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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MGibster" data-source="post: 8501341" data-attributes="member: 4534">[USER=22779]@Hussar[/USER] alludes to this phenomenon when he argues (not incorrectly) that you don't need to know anything about Lovecraft to interpret his work.  When I read it The Shadow Over Innsmouth for the first time, I interpreted it as being about insanity, drug/alcohol abuse, or diseases that run through family trees.  At the time I first read the story, I really didn't know anything about Lovecraft nor did I grow up in an environment where miscegenation was something that concerned me.  And I think it's very common for older works to be interpreted differently by a modern audiences compared to contemporary audiences.  I remember my professor asking the class, "Who's the hero of the Iliad?"  The general consensus among my peers was that Hector was the hero and Achilles was just a big baby crying about missing his home and refusing to fight because Agamemnon hurt is wittle feelings.  The consensus of modern scholars is that the pyramids of Egypt were not constructed by slaves but rather by free people who were paid fairly well and even had access to medical care.  As far as the ancient world is concerned, Egypt wasn't such a bad place to live.</blockquote>