Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey ~ Tudor Poet

henryhBorn in Hunsdon, Hertfordshire, in 1517, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, was the eldest of Thomas Howard and Lady Elizabeth Stafford’s children. Surrey was of royal descent on both the paternal and the maternal sides of his family. He received an excellent education under John Clark. He learned Latin, Italian, Spanish, and French. Earl of Surrey was his courtesy title, bestowed when his father became the 3rd Duke of Norfolk. He was an early companion to Henry VIII’s illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond.

Surrey accompanied his first cousin Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII, and Fitzroy to France as part of a consultation between England and Francis I, King of France. He returned to England for the marriage of Richmond to Surrey’s sister. He was present in 1533 for the coronation of Anne Boleyn.

At the age of 15, Surrey married Lady Frances de Vere (daughter of the Earl of Oxford) in 1532, but they did not live together until 1535 because they were too young. His first son, Thomas, was born in March 1536. In the same year, his cousin Anne Boleyn was tried for treason and executed. Tragedy struck again when Henry Fitzroy died in July at the age of seventeen. Fitzroy was not only Surrey’s friend, but also his brother in marriage, having married Mary Howard. October of 1536 saw his father subduing the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion, which protested against the King’s dissolution of the monasteries. Surrey served with his father in this action.

The Howards were strong supports of the Tudors, but the knew difficulties at court when Jane Seymour became queen in 1536. In 1537, the Seymours, a rival faction at court, accused the Howards of holding sympathies with those involved in the Pilgrimage of Grace. Surrey was imprisoned at Windsor when he struck a member of the court for repeating the slander expressed against his family. Surrey’s poem, “Prisoned in Windsor,” relates his boyhood days at Windsor with Fitzroy. He was released later in the year, and served as a mourner in Jane Seymour’s funeral.

Surrey was back in court favor by 1540. He reportedly sported well in the jousts held in honor of Anne of Cleves marriage to Henry VIII.  He was made Knight of the Garter in May 1541 and steward of the University of Cambridge in September. Being honored so was not enough to keep his reputation spotless. He was twice imprisoned in Fleet Prison, once for quarreling with another of Henry’s courtiers and another time for a drunken riot that destroyed property. While in Fleet Prison, he composed his “Satire Against the Citizens of London.”

Finally released from Fleet, he served Henry VII in Flanders in an effort to take control of the Netherlands with the English army on the side of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
In a letter to Henry VIII, the emperor commended Surreys “gentil cueur.” In  1544, Surrey return to England with a wound suffered at the siege of Montreuil  but was back in France at the head of a company of 5,000 men in Calais. In 1545 he became Commander of Guisnes and Commander of the garrison of Boulogne. After several skirmishes and a defeat at the battle at St. Etienne in 1546, Surrey was replaced in the post by his longtime adversary Edward Seymour, Lord Hertford (later Duke of Somerset).

215px-Henry_Howard_Earl_of_Surrey_1546_detailSurrey erred greatly by promoting his father’s position as Protector to young Prince Edward when Henry VIII’s health was failing in 1546. “The Seymours finally had their day, when Surrey ill-advisedly displayed royal quarterings on his shield. Arrested along with his father on charges of treason, he was imprisoned in the Tower. Several additional claims were made against him, including that he was secretly a papist. Surrey was indicted of high treason in January 1547, despite the lack of any real evidence, condemned, and executed (beheaded) on January 19, 1547, on Tower Hill. He was buried in the church of All Hallows Barking, but was later reinterred in the church of Framlingham, Suffolk. His second son Henry, Earl of Northampton, erected a magnificent tomb for him there in 1614. Surrey’s father, the Duke of Norfolk, remained in prison throughout the reign of King Edward VI, but was released when Queen Mary took the throne. Henry Howard’s first son, Thomas Howard, succeeded his grandfather to the title of Duke of Norfolk in 1553.

“Surrey continued in Sir Thomas Wyatt’s footsteps on the English sonnet form.  Wyatt and Surrey, both often titled “father of the English sonnet”, established the form that was later used by Shakespeare and others: three quatrains and a couplet, with a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. Surrey was also the first English poet to publish in blank verse, in his translation of part of Virgil’s Aeneid. Book 4 was published in 1554 and Book 2 in 1557.

“Surrey’s poetry circulated in manuscript form at court. He published his  “Epitaph on Sir Thomas Wyatt, but most of his poetry first appeared in 1557, ten years after his death, in printer Richard Tottel’s Songs and Sonnets written by the Right Honorable Lord Henry Howard late Earl of Surrey and other. Until modern times it was called simply Songs and Sonnets; but now it is generally known as Tottel’s Miscellany. Of the 271 poems in the collection, 40 were by Surrey, 96 by Wyatt, and the rest by various courtier poets. Sir  Philip Sidney lauded Surrey’s lyrics for “many things tasting of a noble birth, and worthy of a noble mind.” (Luminarium)

DESCRIPTION OF SPRING,

WHEREIN EVERY THING RENEWS, SAVE ONLY THE LOVER.

THE soote season, that bud and bloom forth brings,
With green hath clad the hill, and eke the vale.
The nightingale with feathers new she sings ;
The turtle to her make hath told her tale.

Summer is come, for every spray now springs,
The hart hath hung his old head on the pale;
The buck in brake his winter coat he slings ;
The fishes flete with new repairèd scale ;
The adder all her slough away she slings ;
The swift swallow pursueth the fliës smale ;
The busy bee her honey now she mings ;
Winter is worn that was the flowers’ bale.

And thus I see among these pleasant things
Each care decays, and yet my sorrow springs !

[In spring everything comes to life, says the poet, and “each care decays and yet my sorrow springs.”]

______________________

 

“Set me whereas the sun doth parch the green…”

Set me whereas the sun doth parch the green
Or where his beams do not dissolve the ice,
In temperate heat where he is felt and seen;
In presence prest of people, mad or wise;
Set me in high or yet in low degree,
In longest night or in the shortest day,
In clearest sky or where clouds thickest be,
In lusty youth or when my hairs are gray.
Set me in heaven, in earth, or else in hell;
In hill, or dale, or in the foaming flood;
Thrall or at large, alive whereso I dwell,
Sick or in health, in evil fame or good:
Hers will I be, and only with this thought
Content myself although my chance be nought.

[A woman bemoans her lover at sea, says that those who have their lovers at home are fortunate; and when the storm is over, she still worries as to whether he will visit her.]

____________________________

Criticism: Almost all the verses left by Surrey are regular and harmonious and though his nature was less energetic than Wyatt’s he was the better artist. He was dominated by the Petrarchan convention much more than was Sir Thomas Wyatt and sang in sonnets his imaginary love for Geraldine. Less directly influenced by the Italians than his master, he had a sure sense of what best befitted the poetry of his nation For the sonnet form used by Wyatt – two quatrains followed by two tercets, he substituted the form used later by Shakespeare. He introduced blank verse to English literature in his translation of the second and fourth books of the Aeneid

Resources:

The Anne Boleyn Files 

Classic Poems 

Poetry Foundation

Poets.org 

Sonnets.org 

Tudor Place 

Wikpedia 

 

Posted in British history, Great Britain, history, Tudors | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pre-Order “Angel Comes to the Devil’s Keep,” a New Regency Suspense from Regina Jeffers

AnAngelComes_LargeAngel Comes to the Devil’s Keep is now available for preorder. It is a romantic suspense from Black Opal Books, which is set in the Regency Period, and it is loaded with the twists and turns you expect from Regina Jeffers. Angel Comes to the Devil’s Keep is book one of the Twins’ Trilogy, to be followed by The Earl Claims His Comfort and Lady Chandler’s Sister

Back Cover: 

HUNTINGTON McLAUGHLIN, the Marquess of Malvern, wakes in a farmhouse, after a head injury, and being tended by an ethereal “angel,” who claims to be his wife. However, reality is often deceptive, and ANGELICA LOVELACE is far from innocent in Hunt’s difficulties. Yet, there is something about the woman that calls to him as no other ever has. When she attends his mother’s annual summer house party, their lives are intertwined ins a series of mistaken identities, assaults, kidnappings, overlapping relations, and murders, which will either bring them together forever or tear them irretrievably apart.

As Hunt attempts to right his world from problems caused by the head injury that has robbed him of parts of his memory, his best friend, the Earl of Remmington, makes it clear that he intends to claim Miss Lovelace as his wife. Hunt must decide whether to permit Angelica to align herself with the earldom or to claim the only woman who stirs his heart – and if he does the latter, can he still serve the dukedom with a hoydenish American heiress as his wife?

Excerpt: (Huntington McLaughlin and Angelica Lovelace’s first glance of each other)

Chapter 1

London 1819

The odor of the Thames as it wafted over the area beyond Greenland Docks caused Hunt’s nose to snarl, but Sir Alexander had declared that someone paid large sums of money for the privilege of a blind eye to unloaded contraband, and it was Hunt’s duty to learn more of the people involved. The wig Hunt wore itched, and he fought the urge to remove the offending item, and it did not slip his notice how his coachman, Etch, swallowed his amusement.

