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Show MADELYN CANNON STEWART SILVER 278 England in our century," Woolf was not exactly Madelyn's type, but A Room of Cne's Own appealed to her, especially because it represented one of the finest illustrations of an author's love for reading, a love shared by Madelyn." The book was a por trayal of how a literary mind attempts to come to terms with its world. She wrote, So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say. But to sacrifice a hair of the head of your vision, a shade of its colour, in deference to some Headmaster with a silver pot in his hand or to some profes with a measuring-rod up his sleeve, is the most abject treachery, and the sacrifice of wealth and chastity which used sor to be said to be the greatest of human disasters, a mere flea bite in comparison." Men, Woolf asserted, have always had power, influence, wealth, and fame, while women have had nothing but children. Although her reasoning and wit were irresistible, Madelyn dis agreed with the phrase, "nothing but children," for Madelyn thought having children was a great gift and privilege-as important as being able to express a creative literary genius. She would have agreed, however, with Woolf's contention that women have superior intuition and insight, and that they are quite aware of men's many intrigues and inadequacies. Stimulated by this reading and encouraged by Harold and her children, Madelyn continued her reading in Shakespeare and Milton, in Emerson and Millay, in the Old and New Testaments, in philosophy and Mormon doctrine. In Milton she had a particular interest because he was repelled by the expul sion and massacre of the Vaudois (Waldensians), some of whom converted to Mormonism in the early 1850s, moved to Utah, and became prominent in the faith. Milton's indignant sonnet, "Avenge, 0 Lord, Thy Slaughtered Saints," was often declaimed in Utah, and a commonly sung Mormon hymn, "For the Strength of the Hills," was said to have been inspired by Milton's poem. |
