In this episode, we look at what it is to be a woman in the full glare of the media and public view.
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Parallel Lives
Written by
Holly
Harland
Performed by
Dame
Joanna
Lumley
Delve Deeper
The US National Gallery of Art in Washington DC has a Thomas Gainsborough portrait of Georgiana. Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire – Amanda Foreman, published by Harper Collins, 1998, is a great biography of Georgiana Spencer. The film 2008 film The Duchess starring Keira Knightly as Georgiana, is based on this book.The New York Times considers the above film and compares Diana and Georgiana.
About this story
Two women, relatives, one born in 1757, the other in 1961 are in some ways remarkably similar. We compare the biographies of Princess Diana, King Charles’s first wife, and her ancestor Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire.
Tavistock Street
,
London
She Had to Sit on the Floor
Written by
Holly
Harland
Performed by
Zak
Ghazi-Torbati
Delve Deeper
Sotheby’s have an article about Georgiana’s fashion influence including this gem, about her followers desperate to have ostrich feathers for their hairstyles: ‘Feathers were so scarce in England that fashionable women resorted to bribing undertakers for their horses’ plumage.’
Pen and Pension have a recipe for an 18th Century pomade (a greasy substance used to style hair) using lard. The Fashion Historian has several pictures of high 18th Century hairstyles – including one with a model ship.
About this story
Georgiana Spencer, the Duchess of Devonshire, is one of the first celebrity fashion icons. The rise of newspaper reporting in the 18th-Century, and her place in political and elite society means women covet her looks and want to copy her style.
Votes for Kisses
Written by
Holly
Harland
Performed by
Kate
Reid
Delve Deeper
Alamy has a cartoon of the Duchess of Devonshire kissing a voter, from a period newspaper. A Voice of Discontent: A Woman’s Journey Through the Long Eighteenth Century by Jennifer C. Kelsey, published by Troubadour 2008, discusses the prejudices women faced during that period. Regency History has an article about the general election of 1784, explaining the parties involved and the voting system of the time.
About this story
Although women couldn’t vote, Georgiana Spencer threw herself into electioneering in the 1784 polls, to the delight of the newspapers.
