Lucia Joyce & Flappers

Lucia Joyce (1907-1982) was the only daughter and a muse of James Joyce and a lover of Samuel Beckett. She dreamed of becoming a dancer, she had talent and the best teachers. She chose the school led by Raymond Duncan, the older brother of Isadora. She aroused the interest of the critics and the press – they betokened her a great career and wrote that she had the energy, enthusiasm and genius of her father. Her style was described as „subtle and barbaric”.

But the bright future was spoiled by her illness. Her behaviour was getting more and more bizarre. There were periods when Lucia felt quite well, but then there was a time of madness and aggression.

Accused of incest and obscenity, Lucia spent most of her life in a mental health facility in England. Actually, each one of us would be like Lucia, if only we were born at the time and in a place, where women had no civil rights. We couldn’t be lesbians, naked, brave, unmarried, yet sexual, horny and angry.