Women, Power, and Award-Winning Costumes

(This post contains spoilers.) I enjoy reading the biographies of historical women. I romanticize the times in which they lived--the clothes, the architecture. Their times seem less complicated; their roles more carefully scripted. It's interesting to see what they did with that little bit of freedom. Queen Elizabeth I said she would have no husband, but instead called the kingdom of England her husband. The Virgin Queen often wore simple colors, such as white, to symbolize her purity.  I have always admired her independence, and I've always liked the idea of a woman in armor. Though not expected to take part in the fighting, she donned it when Spanish invasion was immanent, in order to speak to her troops at the field of battle as their "prince," to encourage them to the defense of their shores, as any true prince does, alongside them.  Debates about the roll of women in the military continue today.  I can't help wondering if Elizabeth I wouldn't have made an excellent military leader as well.  In that very speech to her troops she said "I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too."  I am interested in the relationship between sex and power and between gender and power.  These issues are addressed well in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, which won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for 2008.

Sofia Coppola's film, Marie Antoinette, winner for 2007, does an excellent job of portraying the historical royal marriage as, first and foremost, a career. Marie Antoine left her home, her customs, and her language to move to a foreign court, to marry a man she didn't know, who, as luck would have it, turned out to be practically asexual, which, as her chief duty as the queen of France was to produce heirs, proved problematic. Coppola's resolution of that plot point is amusing, and I'll leave you to discover it for yourself. She found solace, as many have before and since, in fashion. When she had little control over her personal life, she at least had control over her wardrobe. (This is something I would like to get into at some point--the way in which women's ingenuity was necessarily channeled into the domestic arts. Someone who might today be a surgeon, for example, might then have produced exquisite embroidery. This isn't only about women, though. Today, someone who isn't born into an upper socio-economic class in a "developed" nation, does not have easy access to the education by which their natural abilities might otherwise equip them to succeed, had they the opportunity, let alone the gifted who are scattered over "undeveloped" soil.  What curers-of-disease, solvers-of-energy-crises, and leaders-in-peace do we lose in failing to invest in our fellow human beings, in all of our fellow human beings?)

Lately, I've also become interested in women historically who were not born into, or did not marry into, the best of circumstances, but still managed to rise due to their relationships with those in power. For women, this relationship was most often defined by sex. I've been reading Eleanor Herman's Sex With Kings, which chronicles the lives of royal mistresses in European history. In addition to anecdotes, she discovers the traits of the successful mistress generally. The most successful guided their actions entirely by the desires of the king--anticipating his needs and meeting them with alacrity. Madame du Barry, the mistress of Marie Antoinette's father-in-law, Louis XV, is portrayed in the film and is also mentioned in Herman's book.  This movie is costuming eye candy from start to finish. Every frame is a masterpiece of color and shape and texture.

Georgiana's family life was not so happy.  It was a professional marriage.  Her husband was not faithful, chiefly with one woman, who was her close friend.  One of  them once referred to the Duke as "our husband," which I find fascinating. Georgiana took a lover--Whig politician Charles Grey, yes the namesake of Earl Grey tea.  They had a daughter together, whom she was obliged to give up, for the most part.  When Grey expressed a wish to marry Georgiana, the Duke threatened that she would never see her other children again if she did marry Grey.  I find the mixture of happiness and sorrow in Georgiana's life, the mixture of control and powerlessness, and how she dealt with all of that, fascinating.  If I've sparked any interest in Georgiana, I highly recommend Amanda Foreman's Georgiana:  Duchess of Devonshire.

In 2009, the Academy Award for Best Costume Design went to The Duchess. I am in love with this character. Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire is another woman who sought solace and control through fashion. Leading, concurrent with Marie Antoinette, the development of women's fashion on the Continent in the latter 18th century, she was a fount of creativity--who wrote what I think are excellent letters. She wrote novels (supposed to be mediocre). She was much involved with the Whig Party, hosting social events, and championing their platform. She was a good friend of Whig Prime Minister Charles Fox. In the photo at right, Georgiana, portrayed by Keira Knightley, adorns her hat with foxtails in support of Prime Minister Fox.  (Poor foxes.)

Also, the film includes a couple scenes of marital rape, portrayed from the victim's point-of-view in one instance, and from the servant's over-hearing in a second, both sympathetic ways of looking at domestic abuse in partnerships which were not equal under the law.  When I talk about ways in which women have dealt with power and powerlessness throughout history, in addition to a lack of economic freedom, this lack of sexual autonomy is also part of it.  When I talk about home, it is about you defining the boundaries of your realm, and at the smallest definition of your realm, your realm is you, your keepiest of keeps.  And when say that none shall pass, none shall.  When you you say "Guards!  Remove this person!" There should be strong, benevolent persons to haul the harasser from your door!  But even if there are not, remember that, though you've been told you are a weak and feeble woman, you have the heart and stomach of a queen!