The Tormented Muse: A Feminist Study of the Better Halves of Three Literary Geniuses

Abstract

This paper aims to focus on the different shades and ambivalences in the marital relationship between celebrity writers and their better halves. It's an effort to see the real life beyond the reel life of these famous personalities. It is universally known that there is a woman behind each man's success. But exactly what cost does one pay for cementing this age-old ‘truth’? There is a need to know also this side of the story. It can help us to treat them as an individual with weaknesses and limitations rather than an idol to worship. This paper highlights the stories of the tormented ‘Muses’ like Sophia Tolstoy, Vivienne Haigh Wood and Patricia Hale Naipaul to evaluate their contribution to the greatest creations in the world of literature, their decision to serve the need of the genius, their weakness, indecision, and its results. This research paper makes a comparative study of the lives and relationships of these three couples to point out the nuances of marriage, the challenges of being supportive, a ‘perfect’ partner, and almost a deity-like figure in the shade of patriarchal demands. The ‘woman question’ raised here shows the falsity of marriage, the contrast between ideals and their implementation, the perpetual crisis, and the frailties of the great genius. The effort to suppress the story of Sophia Tolstoy or the attempt to frame her as a villain until her diaries and autobiography is published or Vivienne Haigh Wood's confinement in an ‘asylum’ and her last wish to keep her diary in Bodleian library show the banality of patriarchy to accept the truth by making all the sacrifices, exploitation ‘natural’. Though Naipaul's frank acceptance of his mistreatment of Patrice to his biographer casts a different picture his casual attitude towards these actions presents him to be nonchalant. This research paper attempts to question this gap between understanding and worshipping the creator of the great works which coalesces the creator with its creations with its strength, weakness, and its love, agony.