It seems safe to say that most people in the Western world have heard of the RMS Titanic – namely due to a little movie called ‘TITANIC’, that grossed nearly $2.2 billion at the box office and saw women the world … Continue reading
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, to be ‘star-crossed’ is to be ‘thwarted by bad luck’.
The most famous ‘star-crossed lovers’ of all time are almost certainly Romeo and Juliet, from William Shakespeare’s play of the same name. In fact, the phrase ‘star-crossed lovers’ was even coined by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet (1597).
However, while Romeo and Juliet might be the most iconic star-crossed lovers, they were actually not the first…
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Over the weekend I watched the director’s cut of one of my old favourites; ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ (1992). (Who doesn’t love Daniel Day Lewis?!) However historically accurate in setting, costume and dialogue, Michael Mann’s film is actually very different to the novel upon which it is based…
[Spoilers ahead]
In the film, the brave, intelligent and charismatic Cora Munro falls in love with the scout Hawk-eye (also known as Nathaniel), much to the disappointment of Major Duncan Hayward, who wanted her for his wife. Her meek, juvenile sister Alice has a largely off-screen, never fully realised romantic relationship with the Native American Indian Uncas, who ultimately loses his life trying to save her from the villainous Magua. After Uncas’ death, and fearing life as Magua’s wife, Alice takes her own life.
In James Fenimore Cooper’s novel of the same name, first published in 1826, it is Alice who is desired by Duncan – and even ends up marrying him – while Cora is doomed to the tragic love affair with Uncas instead. And poor Day Lewis’ Hawk-eye enjoys no romance whatsoever. Cora’s changing fate is the result of changing attitudes towards women between the time the novel was set (1757) and written (1826), and the time the film was made (1992).
Thirteen days before her execution, Anne Boleyn is believed to have written this letter to her husband, King Henry VIII of England. While the authenticity of this letter is still up for debate, the passion and personality of the writing certainly suggests it could have been written by Anne. Contemporaries noted with awe (and perhaps a little horror) how she was not afraid to stand up to the King. While this undoubtedly originally drew Henry to her, it was also something he soon grew tired of when she was unable to provide him with a male heir. It’s no wonder, really, that Henry’s next wife was the meek and mild Jane Seymore, as far removed from the feisty Anne as you could possibly get.
To celebrate the 87th Academy Awards, here is a complete list of every woman who has taken home the Oscar for Leading Actress over the years. Katharine Hepburn holds the record for this category, having taken home four Academy Awards for Leading Actress … Continue reading
This week, my boyfriend took me to see Les Miserables at the West End. Despite being a huge fan of the film adaptation and having sung all the songs in my high school choir, I had never been able to see the show on stage. It didn’t disappoint. But, before this turns into a review of the musical or – worse – a lengthy love letter to the musical that is Les Mis, I wanted to look into the history behind the story – and the tragic events that inspired the novel it’s based on.
It’s freezing outside (and inside – did I mention I’m in a super old, steel boat?) so I thought I’d share some of my favourite winter landscapes from the late 18th Century to help make the cold weather feel a bit more beautiful and a bit less brutal.
Ivan Shishkin (1832–1898) – Winter
For a Titanic-obsessed, WW1-enthusiast, you can imagine how delighted I am to find myself currently working on a World War One battleship. Not that I am doing anything nautical in my job, I should add, but the digital agency I work for happens to have its office onboard the HMS President.
Naturally, I did a bit of investigating…
The witch-hunts of Early Modern Europe (think the Tudors and the Stewarts) are remembered for their hysteria, their brutality and, more recently, their apparent misogyny. Yes, they could be brutal, yes they provoked hysteria (I know it occurred in America but The Crucible, anyone?) and yes, many poor women lost their lives as a result, but here are a few facts that will hopefully nuance these beliefs…
Originally posted on nowasIwrite:
France is reeling. A secular nation, proud of its disentanglement from the complications of religious rule, has this morning been savaged by Islamic extremists. Today’s attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris is symptomatic of what the…
My History Cafe 