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Verity Appreciation Week - Day 2: Verity + kindness

He had often thought that if a man were allowed a second wife he would have asked his cousin, for her kindness and generosity and for the soothing effect she always had on him. - Demelza, Book I, Chapter 1.

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Verity Blamey (née Poldark) Appreciation Week - Day 1: Favourite costume

The jaunty brown outfit (3x02)

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On monday we start Elizabeth Appreciation Week, but meanwhile I would love to officially announce Verity Poldark-Blamey Appreciation Week!!!

Rules are pretty much the same as in the case of Elizabeth’s Week, but I will just repeat the most important ones:

The week will take place from 28.08.2017 to 03.09.2017.

Everyone can participate, but no hate or trolling, please.

All types of edits, fanart and written posts is allowed and appreciated! :)

In case of any questions, message/ask this blog or my personal one, creepywarleggan

Tag me (@) in your posts or tag them with #Verity Appreciation Week, and I will reblog in this blog.

Here’s the schedule for the week:

Day 1 (28.08): Favourite costume(s)

Day 2 (29.08): Verity + kindness

Day 3 (30.08): Favourite quote(s)

Day 4 (31.08): Writing Day

Day 5 (01.09): Favourite relationship(s)

Day 6 (02.09): Verity + happiness

Day 7 (03.09): Free Choice

Please reblog to spread the news and hopefully we all will soon appreciate Verity together!!!

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#when you have no plot but are still cute af

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Since Poldark S3 has been a huge disappointment for me (especially how they handled the Ross and Demelza storyline), I thought I’d make a list of some of the Ross/Demelza moments – high and low – that I missed in this series.

- All of the long talks between them about politics, religion, evil and the difficulties of being the perfect wife.

- Ross teasing Demelza – in a loving way – about things like her scarred knees, her port-drinking, her whist-playing.

- Demelza’s port-drinking

- Ross pinching Demelza’s bottom.

- Demelza’s initial insecurities around Caroline, and the development of their friendship.

- Demelza feeling fat and unattractive when she’s pregnant.

- Demelza’s unique way of expressing herself.

- Tholly Tregirls visiting Demelza, and Demelza telling Ross about it.

- Ross always seeking Demelza’s advice, and wanting to hear her opinion.

- Ross taking Demelza down the mine.

- Ross and Demelza dancing.

- Their honest and open talks about Demelza’s feelings for Hugh.

- The Bassets dining with the Poldarks at Nampara.

- Ross’s involvement in helping Basset arresting the rioters.

I still can’t believe they didn’t include any of this in the show.

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Hi read your post, D is diff in s3 but that is because she is struggling with all whats happened. 3.01 she was so sad ,then after Roscoff she was annoyed with him,he says one thing and does another,Dwight was his friend ,yes he had to go but one min he wants to be a country squire and next he in France. She gets snarky with him because he is stubborn

(2/5) She knows what he wants before he does,he is blind to things, she deserves to be snarky after what he put her through ,it took him months to say sorry,now he is saying twice, you have married the wrong man, look else where,not all men are besottted, he cant see what L is really like,says she wouldnt allow G to behave bad, he knows L, (yes thats the prob). Know D knows he kissed L, would that sound good to a 25 yr old girl, she ought to hang the moon for R now and he still didnt change

(3/5) He cant see that she is more vunerable now things that never bothered her before do now, she has lost her faith in him and herself,chink in her armour, she has been second best for most of her marriage . She has never had his unconditional love, he loves her but he just needed to show it more,one dance at the ball,tell her she looks nice, she doubts her self worth ,he is not honest with her,she feels unappreciated.he is s good man but takes her for granted, so yes glad she is modern

(4/5)He would walk all over her otherwise, think she deserved to be snarky with him at times ,didnt like the beach snark after Agatha died,he retaliated bad back as well, she knows that R should do this job not G,he knows it,it annoys her, agree that some dialogue from book D does not suit show D that gets mixed up, book D would not of suited todays audience,she was too forgiving after his vbt, then when with H while she was still happy with R, that was horrible,glad Deb changed that. D was sweet in

(5/5)She was sweet in s1 but she was young and blinded with love,she no longer sees him with rose rimmed spectacles, she had him on a pedestal . Circumstances have changed her. Going with H was wrong because of her beliefs but he is the first man thats loved her because he wants to,R married her out of obligation,Sparks helped me with understanding all this. Thats my take anyway,

Okay, Nonny. Since your ask was long, I’m going to try and tackle this the best I can. This answer will probably be long, too. Here goes: 

This is my take. Modern Demelza does not work in the show because they gave her 21st Century attitudes, but left everyone else in the 18th century. This is a period drama. It is not unreasonable to expect that the characters and the story are accurate to the time period. If modern people can’t accept that this is a period drama and that characters are going to act according to the mores and dictates of that period, then perhaps they shouldn’t watch the show. The other thing is that if DH wants a modern take on this, then, as @mmmuses said in another post, she should do a modern adaptation of Poldark and set it on the 21st century. 