“Jist relax, sir. It shan’t be long,” Etch cautioned.

Hunt grunted his response, attempting to disguise his own mirth. He slouched lazily against the back of the chair, just as the baronet had taught him. It was not much, this bit of public duty he performed, but Hunt took a certain pride in doing more than being the Duke of Devilfoard’s heir apparent—more than being the Devil’s cub. His ears perked with interest at the conversation, taking place nearby.

“I tells you,” said the dark-haired man Hunt had followed into the tavern. “The viscounty means to learn more of the earl. Then we be makin’ a call upon his lordship.”

“And this Town lord knows of the earl?” the shorter of the two asked.

“That’s wat the viscounty says. Says he’s got an arr’ngement with the highest. He also say we be keepin’ the high lord company fer awhile ’til we’s know fer certain he be easy pickin’s. The viscounty be wantin’ information on who the high lord shows his attentions.”

The men rose to depart, and Hunt made to leave, but Etch placed a hand upon his sleeve.

“Wait.” The coachman nodded to the door. “Is that not Lord Newsome? Doing business in this part of London?”

Hunt’s expression screwed up in disbelief.

“The viscounty?” he wondered aloud. “This just became interesting.”



“You are pure evil,” she declared as he chased her through the intricate maze.

Dressed all in black, he stalked her, and Angel’s body heated from the brief brush of his fingertips upon her wrist. Catching her skirt tail, she skittered away from his slow pursuit.

“A copper for your thoughts,” she taunted with a nervous giggle.

“I was considering the pure pleasure of possessing my own personal angel.” His deep, resonant voice spoke of desire, but also of contentment.

“Am I that angel?” she rasped when he caught her shoulders and spun her to him.

“Forever.”



“Miss Angelica.” Her maid shook Angel’s shoulder. “Wake up, miss.”

Angelica Lovelace rolled to her back and stretched. She despised leaving the dream behind. It was one of her favorites, and she particularly enjoyed how it always ended with her in the dark stranger’s very masculine embrace.

“What is amiss?” she murmured.

Angelica kept her eyes closed, watching the scene’s details playing out behind her lids. She could not remember a time when she did not dream of her dark lover. Even as a very young girl, she enjoyed his company. When she was a child, he was her best friend, but when she turned to womanhood, he became her secret lover, and although she had never met him, he remained the man by which she judged all others. To her, he was her “dearest Devil,” always dressed in black, his shaggy coal-colored hair streaked with hints of mahogany. Over the years, Angelica blamed her oft-spoken-of irreverent attitude on the mystery man with a wicked wit and a splash of deviltry. If my critics knew of my sultry musings, they would agree I am quite beyond the pale. The thought brought a smile to her lips.

“Your father, miss,” the maid encouraged. “Mr. Lovelace requests you attend him in the small drawing room. Lord Arden has called.”

Angelica forced her eyes open. “Lord Arden?” She pushed herself to a seated position. “What might the baron require?”

“Mrs. Watson be thinking the baron will make himself known as a suitor.” The maid braced Angelica on the steps beside the bed.

“Do you suppose the baron consulted Mrs. Watson?” Angelica asked, with a bit of a tease.

The maid rarely understood Angel’s light sarcasm.

“Oh, no, miss. Mrs. Watson be creatin’ a guess.”

A chuckle slipped from Angelica’s lips. “And I thought an English upper servant worth her salt prided herself on knowing everything within the household.”

“Mrs. Watson knows enough.” The maid unlaced the ties on Angelica’s night rail. “I thought the silver muslin, miss.”

Angelica fought the urge to roll her eyes.

“Another virginal gown. Why is it English ladies announce their marital state with their gown’s color? What could be the harm in wearing a bright red or a royal blue?”

“You may choose whatever color most pleases you once you marry,” the maid observed in severe tones. “Lady Peterson wears only shades of purple. Can you imagine, miss? Purple dresses every day?”

Angelica frowned her disapproval.

“I am not certain I could tolerate the monotony. Needless to say, it would simplify the need for accessories. A few pairs of slippers and gloves would match one’s attire.”

“You’re so practical, miss,” the young girl observed.

Twenty minutes later and without breaking her fast, Angelica swept into the room. She and her father had imposed upon the earl and her mother’s sister Sarah by imploring upon her maternal relatives to open the earl’s Town house for the Season and for Lady Mannington to assume the position of Angelica’s sponsor in Society. Her mother’s older sister married Lord Mannington some five and twenty years prior. This was long before Angelica’s birth and before Lady Victoria Copley married Horace Lovelace and traveled to America.

“You sent for me, sir?” Angelica paused as her mother had taught her. ‘Allow the man to take your full measure.’ The words rang clear in Angel’s mind. It was comforting to have a bit of her mother with her.

Her father struggled to his feet. “There you are, my dear.”

Each day, Angelica became more aware of the man’s mortality. That particular fact was one of the reasons she had agreed to this venture. Her mother had passed two years prior, and her father insisted on carrying out his wife’s dying wishes. For years, Victoria Lovelace spoke of bringing her only daughter to England for a proper debut, but Lady Victoria succumbed to consumption before her wish knew fruition. Therefore, without the love of his life, Angel’s father made the journey.

“Please come in.” He gestured her forward. “You are acquainted with Lord Arden, I believe.”

“Yes, sir.” She curtsied to the man standing aristocratically beside the hearth. “The baron and I stood up together at the Breesons’ ball on Tuesday last.”

Arden executed a respectful bow.

“It is singular you have such perfect recall, Miss Lovelace.”

“Angelica has a quick mind,” her father remarked with pride, but then blustered. “Of course, my Victoria would say a learned lady was not a virtue by English standards.” He winced when shock crossed the baron’s features. “I apologize, Arden. I offer no censure. My late wife always accused me of acting a cake when speaking of our daughter. So many years away from my homeland must make me appear quite the heathen. I am accustomed to a freer-speaking society.”

“It is quite acceptable, Lovelace.” The baron grasped the hand Angelica extended in his direction and offered the obligatory air kiss. “Despite the consensus to the contrary, many Englishmen prefer their wives to possess a sensible nature.”

Angelica gestured to a nearby chair. “But the author of Pride and Prejudice proved in her first novel that sense and sensibility are different from intelligence, my lord,” she countered.

“I am surprised you have read the lady’s novels,” Arden remarked.

Angelica seated herself on the edge of the cushion and straightened her dress’s seam.

“Would your surprise be because the author is British rather than American or because the author is a lady, and women should not trespass upon the male dominated world of authorship?” She did not wait for his response before adding, “Perhaps your astonishment rests in the fact Sense and Sensibility is a novel rather than a serious tome?”

She smiled prettily at the man. Her mother may have determined Angelica required an English aristocrat for a husband. However, Angel had decided only a partner who could accept her flaws, as well as her substantial dowry, would do.

Arden frowned in what appeared to be confusion. He clearly did not expect a challenge to his opinions. “I suppose all three, Miss Lovelace.”

“But you hold no objection, my lord, to a woman who develops her mind through extensive reading?” Angel chuckled internally at the familiar line from the British author’s books. She was certain Arden possessed no idea of the remark’s source.

“I would imagine my wife would oversee our children’s educations. Therefore, I would expect a certain rationality—”

“Which brings us to the reason for Lord Arden’s visit, my dear,” her father interrupted. “Arden has requested my permission to call upon you with the intention of a courtship. That is, if you are agreeable.”

“A time to learn if we would suit?” Angel took a closer look at the baron. His thick dark brown hair had a tendency to curl about his collar. Barely six feet, the man struggled to appear more than a walking block of wood, but he possessed a pleasant countenance.

The baron bristled. “Customarily, such details are not discussed before the lady.”

Angel forced her mouth into a straight line. Since making her debut a month prior, she had delighted in ruffling the feathers of a number of gentlemen who saw her dowry as an inducement to marriage, even though it would be to a hoydenish American. When her father suggested this journey, Angel reminded him, as she had often reminded her dear mother, Angel’s ways would not sit well among the English elite for she spent too much time studying her father’s book on antiquities, tending to Horace Lovelace’s growing string of thoroughbreds, and overseeing the health and happiness of her father’s workers. Those were the things that brought her contentment in her Virginia home, but they were not qualities most men of the English peerage sought in a wife.

“We Americans often take a divergent course. I pray that fact does not present a difficulty to our future felicity, my lord,” she said with a practiced smile.

“Certainly not.” Despite his words of assurance, Arden frowned. “I welcome your frankness, Miss Lovelace.”

Angel heard the man’s insincerity, but she had promised her Aunt Sarah not to make predisposed judgments.

“Then how should we proceed, sir?”

“I thought I might escort you on daily outings,” he began. “If it is agreeable, we could drive today during the fashionable hour. I also hoped you would consider accompanying me to the theater tomorrow. My sister and her husband will join us.”

