User:MerAtticus/sandbox: Difference between revisions

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league: both are literary heavy-weights. Miller was a dominant figure in the intellectual and arts arena. Both ''Death of a Salesman'' and ''The Crucible'' were prominent theatrical vehicles, winning a number of drama awards and becoming mainstays of university and community theatres all over the country. Mailer takes a number of jabs at Miller, labeling him a "failure" as Monroe's champion in her battles with Olivier in England and a "traitor" because he had written a note about how she embarrassed him, a note that devastated her when she read it.{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=167}} As if taking on the role of Marilyn's champion, Mailer pelts Miller with numerous pejoratives. Among them are "tight," "tied up" and "abstemious".{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=143}} In addition, Mailer tries to land a knockout blow by characterizing Miller in the the sexual arena as "an inhibited householder from Brooklyn."{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=167}} In this metaphorically sexual bout, in addition to his below-the-belt punches, Mailer hits Miller with a glancing blow to the head with the assessment that he had "limited lyrical gifts, no capacity for intellectual shock."{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=142}} Mailer is sure he could have beat Miller but he never did get in the ring with him because, as he complains, when they lived in close proximity he "waited for the call to visit, which of course never came."{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=19}} He admits that a reason for the cut may have been the very fact of his competitive nature and the fact that stealing Marilyn had been his secret ambition. Convinced of his prowess in this arena, he suggests that Miller may have feared creating the opportunity. Of course that meeting with Marilyn never occurred, and as Mailer could not compete with either of these men in a real life ''mano a mano,'' he resorted to his most effective weapon. He created his own ~~access--with~~ his pen.

league: both are literary heavy-weights. Miller was a dominant figure in the intellectual and arts arena. Both ''Death of a Salesman'' and ''The Crucible'' were prominent theatrical vehicles, winning a number of drama awards and becoming mainstays of university and community theatres all over the country. Mailer takes a number of jabs at Miller, labeling him a "failure" as Monroe's champion in her battles with Olivier in England and a "traitor" because he had written a note about how she embarrassed him, a note that devastated her when she read it.{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=167}} As if taking on the role of Marilyn's champion, Mailer pelts Miller with numerous pejoratives. Among them are "tight," "tied up" and "abstemious".{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=143}} In addition, Mailer tries to land a knockout blow by characterizing Miller in the the sexual arena as "an inhibited householder from Brooklyn."{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=167}} In this metaphorically sexual bout, in addition to his below-the-belt punches, Mailer hits Miller with a glancing blow to the head with the assessment that he had "limited lyrical gifts, no capacity for intellectual shock."{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=142}} Mailer is sure he could have beat Miller but he never did get in the ring with him because, as he complains, when they lived in close proximity he "waited for the call to visit, which of course never came."{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=19}} He admits that a reason for the cut may have been the very fact of his competitive nature and the fact that stealing Marilyn had been his secret ambition. Convinced of his prowess in this arena, he suggests that Miller may have feared creating the opportunity. Of course that meeting with Marilyn never occurred, and as Mailer could not compete with either of these men in a real life ''mano a mano,'' he resorted to his most effective weapon. He created his own access—with his pen.

Returning to the subject of the many uses Mailer made of Monroe, ''Marilyn,'' as I argued in an earlier study, is, among other things, an exercise in creating a masturbatory fantasy about a woman who got away.{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|p=288-302}} It is also the initial volley in Mailer's campaign to possess his subject inside and out, first in his voice as a biographer and then assuming her voice as memoiorist. From the onset of the first project, Mailer expresses his frustration with the time limitations imposed on his fantasy fulfillment. In "An Acknowledgment," Mailer proclaims his discontent with having to meet a publication deadline.{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=257}} This he was able to remedy in the future by creating his own projects, whereby he will be "master of his own domain."^[citation] Because of the time checks in this case, he protests that he cannot write a proper biography, which he claims would take at least two years just to amass the materials needed for a suitable job. Therefore, he complains,

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rather than the biography he desired to write, he has written a "novel biography." Since he can't do his own original research, he enumerates the other writers whose works he draws on, as well as Norman Rosten's manuscript for the as-yet-unpublished biography, ''~~Marilyn--An~~ Untold Story.'' In addition, he cites what he calls "interviews in modest depth." {{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=259}} In this case, the Mailer braggadocio, his advertisments of himself, may have been uncharacteristically muted. In ''Legend: The Life and Death of Marilyn Monroe,'' Fred Lawrence Guiles, whose first biography ''Norma Jean'' is one of two cited by Mailer as the main sources for the facts in his book, returns the compliment, when he credits Mailer's "modest" interview with producing the "most thorough account" of the relationship between Norma Jeane (not yet Marilyn) and André de Dienes, a Hungarian born fashion photographer. A number of the fresh-faced, jeans-clad photographs by Dienes are in the book.

rather than the biography he desired to write, he has written a "novel biography." Since he can't do his own original research, he enumerates the other writers whose works he draws on, as well as Norman Rosten's manuscript for the as-yet-unpublished biography, ''Marilyn—An Untold Story.'' In addition, he cites what he calls "interviews in modest depth." {{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=259}} In this case, the Mailer braggadocio, his advertisments of himself, may have been uncharacteristically muted. In ''Legend: The Life and Death of Marilyn Monroe,'' Fred Lawrence Guiles, whose first biography ''Norma Jean'' is one of two cited by Mailer as the main sources for the facts in his book, returns the compliment, when he credits Mailer's "modest" interview with producing the "most thorough account" of the relationship between Norma Jeane (not yet Marilyn) and André de Dienes, a Hungarian born fashion photographer. A number of the fresh-faced, jeans-clad photographs by Dienes are in the book.