One thing that people miss who love modern Demelza is that she can be as feisty as she wants, but it doesn’t change things like the laws at the time. A modern woman, in the same situation has the freedom to leave. In the 18th century, she did not. A married woman had zero rights under the law. In fact, the law did not recognize her as a person at all. She was part of her husband. In 18th century England, a woman could not obtain a divorce at all. A man could, but only if his wife had committed adultery. So hypothetically, Ross could divorce her after her thing with Hugh and she would be left with nothing. Not even her children. Being modern and feisty isn’t going to help you there. 

The thing about book Demelza is this: she is a more mature character. She is allowed to mature. Time and experience made her grow up. But in spite of everything she has gone through, she was still a sweet and kind person. That is not weakness. To maintain that in the face of some really tough things shows strength of character. She is wiser, but she is not bitter. What you’re describing with Modern Demelza is anger and bitterness. Those are not positive traits in a person.

There is a time gap between Warleggen and Black Moon where R & D’s reconciliation happened. Their reconciliation actually started in Warleggen, but it was very slow. Still, most of it happened between the two books. So no, she did not forgive Ross “too quickly”. Warleggen ended around Christmas time. Black Moon picked up a few months later. It may be your opinion that their reconciliation happened “too quickly”, but you are forgetting that R & D love each other deeply and they are meant to be together, which is their motivation to resolve things. The amount of time someone needs to resolve a problem is also subjective. It depends on the parties involved and how much effort they put into it. 

You’re also forgetting that Ross was sorry for what he did with E, even though he didn’t express it the best way. He showed regret and remorse right away because he damaged the trust between him and his wife. On the show, you see it in Aidan Turner’s acting and facial expressions. Ross is horrible at communicating things verbally, so on the show, you have to pay close attention to all those non-verbal cues, which Aidan does so beautifully. Demelza is also not very good at communicating, for that matter. Modern Demelza is even worse at it than Book Demelza. Modern Demelza has this nasty habit of never giving Ross a chance to explain or clarify things he says that don’t come out sounding as he may have intended. She reacts to the words. It also seems that Ross on the show is the one making the effort to change, where Demelza is not. 

This brings me back to the point about historical accuracy. Because Demelza is stuck in this marriage, the only option she has is to make it work. Being snarky and bitter and angry is not how you work things out like a mature adult. And as young as she is, people in those days grew up very quickly. They had no choice. Modern Demelza also does not work here because if she remains snarky and bitter and angry, then she’s basically stuck in a miserable marriage and contributing to its miserable state. What motivation does Ross have to stay faithful to her if all she does is bitch at him all the time? Plus now you’ve taken away the happy ending. As part of the audience, if she’s going to be bitchy and out of character all the time, then what motivation do I have to root for this couple to fix things and be happy? None. I can’t find anything worth cheering for if all she’s going to do is complain and be snarky at him and criticize him all the time. 

A successful marriage is about balance. Both partners are responsible for maintaining equilibrium. Things will happen that will upset this equilibrium. It is up to both partners to adapt and change to restore equilibrium. You cannot have equilibrium in a relationship when one person decides she’s going to do whatever she wants while the other person has to sit back and let her do it. This is also my problem with Modern Demelza. In the books, Ross and Demelza are perfect foils for each other. They also adapt and change to maintain that equilibrium in their relationship. I’m not seeing anything like that on the show. In fact, it seems like they’re trying to make Demelza more modern at the expense of Ross’s character. I also believe that making D modern also comes at Caroline’s expense as well. 

The other issue with modernizing a period character is that our modern culture defines strength of character backwards. Book Demelza is a stronger character than Modern Demelza. Book Demelza is a stronger character because she takes the time to think through and ponder what she does and how she feels about things before she acts. She doesn’t always do the right thing, but she is human. Modern Demelza is impulsive and doesn’t think things through. She acts on emotion and sometimes that emotion is spite or anger. Our culture mistakenly teaches us that to stop and think about things first is indecisiveness and therefore indecisiveness is weakness. Acting without thinking is weakness. Hugh Armitage doesn’t love her in an adult way. Hugh has basically a crush on her and because of who he is and his station in life, he can act on it and he does. 

