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DorotaBabilas
UniwersytetWarszawski
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5055-2741
Neo-Victorianstylehasbecomesomethingofastapleofhistoricalfictionand
film,withitsstrongfocusonheroines,usuallyyoungwomendressedupin
meticulouslyrecreatednineteenth-centurycostumes,butdisplayingthementality
andinterestsmoretypicalforthetwenty-firstcentury.ThelivesofmanyVictorian
literaryandhistoricalprotagonistshavebeenre-examinedandre-evaluated,
usuallyinasubversiveandsociallyprogressiveway.Interestingly,thevery
Queenwhogavehernametotheepochfeaturesintheseworksratherrarely,
andifshedoesatall,sheisusuallydistancedasanoutmodedtraditionalist
presencestandingforthesocialorderthattheheroinesrebelagainst.AsLouisa
Hadleyobserves,Victoria“exemplifiesthecharacteristicswehavecometo
thinkofas«Victorian»”,inapejorativesense.Ontheotherhand,thecentenary
1
ofVictoria’sdeathin2001reignitedinterestinthemonarch’sbiography,
resultinginproductionofanumberofwrittenandfilmedworks.Ittherefore
seemsjustifiedtoask,whetheranyofthem-especiallyamongthosethat
featuretheportrayaloftheQueenasayoungwoman-presenta“neo-Victoria,”
thatis,animageofQueenVictoriaintheneo-Victorianmode?Letusconsider
tworecentexamples.
Jean-MarcVallée’sfeaturefilmTheYoungVictoria(2009)offers
arepresentationoftheQueen(EmilyBlunt)asaspiritedteenagerstrugglingto
copewithfamilytroubles,conflictingloyalties,andexcessiveexpectationsof
peoplearoundher.AscriticsCeleC.OtnesandPaulineMaclarannote,Victoria
isshowntobe-likemanyotherfictionalandhistoricalprincesses,especially
Diana-“avictimoftradition.”Astheprotagonistobservesbitterlyatthe
2
beginningofthefilm:“Evenapalacecanbeaprison.”Vallée’sfilmmightbe
1
LouisaHadley.Neo-VictorianFictionandHistoricalNarrative.TheVictoriansand
Us.BasingstokeandNewYork2010,p.30.
2
CeleC.Otnes,PaulineMaclaran.RoyalFever.TheBritishMonarchyinConsumer
Culture.Oakland2015,p.158.