Angel stood to end the conversation. “I am amenable, Lord Arden.”

He followed her to his feet. “Then I will call for you this afternoon.”

“I shall anticipate it.” She directed him from the room, but before Angel opened the door to the main hallway, she paused. With her hand resting on the latch, she smiled innocently up at the man. “Might I ask one question before you leave us, my lord?”

He appeared surprised and then assumed a cynical expression. “By all means.”

Angel hesitated, undecided, but, in truth, she meant to set guidelines before their courtship began. “During this time where we determine whether we might suit, am I to limit my interactions with other gentlemen callers? I would prefer to understand our agreement.”

The baron’s eyes narrowed. “I would expect your undivided attention, Miss Lovelace.”

She smiled sweetly. “Then I would expect the same from you, my lord.”

“Of what do you accuse me, Miss Lovelace?” he huffed.

Angel withheld a glare of disgust. “I meant no offense, sir.” She schooled her features to portray politeness. With that, she opened the door and turned the baron over to the waiting footman.

“Was that necessary?” her father grumbled as he poured himself a glass of claret.

She resumed her seat. “I studied the list of potential candidates Uncle Lancelot provided us. Arden has a long-standing title, but he is deeply in debt. My dowry must appear quite tempting. The baron would accept a woman lacking in effeminate ways to salvage his estate. I mean to keep the baron off balance until I am certain of his motivations. Who knows? Perhaps we shall suit, but I shan’t be his subject. When I marry, I wish a relationship as loving as yours and mother’s.”

“Lady Victoria Copley was one of a kind,” her father said wistfully. “Your mother possessed a magnanimous heart. My Victoria deserved better than a minor son, but I am more than grateful she chose me from among her many suitors. You will find it difficult to discover a man of even half Lady Victoria’s merit.”

Angel thought of her devilish dreams. A man of passion and compassion would do well for her. “I require a man of vision, like my father,” she said in earnest.



The slow carriage procession drove Angel nearly to Bedlam, but she kept the smile upon her lips. She had agreed to the craziness of the “Marriage Mart,” as her Uncle Lancelot termed it, but she preferred to be anywhere else. The baron’s gig crawled along behind a Stanhope. Every few feet, the man would slow the carriage to acknowledge another member of the beau monde before introducing her to his acquaintances. The ton practiced their pompousness with prescribed efficiency, and Angel found it blatantly boring. With amusement, she wondered what her devil would say to such pretentiousness. Mayhap he would use it as a prime argument in defense of passion ruling the world. Not that Angel knew anything of passion. In fact, she had never known even the most faithful of kisses.

“Woolgathering, Miss Lovelace?” a brittle voice broke through her thoughts.

Angel flushed as she looked up into the countenance of a frowning earl. “I beg your pardon, Lord Townsend, I was simply enjoying the park’s splendor on a spring day.”

“You should always carry a parasol, Miss Lovelace,” Lady Townsend warned. “We would not wish to see you become too brown from the sun.”

Angel doubted the woman’s sincerity. She was certain the ton would celebrate any flaw Angel sported. She despised the British standard for unblemished skin. White pasty skin. Virginal white gowns. Proper manners, which hid prejudice and censure. A bland lifestyle wrapped in formality. She missed her American friends and her home in the picturesque Virginia mountains, and she missed riding at break neck speed across her father’s land.

“I am grateful for the suggestion, ma’am, and honored by your attention.” The carriage nudged forward, and Angel prepared to greet the baron’s next acquaintance. “What a crazy tradition!” she observed. “Would it not be wonderful to give the horses their heads?”

“A proper gentleman would never place his cattle in danger,” Arden said in chastisement.

Angel stiffened. His tone increased her often-quick ire. The baron’s first thought was of his team. Should he not think of the park goers or of her position in the high backed gig if safety was his true concern?

“I never suggested you turn your team free. I simply made the observation it would be a pleasant experience to feel the wind upon one’s cheeks.”

“Acting such would age a woman,” he said with another scowl.

Angel considered arguing, but she stifled her words. It was useless to think she might find a mate who spoke to her soul. Dutifully, she apologized. This was her first outing with Arden, and she would not leave the man with a poor impression of her manners. She ignored his declaration, and instead focused on the families enjoying the park. I wish for family, she thought. Children and a husband, who knows pleasure in me and in my devotion. A marriage where love rules our reason.

In resignation of what may never be, Angel turned her head and watched a tall figure toss a ball to a boy hefting a cricket bat. Even from a distance, she could tell he cut a fine figure. It was brazen of her to study one man when riding out with another, yet, she could not turn her gaze. Without realizing the reason, she extended her gloved hand in his direction, as if she wished to turn him toward her so she might look upon his features. It was the oddest sensations, and Angel swallowed hard against the rising constriction in her chest.



Huntington McLaughlin, Marquess of Malvern, ignored the continual line of carriages tooling its way along the lane leading to and from the Serpentine, as well as the Society mamas, who attempted to catch his attention. He never understood the ton’s desire to be on display. In fact, Hunt could not recall the last time he suffered a drive through the park during the fashionable hour. Today, he had brought Logan and Lucas, his sister’s twins, to the park. Earlier, he spent what felt like hours pacifying his father’s high dudgeon regarding Hunt’s refusal of Lord Sandahl’s virginal daughter, Lady Mathild.

“I want nothing of an innocent,” he declared.

If his father forced him to marry, Hunt would consider a widow, but no green girl straight from the schoolroom. He wished for a woman to place her love for him above all others—a woman who shared his passions for life and adventure and learning.

“What is amiss, Uncle Hunt?” Logan called as he took a few practice swings.

Hunt escorted his nephews to the park to remove them from Henrietta’s way. His twin sister was heavy with another child, and with Viscount Stoke away on governmental business, Hunt promised to see to the twins’ safeties, while permitting the boys to expend some of their unbridled energy.

“Nothing,” he mumbled, but he brought his forearm across his eyes to block the sun. Despite standing in an open field and surrounded by many of Society’s best, his loins tightened. From the long equipage line, he watched a slow-moving carriage turning toward Rotten Row. A golden-haired beauty clung to the gig’s side, the wisps of her hair alive with light, and she turned in the seat to stare at him. Too young, his mind argued, but his body reacted nonetheless. He hardened, and although he knew it a foolish act, as the distance between them was too far apart to distinguish each other’s features, he lowered his arm so she might look upon him. “Bloody hell,” he mumbled as the gig moved away.

“Come on, Uncle Hunt,” Logan encouraged.

Hunt withdrew his eyes from the departing carriage, but not before he spotted what he thought was the woman reaching out to him. It was like nothing he had ever experienced, and the movement set his body on alert.

“Right away,” he said with little conviction. With the girl no longer in sight, Hunt turned to the seven-year-olds. “Are you prepared?” He tossed the ball in the air to catch it again.

“It will be a fiver,” Logan bragged.

Hunt laughed at his nephew’s puffed-out chest. “No boasting until after you produce.” Yet, while he tossed the ball to Logan, Hunt thought only of the pleasure of greeting the unknown girl with an embrace she would never forget.

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Social Class in Jane Austen’s “Emma”

There are those who claim Emma represents Jane Austen’s literary accomplishment. I am not of that persuasion, although I think my indifference comes more from the fact I do not find Emma Woodhouse a character I admire than it does from Miss Austen’s ability to craft a tale. In Edward Austen-Leigh’s A Memoir of Jane Austen, he says that Austen, too, thought Emma not a character that many would like. Emma Woodhouse transforms from snobbish girl to mature woman in the length of the novel, which describes her path to self-knowledge.

So, what do we know of Emma’s character? First Miss Woodhouse…
** is 21 years of age
** believes in the rightness of her opinions
** is clever
** is handsome of countenance
** is rich (an oddity in Austen’s heroines)
** is snobbish about class structure
** possesses the tendency to permit her imagination free rein
** manipulates the path of Love for many of her acquaintances
** is the mistress of her father’s house since age 16
** dominates the affable Mr. Woodhouse
** thinks well of her abilities and judgments

Emma_1996_TV_Kate_BeckinsaleEmma is the younger of Mr. Woodhouse’s daughters. She resides with her father at Hartfield; Woodhouse is the second highest ranking man (behind Knightley) in the neighborhood. Mr. Woodhouse (like Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice) comes from an ancient and well-respected family. Like Georgiana Darcy, Emma Woodhouse has a dowry of 30,000 pounds. Her sister Isabella is married to Mr. John Knightley, a lawyer in London and the brother of Mr. George Knightley.

The setting of this novel is more limited than many of the others. Highbury is the center of Emma’s world. People come and go, but Emma never leaves the beloved village where she reigns as the “queen” of society. This constriction creates a quandary for Emma. She would prefer not to associate with those below her social class, but if she acted as such, she would possess no social life whatsoever.