The lines that Ross says about “you’ve married the wrong man” are an example of how Modern Demelza misinterprets things and doesn’t ask him to explain what he meant. At times during this past season, it felt like Modern Demelza was looking for reasons to take up with Hugh. This is an example of that. He was not pushing her away nor was he telling her he didn’t want her, as so many people are interpreting that to mean. Book Demelza struggled with her attraction to Hugh right up until the act itself. 

Modern Demelza is trying to make Ross into something he is not, and then she gets snippy when he won’t do what she wants him to do, while Book Demelza understands who her husband is and doesn’t push him or berate him for not taking the MP offer at first. 

If you have not read the books, I recommend that you do because there is so much context in them that is missing from the show. I felt that S3 was rushed and they tried to cram too much into 9 episodes. There was a lot of context missing from what we saw on screen. 

In the end, these two crazy kids, Ross and Demelza, do love each other. Deeply. They do not want to be without the other. And they do stay together because they love each other and they want to be together. That is the end goal, but with the changes that Debbie made, she’s going to have to do a lot of logical gymnastics in order to have the TV versions reach that goal. I can suspend my disbelief, but up to a point. Because if I were in TV Ross’s shoes, I wouldn’t want to stay married to someone who was snarky to me and did things out of spite towards me or never gave me the benefit of the doubt. That’s tantamount to emotional abuse. 

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Poldark + Text Posts (1 / ?)

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- We’re not married.

= We’re not married.  We don’t go to the supermarket on a horse.

- But we do sometimes.

for @shiparker

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From Page to Screen: Hair Aesthetics

@poldorking sent me this question about historical aesthetics last week in a private message. 

Hi there, I thought I’d message you here, as I have a question but I’m not sure if it counts as a costuming question. I’d read in histories of the pre-Raphaelite art, that their depiction of redheads challenged earlier notions of red hair as ugly and unlucky. In our time, of course, we have different views attached to red hair, but does the choice in the 1970s Poldark and the modern one to have her be a redhead fit the book characterization that Elizabeth was considered more beautiful than Demelza, in light of the 18th century view of red hair? I was wondering about this, considering that in the past there had been discussion that Elizabeth and Demelza’s looks were seemingly less contrasted in the modern adaptation, to our modern eyes.

Before I answer the casting question, this is a good time to expand on previous statements I’ve made about Demelza’s hair color. Demelza’s bright red hair in the new series was deemed inaccurate by the experts. The historical points towards bias in the 18th Century that doesn’t exist today or even in comparison other eras of history. Elizabeth I’s red hair was seen as a positive quality during the Tudor Era. This argument between linguists on the terms for red hair shows even more swings in historical attitudes. 

One 18th Century manual on childrearing claimed based on old wives’ tales nursemaids with red hair had “sour milk”. This source not only attributes negative attitudes towards red haired women, it also shows a bit of classism between the lines. Women who earned a domestic servants’ salary likely didn’t have the means to dye/ their red hair. This blog also cites the same manual but also adds documentation of religious/mythological bias against bright red hair. The tones we call today strawberry blonde or chestnut/auburn were closer to the 18th Century fashion ideal of blonde, brown or black hair. This portrait of Marie Antoinette as a strawberry blonde proves that not all red tones were seen as terrible at this point in history.

For those of you who haven’t read the novels, here’s two early instances of physical descriptions. Elizabeth has “her fragile loveliness had often left him tongue-tied until he came to know her as she really was.” (Ross Poldark Book 1 Chapter 4) Demelza on the other hand “her face was pinched and white, and her eyes, a very dark brown, were much too big for it. (Ross Poldark Book 1 Chapter 6). In later books there are more references to blonde hair for Elizabeth and dark hair plus “earthy” features for Demelza. Here’s one of the early book covers which gives Demelza a bit of an Esmerelda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame vibe as the polar opposite of genteel Elizabeth.

