Literary beef

Did you know that Shakespeare held grudges?

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We sometimes fail to remember that literary geniuses are still human and driven by the same impulses that move ordinary people. No matter their style or ideologies, sometimes their motivations are simple: affection for their friends and disdain for their enemies. More than a few literary masterpieces have been influenced in some way by these passions, even if the final result was a work of art. Here are ten rivalries and friendships that left their mark on literature!

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The Romantics were known for being dramatic and capricious, and Lord Byron was not an exception. Between his many feuds, he had a particular rivalry with John Keats. Keats despised Byron because of his charisma, nobility, and general snobbery, and Byron despised Keats because he was a struggling, middle-class poet.

After Keats’ death due to tuberculosis, other writers claimed that negative literary critiques had taken a toll on his already fragile health. Byron publicly lamented Keats’ passing, but he later mentioned him in his Don Juan as someone "who was kill'd off by one critique".

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A key figure of the Modernist movement, T. S. Eliot is known for both his literary works and his critical essays. His poem The Waste Land is considered one of the most important literary works of the 20th century, and has served as inspiration for countless authors.

What many people don’t know is that The Waste Land would have looked very different if not for the influence of another writer, Ezra Pound. A mentor and friend to Eliot, Pound was given ample liberty to edit the first draft, so much so that Eliot considered him to be ‘the mother’ of the poem. The Waste Land is dedicated to Pound, whom Eliot calls il miglior fabbro or ‘the best craftsman.’

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We might think of Shakespeare as one of the greatest literary minds in history, but the Bard had his fair share of detractors in his time. One of the best-known cases is his feud with the writer Robert Greene, who called him "an upstart crow, beautified in our feathers," accusing him of plagiarism and of being bombastic in his writing.

Shakespeare’s answer was twofold: He first wrote Titus Andronicus, one of the goriest, most over-the-top plays of the time. Then, he wrote A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which is plagued with references to several well-known classical authors.

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All of Jane Austen's novels are filled with pointed social commentary and critiques, but Northanger Abbey stands out for also being a satire of a popular genre of that time: the Gothic novel.

But Austen was not happy with making a parody of the genre. She called out by name several Gothic novels and authors, making it clear that these works were harmful for the readers, especially young, impressionable girls without world experience.

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The first part of The Quixote was an instant success upon publication. After a few years without a second part, an opportunist published a sequel under the pseudonym ‘Avellaneda’, something Cervantes was not happy about.

Cervantes then penned a continuation in record time, making clear to the readers that Avellaneda’s work was not part of the original story. How did he accomplish this? By having Don Quixote himself talk about Avellaneda’s work and how it was a poor representation of his character. To ensure it wouldn’t happen again, the story ended with the death of Don Quixote.

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Another key figure in Modernist poetry, E.E. Cummings wrote over two thousand poems in his lifetime, on top of several theater plays. Although he had published several books, in the 1930s, one of his poem collections kept being rejected by editors.

After 14 rejections, Cummings decided to self-publish the book with his mother’s help. The chosen title, No Thanks, was his ironic response to the editors, to whom he dedicated the book. All fourteen editors appear in the dedication, their names forming the shape of a funeral urn.

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The Spanish literary scene of the 17th century was filled with geniuses, who for the most part couldn’t stand each other. Luis de Góngora and Francisco de Quevedo were two of the most important poets of the time, and they were sworn enemies due to their adherence to opposite poetry styles.

Their literary and personal differences often resulted in satirical poems filled with insults, mocking each other’s writing styles, and resorting to direct attacks about physical characteristics, such as Gongora’s big nose or Quevedo’s limp.

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To Kill a Mockingbird has often been called one of the Great American novels, garnering critical acclaim and several prizes. Its author, Harper Lee, was from the Southern U.S., and her personal experiences appear throughout the novel.

Not everyone knows about her childhood friendship with Truman Capote, one that they maintained well into adulthood, with Lee even including Capote in her novel. Although she never confirmed it, it is widely believed that Capote was the inspiration for Dill Harris.

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The first Romantic poets, Wordsworth and Coleridge, were the start of a literary movement that wouldn’t have been possible without friendship. Meeting by chance, they created a bond so strong that Coleridge moved to be close to Wordsworth and his family.

