... would the spirit return?
I do not believe so, the body fails and falls. But the body is not the truth of what we are. The spirit will not return to a ruined house.
The world punishes men and women differently. There is scandal wherever Byron and Shelley go, but they remain men. They are not dubbed hyenas in petticoats for living as they please. They are not called un-men when they love where they will. They are not left unprotected and penniless when a woman of theirs walks away without a thought. (What woman does walk away without a thought? Not even the bitterest nor the most vilely abused.)
Race, faith, gender, sexuality, those things make me impatient, said
Victor. We need to move forward, and faster. I want an end to it all, don’t
you see?
An end to the human, I said.
An end to human stupidity, said Victor.