ALEXANDER MORING LTD THE DE
LA MORE PRESS 32 GEORGE STREET
HANOVER SQUARE LONDON W
Balzac in one of his novels gives utterance to the following thought:"Genius is a terrible disease. Every writer of genius cherishes in hisheart a monster which devours all his emotions as soon as he gives birthto them. Which is to be the conqueror? Will the disease vanquish theman, or the man the disease? He must be a great man who can establish aperfect equilibrium between his genius and his character. Unless thepoet be a giant, unless he be possessed of the shoulders of a Hercules,he must inevitably remain bereft of heart, or else bereft of talent."
Here, unfortunately, Balzac breaks off his dissertation, and does notstate what in his opinion is the cause of this disease of genius, whythe development and power of the artistic personality stand in manyrespects in inverse ratio to the development and power of the moraltype, or on what fundamental ground depends that primary antagonismbetween these two elements which is so often to be observed in the dailyexperience of life. Every one knows, for instance, that writers oftalent, artists or musicians, are in the majority of cases men of themost unpractical nature, that their eccentricities and irresponsibilityverge not uncommonly on complete moral disintegration, that they are badfathers of families and bad husbands, and that while expressing greatsensitiveness in the forcible language of their works, they very oftenshow themselves in real life to be at heart hard and unfeeling egotists.An enquiry into the origin of the causes responsible for the deepcontrast which exists between the æsthetic and ethical points of view,between the artist and the man, between genius and character, wouldundoubtedly open up one of the most interesting chapters in the historyof creative psychology.
Let us take, as an illustration of our thesis, the tragic scene of thedestruction of Laocoon, as described in the Æneid. Picture the horrorand anguish with which the citizens of Troy witness the seizure andsuffocation of Laocoon and his children by the gigantic serpents. Theonlookers are filled with terror, grief, and a desire to save theunfortunate victims. In bringing out the psychic differences ofconstitution among the crowd, the crucial moment of action plays a mostimportant rôle, developing the instinct of self-preservation among themore timid ones, or the efforts of the more manly to lend their aid.Then imagine a sculptor moving about in this wavering and undecidedcrowd, and studying the terrible tragedy which is being enacted beforehis eyes as a fit theme for a future work of art. He alone remains anunmoved spectator amid the general confusion, lamentation, cries, andprayers. His moral instincts are all absorbed in an intense æstheticcuriosity. Tears would hinder his vision, and he keeps them sternlyback, because it is imperatively necessary for him to see every form,every outline of the muscles distorted under the crushing force of thesnakes' huge coils. Every detail of the picture which in the othersawakens loathing and terror, evokes in him a joy that is outside the kenof other men. While they weep and waver, the artist rejoices in theexpression of agony on the countenance of Laocoon, rejoices that thefather is unable to bring aid to his children, that the serpents arecompressing their bodies with irresistible force. The next moment,perchance, the man will have conquered the artist. But the deed is done,the fact remains, the moment of cruel contemplation has had the power tobrand u