''Marilyn'' was also to serve Mailer as a vita-enhancing publication. Robert Merrill argues for "serious reconsideration" of ''Marilyn'' as he contends that its excellences as a biography have been overlooked {{sfn|Merrill|1992|p=142}} and, though one of Mailer's "minor" works, it still contributes to the overall "imposing output of serious and original works".{{sfn|Merrill|1992|p=212}} Carl Rollyson considers it a "significant achievement in American letters with which biographers must reckon".{{sfn|Rollyson|1991|p=261}} Jennifer Bailey reads it as an "unmistakable achievement".{{sfn|Bailey|1979|p=140}} And, indeed, when one gets beyond the leeringly salacious element, there is much to admire about the book, both as a biography and as a novel. A charming element about it is Mailer's tone, which is wonderfully self-deflating in places. One such instance is when he acknowledges his peevishness about not being invited to meet Marilyn as he was sure that "no one was so well suited to bring out the best in her".{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=20}} Then, in the next line, he concedes that some failed marriages later, he was better equipped to understand that what he was probably responding to at the time was the same thing that some fifty million other men felt as a result of what he calls "the foundation of her art," which was an ability to "speak to each man as if he were all of male existence available to her".{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=20}} He admits that not only would he probably have failed her, but that she might well have "damaged" him. In another instance of uncharacteristically revealing candor, he admits, in a discussion of Monroe's purported lack of self-assurance about sex, that "we all reveal our innocence about sex in a candid remark".{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=75}} This from the writer who had, on occasion, postitioned himself as an "sexpert." To a certain extent the tension between the macho writer taking lusty virtual possession of his sub-

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computer of a cold and ambitious cunt" and then underlines his linguistic choice by stating parenthetically "(no other English word is near)".{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=97}}{{efn|I am reminded of an old graffiti:"Profanity is the crutch of the inarticulate mother-fucker." I can think of a number of words that would work as well. I am sure Mailer could too, but he liked to shock and as I argue throughout, he gives himself full license with this topic.}}

The publication of ''Marilyn'' was a boon to Mailer both personally and ~~professionally--and~~ then as a bonus benefit unexpectedly, it serve him as a tool for seduction. In ''A Ticket to the Circus,'' Norris Church Mailer writes of its role in their first encounter and subsequent courtship. In 1975, in anticipation of meeting the famous author, Barbara ~~Norris--her~~ name when they ~~met--brought~~ her copy of the book for him to sign.~~^[citation]~~ He did not sign it until February of 1976 when a relationship had already begun. Addressing it to Barbara Mailer he writes, "Because I knew when I wrote this book that someone I had not yet met would read it and be with me".{{sfn|Mailer|2010|p=89}} The Mailer chutzpah is in full force here.

The publication of ''Marilyn'' was a boon to Mailer both personally and professionally—and then as a bonus benefit unexpectedly, it serve him as a tool for seduction. In ''A Ticket to the Circus,'' Norris Church Mailer writes of its role in their first encounter and subsequent courtship. In 1975, in anticipation of meeting the famous author, Barbara Norris—her name when they met—brought her copy of the book for him to sign. He did not sign it until February of 1976 when a relationship had already begun. Addressing it to Barbara Mailer he writes, "Because I knew when I wrote this book that someone I had not yet met would read it and be with me".{{sfn|Mailer|2010|p=89}} The Mailer chutzpah is in full force here.

''Of Women and Their Elegance,'' Mailer's second appropriation of Marilyn Monroe, came some seven years after the first. Like the first, it is heavily reliant on the visual. Here, however, rather than pictures only of Marilyn, there are pictures of other women and their elegance. The photographs by Milton H. Greene run the gamut from Marlene Dietrich to Grandma Moses. In ''Marilyn,'' Mailer claimed to be writing a "novel biography" and he routinely referenced the biographical works of Maurice Zolotow, Fred Lawrence Guiles, and Norman Rosten, also often citing what he called "factoids." Here he baldly states in a note before the text that he "does not pretend to offer factual representations."

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remarks to the prosecutor's question about the episode that "the scars" of that period in her life explain why a woman with her "angelic appearance" came to be so difficult to work with and inconsiderate of co-stars, directors and crew. Calling the excerpt "factual" he quotes both Lee Strasberg and Arthur Miller to verify the "call girl" and "chewed and spat out" the quality of Monroe's early Hollywood days.{{sfn|Mailer|10 Nov 1980|p=33}}

Mailer's sly manipulation here is blatantly self-serving in an additional manner. By making this particularly egregious episode Exhibit B in the trial, he can enjoy his imaginary voyeurism again. Not only are the offensive events in the book, but in case the reader of ''New York'' does not buy the book, Mailer has the opportunity to present his self-indulgent imaginings for a different ~~audience--those~~ who might pick up the magazine. He had the prosecution make him read the whole episode to the court as Exhibit B. The titillation quotient is high.

Mailer's sly manipulation here is blatantly self-serving in an additional manner. By making this particularly egregious episode Exhibit B in the trial, he can enjoy his imaginary voyeurism again. Not only are the offensive events in the book, but in case the reader of ''New York'' does not buy the book, Mailer has the opportunity to present his self-indulgent imaginings for a different audience—those who might pick up the magazine. He had the prosecution make him read the whole episode to the court as Exhibit B. The titillation quotient is high.

