Some common misconceptions about Victorian morality
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Revision as of 23:07, 23 February 2011
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Victorian prudery sometimes went so far as to deem it improper to say "leg" in mixed company; instead, the preferred euphemism “limb” was used. Such ideas even pervaded seemingly unrelated aspects of daily life: there is a myth, started by Frances Trollope's "Domestic Manners of the Americans," and later applied to the British, that furniture such as tables were covered with embroidery and tablecloths so that table legs were hidden from view, but no historical evidence suggest that this was actually practiced. Those going for a swim in the sea at the beach would use a bathing machine. However, historians Peter Gay (Schnitzler's Century) and Michael Mason (The Making of Victorian Sexuality) both point out that we often confuse Victorian etiquette for a lack of knowledge. For example, despite the use of the bathing machine, it was still possible to see people bathing nude. Another example of the gap between common preconceptions of Victorian sexuality and historical record is that, contrary to what might be expected, Queen Victoria liked to draw and collect male nude figure drawings and even gave one to her husband as a present.
Myth has it that even piano legs were scandalous, and covered with tiny pantalettes. There is no actual evidence that piano legs were considered scandalous. Pianos and tables were often draped with shawls or cloths—but if the shawls hid anything, it was the cheapness of the furniture. There are references to lower-middle-class families covering up their pine tables rather than show that they couldn't afford mahogany. The piano leg story seems to have originated in Captain Frederick Marryat's 1839 book, Diary in America, as a satirical comment on American prissiness.