Mr. George Knightley is the ideal country squire. He takes his responsibilities to his land (Donwell Abbey) and to his dependents seriously. He is known for his benevolence to others. The Knightleys and the Woodhouses are the upper echelon of society in Highbury.

One of the things which might appear as out of step with many Regency novels (but is more to the truth of the day) is the fact that Mr. Knightley does not keep a stable of horses. He prefers walking to riding, and when horses are required for his carriage, Knightley lets them. This is a sore point for Emma, who thinks Knightley acting so has people not recognizing his proper place in society. Emma feels that Knightley encourages too much familiarity with those below him.

stovel-figure4Knightley’s interactions with people is in sharp contrast to Emma’s opinions. Knightley is cognizant of social distinctions, but he presents respect to those who are deserving of it. For example, whereas Emma poo-poos Robert Martin’s position as a tenant farmer on Knightley’s land, Knightley calls Martin superior to Harriet Smith, saying that Martin is a “respectable, intelligent, gentleman-farmer.” Knightley claims Harriet without intelligence and no connections. His words are not disdain, just the truth. Even if Harriet were possesses beauty and a sweet nature, her illegitimate parentage would keep her from aspiring to a man above Martin’s station in life. In contrast, Knightley declares Jane Fairfax an appropriate companion for Emma. He judges Miss Fairfax as intelligent, beautiful, and accomplished (although the woman is without a fortune).

Emma is offended by Mr. Elton’s offer of marriage because she feels Mr. Elton should not think himself her equal socially. This situation predisposes Emma to find the new Mrs. Elton as vain and possessing too much self-importance.

Emma’s snobbish attitude is very evident when she tells Harriet:

“A young farmer, whether on horseback or on foot, is the very last sort of person to raise my curiosity. The yeomanry are precisely the order of people with whom I feel I can have nothing to do. A degree or two lower, and a creditable appearance might interest me; I might hope to be useful to their families in some way or other.”

Emma even goes so far as to tell Harriet that it pleases Emma that Harriet refused Martin.“I could not have visited Mrs. Robert Martin of Abbey-Mill Farm.”

Below the Knighleys and Woodhouses, we find Mr. and Mrs. Weston. Mr. Weston spent time in the military, but his fortune comes from trade. The Eltons are also part of this middle ground. All we know of Mr. Elton’s past is that he is “without any alliances but in trade.” As a vicar, he has received a gentleman’s education and Elton is accepted in the finer homes in the area. Mrs. Augusta Elton comes to her marriage with a dowry of 10,000 pounds via her parents’ fortune in trade. I find it ironic to hear Mrs. Elton speaking of her sister’s family – a family by the name of Sucklings. The Sucklings flaunt their wealth with a large estate near Bristol and a barouche-landau. In this class, we also find Mrs. Bates, who is the widow of a clergyman. Although the woman’s marital status keeps her in the company of the wealthier families, Mrs. Bates and her unmarried daughter reside in let rooms above one of the shops in Highbury. Even so, the Bateses depend upon “the kindness of others” for the luxuries of life. Mrs. Goddard is the last of this class. She is mistress of the village school.

Some of Emma’s neighbors are part of the “upwardly mobile” class. These include the Coles (who prospered in trade), Robert Martin (a farmer on the Donwell Abbey estate), the Coxes (country lawyers in Highbury), Mr. Perry (the apothecary), and Mr. Hughes (a physician).

We note Emma’s reluctance to interact with those in this group beyond what is necessary. In fact, she thinks to refuse an invitation to a dinner at the Coles until she learns that the Westons and Mr. Churchill will attend.

Below the Coles, etc., we find Mr. and Mrs. Ford (shop owners), Mrs. Stokes (the Crown Inn’s landlady), William Larkins (Mr. Knightley’s steward), Mrs. Wallis (the pastry cook’s wife), and Miss Nash and Miss Prince and Miss Richardson (school teachers). Harriet Smith would be part of this level of society if not for Emma’s patronage.

maxresdefaultHarriet Smith is the illegitimate daughter of a merchant, who placed her with Mrs. Goddard, but who had ignored Harriet since.

“In taking up an illegitimate parlour boarder in Mrs Goddard’s village school, Emma chooses a protégée she can do what she likes with. There is a snag: Harriet has already formed an attachment with a young farmer, Robert Martin. Emma tries to force the issue by telling Harriet that she (Emma) cannot possibly associate with anyone of Martin’s class. The influential American critic Lionel Trilling argues that Emma is ‘a dreadful snob.’ Being aware of one’s position in society, however, is not the same as being a snob.

“Critic Paul Pickrel argues that Trilling has simply misread Austen’s novel. Whatever we think of her heroine, we shouldn’t take what she says at face value. Emma wants to control everyone and everything around her. The combination is a dangerous one, and by interfering in Harriet’s life she poses a real threat to the future of a naive 17-year-old. But it is too simplistic to say snobbishness causes her to sideline Robert Martin: she wants Harriet to herself and, like a child, will say anything to keep her.” [Austen’s Outspoken Heroines]

Other Highbury characters include James (Mr. Woodhouse’s coachman), Patty (the Bateses’ maid), and Mrs. Hodges (Mr. Knightley’s cook).

The characters who visit Highbury and change the village’s complexion include Jane Fairfax (a rival to Emma for Mr. Knightley’s affections), Frank Churchill (who seeks Jane’s affections and flirts with Emma), Mrs. Elton (who snubs Harriet and attempts to manage Jane), and the gypsies.

Austen masterly weaves these levels of society together. The characters of Mrs. Bates and Miss Bates are the link holding the differing levels together. Miss Bates is gregarious and likable, and the woman, as well as her mother, are the “comic relief” in the novel. Emma’s poor treatment at Miss Bates is the source of Mr. Knightley’s criticism of her and the turning point in the novel.

 

Although Austen does not go so far as to include characters such as Squire Western from Fielding’s Tom Jones in the plot of Emma, she does display hints of what we find in her last novel, Persuasion: self-made men who are superior to the gentleman class.

“Some of Austen’s female characters – Jane Bennet, Fanny Price, Anne Elliot – are gentle and passive. Austen’s two favourite heroines, Elizabeth Bennet and Emma, are precisely the opposite. Both are able to have equal and intimate relationships with men through their use of speech and laughter. In her essay ‘Silent Women, Shrews, and Bluestockings,’ feminist critic Jocelyn Harris argues that in allowing her women characters to speak so cleverly Austen subverts ‘misogynist constructions of women,’ who ‘have always been discouraged from knowing, speaking, and writing.’

“In Emma, says Harris, the heroine’s openness is preferable to Jane Fairfax’s reserve, even if Emma ‘says too much too often.’ She, ‘like Elizabeth Bennet, speaks too freely because her father’s power is weak.’ But Austen shields these two outspoken, intelligent heroines from being labelled shrews by the use of free indirect speech – so we sometimes find them thinking uncharitable thoughts that they are too tactful to express out loud. Austen was highly conscious of the effect of gender on language. Anne Elliot in Persuasion comments that ‘men have every advantage of us in telling their story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree.’” [Austen’s Outspoken Heroines]

“Jane Austen and her works are generally considered representative of the late eighteenth-century “classical” world view and its values—judgment, reason, clarity of perception—those of the ‘Age of Reason.’ In its best sense, this is a moral world view, reflecting the values of the Enlightenment. Austen’s values represent order in the face of disorder, but her concept of order embodies what is true, organic, living, not the static order imposed merely on the exterior, from ‘society’ or ‘the church,’ for example. Austen’s attitudes actually differ in subtle ways from the conventional manifestations of the classical attitudes and forms of the late eighteenth century—of the excesses of classicism that the Romantics rebelled against so vehemently. However, Jane Austen’s novels can also be called anti-Romantic in that they counter the extremes of the Romantic imagination epitomized by the Gothic novels so popular during her time, and satirized by Austen in Northanger Abbey. In Emma she also satirizes romantic excess, particularly in the character of Harriet Smith who, in a sense, enshrines Mr. Elton by keeping as ‘her most precious treasures’ relics of a scrap of ‘court plaister’ he handled and an old pencil piece that had belonged to him.

“The ordered society in Austen’s world is one in which people live in authentic harmony—socially, economically, emotionally, and ethically. Balance, order, and good sense exist in the face of too much sensibility; a balance of intellect and emotion, thought and feeling, outer and inner experience, society and the interior life, is the key to understanding Austen’s schema of meaningful experience and right relationships. Throughout Emma we are part of the energy of the novel leading toward the fulfillment of this ideal in the vitality of the characters.” [PERSUASIONS ON-LINE V.21, NO.2 (Summer 2000) The Dilemma of Emma: Moral, Ethical, and Spiritual Value by Karin Jackson.]

[Note: Squire Western is a caricature of the rough-and-ready, conservative country gentleman. Affectionate at heart, the Squire nevertheless acts with extreme violence towards his daughter Sophia, by constantly incarcerating her, and even verbally and physically abusing her. However, since the Squire is a caricature, Fielding does not intend for us to judge these actions too harshly. Similarly, the Squire’s insistence on Sophia marrying Blifil has less to do with greed than with his stubbornness and adherence to tradition. Squire Western’s speaks in West Country dialect, and peppers his speech with curses.]