As a sidelight, it can be said that still another use Mailer made of his writing about Marilyn is payback or appreciation to Milton and Amy Greene. Whatever the realities of their behavior in their relationship with Monroe, in both ''Of Women and Their Elegance'' and ''Strawhead,'' Mailer casts them a very positive light and puts complimentary language in Marilyn's mouth when she speaks of them. Milton Greene's particular charm is portrayed with Marilyn's initial reaction at their first meeting: "You're just a boy".{{sfn|Mailer|10 Nov 1980|p=34}}~~^[citation]~~ Her expectation, given his fame as a fashion photographer, was for an older man. Mailer also tries to make him appealing in a scruffy kind of way when he has Marilyn describe him as looking like a young John Garfield if Garfield had been chewed a bit a by a toothless lion.{{sfn|Mailer|10 Nov 1980|p=34}} He is portrayed as the only man who did not take advantage of Marilyn and she blames Arthur Miller for ruining their relationship. Besides the direct compliments, such as when Marilyn tells Amy her eyes are like stars{{sfn|Mailer|10 Nov 1980|p=28}} and compliments her performance during the Edward R. Murrow interview as "truly scintillating" and done with "real poise" and "real vivacity".{{sfn|Mailer|1980|p=126}} Mailer also portrays Amy Greene as a mentor to Marilyn in matters of fashion, introducing her to the fashions of Norman Norell.{{efn|Although Norell's fashions are given prominence in Mailer's writing, he is ignored in many of the biographies. An interesting sidelight is that Michelle Obama wore a vintage Norell dress during the 2010 Christmas season}} Marilyn lauds Amy's organization down to her color coordination of her underwear with her clothing. Of course, the Greenes are his co-authors in a way as they provided the reminiscences and the photographs that make up the bulk of the book. Milton Greene's ethics are also presented in a most favorable light when the break-up of Marilyn Monroe Productions occurs. With the comment, "It was not my idea to make

As a sidelight, it can be said that still another use Mailer made of his writing about Marilyn is payback or appreciation to Milton and Amy Greene. Whatever the realities of their behavior in their relationship with Monroe, in both ''Of Women and Their Elegance'' and ''Strawhead,'' Mailer casts them a very positive light and puts complimentary language in Marilyn's mouth when she speaks of them. Milton Greene's particular charm is portrayed with Marilyn's initial reaction at their first meeting: "You're just a boy".{{sfn|Mailer|10 Nov 1980|p=34}} Her expectation, given his fame as a fashion photographer, was for an older man. Mailer also tries to make him appealing in a scruffy kind of way when he has Marilyn describe him as looking like a young John Garfield if Garfield had been chewed a bit a by a toothless lion.{{sfn|Mailer|10 Nov 1980|p=34}} He is portrayed as the only man who did not take advantage of Marilyn and she blames Arthur Miller for ruining their relationship. Besides the direct compliments, such as when Marilyn tells Amy her eyes are like stars{{sfn|Mailer|10 Nov 1980|p=28}} and compliments her performance during the Edward R. Murrow interview as "truly scintillating" and done with "real poise" and "real vivacity".{{sfn|Mailer|1980|p=126}} Mailer also portrays Amy Greene as a mentor to Marilyn in matters of fashion, introducing her to the fashions of Norman Norell.{{efn|Although Norell's fashions are given prominence in Mailer's writing, he is ignored in many of the biographies. An interesting sidelight is that Michelle Obama wore a vintage Norell dress during the 2010 Christmas season}} Marilyn lauds Amy's organization down to her color coordination of her underwear with her clothing. Of course, the Greenes are his co-authors in a way as they provided the reminiscences and the photographs that make up the bulk of the book. Milton Greene's ethics are also presented in a most favorable light when the break-up of Marilyn Monroe Productions occurs. With the comment, "It was not my idea to make

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plished by the way, when the play is ready to begin, the audience watches as the Marilyn character is created. The actress draws a small black mole on her cheek and puts on a blonde wig. In addition, Mailer uses the timeworn theatrical technique of the aside to indicate that the "mirror of her mind" is being reflected to the audience. These he indentifcies as D.A.~~--Direct~~ Address. There are many occasions for this. Much of the action begins at Marilyn's dressing table as she remembers. Stage directions call for the "actors who play varying roles in Marilyn Monroe's life [to] appear...like 'cat calls.' "They are verbal memories for Marilyn".{{sfn|''Strawhead''|1986|1.1}}

plished by the way, when the play is ready to begin, the audience watches as the Marilyn character is created. The actress draws a small black mole on her cheek and puts on a blonde wig. In addition, Mailer uses the timeworn theatrical technique of the aside to indicate that the "mirror of her mind" is being reflected to the audience. These he indentifcies as D.A.—Direct Address. There are many occasions for this. Much of the action begins at Marilyn's dressing table as she remembers. Stage directions call for the "actors who play varying roles in Marilyn Monroe's life [to] appear...like 'cat calls.' "They are verbal memories for Marilyn".{{sfn|''Strawhead''|1986|1.1}}

Among the changes from text to stage is a different initial setting. Whereas ''Of Women and Their Elegance'' begins with an excerpt from a ''Life'' magazine interview shortly before she died and then moves to a Waldorf Towers suite, all of ''Strawhead'' takes place in Marilyn's mind. Added sound effects contribute to the wistful and tragic tone of the piece. In a number of scenes there are claps of thunder heard and in one version, "Smile Though Your Heart is Aching" is played at the end of the play as Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chapline walk off together.

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cal take on the subject of Mailer's repeated return to the subject. In his biographical study ''The Enduring Vision of Norman Mailer,'' he suggests other reasons for Mailer's repeated return to the subject. Leeds rhapsodizes on what he considers the many similarities between NM and MM. ''Au contraire,'' I would counter, if there is a oneness of the two, I would invoke the Yin/Yang oneness, the oneness of opposites: in this case, I would suggest, the user and the used. However, Mailer's uses were progressively less effective. ''Marilyn'' was a critical and financial success, ''Of Women and Their Elegance'' less so, and finally, ''Strawhead'' was never published and after a two week run at the Actor's Studio, it had no further production.