Out of their friendship and common literary ideals, they decided to write together the Lyrical Ballads, a book that is considered the starting point of Romanticism. Sadly, their views started diverging later in life, which created a rift between them.

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The 18th century was a great time for the English novel, and it saw the emergence of many authors who are now considered essential to the genre. But like with any era where great minds abound, these geniuses were not necessarily cordial with each other. Henry Fielding, prone to satirical, realistic writing, was not fond of Samuel Richardson, who wrote more sentimental, moralistic novels.

After the publication of Richardson’s Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, Fielding decided to write his own version of the story, titled Shamela (the full title was An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews). In it, he told the "true" story of Pamela, parodying Richardson and the morals he preached.

Do we miss them?

These letters were left out of the English alphabet, and here's why

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Some letters and symbols were once part of the English alphabet or its ancestors. But time and lack of use eventually made them be dropped, replaced, or forgotten. Most of them come from Old English, Middle English, Latin, or early printing traditions, and their stories are full of phonetic shifts, shortcuts, and the drive toward standardization. Let’s look at them!

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Thorn was used to represent the "th" sound in words like thin or this. It visually resembled a modern P, which often causes confusion when seen in old manuscripts.

Common in Old English, it eventually got phased out during the Middle English period, replaced by the two-letter combination th. Thorn survives today in modern Icelandic, though!

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Eth was another letter used to represent the "th" sound, particularly the voiced version. It looked a bit like a crossed D and appeared alongside thorn in Old English texts.

Over time, English speakers settled on using "th" for both the voiced and voiceless sounds, and eth gradually fell out of use. Like thorn, eth still exists in modern Icelandic.

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Wynn was used to represent the "w" sound in Old English—a sound that Latin lacked a letter for. It resembled a capital "P," though it had no connection to that sound.

Instead of writing two "u"s (as in "uu"), scribes used wynn. Over time, however, "uu" evolved into the modern "w," and wynn was phased out during the Middle English period.

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Yogh had a rather confusing role. It could represent several sounds: a throaty "gh" like in "night," a "y" as in "yes," or even a soft "g" like in "genre," depending on context and region. It looked like the number 3 and was used heavily in Middle English.

As spelling and pronunciation evolved, these sounds were either lost or spelled differently (gh, y, j, or g).

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Ash is a fusion of "a" and "e," borrowed from Latin and used in Old English words like æthel (noble). It represented a distinct vowel sound, somewhere between "a" and "e," like the short "a" in cat.

In early English texts, it was treated as a letter in its own right. Over time, as English spelling standardized, ash was replaced by "a" or "e" depending on pronunciation.

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Think of Ethel as a relative of ash. This ligature combines "o" and "e" and shows up in Latin borrowings like fœtus, œuvre, and œconomy. As spelling was standardized, it got the axe in favor of plain old "oe" or even just "e."

You’ll still spot it in French and in stylized English writing.

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This curious mark, which resembles a 7, means "and." Created by Cicero’s secretary Tiro in ancient Rome, it became a popular shorthand used by monks and scribes throughout the medieval world, including in Old English.

In Ireland, it persisted longer than almost anywhere else, until the more elegant ampersand (&) eventually took its place.

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Well, we know this one! But as a symbol, not as a letter from the alphabet. Once upon a time, schoolchildren recited it after "Z": X, Y, Z, and "per se and," which eventually morphed into the word "ampersand."

The symbol itself is a ligature of the Latin word et, meaning "and."

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This one looked like a medieval mashup of a "g" and a "z," and was mostly found in Irish and Old English manuscripts.

It served the same purpose as today’s "g." It stuck around until the Carolingian script took over, giving us the more familiar "g" we know today.

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At first glance, the Long S (ſ) looks like a stretched-out "f" missing its crossbar, but it’s an "s" in disguise. This character was used at the start and middle of words (e.g., ſunshine, bleſſing), but never at the end.

The character was ubiquitous in English printing until the late 1700s, when it was gradually replaced by the modern "s."

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The letter itself sounded like the "ng" at the end of "fang" or "sing."

The letter resembles an "n" with a tail and remains in use today in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and in languages such as Sami and Māori. However, English spelling never officially adopted it.