Posted in Austen actors, Austen Authors, book excerpts, film adaptations, Georgian England, Georgian Era, historical fiction, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, marriage customs, reading, Regency era | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Colorful, Colored, and Colorless Words: Fixing Writing Errors

Do you recall the dreaded 500-words’ essay often assigned by English teachers? Do you also recall the sinking feeling of coming up with 500 words on a subject for which you held no opinion? Do you also recall writing something similar to…

In my opinion, it seems to me that Jane Austen was an overrated author. The reason why I think this is true is because I feel…”

In this age of self-publishing we find a plethora of examples of poor writing. I am not saying some of what is published by traditional publishers is not equally as troublesome, but many self-published writers also lack the skills to edit their mistakes.

Now that I have mentioned that dreaded 500-words’ essay, do you also recall the grade you received on it? Was it because you “padded” the essay to fill the word count. Instead of stuffing your sentences with cotton balls, try to eliminate the padding. Make your sentences leaner.

Common-Errors-to-Avoid-in-WritingRather than circling warily around what you want to say for a half page or more, you need to illustrate the details. You must also learn not to hedge on a subject. If the person is a fool, call him one. Do not spend time with “in my opinion” or “as I see it” or “from my point of view.” Say what you wish to say. Avoid euphemisms. Admittedly, in certain time periods, euphemisms are plentiful to soften subjects that are sensitive or taboo. Just think of the number of ways to say that someone died: passed away, pushed up the daisies, met his Maker, kicked the bucket, cashed in his chips, etc. As I write books based in the Regency, I am conscious to say with child or enceinte for pregnant. I also include phrases such as “lying in” to describe the weeks leading up to the baby’s delivery.

However, do not toss in every word or phrase within your vocabulary. Is it not better to read, “To be or not to be, that is the question,” than to read “To continue as a social unit or not to do so. That is the personality problem. Whether it is a better sign of integration at the conscious level to display a psychic tolerance toward the maladjustments and repressions induced by one’s lack of orientation in one’s environment….” [“What Do You Mean by Rhetoric?” by J. R. McCuen and A. C. Winkler]

Be conscious of “pat” expressions. They are often hard to avoid and appear to be necessary, when they are. Pat expressions include phrases such as “under cover of darkness,” “worked his fingers to the bone,” “when all is said and done,” “the pure and simple truth,” “took the easy way out,” etc. The trouble with pat expressions is that they some time stand between the writer and the reader’s understanding. So, phrases such as “our national heritage” does not say everything we wish it to do.

Discovering the right word is the author’s bane. Some words are “colorful.” Instead of “She sat in the chair,” why not use sprawled, lazed, lounged, etc. The 19th Century in which I write prefers its prose to be rich, while the 20th Century took a leaner approach. In opposition to colorful words, we also have “colored” words. Those are words with attached associations, good or bad. The meaning of a word is the sum of the contexts in which it occurs. Liberty, patriotic, mother, childlike, etc., possess positive associations, while reactionary, radical, mother-in-law, foolish, etc., hold negative tones. Finally, writers may use colorless words. As a former English teacher, I despise words such as nice, hot, cool, dude, etc., for they add nothing to the description. There are also nouns of very general meaning, such as instances, factors, attitudes, relationships, etc. “In some circumstances you will find that those cases of writing which contain too many instances of words like these will in this and other aspects have factors leading to unsatisfactory relationships with the reader resulting in unfavorable attitudes on his part and perhaps other eventualities.” Notice that “etc.” means, “I’d like to make this list longer, but I can’t think of any more examples.” [McCuen and Winkler]

Posted in eBooks, editing, language choices, publishing, word choices, word play, writing | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Carolina Book Fest 2016 ~ Coming October 15

 

Book Signing
Carolina
Book Fest
 is a book signing taking place in the Queen City
of Charlotte, North Carolina on October 15, 2016. The book signing
will be held at the Marriott City Center in downtown Charlotte from 10am until 3pm.

This is the perfect opportunity to meet over 100 bestselling authors from all
genres!  You can find more information on the Marriott by going here.

Monster Mash (After Party)
Join us at 7:30 pm back at the Marriott for our Monster Mash! We will be throwing an epic after party to end our night! Dress in your best costume and get ready to mingle with authors and readers! We will have dancing, a photo booth, and other fun things! A cash bar will be provided at the party. 
Admission Prices
Book Signing: $15
Book Signing & After Party: $25
If you are interested in purchasing tickets
to attend Carolina Book Fest 2016, they can be purchased here:  http://bit.ly/carolinabookfest2016tickets
Attending Authors
Here is our current list of attending
Carolina Book Fest Authors! Check out http://www.carolinabookfest.com/attending-authors
to learn more about them!
 
 
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More Than Slapstick Comedy: Political Satire from “The Three Stooges”

Naztyspy_lobbyThis is a poster for You Nazty Spy!. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, Columbia Pictures, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist. Further details: Original lobby poster for You Nazty Spy (1940). {Wikipedia}

In 1939 Jules White and Columbia Pictures created “You Nazty Spy,” the first satire of the Hitler regime. It debuted some nine months prior to Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator.” The Stooges made a total of eight comedies dealing with war themes.

You Nazty Spy! is the 44th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.

stooges_hitlerThe Stooges, especially Moe Howard and Larry Fine, were quite active in the war efforts in America. They sold war bonds, and Moe even acted as an air-raid warden for his community in Beverly Hills. Moe and his brother Jerome (Curly)  were raised by European immigrants in a small Jewish community near Brooklyn, New York. Larry was also of Jewish extraction and was known to follow European events quite closely.

In 1922, the Stooges got their start as back-ups for Ted Healy, a popular vaudeville comedian. In the beginning, Moe and his brother Shemp assumed the role as the “shtick” of Healy’s jokes. Larry Fine joined the group in 1925; in 1932,  Shemp left the group, and Moe’s kid brother “Curly” assumed Shemp’s role.

Although extremely shy in real life, Curly was the most popular of the group. He was married four times. Jerome suffered a stroke in May 1946 and was forced for health reasons to leave the group. Shemp returned to the trio and remained part of the group until 1955. Joe Besser was the third member from 1955-1957. “Curly Joe” DeRita joined Larry and Moe in 1957 and spent 12 years with the group.

s_NF_You_Nazty_Spy_2015-08-07_10-09-10Plot of “You Nazty Spy”
In the fictional country of Moronica, three munitions manufacturers—Messrs. Ixnay (Richard Fiske), Ohnay (Dick Curtis) and Amscray (Don Beddoe)—decide their country is in need of a change. They decide to implement a dictatorship, oust the king, and go about finding someone stupid enough to be a figurehead leader. Ixnay volunteers the three wallpaper hangers  working in his dining room—the Stooges.

Ixnay presents Moe Hailstone, Curly Gallstone, and Larry Pebble with the offer to run Moronica. Moe is instituted as the leader (the Adolf Hitler role), with Curly as Field Marshal “Gallstone” — paralleled as Field Marshal “Herring” in this film’s 1941 sequel, I’ll Never Heil Again (both times as representations of Hermann Göring), and Larry as Minister of Propaganda Pebble (a representation of Joseph Goebbels). After his takeover, Hailstone proceeds to give a speech to the masses, cueing Larry to display signs reading “CHEERS,” “APPLAUSE,” and even “HISS.” Moe “bonks” Larry after Larry accidentally raises the cue card for “HISS” at the wrong time during one of Hailstone’s speeches. (In this scene Curly is clearly mimicking Benito Mussolini.)

However the daughter (Lorna Gray) of the overthrown king pays Hailstone a visit, going by the name Mattie Herring (a spoof of World War I spy Mata Hari). The Stooges suspect she is a spy afterwards and attempt to execute her. Then, Larry cuts a round table while a dancer arrives and tells them the delegates are here for the round table meeting. The meeting goes wrong when Curly knocks out the first two delegates. While Moe and Curly attempt again to attack the delegates with golf balls, Larry is beaten up by the delegates. Moe joins the fight as Curly knocks the delegates out and declares victory. Later, the king’s daughter gathers a huge mob to storm Hailstone’s palace. The trio quickly abdicate, and flee into a lion’s den. The lions inside spot the Stooges and chase them to their doom; the lions are seen leaving their secluded area wearing the trio’s clothes, with one burping.

The film takes direct stabs as Hitler’s Germany. For example, the Stooges are paper hangers, and Hitler supposedly had been employed as a wallpaper hanger prior to leading the Third Reich. There are also “hits” at the Nazis’ burning books, storm troopers, a swastika formed by two snakes, and “concentrated” camps.

