美国国家公共电台 NPR Julia Baird Paints A Stronger, More Likable 'Victoria The Queen'

Julia Baird Paints A Stronger, More Likable 'Victoria The Queen'

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0007:33repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST: 

Victoria, queen and empress, once held the record as the longest-serving British monarch² - 63 years on the throne. She was surpassed last year by her great-great-granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II. Though Victoria is often remembered as a dumpy little woman in perpetual mourning, biographer Julia Baird presents her differently. In her new book, "Victoria: The Queen," Victoria is a hardworking, power-loving monarch who is passionately⁴ in love with her husband Albert, with whom she had nine children before his death at the age of 42. Julia Baird joins me now from our studios in New York.

Welcome.

JULIA BAIRD: Hello. Thanks so much for having me.

WERTHEIMER: Now, in my little introduction, I failed to mention, perhaps, the most intriguing⁵ part of your book, which is that Victoria had a very active love life. I guess we could infer that from the number of children she had. But...

BAIRD: Right.

WERTHEIMER: ...You tell us that she was a sexy lady.

BAIRD: She really was. She - the way she spoke⁶ about her husband and their intimacy⁷, the way she described him and how he looked in his tight white pants - she was a very passionate³ woman. I'll tell you one story about one thing I found that had not been written about before, which gives you some kind of insight into it.

In Osborne House, a family home they had on the Isle⁸ of Wight, I was staring at a painting and a guide said to me, have a look closely at these paintings because there's often a trick in them. There's something concealed⁹. And I stared at this painting for quite a while. It was these three women. It was a summer picnic, and they're sitting under a parasol and one of them is leaning back with this blissful look on her face. And if you look and look, you'll suddenly notice there's an extra pair of shoes coming out from under that woman's dress, right?

WERTHEIMER: (Laughter).

BAIRD: And then you look closely again and you see the outline of a man's back under there. Now, this was supposed to have been one of the first that Victoria bought - and bought for her and Albert. Now, if that doesn't tell you something about this young queen, I don't know what is. But it's certainly a side of her we never see because we tend to see her in these large, kind of formidable and forbidding statues.

WERTHEIMER: She was a teenager when she inherited the throne, way down the line of royals who might rule England. Was she, do you think, in any way ready for this?

BAIRD: She was ready in the sense that she was calm, and she was poised¹⁰, and she wanted it. And she had had to fight off - like, her mother had wanted to become regent so Victoria would be - you know, become queen, you know, a few years later. Her mother's closest adviser¹¹, John Conroy, had tried to bully¹² her into signing papers to say that could happen.

She was surrounded by people who wanted to take the power away from her. But in her standing¹³ up to them, I think, in a way, she demonstrated that this was going to be a strong-minded woman.

WERTHEIMER: She didn't really want to marry, I gather. She might have had the first Elizabeth, the Virgin¹⁴ Queen in mind, thinking that marriage would essentially¹⁵ cramp¹⁶ her style.

BAIRD: Well, look, she was brought up in such a stifling¹⁷ system. It was called this Kensington System. She was not allowed to walk down stairs unless someone held her hand and she was accompanied. Every mouthful of her food was tasted in case someone was trying to poison her. She had a very sheltered childhood.

And then suddenly - imagine the most rebellious¹⁸ teenager suddenly being given a throne. She becomes queen. And she was like, this is fantastic. She loved to dance. She was always the last at the party. She danced for hours. So she had a fantastic life when she first became queen. She absolutely relished¹⁹ it.

WERTHEIMER: She did marry. She was just ecstatic about Albert.

BAIRD: I know. Her diaries are full of lots of underlinings and capitals and italics. She talked about how he was such a fine figure. And she loved his mustache, which she called his mustachios. In fact, she ordered that all the soldiers in her army should then have a mustache just like Albert. So she really fell very deeply, madly in love with him. And she proposed to him, which was nerve-wracking. But because of her status, she had to propose.

WERTHEIMER: She had to be the one. He couldn't do it.

BAIRD: No, that's right. And in the first few days, she's really talking about how much she loved watching him shave and him helping²⁰ put on her stockings and those intimate details.

