The Ides of March, the 15th
and 16th of this month, traditionally bode ill luck. For instance, in
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the emperor is warned to “Beware the Ides of
March” by the Soothsayer. Julius, not being a superstitious sort of fellow and
believing the nonsense about his personal immortality, sneers, ignores the
warning, and refers to the Soothsayer as “a dreamer.” Not Caesar’s wisest
decision.
We recently celebrated St. Patrick’s Day which
supposedly brings good luck and fortune. People do at times have lucky things
happen to them and at other times suffer misfortunes like ill health, accidents
or assaults. However, writers prefer to believe that for the most part we make
our own luck.
According to Napoleon: “Luck occurs
when preparation meets opportunity.” I apply that statement to authors. We get
lucky with our work when we’ve done adequate preparation—that is being
well-read, writing, rewriting, and editing until we’ve created something of
value and quality. If we’re too lazy or too full of ourselves to make this kind
of effort and commitment then alas we’ll never “get lucky.”
Luck
is often a theme in literature. For example, Thomas Hardy created characters
that were unlucky like Tess or Jude. Yet it could be argued that their bad luck
came as a direct result of fatal flaws in their own characters. Tragedy derives
from this. Things don’t just happen. There is a cause and effect relationship.
I
write about and admire main characters with positive values who make their own
good luck and overcome obstacles through personal effort, not bemoaning their
fate or bad luck. To quote Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar again, as Cassius
observes: “Our fate, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves.”
In
tribute to Irish literature which often deals with themes related to luck, I
want to mention a few of the outstanding Irish writers I’ve appreciated over
the years.
As
an undergraduate English major, I read and enjoyed John Millington Synge’s The
Playboy of the Western World. Synge celebrated the lyrical
speech of the Irish in a boisterous play.
In
graduate school, I took a semester seminar on the works of
William
Butler Yeats, a great Irish poet. I learned a great deal about Irish mythology
from his work.
George
Bernard Shaw was also of Irish origins and a great playwright, another favorite
of mine. His plays still hold up because of thought-provoking themes and clever
dialogue.
I’ve
read James Joyce’s stories and novels but most appreciated his earlier work. I
thought Portrait of the Artist was
brilliant as was Dubliners, his short
story collection. His style was original and unique.
Mere
luck does not account for his success.
Satirist
Jonathan Swift is often thought of as a children’s writer, but this is, of
course, completely false.
Notable
Works: Gulliver’s Travels,
Tale of a Tub, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, Drapier’s Letters, An
Argument Against Abolishing Christianity, Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift
Oscar Wilde was a talented Irish writer and
playwright. Sentenced to two years in prison for gross indecency
(homosexuality), he eventually lost his creative spark.
Notable
Works: The Picture of Dorian
Grey, The Importance of Being Earnest (play), Poems, The Happy Prince and Other
Tales (children’s book), A Woman of No Importance (play)
Abraham
Stoker (Bram Stoker) gave us Dracula (enough said!)
Lawrence Sterne, Oliver Goldsmith, C.S.
Lewis all had Irish origins as well, although they left Ireland England
My latest novel DEATH PROMISE is set in London , New York Las Vegas
Your thoughts and comments welcome!
