A Poldark Moment

There are several marriages portrayed in the Poldark series currently airing on tv. The third  element of series came to an end last Sunday, so it seems to good time to look back on the entire series so far. The prominent couple, Ross and Demelza,  is shaping up to be a match of equals in spite of her having been brought into his house as a lice-ridden kitchen maid. Ross acknowledged that he needed a wife who could skin a rabbit as well as wear a pretty frock, and Demelza fits that very well. Perhaps even Ross didn't expect her to be capable of taking on the running of the farm and the mine as well as the kitchen and the family. Because she has the intelligence to do that, she is slowly starting to come into her own, accusing him of not asking her opinion of anything. She is beginning to think like a modern women. 

Then there’s Elizabeth and George. He has loved her since forever and tries to woo her still with expensive gifts of jewellery that she knows are perfctly vulgar in their situation. She manages to  accept them without wearing them, which takes some tact on her part. I’m not sure what Elizabeth feels for George, just as I was never sure what she felt for Francis. I know she loved Ross, but that turned to hate for a while, and then simmered down to match his fondness for an old love. Perhaps she’s a pragmatist and makes the best of what she has -money, power and positon in society. It is interesting that she is old Cornish gentry and he is a self-made millionaire.

Higher in society we have Caroline Penvenen and Dwight, with no worries about money, power or position since she inherited money and estates. Separated first by Dwight being considered unsuitably lower in rank, and then by his terrible time in a French prison, I think they know how lucky they are to be reunited, and they too seem to be equals, but without the problems that face Ross and Demelza. Perhaps it is their honeymoon period. Her  recipe for a happy life appears to be bon bons, kisses and lots more lying in bed, and nice as that is, it surely can't last. The  poor little pug has his nose well and truly out of joint now that Dwight is home.

As for Morwenna and Oswald, we have an arranged, one could say a forced marriage where the husband is a bombastic, insensitive brute (even though he is a vicar) who drives his wife to threaten the life of their child rather than submit ever again to his demands for sex. Dangerous stuff. The vicar is just the kind of man who would, with tears in his eyes,  have her whipped off to Bedlam. There is no hope for happiness for Morwenna unless she can somehow return to Drake Carne. George, of course, was to blame for forcing Morwenna to marry by threatening to have Drake Carne sent off to prision if she refused.

Morwenna's sister has somehow persuaded the red-headed librarian to aid and abet her plans to wangle money, that will allow them to marry, out of Ossy by blackmailing him over his liaison with her. One wonders if the librarian knows the full extent of her cunning and determination. 

The Poldark argument

There is a lot of discussion at the moment on the so called “Rape scene” in the tv drama Poldark. There seems to be a split in the perception of the scene by viewers, with one segment of the comments disliking it and panning the BBC for showing it and others who thought it a fair depiction of the way in which long thwarted love between two people will suddenly erupt – especially when the woman is going to marry the man who has beggared you and is your greatest enemy.

The book, written in the sixties/seventies, has not been given the same treatment. Nor has the previous tv adaption which featured Robin Ellis. I feel sure there have been other rapes, some more violent – the Forsyth Saga, The Onedin Line, Daniel Deronda to name but a few. Watching historical drama with the mindset of modern times is never going to work. The lowly position of women in the 1790s has to be considered and understood. Men ruled, and that cannot be changed without changing history.

So many things are not pc now that it is difficult to say what we think without alienating somebody, somewhere. It strikes me as rather odd that the recent 50 Shades Books and films can be so popular when the subject matter is so close to rape (even if she did sign a consent form!) and that women now drool over pictures of half-naked men – exactly the behaviour they so hated when men drooled over pictures of half-naked women. Do as you would be done by seems a better maxim to follow.

The book was written in the era of the bodice ripper, which was once so popular and is now spoken of as trash. One of the themes of romance writing back then was that what began as rape could and often did transform into something better when the heroine realised that she could give in and enjoy what followed. Now it seems we are told that subjection, obedience and pain add to the delight of sex. The world is a weird place, but fortunately, most things pass away and are but as smoke on the wind.

Remarkable Poldark

The new version of Poldark aired on Sunday night. Facebook is full of people's reactions, mostly in favour of the new version, but with a minority who insist the older version was better.
 I have to admit I can barely remember the original version, though I know I admired Robin Ellis. I spent a lot of holidays in Cornwall and the scenery was a draw. The costumes were romantic, too. I was never certain about Rees as Demelza. Entertaining she undoubtedly was but she never looked like a heroine to me. Too small, always dwarfed by that silly floppy cap she used to wear. In the new version, I'm still not happy with Demelza. This girl is too big - oh, I know, I'm never happy! - but really, she is almost taller than Ross. If they stood side by side, she probably would be. She also looks like a mature woman from her first scenes - and yet Ross calls her a child. In the book she was thirteen. I once sent a story to an American publisher and was told they wouldn't take it because the heroine was too young at fourteen for the sexier aspects of the story. So far, Demelza's age hasn't been mentioned in the tv production, but she looks about eighteen. Yet Ross thinks she's a child. Credibility gap?

