Page 14 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - April/May 2020 Edition

14 History Made During Quarantine

7 Geniuses Who Made

History in Quarantine

by Meghan Jones

Masterpieces from trying times

As people around the world continue to stay
indoors in efforts to slow the spread of COVID-
19, many are aspiring to tackle boredom by
producing a creative work. And people are
sharing stories about how several well-known
geniuses actually produced some of their
masterpieces while in quarantine or another type
of forced isolation—and some of these stories
are true! Of course, as many people on the
Internet are pointing out, it's important not to
feel pressured to produce the best work of your
life or finally complete a lifelong goal. But
maybe these accounts of notable people
producing some incredible works, in situations Victor Hugo pieces while ill. And, unlike many others,
similar to the one we're in right now, will help Munch actually didn't die from the flu. He
provide a little bit of hope that something good Ever heard of Les Misérables? We thought so. actually survived for 25 years after that and
could come out of this tough period. And for a Before it was a blockbuster musical, it was a continued producing works of art.
little more levity, check out these secret massive tome written by French author Victor
messages painters hid in their world-famous Hugo. But in 1851, Hugo was quite Simone de Beauvoir
paintings. disenchanted with the state of things in France.
He was a vocal critic of Napoleon III and went This 20th-century French voice of feminism lost
Isaac Newton into exile to avoid punishment. His exile took her teaching job during the Nazi occupation of

him from Belgium to the island of Jersey in the Paris. de Beauvoir helped out the French
One of the most widespread claims on the English Channel to the nearby island of Resistance within the city and produced several
Internet right now is that Sir Isaac Newton was Guernsey. In all, he spent nearly 20 years away literary works. (Way to be!) Perhaps most
in isolation when he came up with his theory of from his home country and did a whole lot of notable and relevant was her only play, Les
gravity. And it's accurate! In 1665, when writing. In addition to three books of poetry, he Bouches inutiles ("the useless mouths"). Written
Newton was a student at Cambridge, London cranked out the majority of Les Misérables— in 1945, this play takes place during a 14th-
was experiencing its last major epidemic of the he'd begun it years earlier, but during his exile, century siege but was clearly inspired by the
bubonic plague. Newton retreated to he saw it to completion. While away from and Nazi regime. Its title refers to the way people in
Woolsthorpe Manor, an hour away, where he disenchanted with France, he wrote one of the charge would write off as "useless," or even
spent 18 months, putting his nose to the masterpieces of French literature. How about sacrifice, marginalized people, like the elderly,
grindstone and did some serious studying. His that? women, and children, during times of siege to
theory of gravity found its inception here, and he save the lives of young, healthy men. Learn
also wrote some of his papers on the as-yet- Frida Kahlo about some more amazing women in history you
undiscovered calculus. What's more dubious is didn't learn about in class.
whether his gravity epiphany was triggered by The famous Mexican artist endured some
an apple falling on his head, one of the famous serious misfortune. For one thing, she contracted Salvator Rosa
moments in history that didn't actually happen. polio at age six, resulting in her first lengthy

period of forced bed rest. About 12 years later, This 1656 painting, "Human Frailty," is not
William Shakespeare Kahlo, now a student, was riding a bus that particularly subtle. Its creator, Salvator Rosa,
collided with a streetcar. She suffered serious had just lost a young son in a 1656 plague
Another claim that's everywhere right now? The injuries from the crash, including a fractured outbreak that struck Naples hard. Two of Rosa's
Bard himself wrote King Lear while in spine and pelvis. After a hospital stay, there she siblings also died in the plague (started by the
quarantine. While this is impossible to fully was, confined to her bed again. But historians same pathogen as the Black Plague). He
prove, it is true that Shakespeare experienced speculate that it was this healing period that produced this grim painting, in which a newborn
many periods of plague during his life. fully cemented her love of art (until then, she'd baby (representative of his son) signs his life
Unfortunately, there's no evidence that the man been studying medicine!). She painted her first over to a winged Death, the same year. It's
himself was ever in quarantine, but throughout self-portrait while in recovery—according to unsure whether he was actually in quarantine
some of his most productive times, the city of biography.com, she actually used the mirror (his son's death actually suggests that he wasn't),
London was shut down due to bubonic plague above her bed for reference. Want to sharpen but he certainly was in the midst of a devastating
outbreaks. This included theaters, which, your smarts during self-quarantine? Here are outbreak. And, hey, if art, even with super-dark
according to the Guardian, were closed en masse some of our favorite brain games. subject matter like this, helps you cope with a
during Shakespeare's most prolific decade as a dark time, there's beauty in that! []
writer, 1603–1613. Shakespeare reportedly Edvard Munch
wrote several poems, including Venus and
Adonis, during theater closures. And the first Are you familiar with The Scream? Did you
performance of King Lear, in late 1606, know the name of its painter, Edvard Munch? THANK YOU
certainly did come on the heels of a London What about the fact that he was struck by the FIRST RESPONDERS
outbreak that summer. Love Shakespeare? See if incredibly deadly influenza outbreak of 1918?
you can identify him and these 9 other famous No, The Scream itself is not a product of the AND ALL ESSENTIAL
geniuses by their offices. outbreak (he painted it in 1893), but Munch did WORKERS
paint a work called Self-Portrait with the
Spanish Flu, of his sickly self, and a few other