Details of the Film: 

Directed by Jules White
Produced by Jules White
Written by Felix Adler and Clyde Bruckman
Starring Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Richard Fiske, Lorna Gray, Dick Curtis, Don Beddoe, Floreine Dickson, Little Billy, John Tyrrell, Bert Young,
Joe Murphy, Eddie Laughton, and Al Thompson
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date  January 19, 1940
Running time 17′ 59″

Significance

The film satirized the Nazis and the Third Reich and helped publicize the Nazi threat in a period when the United States was still neutral about World War II, and isolationist sentiment was prevalent among the public. During this period, isolationist senators such as Burton Wheeler and Gerald Nye objected to Hollywood films on grounds that they were anti-Nazi propaganda vehicles designed to mobilize the American public for war. According to the Internet Movie Database, You Nazty Spy! was the first Hollywood film to spoof Hitler. It was released nine months before the Charlie Chaplin film The Great Dictator, which began filming in September 1939.

At the time the Stooges filmed You Nazty Spy! the United States was still very ambivalent about entering World War II. Isolationist sentiment ran rife across America and many feared making any film about Hitler and the Third Reich might stir up anti-Nazi feelings among the public. Many senators, such as Burton Wheeler and Geraldine Nye, were also severe isolationists who objected to any anti-Nazi movies on the grounds that they were propaganda designed to mobilize American fervor for war.

While the Three Stooges are often looked down upon by the “elites” and many film intellectuals, one must be fair and give them at least some credit for their courage in taking on the unpopular subject almost two full years before the U.S. entered World War II.

Filmmakers of the era were under pressure not to bring the events upon the European continent to the attention of the American public. This campaign was led by Senators Bennet Clark of Missouri and Gerald Nye from North Dakota. A Senate subcommittee probed “propaganda.” The Hays code discouraged or prohibited many types of political and satirical messages in films, requiring that the history and prominent people of other countries must be portrayed “fairly”; but short subjects may have been subject to less attention than were feature films.

This classic 18-minute comedy short is probably the Stooges’ greatest satirical foray. With typical Stooge humor, the short is crammed full of Jewish/Yiddish expressions (all three Stooges were devout Jews -Curly reportedly even had his own favorite velvet yarmulke he liked to wear when he went to temple). “Beblach!” is said several times (a Yiddish expression that means “beans”). “Shalom Aleichem” is used, a Yiddish expression that literally means “peace be with you” and casually means “pleased to meet you.”

In one scene. Moe orders a “blintzkrieg.”

“Oh, good,” replied Curly, “I just love blintzes, especially with sour krieg.” Blintzes with sour cream is a popular Ashkenazi Jewish dish (all the Stooges were Ashkenzai Jews).

The satire continues as Curly is ordered to shoot the film’s woman spy, Mati Herring. “Let’s go shoot the works,” says Curly, happily. This was reputedly a sly reference to Hermann Goering’s morphine addiction and his shooting himself up with a needle.

Interestingly, Larry had an accident before shooting You Nazty Spy! and can be seen clearly limping in one scene. This perfectly fits Larry’s playing Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s minister of propaganda, who limped noticeably because of his club foot.

A few sly sexual references did manage to slip by the then-powerful Hayes Office and its resident censors. As Moe recommends a book burning, Curly refuses to burn his “little red book,” filled with notes and comments about his various women. “Ruby Clutch has car -often runs out of gas, oh oh oh, G” (her bra’s size), “Tessie Oomph 2-69,” “Eunice- 110 Goodnecking Place.” Although very mild sexual jokes by today’s “anything goes” standards, these were actually very racy by 1940’s standards. Moe reads Curly’s red book notes, quoting “Woo woo woo.” Curly replies “Woo woo woo” very lasciviously (Curly was reputedly a womanizer in real life).

As Moe makes a speech a la Hitler, he sneaks in another Yiddish sexual semi-obscene expression in “In pupik gehabt habit,” which translates to “I’ve had it in the belly button.”

Interesting Facts
**The title is supposedly a parody of comedian Joe Penner’s catchphrase “You Nasty Man!”
**Moe Howard became the first American actor to portray/imitate Adolf Hitler in this film.
**Both Moe Howard and Larry Fine cited You Nazty Spy! as their favorite Three Stooges short.
**You Nazty Spy! was followed by a sequel, I’ll Never Heil Again, in 1941. **Moronika would also appear in Dizzy Pilots.
**There is a historical pun when Larry says, “If I take Mickey Finlen, I better be rushin’.” Curly replies, “Then quit stallin’.” This is a reference to Finland, the Soviet Union, and Joseph Stalin, who was the leader of the Soviet Union.
**Larry Fine injured his leg shortly before filming and can be seen with a limp throughout the short. Fortunately, this was appropriate for his role as a parody of Joseph Goebbels, who walked with a limp due to a club foot.
**The names of the munitions manufacturers are Pig Latin for “Nix” (a slang term of that era), “No,” and “Scram,” which in turn were known by the audience as slang in their Pig-Latin form.
**The parody of the Nazi banner with two snakes in the form of a swastika says “Moronika for Morons” which is a play on the Nazi slogan “Deutschland den Deutschen” (Germany for Germans).
**The Stooges—all Ashkenazi Jews—occasionally worked a word or phrase of Yiddish into their dialogue. In particular here, the Stooges make several overt Jewish and Yiddish cultural references:
**The exclamation “Beblach!” used several times in the film is a Yiddish word meaning “beans.”
**”Shalom aleichem!”, literally “Peace unto you” is a standard Hebrew greeting meaning “hello, pleased to meet you,”
**Moe: “We’ll start a ‘Blintzkrieg’ (Blitzkrieg)”. Curly: “I just love blintzes especially with sour krieg.” This is a reference to the Ashkenazi Jewish dish blintzes with sour cream.
**In Moe’s imitation of a Hitler speech, he says “in pupik gehabt haben” (the semi-obscene “I’ve had it in the bellybutton” in Yiddish). These references to the Nazi leadership and Hitler speaking Yiddish were particularly ironic inside jokes for the Yiddish-speaking Jewish audience.
**In addition to the “Mata Hari” reference, the name of the female spy Mati Herring is a play on the Yiddish and German name of soused herring, matjeshering.
**When Mr. Ixnay informs the Stooges of how to overthrow Moronika’s monarchy, and suggests that the takeover of Moronika start with a “putsch,” it refers to the historical Beer Hall Putsch, the real-world Nazi party attempt at a power grab in the Weimar Republic of 1923. Curly’s humorous response to Mr Ixnay’s suggestion, to explain it to Moe and Larry, was that “You ‘putsch’ your beer down, and wait for the pretzels.”
**Curly “Gallstone”‘s red book of women’s addresses and phone numbers has the rather overt sexual references “Ruby Clutch” “oh, oh oh! G” (bra size) and the unread “Tessie oomph 2 69,” which were ignored by the censors. This was a key dig at the attempt to censor The Great Dictator then in production by Charlie Chaplin. (Curly was also noted in his personal life for being a womanizer.)
**Curly Gallstone says to Mati Herring when he takes her out to shoot her “Let’s go shoot the works.” Hermann Göring was known to be a morphine addict; this was a slang allusion to the intravenous injection of morphine.
**A colorized version of this film was released in 2004. It was part of the DVD collection entitled Stooged & Confoosed.
**You Nazty Spy was also the first Stooges’ short to bear a new opening title sequence, with the “Torch Lady” on the left-hand corner, standing on a pedestal where each step has printed out “Columbia,” “Short Subject” and “Presentation,” and the opening titles and credits are inside a box with rounded edges. This format will remain in effect through Booby Dupes, which was Stooges’ 84th short for Columbia. 

Information via 

Alt Film Guide 

Neatorama 

New York Post

The Three Stooges Online Filmography

Wikipedia 

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Are You Familiar with These Phrases and Words?

Today we will look at phrases/words we have inherited from England.

Go to the Dickens! (or) What the Dickens!
Believe it or not, neither phrase has anything to do with the Victorian novelist, Charles Dickens. Actually, “dickens” comes to us from William Shakespeare. In The Merry Wives of Windsor (Act III, scene 2), Mrs. Page asks, “Where had you this pretty weathercock?” (in reference to Falstaff’s page, Robin) – to which Robin replies, “I cannot tell what the dickens his name is my husband had him of.” Many experts believe the term was originally “devilkins,” rather than “dickens.”

Chaperon
French nobles of the late Middle Ages wore a hood similar to those worn today in academic gowns for degree programs. This hood resembled the mantle or chape worn by priests of the era. The hood was called a chaperon or little mantle. The chaperon became part the full dress uniform of the Order of the Garter in 1349 (created by Edward III). Men ceased wearing the “hood” (except the Order) after the 15th Century when it became part of a female’s dress, especially ladies of the court. In the 18th Century, the present day meaning came about. Metaphorically, the chaperon shelters her charge much as the hood sheltered the person’s face.

