tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2410716623228444076.post7006909062363059004..comments2024-03-28T13:10:04.655+00:00Comments on The Notion Club Papers - an Inklings blog: Charles Williams love affair with Phyllis Jones was not 'Platonic' (non-physical)Bruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2410716623228444076.post-18160508958004690882014-04-29T05:52:01.105+01:002014-04-29T05:52:01.105+01:00@DLD - My main point was the kissing - which certa...@DLD - My main point was the kissing - which certainly 'crossed a line' into non-Platonic for CW. Also, the tone by which CW addresses PJ is 'rougish' in a way that implies the relationship had a physical aspect. <br /><br />CW's prolonged infatuation would be easier to understand, if indeed there had briefly been a significant physical element - which was then withdrawn. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2410716623228444076.post-40833595793094475702014-04-29T00:33:28.682+01:002014-04-29T00:33:28.682+01:00Doesn't the "it" in "as it did ...Doesn't the "it" in "as it did in Victoria" refer back to "the idea of kissing her"?<br /><br />I suppose it depends on what one includes under 'physical', but note also page 82, "your [...] inscribed hands", and compare page 106 with respect to one of "his young women students" some years later: "Sometimes he would write on her hand or arm with the tip of a metal paper knife or darning needle, or he would slightly prick or make circular movements or patterns". <br /><br />For what it is worth, I have never encountered any evidence suggesting that "he may even be referring to an actual weekend in Brighton"!<br /><br />Rereading Mrs. Hadfield's quotation from the letter as you quote it, I find myself wondering if I am being too unsuspicious in always assuming that it merely refers to facts... But perhaps this is mostly symptomatic of wishing for more context - even more than Gavin Ashenden has given - which Grevel Lindop's new biography may soon supply!<br /><br />David Llewellyn Dodds<br />28 April 2014 Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com