Victorian Vignettes

It all started a few weeks, or maybe months ago when I went to the doctor. In the waiting room I discovered they have a book shelf where you can borrow a book and return it next time you come there. They all looked fairly new (our doctor's surgery only opened up this year) and not too germ-infested so I took one home. It was The Curse of the Kings by Victoria Holt.

As you can probably guess it was about the mummies of Ancient Egypt. However, it was set in Victorian England. And thus, it was the beginning of my new relationship with Victorian England literature and culture. I have taught Victorian History once before and I must say I'm ashamed to admit it now, but I found the whole thing a bit of a snooze (can't imagine my students were that inspired either!!), but now I'm loving it! I wish I could go back and teach it all again - how different it would be!

So after I finished the Kings I started reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. If you haven't read this book, then you should.
Really. Source: Amazon(And I purposely chose the DVD cover instead of the book because I'm unashamedly in love with Colin Firth. Don't tell the Captain).

Definitely.
Absolutely.

I read somewhere that you become smarter if you read Jane Austen and that is so like, totally, far-out for real! The language may seem like a deterrent, especially if you're used to more candy pop-fiction with contemporary lingo (à la Oscar Wao), but once you get started it's fantastic! And so witty, I had no idea (sorry if I'm sounding like a literary nitwit at this point, but I'm being honest!) What I also didn't realise (again, another nitwit alert -stop reading now if you're already offended by my Austen autism) is that Bridget Jones is so totally based on this story. I knew that Sense and Sensibility and Clueless shared the same storyline, but didn't realise it with this one. Right down to the stuck-up, yet misunderstood Mr Darcy (and Colin Firth of course!)

After I finished Pride and Prejudice, I started on Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Now this one I had read before, but many moons ago (back when it was compulsory HSC reading).

(Again with the DVD cover because I have a thing for Timothy Dalton - truly the best Heathcliff in my mind :)

Source: Amazon

Wuthering Heights is not the same style as Pride and Prejudice which is more witty and flippant in tone. Wuthering Heights is much more tragic and the writing reflects that. If you're not sure of the story I suggest you download Kate Bush's rendition. Man that song says it all...

Heathcliff, it's me Cathy, I've come home....

My Victorian tastebuds were tickled. So we borrowed The Wolfman. We thought that with a cast like Benicio del Toro (yum!), Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving it was going to be a sure hit.

Source: Amazon

It wasn't.

I mean, it was easy to watch and had all the dark, stereotypical imagery of Victorian England but totally lacked in engaging dialogue and intriguing plot development. Very predictable, not all that great.

Finally our sojourn into the 19th century ended with another movie: Sherlock Holmes.
Source: Amazon

Brilliant.

Absolutely fantastic.

Totally made up for the disappointment that was Wolfman. The acting, the humour, and the settings were all spot on. Can't wait to read the books now.

Anyway, I've been so inspired by this little bit of Victorian culture (more or less :) that I've decided to do a history post on it.

Coming soon....


Kirsty x