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Home › Entertainment

Judith Martin | 04/01/2008 8:07 am

If You Could Go Back in Time, Whose Life Would You Choose to Live?

By Judith Martin RSS
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Judith Martin
Today’s question of the day reminded me of the following …

At a performance of Pirandello’s "Enrico IV," some years ago, we spontaneously invited several people we happened to know in the audience (Washington D.C. is a very small town if you are a native) to come home with us afterwards for scrambled eggs, prosecco and a continuation of our intermission conversation, taken from the theme of the play: Whose life would you choose to live? The idea was pleasure, not glory, so you wouldn’t say, for example, Joan of Arc or Abraham Lincoln. In this random assortment of people from a variety of professions, the men all chose different historical figures, but every one of the women chose the SAME woman.

Can you guess who we chose? I’ll give you two hints: Literary. Pioneer. Tell me who you think she was; and check back tomorrow to see if you were correct.
Read more about: Arts, Culture, History, Literature

54 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Marie McConnell
I would just like to live over again as myself but under different circumstances.
By Marie McConnell on 04/01/2008 8:40 am
Josie Sullivan
My guess is Laura Ingalls Wilder. However, that wouldn’t be my choice. I would agree with Marie. I’d choose my own life with VERY different circumstances.
By Josie Sullivan on 04/01/2008 9:29 am
Babette dYveine
I agree with Marie, but the circumstances would be TOTALLY different, so that really wouldn’t be me, would it?
By Babette dYveine on 04/01/2008 10:10 am
Rita T
If I have to choose a historic figure, it would be Anne Bolyen. Sure, she lost her head in the end, but what an adventure she had in the process! But like the other two, IF I could go back and know then what I know now, I would have stayed in college and not gotten married; I have known I was intelligent then and earned a Phd. Granted, I have a Masters now, but … that Doctor in front of my name would have been nice!
By Rita T on 04/01/2008 10:14 am
CAROLINE MuLVEY
I also would like to be myself. However I would delete my ex-husband. But not my children. I would have waited to have children later in life. I would have gone and finished collage. I would have met my husband (my second ) earlier and had some fun. Then I would start my family.
By CAROLINE MuLVEY on 04/01/2008 10:20 am
Karen Perry
I would have to agree with Rita! I would have stayed in college and not gotten married, but I would still have my daughter she would be a lot younger! For I would have waited until I finished college, plus I would have gotten a Masters, and my PhD.
By Karen Perry on 04/01/2008 10:21 am
iris odonata
Hmmm? Immediate name that came to mind, Jane Austen.
By iris odonata on 04/01/2008 10:26 am
Buh-Bye Hillary Hillary Buh-Bye
Iris—-Jane Austen was my immediate guess too. Do we win the Amana-side-by-side?
By Buh-Bye Hillary Hillary Buh-Bye on 04/01/2008 5:24 pm
iris odonata
Hope so. I’ll wash, you dry.
By iris odonata on 04/01/2008 6:27 pm
Orane Grandmaise
Marie Antoinette, and I’d make damned sure that no one would have my head. The girl had it all but had no sense, pauvre malheureuse!
By Orane Grandmaise on 04/01/2008 10:38 am
Jeannot Kensinger
I would like to be like my grandmother. For her time, she was a rock. She followed her husband in different countries, had to leave her adoring mother. She gave birth to my mother in Italy in 1910, lost twins on a train ride to Italy in 1908 , lived in Bulgaria for 4 years, became quite ill with cancer in Ireland in 1936 . She was strong, learned languages as she moved and yet she was a weaver with little education. She sent her girls to a great boarding school so they could have a decent education, yet she cried for them every day. My mother ended up a CPA and spoke 6 languages. She is still an inspiration to me. A hard life but she taught us to go with the flow and make it work.
By Jeannot Kensinger on 04/01/2008 10:41 am
Donnelle Koselka
My guess is Dorothy Parker. As for me, I’d want Amelia Earhart’s life, even though she’s a “glory” choice. To me, though, she’s a pleasure choice because she was strong, adventuresome and fearless.
By Donnelle Koselka on 04/01/2008 11:23 am
J G
It may be a long shot, but the “pleasure” part of the clue suggests Mme. George Sand.
By J G on 04/01/2008 11:30 am
Gayvin Powers
If it’s a literal literary “Pioneer,” I’d say Emily Dickenson. If “Pioneer” is figurative then I’d say J.K. Rowling.
By Gayvin Powers on 04/01/2008 11:41 am
M Levine
What about Charlotte Bronte? She was a literary pioneer. Sadly, she died young after an interesting life, but she did marry, unlike Jane Austen.
By M Levine on 04/01/2008 11:59 am
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