Who Said That First? by Max Cryer

Author:Max Cryer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Summersdale Publishers Ltd
Published: 2011-09-30T00:00:00+00:00

See also (The) great unwashed ; Purple prose

Ivory tower

Mentions of ivory in the Bible refer to a house, and to a woman’s neck, so neither of those is the origin of the term ‘ivory tower’ as we use it now. Living in an ivory tower refers to people of position who are aloof from common life and may be able to observe it without being affected by it.

That frame of reference came to light in 1837 in the work of French poet Charles Augustin Saint-Beuve. In his poem ‘Thoughts of August’, the ivory tower image served as a critical comment on the lifestyle of poet Alfred de Vigny, whom Saint-Beuve regarded as too concerned with romanticism. The tower made of ivory formed a charmed retreat in which a poet isolated himself from society, not necessarily to the advantage of his poetry.

The term still carries that pejorative connotation, indicating a failure to connect with the everyday world and a perceived condescension on the part of the tower dweller.

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