Christina Rossetti Part I

Christina Rossetti was born in London in 1830 and died in 1894. Her family were of Italian origin. Her father was a political exile from Italy and the family was artistic. Her brother was the poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti - a member of the Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood. The family was not well off, but at first they lived in modest middle class comfort. Her father was a teacher at King's College. Christina was given a good education at home. Then her father became ill and had to resign his job, and suffered from poor health and depression. Her mother and sister had to teach, to provide for the family. Maria, the sister, became a live in governess, and her mother set up a school. Christina became more isolated at home. She feared that she would have to become a governess, too. Like the Bronte sisters, she was shy and devoted to her family. She began to suffer health problems and depression, but she was very interested in her brother’s artistic work and she herself wanted to be a writer. She wrote poems and stories from childhood. She began to have her poems published from the age of 18. She found consolation for the difficulties of her life, in religion. She was a devout Anglo Catholic, although she did suffer from religious crises during her life. She led a sheltered life, mixing with her brother’s friends but also maintaining friendships by letter. Her work is often considered to be as good as Elizabeth Barrett Browning... and she is felt to be one of the most gifted women poets of the Victorian era. In the 20th century, critics have reevaluated it, looking for feminist and Freudian themes in her poems. She was a lively child, with passionate emotions, but grew more guarded and repressed. She had a breakdown in 1845, and some writers have believed that it might have been triggered by family problems- some have even theorised about a possible incestuous advance from her father. Other biographers have noted that when she had a “health problem”, she was now excused from having to work outside the home. However, she did have several health issues that were clearly of physical origin and not the vague "illness and delicacy" that afflicted some Victorian women. She had Graves Disease, suffered from lung weakness that was feared to be TB, and she died of cancer. It is clear that she suffered from a strong sense of sinfulness. Her depression and ill health meant she had a narrow life. Her faith was important to her, but she felt a conflict between the restrictions of a generally conservative religious belief, the “propriety” expected of a middle class young lady, with her own artistic ambitions and desire for success in her work and her taking pride in her poetry. These problems of her over scrupulous nature and her inner conflicts shows in a novella called “Maude” which she wrote at the age of 20 but which was not published till after her death.

Rough Music my story on Amazon

Rough Music is “band” story set in the US, in the late 1970s. It’s about a country rock band and its 2 lead singers and how they cope with life on the road. It’s not a conventional love story, but more about marriage, life in the music world and life in the later 1970’s. YOu can find it on Amazon.... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rough-Music-Nadine-Sutton-ebook/dp/B01AEQS0G0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452977780&sr=8-1&keywords=nadine+sutton

More on Arthur

I hope to write some more blogs about 20th and other Arthurian novels in the near future. I have read many, some good, others not so good. One of the developments in the 20th and 21st century is the feminist Arthurian novel which concentrates on Guenevere or the women in the stories. I think the first of these is Marion Zimmer Bradley’s “Mists of Avalon” which covers the women in the legends. It favours paganism over Christianity, and makes claims that paganism gave women more freedom than Christianity did. Another very good trilogy is Persia Woolley’s one on Guenevere which depicts her as a Princess from the North, who is intelligent, and an active partner in ruling the Kingdom with Arthur. Sharan Newman another American writer also has a Guinevere trilogy, which has more fantasy elements. more will follow

Gillian Bradshaw's Arthurian Trilogy

Gillian Bradshaw was born in America in 1956 and is well known for her historical and historical fantasy novels. She spent some time in Chile, then studied at the University of Michigan. After that, she did a further degree at Cambridge where she met her husband, a physicist. She settled in England and wrote her first novels, the Arthurian Trilogy know as “Down the Long Wind”. (She later turned to Classical Greece and Rome, and wrote another novel (Island of Ghosts) about Britain, during the Roman Empire.) But her first works are among my favourite Arthurian tales. Her novels have fantasy elements, involving Morgawse, Arthur’s half-sister, and Gwalchmai, her son, but it is mostly set in a realistic Dark Ages Britain. Arthur is portrayed as a warrior who has been “raised to the Purple” and taken the title of Emperor of Britain, and he has tried to unite the warring British small kingdoms against the Saxons. Arthur is not a king but a “bastard reared at a monastery”, but he is the bastard son of Uther, the former king. He is married to Gwynhwyfar, the daughter of a Romanized nobleman. Medraut - as in much of the legend - is the son of Morgawse by her half-brother, whom she seduced because she wanted to destroy his kingship. In this trilogy, Gwynhwyfar’s affair is with Bedwyr, since Lancelot was not an original character in the legends... So some authors have chosen to use Bedwyr as “Arthur’s friend with who becomes his wife’s lover”. Bradshaw gives a picture of Dark Ages Britain, and sticks closely to the lines the traditional Arthurian story, with Medraut fomenting trouble in Camlann, setting the warriors at odds and revealing Bedwyr’s affair, so that he splits the kingdom. While Arthur is abroad he seizes power, and then fights his father, but both men are killed during the Battle of Camlann. Gwynhwyfar becomes a nun…and later an abbess of a convent in Northern Britain....