I love Aidan Turner in most things, and think he is fine in this. I like his sudden irritation with Elizabeth when she says he must forget her as she will marry Francis, then asks if they can be friends. He turns on her with a roar of pain and fury. But I keep looking at that scar - surely they could have done it with more skill? His costume changes are interesting - he has finery for weddings, but often wears faded coats and shirts and neck ties that look as if they've been worn for days on end - and probably have! Costumes have improved so much these days. Demelza, on the other hand, never gets out of her brother's rags during the entire first episode! She and Elizabeth soldered together might make one nicely rounded woman. Both actresses are stick thin.

I wondered if they would keep Jud's way of speaking -  "tisn't fair, tisn't right, tisn't decent. tisn't nice" - and they have! Prudie did so very well to run all the way to the big house while Carne battered Ross into the floor. She should enter for the Olympics - Ross needed a horse to get home from Trenwith to Nampara on his first night home. Prudie got there before the fighting finished. A truly remarkable athlete in spite of her size.

Poldark for US

If anyone in the US is an Aidan Turner fan or an avid Winston Graham reader, then here is a link you should follow: http://www.poldarked.com/2015/01/poldark-to-air-in-us-in-june-2015.html

Evidently Turner is contracted to the BBC for five years in order to do the complete series. Sounds like good news to me. No doubt the usual arguments will flare about the tv production following or not following the story line, if certain actors were right for the part - and if the actors are audible and intelligible after the dreadful muddle of Jamaica Inn.

I missed the penultimate part of Wolf Hall last night as I went out to supper with friends in the Pump Room just outside Durham City. (The restaurant is called Oro and the waiters seem to speak only Italian. It is pricey but the food is good, if in portions too small for my appetite. I came home and ate a slice of home made bread, toasted. Must be all this fresh air and dog-walking.) So I shall have to watch the video before next Wednesday. I hope the pace has picked up a little as I struggled to stay awake while watching the video last week. (I fell asleep during the live programme!)

The snowdrops are in full bloom on the riverside, and this year they are not fighting their way up through snow. Not in my part of the world. They are having it easy-peasy with sunshine and temperatures around 4-9 degrees C. Crocus (crocki?) are showing upright yellow spears in the garden but have not opened up yet. I'm trying to keep Tim off the newly sprouted daffodils. Last year he kept eating the flower heads, silly boy.

Poldarks revived

Outlander will arrive on our television screens at some point, but may be a while before it reaches the UK. The likelihood is that I shall see and  enjoy the re-make of the Poldark series before then. I loved the books, written in the 40s and 50s - and eagerly devoured the original seven. I don't think I followed up on the remaining five which were about descendants rather than the original characters. I adored the original tv series 1975-77, and so did many others. The series was hugely popular.

Still, that has to be balanced against the fact that when the series was shown, there were only three ( 3! ) television channels. That made life very much simpler and the ratings very much higher than they are today. Television audiences were a little more naive, too. Production values today - well, the techniques at least, are so much better than they were in the seventies. I'm really looking forward to the costumes and the locations. Let's just pray that the gremlins that haunted Bodmin Moor during the last production in Cornwall - Jamaica Inn - have been well and truly exorcised. If the BBC ruins Poldark, they may well be exorcised!

 I've collected together some links to the cast, the locations and general gossip about the series. I shall very likely dip into them from time to time, and you may wish to as well. I'm putting one of my favourite pictures of Aidan Turner up here in his costume as Ross Poldark. I don't know if there are any Poldarks in Cornwall, but if Winstan Graham dreamed up the name, I applaud him for selecting a wonderful name for a hero.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2596581/The-curse-Poldark-Stars-new-version-beware-The-originals-hit-tragedy-never-fame-again.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2014/poldark

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Poldark-2015/483979435006691

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-04-23/poldark-crew-to-remake-an-18th-century-gloucestershire-house-for-new-bbc-period-drama

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=poldark+remake&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=abzsU5aKL6qI7Aa_oYG4Bw&sqi=2&ved=0CGkQsAQ&biw=1536&bih=708

Enjoy the links!