Victorian Era, Dickensian London ,Pickpockets, Beggar's, Night Rat Collectors, Mudlarks, Guttersnipes, Filth, Night Soil
Collectors, Pearled Gloves....And Erotic Forbidden Love of a Fingersmith and A Victorian Lady...WOW!
Well, saw this movie on Netflix, had an interesting title_
"Fingersmith"..never heard that word before_so I decided to rent it! Boy, my curiosity always gets me in trouble or NOT. It's always a "Learnt Experience"_ of sorts.
Then I remembered another movie with "Sarah Waters" handle on it...of which I blogged about here (near the bottom of Post): http://sagebookwhisperer.blogspot.com/2012/09/this-weeksermg-moments_21.html
I said "Self"...This is gonna be interesting! ErMG!! another Sarah Waters Sapphist Story! I kept repeating...
So, the movie has Two Episodes which shed insight on the daily lives of these two main women characters. KEEP UP or you'll get entangled with which life is which and so forth & so on.... First Episode...goes like this_
She grew up in the dismal surrounding of a London slum_ taken in by her adoptive mother (or so she thought)_Mrs Sucksby. Mrs S. runs a prosperous business_ "A DEN OF THIEVES". Think Charles Dickens's "Oliver Twist"!
Sue is sent to help Richard 'Gentleman' Rivers seduce a wealthy heiress.Note:Gentleman is NOT really interested in women per se, unless he can get their money. Posing as a maid, Sue is to gain the trust of the lady, Maud and eventually persuade her to elope with Gentleman. Once they are married, Gentleman plans to commit Maud to a madhouse and claim her fortune for himself.
Second Episode....Enter "The Gloved One", Maud!
Maud takes over the narrative. She describes her early life being raised by the nurses in the mental asylum where her mother died, and the sudden appearance of her uncle when she was eleven, who arrives to take her to Briar (his country home) to be his secretary...where he painstakingly writes and illustrates his many books of Erotic Literature!! Very popular during that time as it is now...50 Shades Madness: http://sagebookwhisperer.blogspot.com/2012/06/50-shades-of-greyscandalousmaybereallyn.html
Her induction into his rigid way of life is brutal; Maud is made to wear gloves constantly to preserve the surfaces of the books she is working on, and is denied food when she tires of labouring with her uncle in his library.
We're good right? Now, this is where it gets interesting!
Let me explain what the title means. A fingersmith is a petty thief. The novel/movie protagonist, Sue, makes a living as a fingersmith in London. "Fingersmith" may also refer to someone who has mastered a skill involving the use of his or her fingers_ that would be Maud & Sue_in more ways than one. It is also clearly an allusion to female masturbation and sex between women, in a similar vein to the use of the erotic term in the title_"Tipping The Velvet". Mmm,Sarah likes these quirky Victorian words & meanings alot...just sayin'...
I'm thinking at this stage_ Sarah Waters_reaallllyy,likes this subject matter very much, indeed!
Waters attended university, and earned degrees in English literature. She received a BA from the University of Kent, an MA from Lancaster University and a PhD from Queen Mary,University of London. Her PhD thesis, entitled Wolfskins and togas : lesbian and gay historical fictions, 1870 to the present, served as inspiration and material for future books.
http://www.sarahwaters.com/
Whoa! I was only intrigued by the word Fingersmith(it's meaning) & Historical Fiction(a favorite genre of mine).
But,Waters on the other hand is in waaaay too"deep" for a"light" Friday Afternoon movie for the kid! I'm bound to see what happens....PAUSE...another glass of Petite Sirah.
Historically, while Queen Victoria, accepted homosexuality in men,it is said she was not able to believe lesbians existed. The movie/book defies that notion as it swiftly places one into the teeming life that thrived underneath the various repressions of the Victorian era.
And, with it's various "Twist & Turns"_Watch and Listen carefully_ I guarantee you'll be very surprised at the ending...awesome! So, should you choose to watch the movie or read the book...
aka.. Sarah's: "Victoria's Secret"
As a result of this movie (haven't read the book)_I've become interested in reading about the Victorian Underworld...found this on Amazon.com.
Here we go...I'll probably share some stuff with y'all on the subject matter.
Anyway...so much for my "Friday Afternoon" Movie Day.A combination of _
Pearls,Gloves & Ladies
PLUS...
The Delicate Art of Love Fingers
I'm re-naming that Movie_
"Love In The Time Of FingerSmithing"
Here's a Peek_
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