Lest I be accused of piling on Mailer, a few lines about his success in writing in Marilyn's voice are called for. Among her other attributes, Mailer gives his Marilyn a sensitivity to color, a trait that escapes many male writers who create female characters. She describes the colors of the furniture and walls in her Waldorf Tower apartment, using the word "buff" to describe the walls. Buff is not a word men often use; gradations in color tones are definitely a predominantly feminine bent. ''Strawhead'' also captures the terrible sense of loneliness Marilyn felt by staging her as the only person onstage, all the others being her remembrances. Among the bits printed in ''Fragments'' are the lines "''Alone!!!!!/ I am alone''~~--I~~ am ''always/ alone/no matter what''."{{sfn|Monroe|2010|pg=35}} Unfortunately, he gets little of her poetic side, her fears of aging captured in lines such as those written on hotel stationary in Surrey. "Where his eyes rest with ~~pleasure--I~~ / want to be still ~~be--but~~ time has changes / the hold of that glance./ Alas how will I cope when I am less ~~youthful--~~."{{sfn|Monroe|2010|p=119}} Finally, the issue divides itself into two conflicting parts. On the one hand, Mailer cannibalizes Marilyn for his own purposes, be it fantasy, financial, or ego-maniacal. On the other hand, his writing imagination is sometimes so spot-on as to create a viable portrait, first through biography and then autobiography. Michael Glenday also suggests that there is a certain pleasure associated with "encountering not just the memoir, but also the vitality of interaction between Mailer's imagination and his subject".{{sfn|Glenday|2008|p=350}} In addition, if the commonplace is that a man can't write from a woman's perspective, in ''Of Women And Their Elegance,'' although Mailer's Marilyn voice is totally fictional and does not fully capture Marilyn, it is certainly a plausible creation.

Lest I be accused of piling on Mailer, a few lines about his success in writing in Marilyn's voice are called for. Among her other attributes, Mailer gives his Marilyn a sensitivity to color, a trait that escapes many male writers who create female characters. She describes the colors of the furniture and walls in her Waldorf Tower apartment, using the word "buff" to describe the walls. Buff is not a word men often use; gradations in color tones are definitely a predominantly feminine bent. ''Strawhead'' also captures the terrible sense of loneliness Marilyn felt by staging her as the only person onstage, all the others being her remembrances. Among the bits printed in ''Fragments'' are the lines "''Alone!!!!!/ I am alone''—I am ''always/ alone/no matter what''."{{sfn|Monroe|2010|pg=35}} Unfortunately, he gets little of her poetic side, her fears of aging captured in lines such as those written on hotel stationary in Surrey. "Where his eyes rest with pleasure—I / want to be still be—but time has changes / the hold of that glance./ Alas how will I cope when I am less youthful—."{{sfn|Monroe|2010|p=119}} Finally, the issue divides itself into two conflicting parts. On the one hand, Mailer cannibalizes Marilyn for his own purposes, be it fantasy, financial, or ego-maniacal. On the other hand, his writing imagination is sometimes so spot-on as to create a viable portrait, first through biography and then autobiography. Michael Glenday also suggests that there is a certain pleasure associated with "encountering not just the memoir, but also the vitality of interaction between Mailer's imagination and his subject".{{sfn|Glenday|2008|p=350}} In addition, if the commonplace is that a man can't write from a woman's perspective, in ''Of Women And Their Elegance,'' although Mailer's Marilyn voice is totally fictional and does not fully capture Marilyn, it is certainly a plausible creation.

To date, the obession with Marilym does not seem to have abated.{{efn|As far back as 1974 the obsession was in full flower. In his biography, Robert F. Slatzer noted that over forty books had already been written about Monroe. Mailer was not the only famous novelist to write about her. Joyce Carol Oates tried her hand at it in ''Blonde,'' also labeled as a novel, published in 2000. Gloria Steinem is another celebrity biographer.}} Nor is it limited to Mailer. In a 2010 article, Maureen Dowd lists a number of current "Marilyn" projects. One is a biopic starring Naomi Watts, based on

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''My thanks to the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin for permission to examine the Norman Mailer archives in researching this essay.''

=== Notes ===

==== Notes ====

{{notelist|20em}}

===Citations===

==== Citations ====

{{reflist}}

===Works Cited===

==== Works Cited ====

{{refbegin|40em|indent=yes}}

* {{cite book |last=Bailey |first=Jennifer. |date=1979 |title= Norman Mailer: Quick-Change Artist. |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |pages= |type=Print. |ref=harv }}

*{{cite book |last=Bailey |first=Jennifer. |date=1979 |title= Norman Mailer: Quick-Change Artist. |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |pages= |type=Print. |ref=harv }}

* {{cite book |last=Bengis |first=Ingrid. |date=2 Oct 1973 |title="Monroe According to Mailer: One Legend Feeds on Another," ''Ms'' |pages=44-47. }} {{citation |title=''Rpt. in'' Critical Essays on Norman Mailer. |editors=J. Michael Lennon. |location=Boston |publisher=G.K. Hall & Co. |date=1986 |pages=71-78. |type=Print. |ref=harv }}

*{{cite book |last=Bengis |first=Ingrid. |date=2 Oct 1973 |title="Monroe According to Mailer: One Legend Feeds on Another," ''Ms'' |pages=44-47. }} {{citation |title=''Rpt. in'' Critical Essays on Norman Mailer. |editors=J. Michael Lennon. |location=Boston |publisher=G.K. Hall & Co. |date=1986 |pages=71-78. |type=Print. |ref=harv }}

* {{citation |last=Berger |first=Joseph |date=3 May 2011 |title=Norman Mailer's Eclectric Life, as Seen Through His Last Home. |publisher=New York Times |website=New York Times |type=Web. 1 June 2011 |ref=harv }}

* {{citation |last=Carlyle |first=Kitty |date= |title=Letter to Norman Mailer. N.d. MS. |series=Norman Mailer Collection |location=Harry Ransom Center Humanities Research Center, University of Texas-Austin |ref=harv }}