Arthurian stories

Arthur is a very popular mythological figure in the “Matter of Britain”, the legends which tell of the origins of Britain as a nation. However there is no historical evidence that he existed. The legends became very popular with the publication of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s’ “History of the Kings of Britain”. This was published in the 12th century, around 1138. We don’t know how much of the “facts” in this work are from Geoffrey’s imagination, or from earlier sources. Arthur is depicted as a King who fought the Saxons and then established an empire over Britain, Ireland, Gaul and other countries. Other characters who appear in Geoffrey’s version are Arthur’s wife Guenevere, his wizard Merlin and his father Uther Pendragon. He was associated with Cornwall, being conceived at Tintagel. Chretien de Troyes added Lancelot to the story, there was a French cycle of stories which covered the adventures of Arthur’s knights and Guinevere’s love affair with Lancelot. In earlier texts, poems and “histories”, Arthur was not always depicted as a King, but as a warrior. He is referred to as Dux Bellorum, (Leader of Battles), which has led some writers to speculate that there was a historical figure called Arthur, but that he was not a King. He might have been a soldier who fought the Saxons, or who fought other British kings. He might have been raised to the rank of Emperor, by his soldiers, for a time, and accepted as such, as long as he defended the country… Thomas Malory wrote a version of the story, combining all the legends, in “Morte D’Arthur”, which has fixed the story for many generations. It as an immensely popular work, depicting the characters as 15th century knights rather than the Dark Ages warriors they might have been. Castles, beautiful ladies being rescued etc.….are part of his version of the story, but they are of course historically inaccurate. Over time, the “Arthur story” became less popular and by the more "rational" 18th century, there were few works on him. But in the 19th century, with the revival of interest in medieval history and culture, there was a resurgence of “Arthurian interest”. Tennyson’s cycle of poems revitalized the story, though it’s been said that he depicted the king as a 19th century gentleman. Tennyson re tells the Lancelot story, of Guinevere’s falling in love with her husband’s Knight, and having an affair with him, which led to the breakup of the Kingdom. There were other 19th century writers, such as William Morris, who wrote Arthurian poems, and the Pre Raphaelites drew on the legends for many of their paintings. However, in the 20th Century, the legends have become even more popular and there are literally hundreds of new works about Arthur, some of them “fantasy” novels which emphasize the supernatural aspects of the story. Many others are “historical” ones, which attempt to give a realistic picture of medieval life, with Arthur as a Roman or Romano- British warrior…. More to follow!

Charles II

Charles II is best known for his bawdy and “sexed up” court. He was a complex man, who had had a very difficult childhood, and in many ways he was attractively “unroyal” in his manner. But he had a dark side. He was determined to rule as a King, although he knew that he could not be the absolute monarch his father had tried to be. But he was a much more skillful politician than his father or brother. He managed to rule without Parliament, but without alienating the political classes as they had done. However he could only do that with French aid. But he had a lighter side to his character. He liked women, and one of his great pleasures was being with his mistresses. They were often witty and charming social creatures as well as bedmates. His Queen wasn’t smart or light hearted enough to take part in the court’s amusements of witty talk and debauchery, but Charles – even though she had no children – never parted with her. I’ve posted on 2 of Charles’ well known mistresses on this blog, Barbara Palmer, Duchess of Cleveland, and Nelly Gwynne. I hope to do some more posts on other royal favorites. His mistresses included the French Louise De Keroualle, Lucy Walter, the mother of his son, James Monmouth, Moll Davies, Hortense, Duchess of Mazarin, and Catherine Pegge and Lady Shannon. His brother, James II, although he was a fanatical Roman Catholic, still had numerous mistresses, but Charles joked that his ladies were so plain that he felt sure they had been allocated to James by his confessor, as a penance.

