dreams of a dowager

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lady wigram

First, a reminder to enter for a chance to win my Tauer perfume giveaway here

as you dear readers may know, I am an old fan of the great English domestic novel, but I have noticed a disturbing phenomenon; as I grow older, I begin identifying less with the sweet young 15 year old heroines, and more with their mothers and aunts with all their peccadilloes of character and odd obsessions.

Do they ever grow tired of watching, aiding, and abetting the young females as they perform their elaborate mating dances, flirting and giggling till the wee hours of the morning at country dances while they, the older women, gossip and play cards? Do they ever tire of living vicariously through them, when their blood is pulsing just as quickly—or even more so--through their own veins? Do they  ever wish their stolid, unimaginative, dependable husbands would shape up and be more attentive? As they sit in their boudoir among their pots of cream and scent, do they fantasize about a new romance, a new lover in their bedchamber, smelling their skin and nibbling their ears?

Similarly, do the lovely actresses who played these creatures in 80’s masterpiece theatre renditions of classic novels now feel sad to be cast in the role of the mothers now? Do they wish the roles were a bit more multi-dimensional, a bit more consonant with what they themselves feel, as lusty women in the prime of their life?

I think they do…

CREDITS:

Thomas Lawrence’s portrait of Lady Wigram courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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Comments

  1. ScentScelfJune 7, 2010 at 7:23 PM

    Woman, you.keep.writing! You are on a thoughts to paper (okay, screen) tear! I am keeping up with the reading, just not the commenting!!!

    I think those dowagers had an alternate life that generally doesn't get represented in those novels. No, I really think those dowagers were more multi-faceted than novels, and certainly the movies, allowed them.

    Though, truth be told, I didn't hang out much with them. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. La Bonne VivanteJune 7, 2010 at 7:57 PM

    I know, I just can't stop, for some reason. Actually, I know the reason--I don't want to dissertate anymore &/or work on any 'publishable' articles.

    I never would imagine you, of all exotic people. would ever hang out too much with a bunch of dowagers, however multi-faceted they might have been on the inside.

    ReplyDelete
  3. olenskaJune 8, 2010 at 10:34 PM

    RE: the marriageable young maids vs. the older women - I tend to split the difference and end up throwing my loyalty behind Miss Anne Elliot. :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. La Bonne VivanteJune 8, 2010 at 10:40 PM

    A sensible choice, my dear!

    ReplyDelete

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