Jean Coceteau's
The Knights of the Round Table
In 1937, French poet Jean Cocteau was trying to create a bisexual version of the Arthurian legend. One night, after a extended struggle to give form to his thoughts, he went to sleep exhausted. In the morning, in that familiar state of somnolence, in which one is part asleep and part awake, he had a strange vision. It was almost as if he was sitting in a theatre watching a play. And in front of his eyes, he saw a three act play unfolding, bringing to life the theme which he had wanted to write on. What was remarkable was that richness of its details, incorporating characters and particulars of an epoch of which Coceteau had no earlier knowledge. On becoming fully awake, Coceteau wrote down his dream, which came to be known as his celebrated The Knights of the Round Table.
Not surprisingly, Coceteau was a great believer of the creative potential of the unconscious. He wrote:
"I do not believe that inspiration falls from heaven. I think it rather the result of a profound indolence and of our incapacity to put to work certain forces in ourselves... (The poet) is at the disposal of the night. His role is humble, he must clean the house and await its due visitation."
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