Wheldrake Question

[Vampyro]

Not sure if this has been covered on this excellent site
and it could be in the FAQ or could be very naive of me to ask
but please forgive me beforehand if the question is obviously
coming from a "newbie"

Mike, In "The Revenge Of The Rose" are you Wheldrake?

I apologise again if the answer is obvious.

[Michael Moorcock]

Hmm. Well, I suppose in some ways I am Wheldrake, but in others Wheldrake is Swinburne. Wheldrake's the name Swinburne chose to give bad reviews to his own work. Anyone remember that fine TV series of the mid-70s called The Brotherhood about the PreRaphaelites, with Peter Egan as Millais, Ben Kingsley as Rossetti and so on ? They had a great little Swinburne in that, too. I've never forgotten him squeaking with due pomposity "I, sir, am a poet". Can't remember who played him, but he was, like the others, magnificently cast.

[Vampyro]

Thanks for the reply Mike
I had a gut feeling Wheldrake was based on yourself, but then again I knew there was more to it than that. Early in the reading of
"The Revenge Of The Rose" I started to suspect Wheldrake was partly based on yourself, but I was convinced when I read this line of Wheldrake's dialogue;
"...Sometimes, you know, it occurs to me that I am in a dream in which all those heroes and heroines, villains and villainesses of my verses have come to life to haunt me, to befriend me, to make me one of themselves..."
Mike, Wheldrake is one of the most likeable and amiable of your characters, so far that I have read. One cannot help but love the guy!

[Michael Moorcock]

I'm very fond of him myself...

[manmiles]

Sounds rather like James Colvin in New Worlds. Giving bad or medium reviews of his own work.

[Vampyro]

Love School: The Brotherhood

I have never seen or heard of the show but here is a
IMDb webpage with some info on it

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072743/

[Ant]

But no listing for Swinburne... ?

Gr.,
Ant

[Vampyro]

I think this might be the Swineburne he is referring to

http://www.letrs.indiana.edu/swinburne/chronology.html

[Michael Moorcock]

Yes, that's the real Swinburn in later years. He lived with Rossetti and Meredith in Chelsea. Meredith eventually left, unable to take Charlie Swinburne sliding down the bannisters stark naked... Not an incident dramatised in the series. I could't tell if it was possible to buy The Brotherhood. It was a beautifully photographed series, capturing a lot of the rich colour of PreRaphaelite painting.

[lemec]

Thanks for the reply Mike
I had a gut feeling Wheldrake was based on yourself, but then again I knew there was more to it than that. Early in the reading of
"The Revenge Of The Rose" I started to suspect Wheldrake was partly based on yourself, but I was convinced when I read this line of Wheldrake's dialogue;
"...Sometimes, you know, it occurs to me that I am in a dream in which all those heroes and heroines, villains and villainesses of my verses have come to life to haunt me, to befriend me, to make me one of themselves..."
Mike, Wheldrake is one of the most likeable and amiable of your characters, so far that I have read. One cannot help but love the guy!

I always liked Wheldrake too and I loved reading about Jhary-A-Conel and him being a companion to the eternal champions.

[Vampyro]

I could't tell if it was possible to buy The Brotherhood.

I've searched and it looks like this program is not available on either VHS or Dvd

[Dead-Air]

We did have a go around about this before, actually. Here's a link to bring it all together with:

[link expired]