Did I hear Beauchamp whisper to the butler, ‘Je t’adore?’

[sige-vic.livejournal.com]

A bit of offtop, but very, very interesting, especially for fic writers. The extracts from the new book about sex scandal behind Waugh's Brideshead Revisited:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/book_extracts/article6788504.ece
Вright young things, aristocratic morals, homosexual relations with male servants and many more.
Just a little quotation:
* Lord Beauchamp’s homosexuality had been an open secret for years at a certain exalted level of society. He had a weakness for sex with his male servants, which had not abated since he married Lady Lettice Grosvenor, sister of the Duke of Westminster.
Boom — as Beauchamp was known, ostensibly because of his foghorn voice — was said to have “exquisite taste in footmen”. His interviewing style was unique. He would pass his hands over their buttocks, making a similar hissing noise to the one made by stable lads when rubbing their horses down. If the young man was handsome and pleasant, the earl would remark: “He’ll do well. Very nice indeed!”
The fingers of the footmen of Madresfield were said to be glittering with diamonds. One could hear the clunk of the jewelery as they served dinner. Harold Nicolson, the diplomat and diarist, recalled an astonished fellow guest at Madresfield who asked: “Did I hear Beauchamp whisper to the butler, ‘Je t’adore?’ ”
“Nonsense,” Nicolson replied. “He said, ‘Shut the door’.” *

Comments

[mxdp.livejournal.com]

I'm just going "teehee". Hope the butlers were okay with it, though...

[sige-vic.livejournal.com]

Well, it looks like they went there quite willingly :-)

[mxdp.livejournal.com]

*smirk*

[charie-caphine.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing! An 'exceptionally handsome' butler, indeed. A jooster crossover with Brideshead would be a curious read, I imagine.

[sige-vic.livejournal.com]

With Brideshead or with this real life story of Madresfield, yes :-) Bertie hears earl's whisper 'Je t'adore' to the butler and starts pondering :-)

[reginaldrobot.livejournal.com]

I AGREE XD

[allons-yalonso.livejournal.com]

Wow, that was really interesting. Thanks for posting, I'm now impatiently waiting for the book to come out!

[storyfan.livejournal.com]

That was a fascinating article. And it was interesting to learn that political influence could protect homosexuals to some degree, provided they were discreet. Unfortunately, it appears Lord B overplayed his hand.

Thanks for sharing this.

[axmxz.livejournal.com]

One guesses that Wooster, as an unmarried weathy young man from the upper Ten Thou, would probably not have too much to worry about, exposure-wise, unless he came afoul a professional blackmailer or made a very serious enemy.

[storyfan.livejournal.com]

And your guess leads me to ask this: If our Bertie's wealth protected him to a certain degree and Jeeves can always fish him out of the soup, why do so many of us (me included) work an almost desperate secrecy into the plot of our stories? Is it more fun that way? I shall have to reflect upon this.

[reginaldrobot.livejournal.com]

I think mostly because Jeeves would object to the open-ness,

[storyfan.livejournal.com]

You're right because Bertie could buy his way out of trouble, but might not be able to do so for Jeeves. And Jeeves is such a private character. He wouldn't care for all that notoriety.

[axmxz.livejournal.com]

I think secrecy, desperation, and a sense of tragic impossibility of outside validation of the relationship is the whole reason why slash has so much currency in the first place. Romances between a heterosexual couple of different socio-economic standing/race/religion used to have that, but they don't really any more, at least not where the majority of slashers live. It's what makes a romance a real romance as opposed to a hook-up with financial/procreative consequences.

[storyfan.livejournal.com]

You've summed this up rather nicely.

[charie-caphine.livejournal.com]

A great part of slash fanfiction (especially those stories set in the present/future/alternate reality) doesn't deal with the secrecy and percesution aspects of homosexual relationships at all, in my experience, therefore I don't think it is the whole reason for the genre's popularity. You are so very right on the subject of 'real romance' to be found in the anguish-strewn historic settings, though.

[axmxz.livejournal.com]

The secrecy and forbiddenness doesn't have to be overt, but it's practically always there. I know I can't imagine any of my slash pairings being at all interesting in a world where anyone can have anyone they want, and all the society at large would have to say is 'mazel tov.' No obstacles, no need to hide your feelings, no need to feel like there's something wrong with you, and no intensification of feelings through repression means no massive existential relief/joy when your feelings are returned. It's just a nice little love story, boy meets girl 2.0

[charie-caphine.livejournal.com]

Anyone can't have anyone they want regardless of the gender, and obstacles vary. I think slash veers from the 'nice little love story' tangent thanks to its modernly outspoken unusualty and the male characters being traditionally more exciting that the female, and as for the all-accepting worlds, some thrill may be due to the unconscious comparison of the fictional realm to the actual one.

[charie-caphine.livejournal.com]

I reckon it is more fun this way: it provides a personal conflict easy to visualise and sympathise with, plus the furtive Oscar Wilde connexion plays its part, among the other misunderstood love stories. And as axmxz noted, it makes for thrilling romance.

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

I keep them discreet, because I do believe there was danger in it, and I believe Jeeves would be discreet. I don't see it as more fun. When I wrote LOTR, there was no law to deal with. I preferred it that way. So I also don't see the fandom as more attractive due to the law. To me, it is less attractive.

And people did get in trouble for it. Here's a link:


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-540192/How-moment-madness-Britains-greatest-actor-drove-brink-suicide--forever-changed-attitudes-sex.html

Admittedly, this was 1950s but I personally think the danger was real. Wilde, Turing, there are examples of people who suffered due to the law. I do think the law didn't go after people in Bertie's situation unless given very good cause. Britten and Pears were pretty open and did not get into trouble, but even Pears said it was dangerous. I just don't see Jeeves taking risks like that. Read what happened to Turing and try to imagine Jeeves ever risking something like that. I simply can't.

I love them both too much. I won't take risks with them in my writing.

My 2 cents.

[storyfan.livejournal.com]

I read about Alan Turing in The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Turing was really one of England's heroes and his death was absolutely tragic.

I have a book of British slang that talks just a little bit about how homosexual relationships were illegal still in the 1950s and 60s, but that people just seemed to weirdly ignore that. In fact, one of the most popular radio shows starred two male characters who were obviously gay and were portrayed by gay actors. Go figure. I guess by that time (since the illegality was nullified to a degree in 1967 - hope that year is right) people might not have been all right with it, but they were willing to live and let live.
You make excellent points, as usual.

[sige-vic.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree with you about Lord B. I think his major mistake was that he considered himself invulnerable because of his high status. But he was wrong.

[reginaldrobot.livejournal.com]

Excellent post, that "nonsense, he said 'shut the door'." quote is very amusing, and I imagine it has plenty of potential for fic ideas.

[hazeltea.livejournal.com]

I cannot wait to read this book.