BEHIND THE BRAND
" A hundred thousand welcomes. I could weep
And I could laugh, I am light and heavy. Welcome. "
— Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Coriolanus, II.1.196-197, Menenius.
Go for Art has been launched by Manon to celebrate the new year, 2022. This literary-art website hosts academic reviews of books as well as personal perception of paintings, all written by yours truly. With a background in literary studies, Manon has always been fascinated by books and their writers. She likes hardcovers, the smell of freshly printed pages and old-looking books.
"It all started in Year 5 when I read Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and was deeply immersed in the story and intrigued by the world Dahl had created in 1964: mysterious Oompa-Loompas, a river of chocolate, the glass elevator! Everything about the environment was magical. Charlie will always hold a special place in my heart as he is the one who made me fall in love with literature."
When she enters university, Manon chooses to specialise her Bachelor's degree in English and American Literature. She enjoys to read the literary canon and is fond of Gothic literature and, more particularly Edgar Allan Poe's tales and the Brontë sisters' narratives. But her one literary love will forever be Shakespeare.
"When I introduce myself, the first thing I say is 'I'm a Shakespearean.' I remember the first time I read Romeo and Juliet, I was babysitting three Irish girls from my hometown. I had just put them to sleep, I grabbed my book and started this incredible journey that led me from merely enjoying theatre to writing four MA theses about Shakespeare. I couldn't put the book down, instead, I kept turning pages. That evening I read three quarters of the play."
During her Master's degree in English Literature at the University of Paris, Manon specialised in Shakespearean studies and, more specifically on his tragedies. What are her favourite plays, you ask? Well, if I tell you that her all-time favourite starts with the creed "Fair is foul, and foul is fair"; that her second one sees its protagonist seeking revenge for the death of his father; and the third takes place on an island and is believed to be the last play Shakespeare wrote.
Her MA theses notably focused on:
1. Constructing Meaning, Crafting Emotions: The Director's Influence and Authority on Audience Experience, King's College London, 2022-2023.
2. The Wheel of Fortune in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth and HBO’s Game of Thrones, Université de Paris, 2019-2020.
3. The Use of the Stage Hell in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Macbeth, Université de Paris, 2018-2019.
4. The Relation Between Passion and Power in William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, 2016-2017.
On her spare time, Manon loves swimming 🏊🏻♀️, going to the theatre 🎭 and listening to music 🎶. She is a big fan of film scores and a huge admirer of Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer, who she regards as being absolute icons.