Victorian weekends

So, I've spent the better part of  Friday evening and this (Saturday) morning watching BBC adaptations of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South and Wives and Daughters. I'm tired but so happy. It was a wonderful opportunity to escape into that Victorian world of restrained but passionate love and quiet social revolutions and simpler but more complex lives. I often think I would have liked to have been part of that world in some ways. No, things were not easy , in fact quite the opposite, dangerous even. But the good things were so good, don't you think?

Source: Here

Gaskell feels so much like an English Edith Wharton but with a wider range. Among her many novels and short stories I'd only read North and South, and that too ages ago. I'd watched the Cranford mini-series. But these two mini-series were a revelation. It may even be blasphemy to say it, but I think I may even prefer her over Austen. Okay, okay, maybe that is going too far. But really, I suppose it's also because the subject matter is so intimate, I suppose in some way. I even heard someone describe Wives and Daughters as a Victorian 'soap opera'. And I suppose in some sense it is. But a soap opera with greater depth and sense of adventure you will not find.

Elizabeth Gaskell (Source: Here)

As for North and South, I suppose the character of John Thornton has always been one of fascination comparable perhaps only to Mr Darcy- but more tender and vulnerable I think. Richard Armitage brings a wonderful stern, yet vulnerable muted sexiness to the role. The man's acting is wonderful and I suppose I even have a slight crush on John Thornton as portrayed by Armitage. Watch it and I dare you to come away NOT feeling that little something. In any case, the heroine of the story , Margret Hale, is timeless, in her courage, willfulness and almost unnerving ability to take life on. She is beautifully portrayed by Daniela Denby-Ashe.

So,all in all, it's been a wonderful day. It also got me thinking about whether I'd ever be satisfied with my current world. I suppose there is a part of me longing for the kind of adventures portrayed in these stories- a longing to break down barriers and live more fully and love more fully...
I wonder what's in store...  

Source: Here