Bohemia had outward signs of membership: clothing, occupation, gait, rhythm of life. But it had to be entered through the mind, through some consciousness of belonging. Whether a certain form of dress or rhythm of life was bohemian or not depended - and still does - on how it was meant or taken -(Siegel 1)
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The Bohemian Dream, as presented
in the play La Mansarde des artistes: "A beginner
in the Fine Arts find himself overwhelmed by poverty and suffering,
then the storm abates and the sky clears, and he finishes up
wealthy and respected by all." (Easton
24.) Before fame and wealth found them in the realm of Bohemia, students, writers and painters lived and worked in their own ways, sometimes because it was fun and enjoyable to slum for awhile before returning to their dreary bourgeois lives, and sometimes purely to annoy the bourgeois with flashy clothing and long hair. Whatever they were doing, the bohemians did it to make a statement. |
| Use the above image map to navigate a passage through Bohemia. | |
