What I Love About the Victorian Era

I love the energy and the industry of the Victorians, particularly in the period of 1840-1870, often known as the early to mid-Victorian era, before they settled into the ennui of the end of the decade.  Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were young and vigorous, and producing children at an amazing rate--9 in all! (The popular recent movie The Young Victoria is great for visualizing her as something other than an old woman in widow's clothes.) England was rising to a position of world prominence in trade, manufacturing, and colonization. Their industry and inventiveness was incredible.

People often think of the Victorians as stodgy and repressed. But in the early part of Victoria’s reign, a better description might be energetic, inquiring, and multi-talented. The worlds of science were opening up in ways never before imagined. The future seemed full of enormous promise.

Imagine a giant building made of glass.  It is the length of six football fields. Its roof is three stories high--a portion of it is arched to enclose 90-ft elm trees. When you walk inside, sunlight pours through the glass onto plants, statuary, and colorful banners. The building is filled with exhibitions of engineering marvels of all kinds, not to mention precious gems and other items from around the world. Such a place would be a marvel even today. The building I have just described was built in 1851. It was built in a matter of months with manual labor and real horsepower. The manufacture of plate glass was at that time a new technology. The photo on this blog page of the Glass House at Kew Gardens outside London gives just a tiny taste of what the Crystal Palace must have been like.

This magnificent glass building, which soon become known as the Crystal Palace, was built expressly for The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, now generally referred to as The Great Exhibition of 1851. Even today the exhibition is considered to be one of the high points for England in the 19th century.  A few weeks ago, Google celebrated the 160th anniversary of the opening of this event with their home page logo (calling it "the first World's Fair"). Prince Albert is often credited with coming up with the idea for this exhibition; this may not be completely true, but he was heavily involved in its planning and promotion and was vital to making it so successful.

It is the background for The Heiress Returns, the first book I have written in a planned trilogy. I have had such a wonderful time researching this era and I hope to bring it vividly to life in my books.

To the Shakespeare Naysayers

I recently saw a trailer for an upcoming movie called "Anonymous". Here is the basic plotline: A political thriller about who actually wrote the plays of William Shakespeare-- Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford-- set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I, and the Essex Rebellion against her. It stars Derek Jacobi, who has been on record for a years as believing DeVere wrote Shakespeare's plays.

The movie looks like an exciting conspiracy-theory kind of thriller. But it is, of course, FICTION.

Try watching the 4-part PBS series by Michael Wood called "In Search of Shakespeare" if you are interested in an exciting and thrilling look at his life and work. Far from being dull, this series is electrifying.  Do this BEFORE "Anonymous" comes out this fall. Then see how the two stack up.  My guess is there will be no comparison.

There is far more to Shakespeare’s life to know than had been the accepted line for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Scholarship of the last 10 years or so has shown just how much we CAN know of the man and his life. Far from being a myth, Shakespeare was the man far more likely to have “written Shakespeare” than any other.  Genius knows no bounds or class. More than education alone (although Shakespeare had a good dose of that), it was a life in the theater, the mind open to all he could see and learn in London, the “forge and working house of thought” as he put it, that helped to shape his plays.

Shakespeare lived in a time of religious and political turmoil. In fact, religion and politics were inseparable. Henry VIII started a tussle for crown and church headship that would continue through his children until Elizabeth firmly established Protestant rule.

Shakespeare’s family was Roman Catholic, the wrong side of the political divide. He would have learned early on to play his cards close to the vest when it came to his personal world views. His own cousin ended up with his head on a pike on London bridge after speaking too publicly about his hatred of the queen and her religious politics.

He was, above all, a poet, and he wanted more than anything else to pursue his art. He had the brilliance to see all points of view, and the wisdom to keep his own beliefs firmly out of sight. This combination enabled him to showcase the multi-variegated sides to every story. He even illustrated with clear brilliance how even every “villain” sees himself as the hero of his own story.  It is why you can read Shakespeare’s works today, 400 years later, and still make a case for any point of view you want.

Also hugely recommended:  Peter Ackroyd's "Shakespeare: The Biography," Stephen Greenblatt's "Will in the World" and James Shapiro's "A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare."  These books plus the PBS series inspired me to write my novella "MUSE OF FIRE."

MUSE OF FIRE reflects this fascinating sense of Will constantly living his life in the balance, on the edge between two warring factions. It contains references to Sonnet 145, which many scholars believe was written by a very young Will Shakespeare to his new wife, Anne Hathaway. There are two puns on her name embedded in the lines, including “Anne saved my life…” Might this literally have happened?  If so, did that event first spark the passion, and later the assiduous care of his family that persisted even after the flame seemed to have died out? MUSE OF FIRE is one guess at what might have happened.

Fool for Love

"If thou rememberest not the slightest folly that ever love did make thee run to,

Thou hast not loved."

The quote above is one of my favorites from Shakespeare. Love can make us do amazing things at times. Sometimes it leads us right down that road to "folly."  But it's a journey that we wouldn't give up for all the world. We optimistically expect the joys to outweigh any bruises obtained in the adventure!

I write romances that incorporate lots of adventure.  Some are set in contemporary settings. Some are historical. My most recent is set in 1850's England--a really interesting time, which I plan to write more about in another blog.