Literary Legends And Wars

Literature may thrive on beauty, but behind the scenes, it often bristles with bruised egos and biting critiques. Some of history’s most admired writers weren’t above trading insults and launching public takedowns, and their quarrels weren’t just petty but personal in some cases. As you read on, you’ll see what it looks like when genius throws criticisms or admiration sour into disdain. These 20 historic feuds reveal as much about literary greatness as they do about human fragility.

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1. Mark Twain Vs. James Fenimore Cooper

Twain famously wrote an essay titled "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses," criticizing Cooper’s writing mechanics and storytelling. He listed 18 specific “rules” Cooper violated. The essay remains one of the most famous acts of literary criticism ever written.

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2. Ernest Hemingway Vs. F. Scott Fitzgerald

The masculinity of Fitzgerald and his dependence on his wife Zelda was mocked by Hemingway. In A Moveable Feast, Hemingway portrayed Fitzgerald as weak and insecure. Fitzgerald idolized Hemingway before the feud and called him the best living writer.

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3.  Edgar Allan Poe Vs. Rufus Griswold

Griswold became Poe’s literary executor and published a scathing obituary upon Poe’s death. He forged letters and anecdotes to portray Poe as insane and immoral. Griswold's smear campaign ironically kept Poe in public memory for generations.

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4. Virginia Woolf Vs. Arnold Bennett

Not only did Woolf accuse Bennett of failing to capture the inner lives of characters, but she also used Bennett’s novels as examples of outdated Edwardian realism. Bennett fired back, criticizing Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway as lacking realism.

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5. Lord Byron Vs. John Keats

Byron ridiculed Keats’s humble origins and poetic style and called him a “cockney poet.” After Keats’s death, Byron suggested bad reviews—not illness—had killed him. While Keats, though ailing, admired Byron’s fame, he resented his elitism.

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6. Leo Tolstoy Vs. William Shakespeare

In an essay written by Tolstoy, he denounced Shakespeare as overrated and lacking moral depth. He singled out King Lear as especially “repulsive and meaningless.” Tolstoy claimed reading Shakespeare caused him physical disgust. Despite the criticism, Tolstoy had read all of Shakespeare’s works.

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7. Charles Dickens Vs. Hans Christian Andersen

Andersen overstayed his welcome at Dickens’s home by five weeks, and Dickens wrote a mocking note about the visit and ended the friendship. After the ordeal, he removed Andersen’s books from his shelves. Their disastrous visit inspired later satire about literary houseguests.

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8. Mary McCarthy Vs. Lillian Hellman

While McCarthy claimed “every word Hellman writes is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the,’” Hellman sued McCarthy for \$2.5 million in a defamation case. The lawsuit dragged on for years until Hellman’s death. McCarthy never apologized and maintained that Hellman deserved the criticism.

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9. Norman Mailer Vs. Gore Vidal

The feud started when Vidal compared Mailer to Charles Manson. Mailer punched Vidal in the face before a TV interview and once even challenged Vidal to a fight, yelling, “I’ve had enough of you!” Their venomous exchanges became a spectacle in American letters.

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10. Alexander Pope Vs. Colley Cibber

In The Dunciad, Pope turned Cibber into the lead dunce. Cibber revenged by mocking Pope’s physical deformity. The quarrel began when Pope criticized Cibber’s stage plays, and their public feud lasted over 20 years.

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11. Truman Capote Vs. Jack Kerouac

The infamous line, “That’s not writing, that’s typing,” was used by Capote to dismiss On the Road. He resented the Beat Generation’s loose, free-flowing prose. Kerouac admired Capote but was wounded by the insult.

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12. Samuel Richardson Vs. Henry Fielding

While Fielding wrote Shamela as a parody of Richardson’s Pamela, Richardson accused Fielding of undermining morality in literature. Fielding’s satire helped establish the modern novel as more than moral instruction, but Richardson saw Fielding’s popularity as a threat to virtue.

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13. Gertrude Stein Vs. James Joyce

Stein criticized Joyce’s Ulysses and called it “a boring book” and “a fake.” Joyce returned the sentiment and called Stein’s style “clumsy” and “ugly.” Both lived in Paris and shared the same literary salons but avoided direct

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14. D.H. Lawrence Vs. E.M. Forster

Lawrence’s mockery of Forster’s sexual restraint in fiction was public. This was the same Foster who considered Lawrence’s work overly emotional and crude. Forster’s Maurice was published posthumously, partly to avoid Lawrence-style controversy.

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15. Sylvia Plath Vs. Ted Hughes

In her poetry, Plath accused Hughes of infidelity and abuse, and Hughes was blamed by many fans for Plath’s demise. After Plath’s death, Hughes controversially edited her posthumous publications. Also, Plath’s gravestone was repeatedly vandalized by fans who removed “Hughes.”

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16. T.S. Eliot Vs. Ezra Pound

Eliot edited The Waste Land with Pound’s help, but later distanced himself, and Pound called Eliot’s later works “unmusical” and “bloodless.” Pound also ridiculed a royal honor that Eliot accepted as “bourgeois vanity.” Their mutual admiration turned sour amid political and personal fallout.

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17. W.H. Auden Vs. Robert Frost

In a private letter, Frost called Auden “trivial and over-educated,” and, in Auden’s lectures, he mocked Frost’s conservative values. They clashed at the 1961 Kennedy inauguration, where both read poems. Auden left the ceremony early, unimpressed by Frost’s performance.

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18. Jonathan Swift Vs. John Dryden

Reportedly, Dryden said of Swift, “Cousin Swift, you will never be a poet.” Swift also mocked Dryden’s style in his satirical prose and used Dryden’s influence as a negative example in his essays. The feud was both literary and personal due to their family ties.

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19. H.G. Wells Vs. George Bernard Shaw

While Wells accused Shaw of romanticizing socialism without practical solutions, Shaw dismissed Wells’s science fiction as “toy literature.” They also had shouting matches during Fabian Society meetings. Despite the feud, they co-wrote letters critiquing each other’s utopian ideals.

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20. Herman Melville Vs. Nathaniel Hawthorne

Melville dedicated Moby-Dick to Hawthorne, but the friendship soon cooled. Disturbed by Melville’s obsessive and dark prose, Hawthorne grew distant. Melville’s letters reveal deep emotional reliance on Hawthorne. Hawthorne rarely responded, adding to Melville’s disillusionment.

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