IN THE VICTORIAN STYLE 

I AM currently re-reading Antonia Byatt's Possession. This is a neo-Victorian romance novel I read about ten years ago, and which I am now reading for the fourth time. Novels like Possession are called neo-Victorian because they are written today in the Victorian style -- realistic, thick prose, with Victorian themes and concerns.

I love this novel because it is original, beautifully written and intricate; it is also about many things which interest me personally, such as beauty, fashion, Victorian women, the meaning of blonde hair in literature and culture.

Blonde hair has multiple meanings today -- from saintly and innocent to sexy and bewitching. It was so for the Victorians too, who saw blonde hair having antithetical meanings: it could signify the true shine of gold but also the beauty of the femme fatale. For this mythology of hair the Victorians drew on long traditions from fairy-tales and folk legends, as well as ballads and paintings. Hair had an almost totemistic power for the Victorians; to give a lock of hair to someone signified strong attachment or even love. Hair was put in jewels such as amulets and rings. Locks of hair could be framed and placed on the wall.

For Charles Dickens, blonde heroines are absolutely good and fairy-like. He also liked brunettes, of course, creating the memorable Estella in Great Expectations, as well as the amazing Bela Wilfer and mysterious Lizzie Hexam in Our Mutual Friend!

Possession is the novel which made me want to do my PhD on the Victorians. I wanted to be like Maude Bailey and Roland Mitchell, the novel's protagonists, who know so much about this amazing age!

More observations on Possession in a later post!