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-league: both are literary heavy-weights. Miller was a dominant figure in the intellectual and arts arena. Both ''Death of a Salesman'' and ''The Crucible'' were prominent theatrical vehicles, winning a number of drama awards and becoming mainstays of university and community theatres all over the country. Mailer takes a number of jabs at Miller, labeling him a "failure" as Monroe's champion in her battles with Olivier in England and a "traitor" because he had written a note about how she embarrassed him, a note that devastated her when she read it.{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=167}} As if taking on the role of Marilyn's champion, Mailer pelts Miller with numerous pejoratives. Among them are "tight," "tied up" and "abstemious".{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=143}} In addition, Mailer tries to land a knockout blow by characterizing Miller in the the sexual arena as "an inhibited householder from Brooklyn."{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=167}} In this metaphorically sexual bout, in addition to his below-the-belt punches, Mailer hits Miller with a glancing blow to the head with the assessment that he had "limited lyrical gifts, no capacity for intellectual shock."{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=142}} Mailer is sure he could have beat Miller but he never did get in the ring with him because, as he complains, when they lived in close proximity he "waited for the call to visit, which of course never came."{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=19}} He admits that a reason for the cut may have been the very fact of his competitive nature and the fact that stealing Marilyn had been his secret ambition. Convinced of his prowess in this arena, he suggests that Miller may have feared creating the opportunity. Of course that meeting with Marilyn never occurred, and as Mailer could not compete with either of these men in a real life ''mano a mano,'' he resorted to his most effective weapon. He created his own access--with his pen.
+league: both are literary heavy-weights. Miller was a dominant figure in the intellectual and arts arena. Both ''Death of a Salesman'' and ''The Crucible'' were prominent theatrical vehicles, winning a number of drama awards and becoming mainstays of university and community theatres all over the country. Mailer takes a number of jabs at Miller, labeling him a "failure" as Monroe's champion in her battles with Olivier in England and a "traitor" because he had written a note about how she embarrassed him, a note that devastated her when she read it.{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=167}} As if taking on the role of Marilyn's champion, Mailer pelts Miller with numerous pejoratives. Among them are "tight," "tied up" and "abstemious".{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=143}} In addition, Mailer tries to land a knockout blow by characterizing Miller in the the sexual arena as "an inhibited householder from Brooklyn."{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=167}} In this metaphorically sexual bout, in addition to his below-the-belt punches, Mailer hits Miller with a glancing blow to the head with the assessment that he had "limited lyrical gifts, no capacity for intellectual shock."{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=142}} Mailer is sure he could have beat Miller but he never did get in the ring with him because, as he complains, when they lived in close proximity he "waited for the call to visit, which of course never came."{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=19}} He admits that a reason for the cut may have been the very fact of his competitive nature and the fact that stealing Marilyn had been his secret ambition. Convinced of his prowess in this arena, he suggests that Miller may have feared creating the opportunity. Of course that meeting with Marilyn never occurred, and as Mailer could not compete with either of these men in a real life ''mano a mano,'' he resorted to his most effective weapon. He created his own access—with his pen.
 Returning to the subject of the many uses Mailer made of Monroe, ''Marilyn,'' as I argued in an earlier study, is, among other things, an exercise in creating a masturbatory fantasy about a woman who got away.{{sfn|Gladstein|2010|p=288-302}} It is also the initial volley in Mailer's campaign to possess his subject inside and out, first in his voice as a biographer and then assuming her voice as memoiorist. From the onset of the first project, Mailer expresses his frustration with the time limitations imposed on his fantasy fulfillment. In "An Acknowledgment," Mailer proclaims his discontent with having to meet a publication deadline.{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=257}} This he was able to remedy in the future by creating his own projects, whereby he will be "master of his own domain."^[citation] Because of the time checks in this case, he protests that he cannot write a proper biography, which he claims would take at least two years just to amass the materials needed for a suitable job. Therefore, he complains,
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-rather than the biography he desired to write, he has written a "novel biography." Since he can't do his own original research, he enumerates the other writers whose works he draws on, as well as Norman Rosten's manuscript for the as-yet-unpublished biography, ''Marilyn--An Untold Story.'' In addition, he cites what he calls "interviews in modest depth." {{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=259}} In this case, the Mailer braggadocio, his advertisments of himself, may have been uncharacteristically muted. In ''Legend: The Life and Death of Marilyn Monroe,'' Fred Lawrence Guiles, whose first biography ''Norma Jean'' is one of two cited by Mailer as the main sources for the facts in his book, returns the compliment, when he credits Mailer's "modest" interview with producing the "most thorough account" of the relationship between Norma Jeane (not yet Marilyn) and André de Dienes, a Hungarian born fashion photographer. A number of the fresh-faced, jeans-clad photographs by Dienes are in the book.
+rather than the biography he desired to write, he has written a "novel biography." Since he can't do his own original research, he enumerates the other writers whose works he draws on, as well as Norman Rosten's manuscript for the as-yet-unpublished biography, ''Marilyn—An Untold Story.'' In addition, he cites what he calls "interviews in modest depth." {{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=259}} In this case, the Mailer braggadocio, his advertisments of himself, may have been uncharacteristically muted. In ''Legend: The Life and Death of Marilyn Monroe,'' Fred Lawrence Guiles, whose first biography ''Norma Jean'' is one of two cited by Mailer as the main sources for the facts in his book, returns the compliment, when he credits Mailer's "modest" interview with producing the "most thorough account" of the relationship between Norma Jeane (not yet Marilyn) and André de Dienes, a Hungarian born fashion photographer. A number of the fresh-faced, jeans-clad photographs by Dienes are in the book.