But there were also signs of some kind of tension between the as well because he was very keen to take on responsibility and official duties, and he was incredibly bright. But she didn't want to relinquish²¹ any of those to him in the early stages.

WERTHEIMER: You know, I don't think that anybody believes that Elizabeth II rules much of anything in the modern world. But Victoria, she really did rule?

BAIRD: Oh, she absolutely did. I think that's one of the things that really surprised me. I felt that - when I was trying to unpack²² a lot of the myths about Victoria, I really felt that people had not recognized her love of ruling and her sense of duty about it. And at a time when there was a transition to a constitutional queen - so much more of a symbolic²³ role - she was constantly trying to protect her own authority.

And when one of those complicated creatures who would say, oh, I don't think women are fit for ruling. This political stuff isn't - is obviously for men. But you will not be prime minister, sir. You know what I mean?

(LAUGHTER)

BAIRD: And she had much more of a hand on the realm than I think we tend to think. And we also forget she ruled for 40 years on her own.

WERTHEIMER: On her own because her husband died.

BAIRD: That's right.

WERTHEIMER: Albert died. She was in deep mourning for her husband, and she sort of faded away from public life. Late in this widowhood period, Victoria had a close relationship with a servant. His name was John Brown. He was a Scotsman. And she and he had a relationship which has been kind of a mystery.

BAIRD: A mystery and a scandal and been gossiped about for quite some time. I mean, even her own family, at the time, called him the queen's stallion. He had been her Highlands servant, initially²⁴ Albert's. And he's always in her journals as this physical presence. He lifted her up over streams. He kind of guided her, and he protected her. He called her woman (laughter).

WERTHEIMER: (Laughter) The queen.

BAIRD: He made her laugh when he told her she'd put on weight lately and she was heavier than the other ladies. But it's a fascinating relationship because of its depth - the amount of time they spent together, her fierce loyalty²⁵, her complete denial to take on board any of her family's insistence²⁶ that this was, in fact, causing a scandal.

And I was reading through her doctor's journals in - which are kept in Scotland in the family's house. And he had written in this tiny almost code on the corner of one of the pages that he walked in on Victoria and John Brown playing some strange kind of game where he lifted up his kilt and said, oh, is it here? And the queen lifted up her skirt and said, oh, no, it's here. What it is...

WERTHEIMER: Whoa.

BAIRD: (Laughter) Right? - is open to speculation²⁷. But really, what it did show is a remarkable²⁸ intimacy.

WERTHEIMER: Julia Baird's new biography is called "Victoria: The Queen."

Thank you very much for talking with us.

BAIRD: It's been such a great pleasure. Thank you.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

3 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

4 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

5 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

8 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

9 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

10 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

11 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

12 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

15 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

16 cramp   

n.痉挛；[pl.](腹)绞痛；vt.限制，束缚

参考例句：

• Winston stopped writing,partly because he was suffering from cramp.温斯顿驻了笔，手指也写麻了。
• The swimmer was seized with a cramp and had to be helped out of the water.那个在游泳的人突然抽起筋来，让别人帮着上了岸。

17 stifling   

a.令人窒息的

参考例句：

• The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热，光景是要下雨。
• We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里，简直透不过气来。

18 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

19 relished   

v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望

参考例句：

• The chaplain relished the privacy and isolation of his verdant surroundings. 牧师十分欣赏他那苍翠的环境所具有的幽雅恬静，与世隔绝的气氛。 来自辞典例句
• Dalleson relished the first portion of the work before him. 达尔生对眼前这工作的前半部分满有兴趣。 来自辞典例句

20 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

21 relinquish   

v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手

参考例句：

• He was forced to relinquish control of the company.他被迫放弃公司的掌控权。
• They will never voluntarily relinquish their independence.他们绝对不会自动放弃独立。

22 unpack   

vt.打开包裹（或行李），卸货

参考例句：

• I must unpack before dinner.我得在饭前把行李打开。
• She said she would unpack the items later.她说以后再把箱子里的东西拿出来。

23 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

24 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

25 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

26 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

27 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

28 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。