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I.THEPREGNANCIESANDCONFINEMENTS
onefeelssopinneddown-one’swingsclipped-infact,at
thebest(andfewwereorarebetterthanIwas)onlyhalf
oneself-particularlythefrstandsecondtime.ThisIcall
thetshadowside’[ofmarriage]…Andtherefore,Ithinkour
sexamostunenviableone.48
TheQueendescribedthefrstyearsofhermarriageasuutterlyspoiled
bythisoccupation!”whichmadeherusomiserable”.So,atthebeginning
ofApril1858shewashappythatherdaughterwasnotyetuinanunen-
viableposition”andaddedthatsheunevercanrejoicebyhearingthat
apooryoungthingispulleddownbythistrial”.
49
Alas,amonthlater
shereceiveduthehorridnews”whichupsetherudreadfully”.uIamso
unhappyaboutyou!”,shewrotetothePrincessRoyal,uItiswellFritzis
notinsightjustnoworhewouldnotbegraciouslyreceived”.
50
TheQueen
hadprayedtobeuleftfree”anduspared”foratleastsixmonths,butthe
majorityofaristocraticwomenwouldgivebirthtotheirfrstchildwith-
inayearofmarriage.51Itcanbespeculatedwhatreasonslaybehindthe
Queen’sangeratbeingucaught”soquicklyafterthewedding.52
Onesuchreasoncouldbethephysicaldiscomfortandtheanimalistic
natureofpregnancy,thatshowedtheQueenthatinthisrespect,shewas
justlikeallother,thatisordinary,women.Intheirstudyonmenand
womenoftheEnglishmiddleclass,DavidoffandHallnotedthatuwomen
whenpregnantandthusincontrovertiblysexualbeings,wereassociated
withanimalisticnature”.
53
So,wheninJune1858thePrincessRoyalwrote
ofherfrstpregnancyas‘theprideofgivinglifetoanimmortalsoul’,the
QueentriedtoconvincethenaïvePrincessthatgivingbirthtochildren
wasnotanexhilaratingexperienceatall.Shewrote:
Whatyousayoftheprideofgivinglifetoanimmortalsoulis
veryfne,dear,butIownIcannotenterintothat;Ithinkmuch
moreofourbeinglikeacoworadogatsuchmoments;when
ourpoornaturebecomessoveryanimalandunecstatic.
54
Herexplicitwordsunderlineherdeepresentmentoftheactoflabour.
Notonlydidsheregarditasunpleasantintheextreme,butshealso
emphasiseditsreproductive,purelyphysiologicalnature,anactthathad
littleincommonwithhumanfeelingsandemotions.
WritingtothePrincessRoyalwithreferencetoherfrstpregnan-
cy,theQueenrecalledthatshewasufurious”tobeuinforitatonce”
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