I crowdsourced an answer as far the inside info on the 1970′s casting from When it comes to behind the scenes information from the 1970′s I The consensus was reached that the 1970′s casting of Demelza was not influenced by historical notions of red hair. Although WG’s description was taken into consideration, other factors won out in the end. Here’s a side-by-side of Elizabeth and Demelza from Episode 5 of the 1970′s:

One person dug up an interview from 2012 Robin Ellis did with the Los Angeles Times. The relevant quote to this question is: “It was really extraordinary; we just hit it off. She’s an interesting woman. Her father was a psychiatrist and ended up as head of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the United Kingdom. A very bright woman, and naturally sort of vivacious and talented. And with an edge, a sort of natural edge. Demelza in the books is dark-haired, I think; Angharad [Rees] had a little battle to retain her red hair, which worked tremendously well in contrast to Jill Townsend’s Elizabeth, who is the classic English rose blond. But Angharad and I just hit it off temperamentally, and we just sparked off each other, and liked each other a great deal.” Since a few people pointed out that Angharad’s natural hair was lighter, she believed she wouldn’t look good in a brown or even black wig. The 1970′s fans couldn’t recall any negative reaction at the time to Rees having red hair.

Another expert said that the slow development of color TV in England was another possible factor for Rees to believe Demelza would stand out with red hair. If you watch the 1970′s series, sometimes Verity’s brown hair fades into the background. Black and brown tones are often distorted.

Since Angharad Rees set the president for Demelza to have red hair to match her spunky character, Eleanor Tomlinson followed her lead. She decided to dye her blonde hair red for the new series. Fan expectations based on the precedent clearly outweighed what WG described. Heida Reed kept her natural brown hair but emphasized Elizabeth’s natural patrician looks and attitude.

The main reason why viewers can’t see that much of a difference looks wise between Demelza and Elizabeth is because modern audiences don’t associate red hair with negative stereotypes. 1970′s and new series viewers also have different standards on beauty correlated to class. 

The Ask Box is open for more general costuming questions! 

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Thinking about season 3 over again, it strikes me that Demelza pushing Ross to be a magistrate and, later, an MP is a lot like Ross (mostly in season 1) pushing her to accept the different aspects of her role as a gentleman’s wife. Both think their partner is capable of more than said partner thinks, but they both express that belief as frustration or just waive concerns aside when the other is insecure or rejects their views.

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Hi! I've come to weigh in! I think Demelza has deeply seated abandonment issues coupled with insecurity and thinking that she isn't good enough for Ross (and yes she can have all that no matter how good he is to her or how many times he proves his love is real) because of this it can seem to her easier to try to sabotage and push Ross away. Also in turning to another man it seems to me that she has an overpowering, destructive NEED to be loved, to be wanted and desired.

Hi anon, sorry for the delay in answering this.

I absolutely agree with the first half of your message about show!Demelza: I think she’s desperately insecure in herself, as Ross’s wife and in the society in which she is increasingly moving. It’s an insecurity that Ross, who moves easily in both his own class and in other classes, can’t recognise for the deep-seated issue that it is for Demelza. I think her levels of insecurity fluctuate, but it’s always there in the background. She’s always ‘betwixt and between. Neither one thing nor the other’. It’s something that Ross never really has much patience for, and certainly I imagine that he would dismiss any voicing of her feelings as ‘don’t be silly’, or something of that nture - because to him, Demelza is like he is: a chameleon, able to fit herself to her present company, with nothing to feel insecure about. The wife of Ross Poldark, a gentlewoman no matter where she came from. Ross simply can’t understand why she should still be insecure.

I don’t think, however, that she turns to another man from an overpowering or destructive need to be loved, wanted and desired. I think, firstly, it’s a part of human nature to want to be loved and wanted, and in that sense Demelza is no different from anyone else - and certainly I don’t think her need for it is any more destructive than, say, Elizabeth’s is (which leads her into two disastrous or semi-disastrous marriages and a liaison that nearly destroys her own life as well as those of Ross and Demelza).

Secondly, I don’t think Demelza ‘turned’ towards Hugh. I think Hugh made approaches to her that, for whatever reason (and there are numerous reasons), she was vulnerable to and thus accepted with greater or lesser amounts of compunction. Though arguably she didn’t try very hard, she did make attempts at rebuffing him, at reminding him that she is married, that she is Ross’s wife, and that he’s living in a dream. And yes, in the end, she joined him briefly in that dream - but not so much because she was turning to him from Ross but because Hugh was beckoning her onwards and she was in pain, and perhaps hoped that Hugh could ease that pain. 

But I don’t think she’s destructive with her need for love. I think that’s just human nature.

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Will ‘ee be joining us below, ma'am? No, I think not. But do take my assistant and make sure he reports back to me. 

