If you have read my blog over the years, you will know I have a soft spot for Victorian depictions of the English Civil War, which is why I am delighted to bring you today's image...
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| The Alarm (1867) Edward Hughes |
Lawks! It's all going on here. Lady Ponsonby was just sitting, listening to her daughter, the Honourable Sharon, belting out Whitesnake hits on her lute when soldiers have erupted into the house, carrying the mortally wounded Lord Ponsonby. She barely has time to yell 'take your boots off if you are going upstairs, I've just hoovered up there!' It's all gone a tad 'a pieta' in the lobby with the stricken cavalier being transported up the stairs to what undoubtedly be his death-bed. The whole shebang is so alarming that the girl has dropped her lute. The horror.
There is, of course, the chance that our wounded cavalier will survive, but seeing as Lady Ponsonby is already in black, I don't think there is much chance of that. Also, didn't Lord Ponsonby get the memo that told us all cavaliers die in very beautiful ways? Take for example this chap...
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Spies of the Republic (1909) John Lomax
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He is definitely not seeing the morning, but doesn't he look sexy? Also, obviously, we have this delicious example...
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| The Wounded Cavalier (1856) William Shakespeare Burton |
The Victorians, like me, loved the cavaliers because they were both wicked and honorable, regal and naughty, and they lost, so they can be very, very romantic about that too. They are symptomatic of a system that was very wrong, hence the reason that we got rid of it all, but also had some redeeming features, which is why we brought it all back again. Sort of.
The English Civil War resonates with us especially at the moment as we as a nation are in danger of being pushed to polar opposites, when in truth most people lurk in the middle, just with tiny nuances of difference. Today is a day to remember that quite a lot of money is being spent to drive you towards making a decision based on fear - fear of being denied your voice in a political decision, fear of losing our beloved health service, fear of people who appear to hold you in contempt, fear of a bloke with a beard who makes his own jam and wants to take away any money you make. It is all absolute nonsense and do you know what, they are all absolutely bloody terrified of you with your freedom to place a little cross in a box. Maybe looking at the English Civil War today of all days is absolutely right, as this is what happens when people are made to feel like they have to side with either black or white when most of us feel like the world is shades of grey. Whatever you vote today, use that vote to make the world less miserable because there should only be one person making you sob this month and that's me.
See you tomorrow...
A very good analogy Kirsty.
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