That’s the only line I remember from Sartre’s Huis Clos. But I had my first chapter conference today and have the surge of energy that comes from reorganizing and planning. It’s pretty exciting — I am splitting my first chapter into two chapters, so the chapter I’m working on now will be the third. What’s great about this is that this summer I can work on revising the three and adding the introduction, and for the other two chapters, I will have already presented a conference paper on each of them, so when I am on the job market, my dissertation will feel more or less sound.
Newton remains a source of unending interest. Any time I ask myself the question, “what was really going on?” I am set off on another quest. I really want to know what happened with Fatio de Duiller, the nervous breakdown, and whether Newton’s alchemy was a more open secret than people avow. The cultural history part of this project also excites me. I am interested in whether average consumers of popular culture would have made much distinction between a philosopher, an alchemist, or a crackpot virtuoso anyway, especially at a time when Faust was made a farce.
More on this to come…I can’t wait to read all of those alchemical mockeries.
