Queen Victoria's Men
Opinion
We asked a number of the guest presenters in the 'Queen Victoria's Men' programme for their thoughts on Queen Victoria. This is what they told us…
Matthew Sweet
"Our collective image of Queen Victoria is still strongly shaped by two things that she never said or did: her declaration that she was not amused – and by implication, thought little of anyone who was – and her refusal to believe in the existence of lesbians. The former is an old canard; the latter was concocted as recently as the 1970s.
The twentieth century defined itself against the Victorians in general, and Victoria in particular. Its self-image depended upon maintaining the fantasy that the Victorian era was a time in which behaviour was regulated with cruel and unusual sternness; that the nineteenth century was some kind of police state of the sensibility. As time moves on, we'll grow to forget these myths and form a more mature relationship with the queen and her century."
"Our collective image of Queen Victoria is still strongly shaped by two things that she never said or did: her declaration that she was not amused – and by implication, thought little of anyone who was – and her refusal to believe in the existence of lesbians. The former is an old canard; the latter was concocted as recently as the 1970s.
The twentieth century defined itself against the Victorians in general, and Victoria in particular. Its self-image depended upon maintaining the fantasy that the Victorian era was a time in which behaviour was regulated with cruel and unusual sternness; that the nineteenth century was some kind of police state of the sensibility. As time moves on, we'll grow to forget these myths and form a more mature relationship with the queen and her century."
About
Matthew Sweet holds a doctorate from Oxford University for work on Wilkie Collins. His books and TV films include 'Inventing the Victorians,' 'Silent Britain,' and 'Shepperton Babylon: The Lost Worlds of British Cinema.' He presents 'Night Waves' and 'Freethinking' on BBC Radio 3.
Matthew Sweet holds a doctorate from Oxford University for work on Wilkie Collins. His books and TV films include 'Inventing the Victorians,' 'Silent Britain,' and 'Shepperton Babylon: The Lost Worlds of British Cinema.' He presents 'Night Waves' and 'Freethinking' on BBC Radio 3.
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