I just got back from vacation on which I managed to fulfill a life-long dream of visiting Monticello.No kidding! I've been wanting to go there since my early teens, when I developed a serious History Man Crush on Thomas Jefferson.
His tragic romance with his doomed wife and persistent wind-blown hair must have appealed to my pre-teen romantic sensibilities.
Of course, now I realize how complicated his entire life was, but at the time I just saw him as a man in need of someone who understood him!
It's my sneaking suspicion that plenty of us have had History Man Crushes throughout the years.
I also had a teenager tendre for Branwell Bronte, certain that I'd have been able to save him from himself!
(Boy we get over that fantasy quickly, don't we?)
Nevermind that in reality he was a short, red-haired, near-sighted 19th century drug addict.
My Branwell!
In my mind, he was the inspiration for Heathcliff.
(I have a dog-eared copy of this book. It's now out of print. But if you can find it, read it!)
Now, it's time to confess: any other History Man Crushes out there?
5 Comments:
I loved Alexander Hamilton. If there was a woman who could've gone back in time to tame that naughty boy, it would be me!
Hmm. Now there's an interesting story idea!
Mary
4:20 PM
Oh, Lucia, how lucky you were to visit Monticello! It's on my list of places to see before I die (along with the Taj Mahal and St Petersburg). I had a HUGE crush on the poet Shelley when I was an impressionable late teen type. All that passion, all that idealism, all that wildness. I now think it's just those qualities that would have driven me crazy!
4:37 PM
so i'm not as crazy as i've been let to believe then!
i've been writing about historical women that i've had crushes on, so far i've been very friendly with Marie Antoinette, Tsarina Aleksandra of Russia and Anne Boleyn.
much more romantic than everyday 21st century folk eh? :)
1:32 PM
I have a history man crush on Keats. :)
1:24 PM
Anna, we must have known each other in a former life because I always had a bit of a thing for Byron. I hate how he's portrayed half the time.
And please don't mock me, but I've always thought that Napoleon Bonaparte was hot when he was young -- if the paintings are correct.
4:25 PM
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