 ''Marilyn'' was also to serve Mailer as a vita-enhancing publication. Robert Merrill argues for "serious reconsideration" of ''Marilyn'' as he contends that its excellences as a biography have been overlooked {{sfn|Merrill|1992|p=142}} and, though one of Mailer's "minor" works, it still contributes to the overall "imposing output of serious and original works".{{sfn|Merrill|1992|p=212}} Carl Rollyson considers it a "significant achievement in American letters with which biographers must reckon".{{sfn|Rollyson|1991|p=261}} Jennifer Bailey reads it as an "unmistakable achievement".{{sfn|Bailey|1979|p=140}} And, indeed, when one gets beyond the leeringly salacious element, there is much to admire about the book, both as a biography and as a novel. A charming element about it is Mailer's tone, which is wonderfully self-deflating in places. One such instance is when he acknowledges his peevishness about not being invited to meet Marilyn as he was sure that "no one was so well suited to bring out the best in her".{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=20}} Then, in the next line, he concedes that some failed marriages later, he was better equipped to understand that what he was probably responding to at the time was the same thing that some fifty million other men felt as a result of what he calls "the foundation of her art," which was an ability to "speak to each man as if he were all of male existence available to her".{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=20}} He admits that not only would he probably have failed her, but that she might well have "damaged" him. In another instance of uncharacteristically revealing candor, he admits, in a discussion of Monroe's purported lack of self-assurance about sex, that "we all reveal our innocence about sex in a candid remark".{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=75}} This from the writer who had, on occasion, postitioned himself as an "sexpert." To a certain extent the tension between the macho writer taking lusty virtual possession of his sub-
@@ Line 54: / Line 54: @@
 computer of a cold and ambitious cunt" and then underlines his linguistic choice by stating parenthetically "(no other English word is near)".{{sfn|Mailer|1973|p=97}}{{efn|I am reminded of an old graffiti:"Profanity is the crutch of the inarticulate mother-fucker." I can think of a number of words that would work as well. I am sure Mailer could too, but he liked to shock and as I argue throughout, he gives himself full license with this topic.}}
-The publication of ''Marilyn'' was a boon to Mailer both personally and professionally--and then as a bonus benefit unexpectedly, it serve him as a tool for seduction. In ''A Ticket to the Circus,'' Norris Church Mailer writes of its role in their first encounter and subsequent courtship. In 1975, in anticipation of meeting the famous author, Barbara Norris--her name when they met--brought her copy of the book for him to sign.^[citation] He did not sign it until February of 1976 when a relationship had already begun. Addressing it to Barbara Mailer he writes, "Because I knew when I wrote this book that someone I had not yet met would read it and be with me".{{sfn|Mailer|2010|p=89}} The Mailer chutzpah is in full force here.
+The publication of ''Marilyn'' was a boon to Mailer both personally and professionally—and then as a bonus benefit unexpectedly, it serve him as a tool for seduction. In ''A Ticket to the Circus,'' Norris Church Mailer writes of its role in their first encounter and subsequent courtship. In 1975, in anticipation of meeting the famous author, Barbara Norris—her name when they met—brought her copy of the book for him to sign. He did not sign it until February of 1976 when a relationship had already begun. Addressing it to Barbara Mailer he writes, "Because I knew when I wrote this book that someone I had not yet met would read it and be with me".{{sfn|Mailer|2010|p=89}} The Mailer chutzpah is in full force here.
 ''Of Women and Their Elegance,'' Mailer's second appropriation of Marilyn Monroe, came some seven years after the first. Like the first, it is heavily reliant on the visual. Here, however, rather than pictures only of Marilyn, there are pictures of other women and their elegance. The photographs by Milton H. Greene run the gamut from Marlene Dietrich to Grandma Moses. In ''Marilyn,'' Mailer claimed to be writing a "novel biography" and he routinely referenced the biographical works of Maurice Zolotow, Fred Lawrence Guiles, and Norman Rosten, also often citing what he called "factoids." Here he baldly states in a note before the text that he "does not pretend to offer factual representations."
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 remarks to the prosecutor's question about the episode that "the scars" of that period in her life explain why a  woman with her "angelic appearance" came to be so difficult to work with and inconsiderate of co-stars, directors and crew. Calling the excerpt "factual" he quotes both Lee Strasberg and Arthur Miller to verify the "call girl" and "chewed and spat out" the quality of Monroe's early Hollywood days.{{sfn|Mailer|10 Nov 1980|p=33}}
-Mailer's sly manipulation here is blatantly self-serving in an additional manner. By making this particularly egregious episode Exhibit B in the trial, he can enjoy his imaginary voyeurism again. Not only are the offensive events in the book, but in case the reader of ''New York'' does not buy the book, Mailer has the opportunity to present his self-indulgent imaginings for a different audience--those who might pick up the magazine. He had the prosecution make him read the whole episode to the court as Exhibit B. The titillation quotient is high.
+Mailer's sly manipulation here is blatantly self-serving in an additional manner. By making this particularly egregious episode Exhibit B in the trial, he can enjoy his imaginary voyeurism again. Not only are the offensive events in the book, but in case the reader of ''New York'' does not buy the book, Mailer has the opportunity to present his self-indulgent imaginings for a different audience—those who might pick up the magazine. He had the prosecution make him read the whole episode to the court as Exhibit B. The titillation quotient is high.
