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Neo-Victoria?RepresentationsoftheYoungMonarch
31
rolewellenoughsothattheQueencanconcentratefullyonfamilylifeand
raisingchildren.Isitnotthis,afterall,thatthosegirlswishingtobeprincesses
longfor?JuliaKinzlerinherarticleforNeo-VictorianStudiessumsthefilm
upasa“subversionofthesupposedlyproto-feministtakeonQueenVictoria
andperpetuationofaconservativegenderideology”andaskswhetherneo-
Victorianismitselfcanbeseentoincludeahidden“neo-conservative(here
anti-feminist)agenda.”10
TherecentITVseriesVictoria,thesecondseasonofwhichwasbroadcastin
autumn2017,offersaportrayaloftheQueenthatisdifferentintermsofthe
ideologicalcontent.Victoriawascreatedagainstabackdropofdiscussion
regardingroyalrepresentationsonfilm-especiallythatitalmostcoincidedwith
thepremiereofNetflix’sTheCrownaboutElizabethII.Inaway,notmuchhas
changedsinceJeffreyRichardsdetectedthedualforcesof“mythologization
accompaniedbyhumanization”inculturalportrayalsofmonarchs.Sovereigns,
11
andespeciallyQueens,havetobalancetheresponsibilitiesoftheirofficial
functionswiththedemandsoftheirprivatelives,yetthey“allriseabovethe
pressurestriumphantlytodotheirdutyandservethenation,confirmingthat
theyareremarkableindividuals.”Royalfilmshavesomethingofacheerleading
12
function,encouragingviewerstofollowtheprotagonists’examples.Whatmight
bechanging,however,areunderlyingideologicalconceptionsamongthe
viewingpublictowardsroyalhistory.Thereassuringandnostalgicvisionof
astableBritainhasbeenchallengedbyawaveofproductionsinneo-Victorian
style,whichaimedat“(re)interpretation,(re)discoveryand(re)vision”ofthe
nineteenthcenturyanditsideologicallegacy.
13
Elementsofsuchworkare
visibleinVictoria.
ThecharactersofVictoriaareoverallmorelikeableandmulti-facetedthan
theircounterpartsinVallée’sfilm.Victoria(JennaColeman)andAlbert(Tom
Hughes)haveagood,nuancedrelationship,thefamilymembersarelessself-
centeredandgenerallyallofthemhaveunderstandableandhonestintentions.
Asyet(afterthesecondseason)therearenoclearvillainsinthestory-all
troublescanbeexplainedawayasmisunderstandings.
Anespeciallyinterestingrewriteofhistoryconcernstherelationshipof
theyoungQueenandherPrimeMinister,LordMelbourne(RufusSewell);
10
JuliaKinzler.“VisualisingVictoria:Gender,GenreandHistoryinTheYoungVictoria
(2009).”Neo-VictorianStudies4:2(2011),p.63.
11
JeffreyRichards.“Themonarchyandfilm1900-2000”,inAndrzejOlechnowicz(ed.).
TheMonarchyandtheBritishNation,1780tothePresent.Cambridge2007,p.274.
12
Ibid.,p.278.
13
AnnHeilmannandMarkLlewellyn.Neo-Victorianism:TheVictoriansintheTwenty-
FirstCentury1999-2009.Basingstoke2010,p.4.
