Just finished watching this week's Masterpiece Theater: The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton. Sorry for the late weigh-in, but it took me until tonight to sit down and indulge. My reaction? At first, I thought the whole, "nudge, nudge/wink, wink" asides to the camera were a bit hackneyed and gimmicky. But then I got used to it, and the "girl talk" with the viewer didn't bother me so much. In fact, it seemed perfectly apropos given the intimate tone she uses in her book of helpful domestic advice for everday women. (I particularly liked the way they framed her life story using the various chapters of her book.) All in all, I found the whole thing to be perfectly charming and endearing, and it got me to thinking that if I'd lived in the Victorian era, I would have wanted to be an independent careerwoman like Isabella....minus the whole alcoholic, syphilitic husband, myriad miscarriages and having-to-butcher-a-giant-turtle-on-my-kitchen-counter sort of issues. And by the way, if running a home was like "being the commander of an army," I'd be waving the white flag right about now.
Another by the way, PBS's next installment of "Mystery" features a face that might be familiar to many RomTome stalwarts. Oh yeah, that's Robert Lindsay (a.k.a. Captain Pellew of the Indefatigable from the A&E Hornblower series) in the whodunit mystery "Jericho."
I really enjoyed The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton! And at first I was also annoyed by the asides, but I think that made it all the more effective and sad when the asides were about the miscarriages and financial failures, etc. I also loved the animation.
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