-As a sidelight, it can be said that still another use Mailer made of his writing about Marilyn is payback or appreciation to Milton and Amy Greene. Whatever the realities of their behavior in their relationship with Monroe, in both ''Of Women and Their Elegance'' and ''Strawhead,'' Mailer casts them a very positive light and puts complimentary language in Marilyn's mouth when she speaks of them. Milton Greene's particular charm is portrayed with Marilyn's initial reaction at their first meeting: "You're just a boy".{{sfn|Mailer|10 Nov 1980|p=34}}^[citation] Her expectation, given his fame as a fashion photographer, was for an older man. Mailer also tries to make him appealing in a scruffy kind of way when he has Marilyn describe him as looking like a young John Garfield if Garfield had been chewed a bit a by a toothless lion.{{sfn|Mailer|10 Nov 1980|p=34}} He is portrayed as the only man who did not take advantage of Marilyn and she blames Arthur Miller for ruining their relationship. Besides the direct compliments, such as when Marilyn tells Amy her eyes are like stars{{sfn|Mailer|10 Nov 1980|p=28}} and compliments her performance during the Edward R. Murrow interview as "truly scintillating" and done with "real poise" and "real vivacity".{{sfn|Mailer|1980|p=126}} Mailer also portrays Amy Greene as a mentor to Marilyn in matters of fashion, introducing her to the fashions of Norman Norell.{{efn|Although Norell's fashions are given prominence in Mailer's writing, he is ignored in many of the biographies. An interesting sidelight is that Michelle Obama wore a vintage Norell dress during the 2010 Christmas season}} Marilyn lauds Amy's organization down to her color coordination of her underwear with her clothing. Of course, the Greenes are his co-authors in a way as they provided the reminiscences and the photographs that make up the bulk of the book. Milton Greene's ethics are also presented in a most favorable light when the break-up of Marilyn Monroe Productions occurs. With the comment, "It was not my idea to make
+As a sidelight, it can be said that still another use Mailer made of his writing about Marilyn is payback or appreciation to Milton and Amy Greene. Whatever the realities of their behavior in their relationship with Monroe, in both ''Of Women and Their Elegance'' and ''Strawhead,'' Mailer casts them a very positive light and puts complimentary language in Marilyn's mouth when she speaks of them. Milton Greene's particular charm is portrayed with Marilyn's initial reaction at their first meeting: "You're just a boy".{{sfn|Mailer|10 Nov 1980|p=34}} Her expectation, given his fame as a fashion photographer, was for an older man. Mailer also tries to make him appealing in a scruffy kind of way when he has Marilyn describe him as looking like a young John Garfield if Garfield had been chewed a bit a by a toothless lion.{{sfn|Mailer|10 Nov 1980|p=34}} He is portrayed as the only man who did not take advantage of Marilyn and she blames Arthur Miller for ruining their relationship. Besides the direct compliments, such as when Marilyn tells Amy her eyes are like stars{{sfn|Mailer|10 Nov 1980|p=28}} and compliments her performance during the Edward R. Murrow interview as "truly scintillating" and done with "real poise" and "real vivacity".{{sfn|Mailer|1980|p=126}} Mailer also portrays Amy Greene as a mentor to Marilyn in matters of fashion, introducing her to the fashions of Norman Norell.{{efn|Although Norell's fashions are given prominence in Mailer's writing, he is ignored in many of the biographies. An interesting sidelight is that Michelle Obama wore a vintage Norell dress during the 2010 Christmas season}} Marilyn lauds Amy's organization down to her color coordination of her underwear with her clothing. Of course, the Greenes are his co-authors in a way as they provided the reminiscences and the photographs that make up the bulk of the book. Milton Greene's ethics are also presented in a most favorable light when the break-up of Marilyn Monroe Productions occurs. With the comment, "It was not my idea to make
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 <span style="font-size:12px;""font=Alegreya Sans SC;""font-color=gray;"><div style="text-align:right;">M I M I{{pad|0.5em}}R E I S E L{{pad|0.5em}}G L A D S T E I N{{pad|1.0em}}</span><span style="font-size:20px;"font=Alegreya Sans SC;""font-color=gray;">&bull;{{pad|0.5em}}</span><span style="font-size:16px""font=Alegreya Sans SC;""font-color=gray;>275</div></span>
-plished by the way, when the play is ready to begin, the audience watches as the Marilyn character is created. The actress draws a small black mole on her cheek and puts on a blonde wig. In addition, Mailer uses the timeworn theatrical technique of the aside to indicate that the "mirror of her mind" is being reflected to the audience. These he indentifcies as D.A.--Direct Address. There are many occasions for this. Much of the action begins at Marilyn's dressing table as she remembers. Stage directions call for the "actors who play varying roles in Marilyn Monroe's life [to] appear...like 'cat calls.' "They are verbal memories for Marilyn".{{sfn|''Strawhead''|1986|1.1}}
+plished by the way, when the play is ready to begin, the audience watches as the Marilyn character is created. The actress draws a small black mole on her cheek and puts on a blonde wig. In addition, Mailer uses the timeworn theatrical technique of the aside to indicate that the "mirror of her mind" is being reflected to the audience. These he indentifcies as D.A.—Direct Address. There are many occasions for this. Much of the action begins at Marilyn's dressing table as she remembers. Stage directions call for the "actors who play varying roles in Marilyn Monroe's life [to] appear...like 'cat calls.' "They are verbal memories for Marilyn".{{sfn|''Strawhead''|1986|1.1}}
 Among the changes from text to stage is a different initial setting. Whereas ''Of Women and Their Elegance'' begins with an excerpt from a ''Life'' magazine interview shortly before she died and then moves to a Waldorf Towers suite, all of ''Strawhead'' takes place in Marilyn's mind. Added sound effects contribute to the wistful and tragic tone of the piece. In a number of scenes there are claps of thunder heard and in one version, "Smile Though Your Heart is Aching" is played at the end of the play as Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chapline walk off together.
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 cal take on the subject of Mailer's repeated return to the subject. In his biographical study ''The Enduring Vision of Norman Mailer,'' he suggests other reasons for Mailer's repeated return to the subject. Leeds rhapsodizes on what he considers the many similarities between NM and MM. ''Au contraire,'' I would counter, if there is a oneness of the two, I would invoke the Yin/Yang oneness, the oneness of opposites: in this case, I would suggest, the user and the used. However, Mailer's uses were progressively less effective. ''Marilyn'' was a critical and financial success, ''Of Women and Their Elegance'' less so, and finally, ''Strawhead'' was never published and after a two week run at the Actor's Studio, it had no further production.
