, but now that I consider the fact that she's the only eligible female character in the book so far... I'm on the fence on this one. No spoilers, please! For the moment I shall assume they will meet again and have at least some short fling, if not a more serious relationship. I can't say if they will marry- that is too far off.

Musings: I was thinking about the title of the work: "Brideshead Revisited". (hence my own title for this post) It appears to me that, judging from synopses I've read, Waugh may have intended more than one meaning for this. On the surface, Brideshead Revisited is about a dude who revisits a place called Brideshead, both in memory and in fact. All clear so far. BUT, I've read in synopses that this is a book about conversion and here's where it could get interesting. You see, Our Lord is the Head of his Bride, the Church. And so He too could be called "Brideshead". And now "Revisited" seems much more like another word for a conversion or reversion to faith, if you will. So perhaps, just perhaps, this was deliberate on Waugh's part and he chose his title to subtly present a major theme of the work. Or maybe I'm thinking too hard. Or maybe, I don't know, Jeffrey O'Shaunessy the literary critic said this in 1985 and it's all old news. But I just happened to think of it, so I thought I'd share.

Right then, off I go! I hope this post is at least half as fun to read as it was to write. I promise I'll try to keep them shorter in the future!

Pax, and a Blessed Feast of the Sacred Heart to you all!
-EM