#AtoZChallenge Letter Z

is for Zuleika Dobson   I read Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm about 40 years ago.  It is an ironic satire on the life of undergraduates at Oxford University in 1911.  Into their lives comes the stunningly beautiful Zuleika.  All the young men fall in love with this femme fatale, but she resists all their charms,

#AtoZChallenge Letter X

For this letter I have to cheat by using EX One person you can count on to be depressing is Thomas Hardy.  Here is one of his later poems. EXPECTATION and EXPERIENCE “I had a holiday once,” said the woman- Her name I did not know- “And I thought that where I’d like to go,

#AtoZChallenge Letter W

  is for Waterhouse John William Waterhouse was an artist who painted in the Pre-Raphaelite style, many years after the original  Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood had ceased to exist.  Today I am going to concentrate on his portrayal of The Lady of Shalott. Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote the ballad set at the time of King Arthur, based on the

#AtoZChallenge Letter V

 is for Vermeer Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter of domestic interior scenes of everyday seventeenth century life.  Vermeer worked slowly and with great care, and frequently used very expensive pigments. He is noted for his skillful portrayal of light.  He was a reasonably successful painter in his lifetime, but he left his wife and children in