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Hi you have summed it all up brill for me, she is very brittle, even from 3.01. Her face was so sad at times, moments of happiness but deeply effected over Val,Ross did nothing wrong as such but he could of just fussed over her more, more attention, dance with her. Just one dance,he left her at parties, for Hugh to then prey on her, if Ross had realised how unsure of his love she felt,it would of been a diff story do you think ? Thanks

if Ross had realised how unsure of his love she felt,it would of been a diff story do you think ?

I think there are two sides to this question, really. The first is what would have happened if Ross had realised she was feeling that, and the second is whether she was feeling that in the first place.

In terms of the first - would it have been different if Ross had realised how unsure Demelza was: I’m……..not sure. I like to think so, because we’ve seen before how he reacts when he realises that she does doubt his love for her (ie, the stockings). But the problem is that Demelza, in the show, has frequently (or at least recurrently) been insecure about Ross’s love for her, and I feel it’s almost become so much background noise that it’s grown harder for Ross to realise when it’s at dangerous levels.

In terms of the second: is what Demelza feels, in s3, about doubting Ross’s love for her? Perhaps still in 3.01; or perhaps it’s more about doubting his commitment, doubting that he has truly moved on from the demons that plagued him at the end of s2. But I personally don’t feel that she doubted his love for her in any real way, in s3. I think she did have doubts, but they focused on two things: Valentine, and Ross’s assessment of his own character and thus his refusal (stubborn, in her view) to take positions of greater responsibility in the community.

In terms of Valentine, those doubts are obvious. She knows Valentine culd be Ross’s, and doubts whether Ross will be able to stay away given that suspicion that they both share.

In terms of his character: what I saw, again and again in s3, is Ross saying one thing but doing another. He says he wants to be a quiet country squire, but then he goes off to France in search of his friend not once, but twice. I should be clear that I don’t blame him for this! His loyalty to Dwight is nothing but admirable. But he goes despite what he says he wants to be. And both times he leads men. First just Tholly, but then a whole group. Ross is a leader. It’s a theme that’s been repeated throughout the show. Think of s1: the members of the Carnmore Copper Company wanted Ross to lead them, knew that he was the only man for the job. He is a leader of men. It is one of his best qualities, one of his great skills. Men want to follow him. He can be persuasive and determined and he can lead men into the fires of hell if he chooses.

Show!Demelza sees this with absolute clarity, and knows that he won’t actually be content staying in Cornwall as a quiet country gentleman, no matter what he says, because he has never been thus content before. She doubts him when he says that’s what he wants, because she knows his true character. But Ross is mired in self-blindness, perhaps because he’s so determined to do better with Demelza, and Demelza lacks the ability to express it clearly to him. And I think she becomes utterly frustrated by his blindness. It becomes a kind of doubt: a doubt in his ability to make choices that will lead to his contentment. I will stress again that I’m talking about the show here, not the books.

So yes, I doubt think it’s doubting Ross’s love for her that makes Demelza open to Hugh’s flattering attention. I don’t think it’s that at all. But there is certainly doubt present in her, in s3.

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S4 read through!

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Morning horrible day,did a rewatch of 3.09 for my sins,considering how moody and sharp R is at times with D,he was very loving and kind and Kind to D when she came home,why do you think? -how come he didnt shout and "say where the hell have you been" like oldark did, glad he put his arm round her though, she hit him 2.08 ,which i dont blame her for because he had been awful most of s2' thanks

I think Ross knows that shouting would accomplish nothing, at this point. What would be the point? What would be the point of being angry? I think Ross is tired of being angry. He’s tired of it. And the fear that she might not come back has been very, very real for him. I think his fear is much, much greater than his anger, at this point. He’s afraid and he’s desperately unhappy - and when Demelza comes in, he sees those feelings in her, too. If she had come in pretending nothing had changed, perhaps anger might have had a place, but she didn’t. She comes in and, excepting in terms of stopping him asking questions, she gives him a level of emotional honesty that I think Ross would struggle to be angry with. She is clearly unhappy. She is clearly afraid. They are sharing those feelings. They are separate in their unhappinesses but holding on to the reality of their love for each other. So he reaches out to her, brings her close, clings on to her as she clings on to him, as one of the very few certainties in the world - even if it’s not a certainty that’s necessarily real or justified in the present moment.

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I just don’t want to deal with this right now. I’m taking a holiday from dealing. Happily vacationing in the land of not coping.

Francis (via incorrectpoldarkquotes)

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170131 Selasi Gbormittah ‏from The Great British Bake Off with Poldark’s Aidan Turner and Ruby Bentall at the Radio Times Covers Party in London

Source: Selasi Gbormittah / Twitter