Phrases_Bible3_Drop_Bucket                                                                                  A Drop in the Bucket (or) Sea (or) Water
The phrase first appeared in John Wycliff’s (1382) translation of the Bible. “Lo, Jentiles as a drope of a boket, and as moment of a balaunce ben holden.” (Isaiah, ix, 15) Charles Dickens used the phrase in his 1844’s A Christmas Carol. Marley says to Scrooge, “The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business.”

To Be Taken Down a Peg
The first written allusion we can find is in Love’s Labor’s Lost (1592) by William Shakespeare. “Master, let me take you a button-hole lower.” (Act V, scene 2) The actual use of the word “peg” appeared in Pappe with an Hatchet (1589) from an uncertain author. The lines read “Now haue at you all my gaffers of the rayling religion, tis I that must take you a peg lower.” Some experts believe the “peg” comes from a reference to “draughts” (checkers) in a game. (The Phrase Finder)

To Bell the Cat
This phrase means to undertake an unpleasant or even a hazardous situation. The allusion comes to us from an ancient fable in which the mice mean to hang a brass bell upon the cat that makes their lives miserable. The bell would serve as a warning for the cat’s approach. In Piers Plowman (written ca. 1360-1387), we find “hangen it vp-on the cattes hals (neck) thane here we mowen (we may hear) where he ritt (scratch) or rest.” William Langland, the author, wrote this Middle English allegorical narrative poem in unrhymed alliterative verse divided into sections called “passus” (Latin for step).

From Æsop. (Sixth century B.C.)  Fables.The Harvard Classics.  1909–14, we have, “LONG ago, the mice had a general council to consider what measures they could take to outwit their common enemy, the Cat. Some said this, and some said that; but at last a young mouse got up and said he had a proposal to make, which he thought would meet the case. ‘You will all agree,’ said he, ‘that our chief danger consists in the sly and treacherous manner in which the enemy approaches us. Now, if we could receive some signal of her approach, we could easily escape from her. I venture, therefore, to propose that a small bell be procured, and attached by a ribbon round the neck of the Cat. By this means we should always know when she was about, and could easily retire while she was in the neighbourhood.’

“This proposal met with general applause, until an old mouse got up and said: ‘That is all very well, but who is to bell the Cat?’ The mice looked at one another and nobody spoke. Then the old mouse said: ‘It is easy to propose impossible remedies.'” (Bartleby

Tom and Jerry. In the U. S., a “tom and jerry” is a powerful alcoholic drink. A man named “Jerry Thomas (a nom de plume)” was the first to record the brandy and rum drink. However, its roots are founded in Pierce Egan’s (English journalist and novelist) 1821’s Life in London, or Days and Nights of Jerry Hawthorne and his Elegant Friend Corinthian Tom. The famous George Cruikshank illustrates the book. In the book, there is a “Jerry shop,” another name for a low class beer establishment.

TomandJerryTitleCardcAlso in America, Tom and Jerry is an American animated series of short films created in 1940, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. It centers on a rivalry between its two title characters, Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse, and many recurring characters, based around slapstick comedy. In its original run, Hanna and Barbera produced 114 Tom and Jerry shorts for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1940 to 1958. During this time, they won seven Acacdemy Awards for Animated Short Film, tying for first place with Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies with the most awards in the category. “Tom and Jerry” was a commonplace phrase for youngsters indulging in riotous behaviour in 19th-century London. However Brewer’s notes no more than an “unconscious” echo of the Regency era’s original meaning in the naming of the cartoon. (Wikipedia220px-Brewers_Dictionary_of_Phrase_and_Fable.jpg

To Trip the Light Fantastic. In John Milton’s “L’Allegro” (1632), we find…

Sport that wrinkled Care derides,
And Laughter holding both his sides.
Come, and trip it as ye go
On the light fantastick toe.

To Keep the Wolf from the Door

from cam.ac.uk

Most of us have the image of a wolf as a symbol of hunger. We have likely said something similar to “He wolfed down his meal.” The phrase “to keep the wolf from the door” comes to us from English chronicler, John Hardyng (1457). In his Chronicle, Hardyng writes, “Endowe hym now, with noble sapience By whiche he maye the wolf were (ward off) frome the gate.”

To Have Bees in One’s Bonnet
Variations of the expression was likely used long John Heywood, best known as a playwright, used the phrase in his 1546’s Dialogue conteining the number in effect of all the prouerbes in the English tongue. Most experts agree Robert Herrick (a poet) added the word “bonnet” to the phrase to replace the word “brain.” In Herrick’s 1648 poem, “Mad Maid’s Song,” we find “Ah! Woe is mee, woe, woe is mee,, Alack and well-a-day! For pitty, sir find out that bee, Which bore my love away. I’le seek him in your bonnet brave, I’le see him in your eyes.” (The Phrase Finder)

Junket
Originally this was a rush basket to carry fish. The word came from the Norman-French word “jonket” or “jonquette” from “jone,” which means “rush.” The English had discovered the basket once meant for smelly fish could also be used to prepare cheese. The cheese then came to be called “junket.” In some parts of England, this cheese, which is served with a dressing of scalded cream, is referred to “curds and cream.” Later, “junket” came to mean a lavish meal (carried in the basket). In the U. S., such a basket is used for a picnic. (English Language and Usage

To Bury the Hatchet
We in the U. S. would claim this phrase to mark the time when hostilities between neighboring tribes of Native Americans would come to an end. However, we must make reference to a similar phrase in English history. “To hang up the hatchet” dates back to the 14th Century. It meant much the same as the Americanism…to take up friendly negotiations. In G. L. Apperson’s English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, we find in a 1327’s political song: “Hang up thyn hatchet ant thi knyf.” The word “bury” replaced the word “hang” in about the 18th Century.

Disheveled
I chose this word because it is one of those words I must take time in spelling. When I am writing my books, I must pause to think it out each time. Needless to say, “disheveled” means very untidy. However, in Chaucer’s time, the word meant the state of one’s hair, rather than disorderly clothing. Chaucer used the word to mean bareheaded or baldheaded. He spelled it “discheuel, discheuelee, disshevely” or however he might chose. (It is nice to know I have something in common with Geoffrey Chaucer.) The word comes from the Old French deschevelé, meaning stripped of hair or bald. (Oxford Dictionaries)

from geekdad.com

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Expectations for Ladies of Society in the Victorian Era: “Lady-of-All-Works”

The expectations for women of the Victorian Era were different from those of the Regency. Foremost, the ladies of the landed gentry were influenced by the prevalent Victorian opinion of a “natural” separation of the roles of males and females in society. A homegrown attitude of ladies benefitting others around them rather than themselves had taken root. Women of the day were expected to develop a loving and caring character, a well-read mind, sensibility, sympathy, social ease, and benevolence.There were also to be a “mild-mannered” companion to their husbands and a caring mother to their children. There were women who took to the role naturally and those who did not. Some had to learn to subjugate their thoughts and there more fiery natures to their husbands. Females were thought to be incapable of making rational judgments on crucial matters. This translated to their not being permitted to conduct business or their own financial matters. 

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Rachel Beer was both a rich Victorian society lady and a social progressive

Needless to say, they were given no say in such matters as marriage settlements. It was thought to be reprehensible of a woman to concern herself with such negotiations. In contrast, the potential bridegroom was considered diligent if he chose to be involved. Many Victorian women were expected to claim the role of “dumb blonde,” whether her hair color was that shade or not. Intelligence in females was not a valued asset during the time. Men tended to look upon a woman as an embellishment. 

Wives of the landed gentry and lords of the land were expected to bring “gaiety”to social gatherings. They were to be the arbiters of proper conduct within their husband’s social circle. The wives and daughters of the landed gentry and the aristocracy depended upon their close male relatives (father, brother, cousin, husband, uncle, etc.) for their status and for their material well-being. Unfortunately, girls were not valued within the family. They were often considered a financial burden and there was a rush to have them married off. Mothers were known to express their own doubts by glorifying the birth of a son and treating the birth a daughter as a bit of a disappointment. The lack of an heir was considered the woman’s “fault.” She had failed her husband. (Each daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert received a 21-gun salute after her birth. Each son received a salute of 101 shots.) The daughters of the landed gentry and the aristocracy had neither freedom nor control. 

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yooniqimages.com FRANCES EVELYN MAYNARD, LADY BROOKE, COUNTESS OF WARWICK

Part of their life was to be devoted to the care of charity cases, especially of those surrounding their husbands’ estates. Parish life was a continual pull upon the woman’s role in the neighborhoods. A woman devoted to dress and gossip was frowned upon by the bulwarks of society. As part of the farce, recipients of the lady’s charity were expected to display humble gratitude. Unfortunately, many upon whom the great house’s charity was bestowed did not “read for their parts.” There a great deal of bitterness among the cottagers, servants, etc. It was not beyond the master’s domain to cane a cottager who did not utter the necessary respect to his wife. Daisy, the Countess of Warwick referred to the custom as a form of “serfdom.” [Note! This statement came in 1930, well after the Victorian attitudes had soften.}

Among other aspects of the process was the necessary example the lady was to set for the working classes. This demand upon the mistresses of the household was played in many ways: card playing and excessive drinking were discouraged because the activities led to all sorts of evils; keeping the Sabbath holy (not even cooking a hot meal); playing the organ in church, etc. Instead, many, especially the dowagers, spent their time in “instructing” the younger women in their duties, as well as “instructing” the single females in what or who would make a good marriage match. Women ruled the family and social life: Men ruled public life. 

