Art Quote by Disobedience is a Virtue On Goliarda Sapienza s The Art of Joy The New Yorker
““All of the fucking in “The Art of Joy” could put it in a class with “Story of O” or “The Sexual Life of Catherine M.” But Sapienza’s novel is about sex only insofar as an account of a woman’s artistic, intellectual, and political maturation must include her sexual career. Or, better, the discovery of pleasure initiates Modesta’s appetite more generally—for knowledge, for experience, for autonomy. It turns her outward, toward nonsexual things, by inwardly sustaining her. Her childish sadism is less sexual than it is basically libidinal: her erotic interest in her sister’s or St. Agatha’s pain, or the way in which her hatred of Leonora transmutes into arousal—these are signs of an exultant urge to live. “The real way of living is to answer to one’s wants,” D. H. Lawrence says in a letter (written, incidentally, from Italy). “I want that liberty, I want that woman, I want that pound of peaches, I want to go to sleep, I want to go to the pub and have a good time, I want to look abeastly swell today, I want to kiss that girl, I want to insult that man.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Art of Joy by G. Sapienza, 2021
The novel links sexual experience to broader artistic, intellectual, and political growth, suggesting pleasure fuels desire for knowledge and autonomy.
In simple terms: Sexuality drives broader personal growth.
Key Takeaway
Recognize pleasure as a catalyst for learning.
Themes
sexuality
growth
autonomy
pleasure
literature
Mood
provocative
intellectual
raw
Type
Art:1
Joy:1
Life:0
Way of living:1
Sapienza Novel:1
Libidinal Erotic:1
Pleasure Initiates:1
Modesta Appetite:1
Sadism Sexual:0
When to use this quote
- personal relationships
- creative pursuits
- political activism
Key Concepts
libidinal energy
artistic development
political maturation
Questions to Reflect On
- How does pleasure influence your creative drive?
- In what ways does desire shape your political views?
A Different Perspective
May be explicit for some audiences.
![“The Salem [witch] trials…can be seen as an example of the propensity of the American people to be convulsed by spasms of self-righteous rage against enemies, real or imaginary, of their society and way of living. Hence the parallels later drawn between Salem in 1692 and the “Red Scare” of 1919-20…” quote by Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/67d/paul-johnson-4585_american-people_the-salem-witch-trials-can-be-seen-as-an_82157.jpg)
