#1860s woman

[la-belle-histoire]

News from Afar, Alfred Stevens. 1865.

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

Marcus Stone (1840-1921) "An Interrupted Duel" (1868)

[toanunnery]

Woman Reading. Portrait of Sofia Kramskaya

Ivan Nikolayevich Kramskoy, 1866

[pastlivesfinery]

Le Follet, 1866 💖

[daguerreotyping]

Carte de visite of Julia Apraxin, Countess Batthyány, actress, novelist and freemason, photographed in costume as a hussar circa 1860

[fawnvelveteen]

Anonymous Woman with Her Vanity Mirror

[i-love-this-art]

Edgar Degas / "Portrait of a young woman" / 1867 / Musée d'Orsay

[refrigeratedboombursts]

Why do you people think Cyllene had like. Any part in raising Cyrus. She's not his grandma, she's like. Great-grandmother at LEAST, and even that's a stretch. Kinda seems like a convoluted way to make a woman take the blame for a man's shitty behaviour but idk

[thedeadleafs]

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Woman with a Pearl, 1858-68

[archduchessofnowhere]

Unfair to ask if the Duke Max in Bavaria did or didn't father any other children out-of-wedlock, but just wondering about the sourcing of those rumors beyond "it would fit" to his playboy actions? Read about them here and there where the author seems to take it as given , but they're never named or anything particularly specific about them. I guessing he never officially acknowledge any bastards if he did indeed have any?

Hello! That Duke Max had children out-of-wedlock seems to have been common knowledge among his family. For instance, in her biography of Elisabeth, Brigitte Hamann writes that "Noontime was invariably sacrosanct; he [Duke Max] was available to no one, especially not to his wife or his legitimate children. That was when he dined in his rooms with his two illegitimate daughters, whom he loved dearly." The source for this statement is "Sexau Papers, Conversation with Prince Thurn und Taxis, July 27, 1938". Richard Sexau was a historian and biographer of Max's son Karl Theodor, and he did extensive research of the Ducal Witteslbachs. I assume the Prince of Thurn und Taxis whom Sexau talked to was Albert, Helene's son. So at least one source for Max having illegitimate children was his own grandson, who probably learned this from his mother or his grandmother Ludovika, who was very open to his children and grandchildren about her unhappy marriage.

But as far as I know, no one has ever been able to identify any of the children by name, since he indeed didn't recognize them. The closest we may be to know one of these children is this photograph of Max with an unidentified young woman:

Based on the woman's dress, this picture is from the 1860s. Was she one of the illegitimate daughters that Max "loved dearly"? We can't know, but at least she must have been someone he was very fond of, since he never took a picture like this with any of his daughters with Ludovika.

If I'll find something more about the subject I'll let you know!

[la-belle-histoire]

Study of a Girl in Profile, Franz Xaver Winterhalter. 1862.

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

Eastman Johnson (1824-1906) "Gathering Lilies" (1865) Oil on board Located in the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, United States

[bishopsbox]

source: @centuriespast

George Patten, A Woman clasping a crucifix to her breast (1860). Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

[pastlivesfinery]

Ca. 1864

[libraryledge]

Good Luck, Babe! (Connecting Chappell Roan's Song to Little Women)

Chappell Roan's 2024 song, "Good Luck, Babe!" has been stuck in my head for the past few weeks. The song is sung from the perspective of a woman expressing her frustration with another woman, whom she believes would be better off staying with her instead of running away with a man who will only view her as a wife. However, as a big fan of Little Women, I feel that every verse of this song could also represent the various characters and relationships in Louisa May Alcott's story from the 1860's, specifically the way that they are depicted in Greta Gerwig's 2019 film adaptation.

It's fine, it's cool You can say that we are nothing, but you know the truth And guess I'm the fool With her arms out like an angel through the car sunroof

Laurie has been in love with free-spirited Jo since they were teenagers, but she has never held romantic feelings for him. When she rejects his marriage proposal, he tells her that everyone believes that they would marry someday. Then he feels foolish when he realizes that Jo doesn't view marriage with him as a possibility.

I don't wanna call it off But you don't wanna call it love You only wanna be the one that I call "baby"

Meanwhile, Amy has been in love with Laurie since she was a child. Laurie begins to develop feelings for her, years after Jo rejects him. Although she loves him, Amy doesn't want to court Laurie because she doesn't want to become a second choice after his first love, her older sister, didn't wish to marry him.

You can kiss a hundred boys in bars Shoot another shot, try to stop the feeling You can say it's just the way you are Make a new excuse, another stupid reason Good luck, babe (well, good luck), well, good luck, babe (well, good luck) You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling Good luck, babe (well, good luck), well, good luck, babe (well, good luck) You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling

Laurie is devastated that Jo won't accept his proposal. Although she claims that she will never marry, he believes that she will find a husband someday, and he will painfully watch her newfound happiness from the sidelines. The grief is killing Laurie, and he doesn't know how to escape the feeling.

I'm cliché, who cares? It's a sexually explicit kind of love affair And I cry, it's not fair I just need a little lovin', I just need a little air

Meanwhile, Jo is feeling the immense guilt for bringing so much disappointment to her best friend. She desires platonic love, not physical and romantic love. Jo wants Laurie to understand this and is pained that the predicament is putting a strain between them.

Think I'm gonna call it off Even if you call it love I just wanna love someone who calls me "baby"

Laurie wants to find love with someone who will show him the same affection that he holds for them. He realizes that it is best to head off and start a life in a new direction. Little does he know that Jo is beginning to wonder if she made the right choice in declining his hand in marriage so quickly.

You can kiss a hundred boys in bars Shoot another shot, try to stop the feeling You can say it's just the way you are Make a new excuse, another stupid reason Good luck, babe (well, good luck), well, good luck, babe (well, good luck) You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling Good luck, babe (well, good luck), well, good luck, babe (well, good luck) You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling

After Laurie leaves, Jo encounters a series of hardships. Her beloved younger sister Beth passes away and her older sisters are off making their own lives. She feels the pains of losing her loved ones and truly misses Laurie's companionship. Emotionally, she is conflicted and no excuse she makes can mask the feelings.

When you wake up next to him in the middle of the night With your head in your hands, you're nothing more than his wife And when you think about me, all of those years ago You're standing face to face with "I told you so" You know I hate to say, "I told you so" You know I hate to say, but, I told you so

Before facing her own share of romantic troubles, Jo is troubled by her sister Meg's engagement to John Brooke. She urges her not to marry him and instead, insists she and Meg run away together and be free. Jo doesn't want her sister to look back on her life and regret her decision to enter marriage.

You can kiss a hundred boys in bars Shoot another shot, try to stop the feeling (well, I told you so) You can say it's just the way you are Make a new excuse, another stupid reason Good luck, babe (well, good luck), well, good luck, babe (well, good luck) You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling Good luck, babe (well, good luck), well, good luck, babe (well, good luck) You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling

Everyone intertwined in this story is facing their share of heartache. Whether it be unrequited love, loneliness, grief, or regret, all of the characters encounter the emotions that Roan describes in her hit song. While Louisa May Alcott's stories were written over 150 years ago, it is incredible how the characters still hold connections to the modern stories that women are telling in the 21st century through film and music.

Author's Note: Do you have any songs that you connect to a certain film, show, or book? Please let me know because I would love to do more of these lyric connection writing pieces.

[fawnvelveteen]

Photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron, 'Unknown Woman', albumen print, 1868-72