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The Sixth Beatitude
This early work by Radclyffe Hall was originally published in 1936 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'The Sixth Beatitude' is a novel about a the Bullens set in a channel village beyond the marshes. Marguerite Radclyffe Hall was born on 12th August 1880, in Bournemouth, England. Hall's first novel The Unlit Lamp (1924) was a lengthy and grim tale that proved hard to sell. It was only published following the success of the much lighter social comedy The Forge (1924), which made the best-seller list of John O'London's Weekly. Hall is a key figure in lesbian literature for her novel The Well of Loneliness (1928). This is her only work with overt lesbian themes and tells the story of the life of a masculine lesbian named Stephen Gordon.
- GenresFiction
272 pages, Paperback
Published August 22, 2013
3 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Radclyffe Hall
89 books349 followersMarguerite Antonia Radclyffe Hall (12 August 1880 – 7 October 1943) was an English poet and author, best known for the novel The Well of Loneliness, a groundbreaking work in lesbian literature. In adulthood, Hall often went by the name John, rather than Marguerite.
In the drawing rooms of Edwardian society, Marguerite made a small name as a poet and librettist. In 1907, she met a middle-aged fashionable singer, Mrs. Mabel Batten, known as 'Ladye", who introduced her to influential people. Batten and Radclyffe Hall entered into a long-term relationship. But before Batten died in 1916, Radclyffe Hall, known in private as 'John', had taken up with the second love of her life, Una, Lady Troubridge, who gave up her own creative aspirations (she was the first English translator of the French novelist Colette) to manage the household which she shared with 'John' for 28 years. With Batten, Radclyffe Hall converted to Catholicism; in the company of Una, she pursued an interest in animals and spiritualism. In later life, Radclyffe Hall chased after a younger woman named Evguenia Souline, a White Russian refugee. She died from cancer of the colon in October 1943.
As Radclyffe Hall (no hyphen; prefixed neither by 'John' nor 'Marguerite'), she published a volume of stories, Miss Ogilvy Finds Herself (1934), which describes how British society utilised 'masculine' women during the First World War and then dropped them afterwards, and a total of seven novels. However, the novel on which Radclyffe Hall's reputation rests primarily is The Well of Loneliness (1928).
The novel was successfully prosecuted for obscenity when if first came out, and remained banned in Britain until 1948. Vilified as 'the bible of lesbianism' by fire-and-brimstone reactionaries. In the seventies, the halcyon days of radical feminism, it was hailed as the first portrayal of a 'butch' woman.
In the drawing rooms of Edwardian society, Marguerite made a small name as a poet and librettist. In 1907, she met a middle-aged fashionable singer, Mrs. Mabel Batten, known as 'Ladye", who introduced her to influential people. Batten and Radclyffe Hall entered into a long-term relationship. But before Batten died in 1916, Radclyffe Hall, known in private as 'John', had taken up with the second love of her life, Una, Lady Troubridge, who gave up her own creative aspirations (she was the first English translator of the French novelist Colette) to manage the household which she shared with 'John' for 28 years. With Batten, Radclyffe Hall converted to Catholicism; in the company of Una, she pursued an interest in animals and spiritualism. In later life, Radclyffe Hall chased after a younger woman named Evguenia Souline, a White Russian refugee. She died from cancer of the colon in October 1943.
As Radclyffe Hall (no hyphen; prefixed neither by 'John' nor 'Marguerite'), she published a volume of stories, Miss Ogilvy Finds Herself (1934), which describes how British society utilised 'masculine' women during the First World War and then dropped them afterwards, and a total of seven novels. However, the novel on which Radclyffe Hall's reputation rests primarily is The Well of Loneliness (1928).
The novel was successfully prosecuted for obscenity when if first came out, and remained banned in Britain until 1948. Vilified as 'the bible of lesbianism' by fire-and-brimstone reactionaries. In the seventies, the halcyon days of radical feminism, it was hailed as the first portrayal of a 'butch' woman.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 12, 2022
Un libro quasi verista, che racconta la vita di una donna povera nei primi del Novecento. Un animo poetico e di un primitivo ribelle intrappolato nella vita di tutti i giorni, una vita scandita da duro lavoro e da una famiglia che sopravvive sulle tue spalle. Una famiglia che sembra un microcosmo rappresentativo della società patriarcale: alle donne il maggior carico del lavoro, agli uomini il maggior diritto di lamentarsi e di vivere di rendita. Hannah Bullen non fa nulla per sé, a parte permettersi di contemplare la palude e il mare; attimi gratuiti di beatutudine.
Attraveso il filo conduttore della vita di Hannah si delinea lo scempio della vita di un quartiere povero e il romanzo assume un caratteristico tono corale che mi ha ricordato il verismo e il neorealismo italiani: un po' perché Croft Lane mi ha richiamato alla mente Via del Corno di Cronache di Poveri amanti; un po' perché la modernità si impone violentemente sull'ignornate quotidianità della povera gente come nei Malavoglia.
Un elemento distingue però La sesta beatitudine dai romanzi che mi ha riportato alla mente: Redclyffe Hall decide di narrare da un punto di vista femminile. Ed è così che temi come la maternità e la rivendicazione di possesso del proprio corpo assumono un ruolo protagonista che altrimenti non avrebbero avuto.
Attraveso il filo conduttore della vita di Hannah si delinea lo scempio della vita di un quartiere povero e il romanzo assume un caratteristico tono corale che mi ha ricordato il verismo e il neorealismo italiani: un po' perché Croft Lane mi ha richiamato alla mente Via del Corno di Cronache di Poveri amanti; un po' perché la modernità si impone violentemente sull'ignornate quotidianità della povera gente come nei Malavoglia.
Un elemento distingue però La sesta beatitudine dai romanzi che mi ha riportato alla mente: Redclyffe Hall decide di narrare da un punto di vista femminile. Ed è così che temi come la maternità e la rivendicazione di possesso del proprio corpo assumono un ruolo protagonista che altrimenti non avrebbero avuto.
Displaying 1 of 1 review