Era of Gentility: September 2011

Thursday, September 29, 2011

TV Review: Elegance and Decadence: The Age of the Regency

Aired on BBC 4 some weeks back, this 3 part documentary series celebrates the 200th anniversary of the regency of George IV, which ran from 1811-1820 (the year he became king). While a bit quirky (at one point, she tries on some dandy clothes), the host, historian Lucy Worsley, does make this history lesson a bit fun and very informative. She talks to experts in varied fields about what their insight is to that particular part of the regency, such as a painter, employees, a food historian, and some employees at various regency significant locations (such as Kew Castle), and all have a small tale to tell. She covers topics like, the waltz, Jane Austen, architecture, the Napoleonic wars, and the Luddite revolts, among others, and I'm very glad I took the time to watch it. While I'm more of a Victorian kind of girl, I nonetheless rather enjoyed this series, and highly recommend you see it if you ever get the chance. I give Elegance and Decadence: The Age of the Regency 4 out of 5 stars.

BBC 4 Page

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Monday, September 26, 2011

The Joy of the Dance-18th Century

I found some more music and dancing for you fine folks via Youtube, this time representing the 1700's...hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!

Aimable Vainqueur

A New Dance For Queen Caroline-1726

Braes of Dornoch-1757

Feldtenstein's Cottillon

La Bonne Air

La Bonne Grâce

La Fleur

La Moulinette

La Portugaise

La Savoye

La Vedure

La Zélie

Le Papillon

La Pavane des Saisons-1700

Les Plaisirs des Anglois-1769

Menuett

Mr. Beveridge's Maggot (1695) and The Hole in the Wall (1698)

Passacaille d'Armide

Sarabande à deux-1712

Sellenger's Round

The Spanheim-1706

Upon A Summer's Day-circa 1650

Thursday, September 22, 2011

What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool

The second part of the title tells us exactly what this book is about...many of the things people knew during life in 19th century England. As such, this book is a perfect companion for all of us that love novels set in the 1800's... whether classics actually written back then or ones done by contemporary authors. Pool clearly did his research and explores such topics as titles, hunting, transportation, the government, and a couple of my favorites: the ball and dancing. There's even a decent sized glossary with several terms seen in 19th century literature. I highly recommend this one for fans of novels of the period and especially those who may be new to reading 19th century novels or may have to read a classic for school and has no idea what some of the things mentioned in the book are or mean. I also recommend it for lovers of either history in general or British history. I give it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

TV Review: The Aristocrats

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Another lovely production from the folks at the BBC, this six part series follows 4 nobley born sisters: Caroline (the eldest and most headstrong), Emily (the second eldest and most steady), Louisa (the middle sister, and the peacemaker) and Sarah (the youngest and most beautiful) who are decendants of King Charles II, from childhood down to old age with all the joys and tragedy that goes along with it. The series begins with Caroline falling in love with a politician deemed unsuitable for her by her parents then running away with him and eloping. The fallout deeply affects Emily, and it takes them several years before they're able to speak to each other again. As the show progresses, they all marry, three have children, and Sarah not only manages to catch the eye of a young George III, but to get herself embroiled in a few scandals. I found the series quite good, the costumes were beautiful, and the only real complaint I have is that it all moved along a bit too quickly and didn't mark the time with dates, but those are just small nitpicky things that most likely only really matter to me. I thought some of the acting was decent, others could've been better. Nonetheless, this is worth checking out should you love the 18th century. I give The Aristocrats a 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Film Review: Alice in Wonderland

I love Alice in Wonderland. I also love the films of Tim Burton. So when I heard that he was doing a version of Alice, needless to say I was super stoked. However, the end result left me a bit divided. While I loved the colors, some of the lines uttered by the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) and the Cheshire Cat, I was expecting a bit more of the famous Burton weirdness. I was also hoping it would be a bit more sinister than it was...though yes, I understand this is Disney, and as such needed to keep it on the lighter side. Other than that, I thought it turned out fairly well. The story starts out with a young Alice coming to her father after having a reoccuring dream, then flash forwards to 12 years later where, during a party, a now 19 year Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is expected to be proposed to by a young future Lord named Hamish. Things go awry though when she sees a white rabbit pointing to a pocket watch. As expected, she follows him, falls down the rabbit hole and returns to Wonderland (here called Underland...apparently Alice misunderstood the name the first time around), where the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) with the help of her top knight Stayne, the Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover) has taken over and exiled her sister the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) who is the rightful heir. So it's up to Alice to find her "muchness" and help the Hatter and the rest of her friends defeat the Red Queen and return Underland to it's rightful order. This version, like the many others before it, is also a mix of both novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I recommend it for fans of anything Alice or Tim Burton, though Burton purists may not consider it one of his best (it isn't one of his worst though in my opinion). I give this version of Alice in Wonderland 3 out of 5 stars.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

The Joy of the Dance-Victorian era

I found these videos on Youtube representing some dances from the Victorian era. Watching them, I can't help but to close my eyes and imagine myself doing them...Enjoy!