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Neo-Victoria?RepresentationsoftheYoungMonarch
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Still,alreadythefirstmeetingprovesthattheyoungroyalswillbehard
tosubjugate.Seventeen-year-oldAlberttellsVictoriaeverythingthatUncle
Leopoldforbadehimtotell(aboveall,abouttheseparationofhisparents).
HealsoadmitstolikingSchubert’smusic“evenifyoudon’tlikeit,”andbydoing
sowinsfavourwiththeindependent-mindedfutureQueen.Themostimportant
conversationtakesplacewhiletheyplaychess:“Youhavetolearntherules
tillyouplaybetterthantheydo,”AlbertadvisesVictoriaadding,thatapossible
husbandshould“playwithher,notforher.”Itiseasytopredictthatthe
characterofAlbertwilldevelopintosuchaperson.
Unlikethepreviousbiopics,Vallée’sfilmsuggeststhatthefuturespouses
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spendthetimebetweentheirraremeetingsexchanginglong,sincereletters
throughwhichtheygettoknoweachotherverywell.ThecriticRogerEbert
commentsjokinglythatVictoria“fellinlovewithapenpal,theVictorian
equivalenceofanonlineromance.”ThereisalsonodoubtthatAlbert
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reciprocatesVictoria’sfeelings-theybondbysharingresistanceagainst
egoisticalandheartlessadults.Eventually,theplansofKingLeopoldwho
hopestoinfluenceBritishpoliticsfrombehindthescenesfallthrough,asafter
theweddingAlbertdecidesthattheuncleistobeinformedonlyaboutfamily
matters.
However,themainantagonistinthisfilmisthePrimeMinister,Lord
Melbourne(PaulBettany)-shownasyoungerandmorehandsomethaninany
earlierfilm.Heispresentedasacynicalopportunist,indifferenttowardsthelot
ofthepoorandproudofhisatheism.Heisalsoaskillfulflatterer.“Hewilltry
tomakeherfallinlovewithhim.Itishismethod,”StockmarwarnsAlbert
aftertheQueen’saccession.CastingLordMelbourneasavillainisacompletely
newtakeonthenarrative-inearlierversionsofVictoria’sbiographieshewas
usuallypresentedasastrongproponentofVictoriaandAlbert’smarriageand
anadvocateofBritishinterests.
Victoria,likemanyneo-Victorianheroines,seemstobeayounggirlwith
thementalityofamodernteenager,onlydressedupinthehistoricallyaccurate
nineteenth-centurycostume.Sheispresentedasavictimofwarringfactions
withinthefamily,whichfurtherbringsherclosertotheassumedtargetaudience
of“daughtersjustgrowingoutoftheirprincessphase.”Sheglancesstraight
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intothecameraaddressingtheviewerdirectly:“Whichlittlegirldoesnot
dreamofgrowingupasaprincess?”butquicklyaddsthat“Evenapalacecan
beaprison,”usingthepopulartropeofa“poorrichchild,”emotionallydeprived
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Evenafairlyrecent2-partTVdrama,VictoriaandAlbert(2001,dir.JohnErma).
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RogerEbert.“TheYoungVictoriareview.”16Dec.2009.
www.rogerebert.com.
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J.R.Jones.“TheYoungVictoria”Review,ChicagoReader.
https://www.chicagoreader.
com/chicago/the-young-victoria/Film?oid=1178676.