-Lest I be accused of piling on Mailer, a few lines about his success in writing in Marilyn's voice are called for. Among her other attributes, Mailer gives his Marilyn a sensitivity to color, a trait that escapes many male writers who create female characters. She describes the colors of the furniture and walls in her Waldorf Tower apartment, using the word "buff" to describe the walls. Buff is not a word men often use; gradations in color tones are definitely a predominantly feminine bent. ''Strawhead'' also captures the terrible sense of loneliness Marilyn felt by staging her as the only person onstage, all the others being her remembrances. Among the bits printed in ''Fragments'' are the lines "''Alone!!!!!/ I am alone''--I am ''always/ alone/no matter what''."{{sfn|Monroe|2010|pg=35}} Unfortunately, he gets little of her poetic side, her fears of aging captured in lines such as those written on hotel stationary in Surrey. "Where his eyes rest with pleasure--I / want to be still be--but time has changes / the hold of that glance./ Alas how will I cope when I am less youthful--."{{sfn|Monroe|2010|p=119}} Finally, the issue divides itself into two conflicting parts. On the one hand, Mailer cannibalizes Marilyn for his own purposes, be it fantasy, financial, or ego-maniacal. On the other hand, his writing imagination is sometimes so spot-on as to create a viable portrait, first through biography and then autobiography. Michael Glenday also suggests that there is a certain pleasure associated with "encountering not just the memoir, but also the vitality of interaction between Mailer's imagination and his subject".{{sfn|Glenday|2008|p=350}} In addition, if the commonplace is that a man can't write from a woman's perspective, in ''Of Women And Their Elegance,'' although Mailer's Marilyn voice is totally fictional and does not fully capture Marilyn, it is certainly a plausible creation.
+Lest I be accused of piling on Mailer, a few lines about his success in writing in Marilyn's voice are called for. Among her other attributes, Mailer gives his Marilyn a sensitivity to color, a trait that escapes many male writers who create female characters. She describes the colors of the furniture and walls in her Waldorf Tower apartment, using the word "buff" to describe the walls. Buff is not a word men often use; gradations in color tones are definitely a predominantly feminine bent. ''Strawhead'' also captures the terrible sense of loneliness Marilyn felt by staging her as the only person onstage, all the others being her remembrances. Among the bits printed in ''Fragments'' are the lines "''Alone!!!!!/ I am alone''—I am ''always/ alone/no matter what''."{{sfn|Monroe|2010|pg=35}} Unfortunately, he gets little of her poetic side, her fears of aging captured in lines such as those written on hotel stationary in Surrey. "Where his eyes rest with pleasure—I / want to be still be—but time has changes / the hold of that glance./ Alas how will I cope when I am less youthful—."{{sfn|Monroe|2010|p=119}} Finally, the issue divides itself into two conflicting parts. On the one hand, Mailer cannibalizes Marilyn for his own purposes, be it fantasy, financial, or ego-maniacal. On the other hand, his writing imagination is sometimes so spot-on as to create a viable portrait, first through biography and then autobiography. Michael Glenday also suggests that there is a certain pleasure associated with "encountering not just the memoir, but also the vitality of interaction between Mailer's imagination and his subject".{{sfn|Glenday|2008|p=350}} In addition, if the commonplace is that a man can't write from a woman's perspective, in ''Of Women And Their Elegance,'' although Mailer's Marilyn voice is totally fictional and does not fully capture Marilyn, it is certainly a plausible creation.
 To date, the obession with Marilym does not seem to have abated.{{efn|As far back as 1974 the obsession was in full flower. In his biography, Robert F. Slatzer noted that over forty books had already been written about Monroe. Mailer was not the only famous novelist to write about her. Joyce Carol Oates tried her hand at it in ''Blonde,'' also labeled as a novel, published in 2000. Gloria Steinem is another celebrity biographer.}} Nor is it limited to Mailer. In a 2010 article, Maureen Dowd lists a number of current "Marilyn" projects. One is a biopic starring Naomi Watts, based on
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 <span style="font-size:14px;""font=Alegreya Sans SC;""font-color=gray;">''My thanks to the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin for permission to examine the Norman Mailer archives in researching this essay.''</span>
-=== Notes ===
+==== Notes ====
-{{notelist}}
+<span style="font-size:14px;""font=Alegreya Sans SC;""font-color=gray;">{{notelist|20em}}</span>
-===Citations===
+==== Citations ====
-{{Reflist}}
+<span style="font-size:14px;""font=Alegreya Sans SC;""font-color=gray;">{{reflist}}</span>
-===Works Cited===
+==== Works Cited ====
-{{Refbegin}}
+<span style="font-size:14px;""font=Alegreya Sans SC;""font-color=gray;">{{refbegin|40em|indent=yes}}</span>
-* {{cite book |last=Bailey |first=Jennifer. |date=1979 |title= Norman Mailer: Quick-Change Artist. |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |pages= |type=Print. |ref=harv }}
+*{{cite book |last=Bailey |first=Jennifer. |date=1979 |title= Norman Mailer: Quick-Change Artist. |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |pages= |type=Print. |ref=harv }}
-* {{cite book |last=Bengis |first=Ingrid. |date=2 Oct 1973 |title="Monroe According to Mailer: One Legend Feeds on Another," ''Ms'' |pages=44-47. }} {{citation |title=''Rpt. in'' Critical Essays on Norman Mailer. |editors=J. Michael Lennon. |location=Boston |publisher=G.K. Hall & Co. |date=1986 |pages=71-78. |type=Print. |ref=harv }}
+*{{cite book |last=Bengis |first=Ingrid. |date=2 Oct 1973 |title="Monroe According to Mailer: One Legend Feeds on Another," ''Ms'' |pages=44-47. }} {{citation |title=''Rpt. in'' Critical Essays on Norman Mailer. |editors=J. Michael Lennon. |location=Boston |publisher=G.K. Hall & Co. |date=1986 |pages=71-78. |type=Print. |ref=harv }}
 * {{citation |last=Berger |first=Joseph |date=3 May 2011 |title=Norman Mailer's Eclectric Life, as Seen Through His Last Home. |publisher=New York Times |website=New York Times |type=Web. 1 June 2011 |ref=harv }}
 * {{citation |last=Carlyle |first=Kitty |date= |title=Letter to Norman Mailer. N.d. MS. |series=Norman Mailer Collection |location=Harry Ransom Center Humanities Research Center, University of Texas-Austin |ref=harv }}