WHY WAS QUEEN VICTORIA SUCH A PRUDE?: ...AND OTHER HISTORICAL MYTHS AND FOLLIES

Book ID/图书代码： 00530011B46011

English Summary/英文概要： After her marriage, Victoria’s sensuality seems to have only increased. Victoria frequently gave Albert paintings of attractive nude women as gifts, and even commissioned a provocative portrait of herself, known as the ‘secret picture’, in which she is reclining seductively on a red cushion, with her long hair draped across her chest. The couple had nine children, with a gap of no more than two years between each birth, and when her doctor advised her against any more pregnancies, she exclaimed, ‘What? No more fun in bed? Oh God!’.
After Albert’s death, we tend to think of Victoria withdrawing completely from public life, and devoting herself to mourning, and commissioning memorials to her beloved husband, such as the Royal Albert Hall. The story goes that she draped so much black crepe in the halls and rooms of Windsor Castle that she used up the nation’s entire stocks. However, even after Albert’s death, Victoria remained romantically active, and quite possibly sexually active too. Her love affair with her personal attendant John Brown is well known – she even secretly arranged for his photograph, his mother’s ring, and a lock of his hair to be placed in her coffin on her death – but she also became close to Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, and a young Indian servant named Abdul Karim.
It is true that the Victorian Era was one of strict morality, and a repressive attitude towards sex, but this did not reflect Victoria’s own nature. For example, it’s true that references to lesbianism were removed from the bill banning homosexuality, but it was not because of Victoria’s influence; it was because MPs were concerned that publicising the existence of lesbianism might encourage women to take it up. In fact, if any one person can be said to have been responsible for the stern morality of the period, it was more likely to have been Victoria’s husband, the stern, rational Prince Albert. Albert’s parents had had a turbulent marriage, with both having affairs. This led to their divorce, and as a result Albert’s mother disappeared from his life when he was just five years old, and this loss is known to have had a damaging effect on him. After marrying Victoria, Albert would criticise her for her uninhibited behaviour, and encourage her to behave in a more appropriate, buttoned down manner.