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Lady Georgiana Mary Curzon, daughter of the 5th Earl of Curzon yooniqimages.com

Until 1918, women were barred/excluded from exercising the parliamentary franchise and from the magistracy. In November 1919, the American-born Lady Astor was the first lady to take a seat as an MP. That did not mean they were not involved in political issues. It is said that Lady Georgiana Curzon, Lady Randolph, for example, masterminded her husband’s re-contestation of her seat on being given the seat from the Conservative party. Lady Randolph’s “connections” in the community served her husband well. 

NPG x123524; Lady Muriel Beatrice Beckwith (nÈe Gordon-Lennox, later Lady Jones) by Bassano

http://www.npg.org.uk Lady Muriel Beatrice Beckwith (née Gordon-Lennox, later Lady Jones)

Women held few rights to land ownership in a system of primogeniture and of patrilineal descent. In 1883, John Bateman published the fourth edition of The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland. It indicated that less than 7% of properties came to women due to the failure of the male line. Part of this system was the British peerage. In 1880, only seven of the 580 peers were women who held the title in their own right rather than being the female “subject” of her husband’s peerage. Needless to say, none sat in the House of Lords

Girls who “did not take” in society would be dependent upon male relatives. They sometimes led a nomadic existence, clinging to the benevolence of first one relative and then another. A spinster in society could lose everything with the death of a father or the marriage of a brother. Her position as his “hostess,” as well as her financial future, was usurped by another. Sometimes an unmarried daughter had to make her home with her widowed mother. Lady Muriel Beatrix Gordon-Lennox Beckwith in her book When I Remember (Nicholson and Watson, 1936) says, “Spinsters were compelled to keep up [a] girlish attitude. Their hair might turn grey, and their cheeks become wrinkled, but they remained girlish, simpered, walked delicately.” 

Posted in Act of Parliament, British history, family, Living in the UK, titles of aristocracy, Victorian era | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

The Triumvirate Which Changed the Face of Bath During the Georgian Era

The beginning of the 1700s in England saw the expansion of the middle class and a stronger economy. As such Bath had known a steady period of growth, but when Queen visited the city in 1702 (and then again a year later), the fashionable crowd took notice. Although the Bath of the early 1700s remained smaller than other “bathing holes,” such as Tunbridge Wells, Daniel Defoe said, “We may say now it is the resort of the sound as well as the sick and a place that helps the indolent and the gay to commit the worst of murders–to kill time.”

Bath Abbey rose from a close and crowded resort town within the curve of the River Avon. One could find a crowded fish market at the East Gate on the river quay. Jacobean buildings sported gables and leaded windows. Sally Lunn’s house between Abbey Green and the Parade is said to be the city’s oldest house and is typical of the style of the Jacobean façade.

Unfortunately, the eighteenth century, society in Bath was not what one might term “first tier.” The hot baths attracted the infirmed and all those who thought to “cure” them. Hooligans and gamblers and those who practiced deceit polluted the city.

It was Richard ‘Beau’ Nash, the Master of Ceremonies of the Corporation, who changed the city. Nash was named to the unpaid position after the incumbent had lost his life in a duel. He was a man known to possess an excessively high opinion of himself, but he was also seen a very practical gentleman.

“Almost immediately Nash forbade dueling and the wearing of swords in the city; persuaded the Corporation to repair the roads, to pave, clean and light the streets, to license the sedan-chair men and regulate their behavior. He engaged a good orchestra from London and was responsible not only for the building of a new Pump Room, but a large public room, Harrison’s Room, for dances as well as gaming on what is now Parade Gardens. He outlawed private gatherings and strictly controlled the public ones, and drew up a rigid list of rules to which everyone–and that included dukes, duchess, and even the Prince of Wales–had to conform. It might not have worked had not the age been one in which people were amused by such things: half the amusement of Bath was in obeying the ‘King,’ who was no doubt unaware that he himself was part of the fun. Besides, it worked. Bath was civilized and ‘different’–rather than a large, smart holiday camp.” (Winsor, Diana: Historic Bath)

It was the architect John Wood, who changed the face of Bath. His “Grand Design” for the city was executed in segments. He began with Queen Square, first leasing the land, and then designing the square before sub-letting the sites for individual houses to builders, who could design the interiors as they wished, but who were compelled to follow Wood’s exterior design. Queen Square was completed within seven years. “It should be seen as the forecourt of a palace, the north dominating what was then a formal garden of parterre beds with espaliered limes and a low balustrade. Wood also designed the obelisk in the centre, raised by Beau Nash as a tribute to the Prince of Wales, with an inscription by the poet Alexander Pope.” (Winsor)

In the heart of Bath is Queen Square–a square of Georgian houses designed by John Wood, the elder in the early 18th century and paid for by Beau Nash. The square was designed to join the houses in unison and give the impression that together they formed one large mansion when viewed from the south facing side.

The focal point of Queen Square is the obelisk at the centre, which commemorates the visit of Frederick, Prince of Wales.

Next, Wood built his “Royal Forum.” The Parades are a series of historic terraces built around 1741. The Royal Forum was to include North Parade, South Parade, Pierrepont, and Duke Streets, but was never completed. In the last year of his life, John Wood, the elder, began the Grand Circus, but it was his son John Wood, the younger, who brought the project to fruition. A Roman amphitheatre turned into domestic architecture, the Circus is made up of three segments and 33 houses, all of three storeys, with Roman Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns. The younger Wood linked the Circus to the Royal Crescent with his design of Brock Street. Between 1767 and 1775, the paving stones were laid and 30 houses rose to form the Royal Crescent. He also oversaw the completion of the Hot Bath and the Bath Assembly Rooms. These buildings contrasted with the more decorated and embellished style preferred by his father. Whilst John Wood the Elder’s Circus includes superimposed orders and a detailed frieze, the Royal Crescent – designed by his son, has a single order and plain decoration throughout.

Top-10-things-to-do-in-Bath-Royal-CrescentThe site Wood chose for the Royal Crescent also demonstrates his interest in creating a “dialogue” between his buildings and their settings. Previous buildings and set pieces in Bath were all intensely urban and inward looking whereas the Royal Crescent was fully open and looked out on the open fields. This is not always apparent today, but when it was built in 1775, the crescent was situated right on the edge of the city with no nearby buildings to block residents’ views of the countryside. The Royal Crescent is among the greatest examples of Georgian architecture to be found. Outside of Bath, Wood’s most notable works include Buckland House in Buckland, Oxfordshire, and General Infirmary in Salisbury.

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Ralph Allen’s town house behind Terrace Walk, Bath http://www.bathintime.co.uk

The third man to change the face of Bath was the assistant to the postmistress, one Ralph Allen, a savvy businessman and philanthropist. Allen developed a powerful friend in the form of Marshall George Wade. Allen had shared with Wade the news of a large cache of arms stored in the area, and as Wade meant to squash the Jacobite insurgence in the west country, he took an immediate liking to Allen. Later, Allen married Wade’s daughter. Allen developed several profitable postal routes, earning him high sums from the Postal System. He invested in the new Avon Navigation company, which was designed to make the river navigable to Bristol. In 1726, Allen developed stone quarries on Combe Down.

Allen built simple houses for his workers, which can still be seen as part of Combe Down village, and what is now the village recreation ground was once his quarry. Allen also built a railroad to carry the stone blocks to the river and canal wharf at Widcombe. Earning a fabulous living, Allen built his home Prior Park, which was designed by Wood the Elder, to highlight the beauty and quality of Bath Stone. At Prior Park, Allen entertained writers, statesmen, poets, and actors. Henry Fielding’s character Squire Allworthy in Tom Jones is based on Ralph Allen.

“Almost anyone who was anyone visited Bath to take the waters and gossip in the Pump Room. It was a sparkling century, with aspects both sordid and brutal, but never lacking in vigour, wit and style. Bath was part of it all. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the gaming tables had long been forbidden and the old king buried more than forty years, the city had changed. Tobias Smollet wrote in 1771 that ‘a very inconsiderable proportion a genteel people are lost in a mob of impudent plebians…’

“Nevertheless, Bath was still elegant and fashionable, if a trifle less frothy and fizzy – more of a medium sherry than champagne. ‘Enchanted castles raised on hanging terraces,’ observed Smollett’s Lydia Melford. Its population had grown to more than 30,000; it had spread far beyond the old walls to incorporate surrounding villages and hills. It was now one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.” (Winsor)

Posted in British history, buildings and structures, Georgian Era, Great Britain, Living in the Regency, Regency era, Regency personalities, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments