Of Lovecraft and Beards

The question of Lovecraft and facial hair has only briefly been touched on, by my observation. It's a minute, but debatable issue that hasn't yet hit HPL scholarship strongly enough to produce a whole essay. Lovecraft's own opinion of beards is fairly well established--it was a low one, perhaps owing less to the social mores of the time than to his own hygienic struggle with ingrown hairs.

Yet, there are good questions to be raised about whether Lovecraft's disdain of facial hair might have had deeper psychological roots. One question comes to mind when looking at the scarce (or at least easily accessible) photos of his father, Winfield Scott Lovecraft, and seeing the thick mustache he is sporting. The photo above is from 1891, a couple years before the traveling merchant had his syphilis-inspired meltdown.

One wonders what Lovecraft thought of his father's image--one he may or may not have dredged up in later years through photographs and memories--and if he hoped to distance himself as much as possible. HPL's worries over hereditary madness and reputation may have carried over to concerns about style. To Lovecraft, the paternal whiskers may have been a visible taint of a past he desperately hoped to evade, even if he had the option of growing facial hair painlessly. His mother called him "hideous," and in this fraught environment, the last thing he would want to do is recall his father with his own features.

This is pure speculation on my part, but not completely off base, I hope. Scholars with the motivation to attack this question in depth might be well served by combing Lovecraft's stories for a recurring attitude on beards. There seems to be plenty of room for exploring possible psychological undercurrents in Lovecraft's life, though certain subjects may not be provable at a deep scholarly grade.

-Grim Blogger