Albert and Victoria were also aware that the previous Hanoverian monarchs had been seen as discrediting and cheapening the monarchy through their various sexual and financial scandals. George IV, in particular, had been extremely unpopular, as he was (rightly) seen as a dissolute playboy, who showed little interest in the business of government, and ran up enormous debts. By the time of Victoria’s accession to the throne, the monarchy was increasingly becoming a symbolic institution, with limited political influence, and so Victoria and Albert steered the role into that of a moral, ceremonial figurehead, which sought to be seen as above politics entirely.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 今天，維多利亞是眾所周知的一位拘泥於禮儀，謹小慎微的女王，其對性方面壓抑的態度，英國的文化起到了一定的驚人效果，這使得我們在當下仍然能強烈的感覺得到。我們所知道的，維多利亞時代，其中有桌腿一部分的要被遮蓋，以防形狀美觀的桌腿可能刺激情色感情，女性在海灘邊，需在裝有腳輪的“游泳更衣車”內更衣，這是一種裝有四個輪子的小屋，以便他們能在“精緻的嚴絲合縫”下學習游泳，不必有在公眾場合下暴露自己泳衣的尷尬。與維多利亞女王自己最相關聯的詞是嚴厲的，正直的，和“我們不開心”，她甚至認為有必要拒絕，通過一項禁止同性戀的法令，不是因為她的自由觀點，而是因為考慮涉及到同性戀，況且因為她不相信有這樣的事，簡而言之，假設有這麼一個女同性戀，“也是不會做這樣的事情。”
然而，維多利亞並不總是體現出拘謹，給人以性冷淡的感覺。作為一個年輕的女人，她被稱為是感性的，少女般的，並對浪漫有敏銳的興趣，特別是對於一個長得好看的男人的嗜好。在亞伯特首次訪問的時候，維多利亞看著他從樓梯的頂端下來，向他傾訴她的日記，‘這是我見到亞伯特時的一些感覺，是美妙的感覺。’他們結婚後，她描述在新婚之夜那些迸發雋永的愛意，‘這是一個愉悅的，和令人眼花繚亂的體驗。我從來沒有，從來沒有渡過這樣一個晚上。他強烈的愛和關懷給了我宛如天堂般的愛情和幸福的感覺。他緊緊地握住我摟在懷裡，我們一次又一次地互相親吻。’另一個晚上，她簡單地寫道，‘我們幾乎沒有睡。’
在她婚後，維多利亞的感性似乎有所增加。維多利亞時常給亞伯特迷人的裸體女性繪畫作為禮物，甚至啟用自己煽情的肖像，被稱為‘秘密畫像’，畫中她性感地斜倚在一個紅色的坐墊上，她的長髮垂直的搭在胸前。這對夫妻有九個孩子，用一個不超過每兩年出生的一個的差距，然而當她的醫生建議她不要再懷孕的時候，她感歎道，“什麼？沒有更多的樂趣在床上？哦，上帝！’。
亞伯特去世後，我們往往認為維多利亞完全退出了公眾生活，而是專注於服喪，並為她深愛的丈夫授權建造紀念館，如Royal Albert Hall皇家阿爾伯特音樂廳。據說，她用很多的黑色縐紗鋪在溫莎城堡的大廳和房間裡，以至於用光了整個國家的存貨。然而，即使在阿爾貝去世後，維多利亞依然浪漫活躍，很可能是因為維多利亞生性活躍。這當中有她和她的貼身侍從約翰布朗的聞名的愛情故事——她甚至偷偷放置了他的照片，他母親的戒指，和他的一縷頭髮被放在她封存的棺材裡——但她也是成為Benjamin Disraeli首相，和一個名為Abdul Karim的年輕印度僕人的密友。
事實上是維多利亞時期是一個具有嚴格的道德，和一個對性抑制的時代，但這並不反映維多利亞的自身的性質。例如，的確有禁止同性戀的法案被刪除，但它不是因為維多利亞的影響；這是因為國會議員擔心，宣傳女同性戀的存在，可能會鼓勵婦女接受這一觀念。事實上，如果任何一個人，在當時可以自己負責任的說自身嚴守道德，它更可能是維多利亞的丈夫，一位堅定的，理性的亞伯特親王。亞伯特的父母擁有一段動盪的婚姻，兩者同時都有外遇。這導致了他們的離婚，其結果是作為阿爾貝的母親，從他的生活中消失了，當時他只有五歲，這個損失是已知的對他產生“殺傷”效應的。與維多利亞結婚後，亞伯特批評她的率直行為，並鼓勵她的舉止更為適體，幫助她理清各種禮儀規矩。
亞伯特和維多利亞也知道以前漢諾威君主是因他們的各種性和財務醜聞，已經被視為踐踏和醜化君主制的象徵。喬治四世，尤其是極其不得人心的，因為他是（真正的）被視為一個放蕩的花花公子，他對政府的公眾事務沒有一絲的興趣，國庫也因此上漲了巨額的債務。到維多利亞即位時，君主制日益成為一個象徵性的機構，擁有有限的政治影響力，也因此維多利亞和亞伯特作為引領一個道德，禮儀的名譽領袖，想要在尋求可以超越政治之上的力量。(Sandy)

Awards/获奖情况：Being a great fan of historic biographies, sometimes it’s just fun to read something simply and uncomplicated ,just giving you pertinent facts and anecdotes . Well worth reading

About the Author/作者介绍： David Haviland is a bestselling writer, with a passion for obscure trivia and anecdotes, particularly on the subjects of history, medicine, animals, and sports. His previous books include ‘Self-Harming Parrots and Exploding Toads’ and ‘How to Remove a Brain’.

Format:HARDCOVER

Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE

Sales in other countries/其他国家销售情况：UK: Thistle

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