Nell Gwynne 1650-87

Eleanor or “Nell” Gwynn was well known as one of the first English stage actresses and also as a mistress of Charles II. Her mother was probably a bawdy house keeper, and it’s believed that she was born in either London or Oxford, probably around 1650, during the reign of Cromwell. Nelly and her sister Rose probably grew up in Covent Garden, London, in poverty. Her father was said to be a Captain, but the truth is that nothing is known of him. As a child, Nell probably worked at various occupations. It is said that she was a street seller, and also that she worked at her mother’s brothel, serving drinks. Puritan England was a dull place and amusements such as theatre were considered frivolous or immoral, and were banned. But in the early 1660’s with the restoration of Charles II to his throne, he licensed two theater companies. He also permitted women to act on the stage. Previously, as in Shakespeare’s day, the women’s parts were usually played by boy actors. Nell and her sister Rose started out as orange girls at the theatre Royal, Drury Lane. “Orange Moll”- a former prostitute, had a license to sell oranges and sweetmeats to the patrons of the theatre. Nell had a lively personality and a witty tongue, so she soon developed great skill at the selling job. It called for liveliness, quick wit and charm. Soon, she used her connections with the theatre to move into the acting profession. Nell had had no education, as a girl from a slum, but she had a sharp intelligence. She was illiterate, but she learned parts quickly and became very popular on the stage. Charles II often attended performances, as did members of his court. Nell realized that she was better at comedy than drama and serous theatre, so she found herself cast mostly in comic roles. She also played “breeches parts” where the female character adopts men’s clothes for some reason, and hence was able to show off her figure in male attire. At first, she became the mistress of the well-known actor, Charles Hart, and he nurtured her budding career. A few years later, she left the theatre for a time, to become the mistress of the wit and rake, Lord Buckhurst. He took her away from the stage and gave her an income. However, she soon returned to her old life, and seems overall to have had very few lovers. It was difficult for a woman to make her way without a male protector. Nell did not take many lovers and supported herself. In 1667/8, the Duke of Buckingham seems to have interested himself in Nelly, since he wanted to counteract Barbara Castlemaine's influence with the King. Barbara was Buckingham’s cousin, but she was a greedy and hot tempered woman. She and he were frequently at odds. The Duke wanted to get Charles involved with another mistress who would put forward his point of view. However, Charles was not the man to be faithful to any mistress for long. He and Barbara had been lovers for some years and had several children but the affair was cooling. He began a short affair with Moll Davies, an actress from another theater. However, he met Nelly and began to take a fancy to her. Her quick wit and saucy tongue attracted him, and her frank manners, made her seem charming. In 1670, she bore a son to him, but returned to the stage for a time. She was less demanding than Barbara Castlemaine but she did have her price. She asked insistently for a house and pension, and honours for her children. Some courtiers commented that Nell, because of her social position, her low birth, was not “treated with the decencies of a mistress” but rather like a whore. Charles was not faithful to any of his women, but he was generous with money and they were part of his court and had much more influence there than his wife. However, he probably did not see Nell as socially equivalent to his aristocratic mistresses. Catherine of Braganza was a rather “mousy” young woman, who had been brought up in a restricted convent culture. She was not sophisticated enough to handle a royal marriage to someone like Charles, or to deal with his many glamorous highly born mistresses who outshone her. As a Roman Catholic, and a wife who was unable to produce children, she became isolated at Court, and Charles, while kindly to her, mostly ignored her. In the early 1670’s, Nell became part of the court and gave up acting. She had another son by Charles; the two boys were called Charles and James Beauclerk. However, Nell had to persist in asking for them to be given titles, as was usual for royal bastards. She was not well born enough to have a lot of influence with him, but he was fond of her. In the 1670s however, he met Louise de Keroualle, a young Frenchwoman who had been one of his beloved sister Minette’s ladies. After Minette’s death, she came to court and after lot of prevarication, became his mistress. Louise was generally regarded as an agent of the King of France, and was not well liked. Nell was popular, especially among the common people. In spite of her lack of likablity, Charles was deeply in love with Louise, and regarded her as a more important romance than Nelly. Nell was still involved with Charles and used her sharp tongue to put down the haughty French mistress. She remarked that Louise gave herself airs and was always telling the world how many grand relations she had, so “why did she lower herself to be a courtesan?” She added that she had had few lovers though she was brought up in a bawdy house and "it was her profession." She called Louise “Squintabella” because of a slight cast in her eye, and “The Weeping Willow” because of her tendency to cry. When her carriage was attacked by a mob who had mistaken it for De Keroualle’s carriage, she called out “Pray good People, be civil. I am the Protestant whore.” As time passed, Charles divided his attentions between a few mistresses, Hortense the Duchess of Mazarin was a favorite, he never entirely broke with Barbara Castlemaine, though their affair had ended... and he had Louise and Nelly. But in 1685, he died suddenly. Among his last words, he asked his brother to “Not let poor Nelly starve”, and James II paid off Nell’s debts and gave her a pension. Her son James had died in childhood and her older son Charles had been given the title Duke of St Albans. Two years after Charles’ death, Nelly had a stroke and died, at the age of 37. She is remembered as a talented comedy actress, and a witty lively woman with a kind heart. It is said that she persuaded Charles to donate land for the Chelsea Pensioners hospital.