Victoria: A Coburg Quartet {Roundtable}

On Victoria this week:

A series of family sketches adds to the turmoil in the royal household as it prepared for a costume ball.  Victoria is frustrated and lashing out, and Bertie’s behavior is not improving, both of which are increasing Albert’s displeasure.

In this roundtable Roz and I are discussing both the personal and the professional aspects of Victoria’s life.

The Personal

Roz: I want to scream at the use of phrenology when it comes to Bertie. Sure he’s a wild boy, but he’s not deformed or stupid because of his head shape! (Don’t even get me started on exactly how gross that whole “science” is.)

Besides my issues with the tension that Bertie is causing, there I don’t see why it is that everyone has to doubt what Victoria feels or thinks; she is a queen but she is a mother too and if everyone doubts that she can be both, I wish they’d all sod off because she does get things done without the help of anyone else. There are always people with machinations at those in higher places, and Feodora is just one looking out for her own interests rather than those of a country.

Cara: Oh, this week was infuriating for me. At first I blamed Albert and Feodora completely, particularly Feodora. But, the more I thought about it, I realized that they were really just responding to attitudes at the time. It’s incredibly annoying that Albert and Feodora keep giving Victoria the side eye for having emotions, but women were constantly judged as hysterical and irrational in the past, for showing even normal emotion. Not just women, everyone was expected to keep it all in and put on a good face for the world. Still, it was so frustrating to watch because we all know that there those attitudes still exist.

More than that, but partly as a result, Albert’s coolness towards Victoria and final declaration was heart-breaking. It’s not just him, Victoria and Albert are both dealing with the pressures of an ever-growing family and the pressures of life, and Feodora’s manipulation is certainly not helping. Victoria was temperamental at points, and Albert grows increasingly less patient with her. It’s hard to see where they’ll go from here. They wouldn’t be the first married couple to find their passions cool as time passes.

The Professional

Roz: It’s so interesting that the difficulty with the shilling’s design would help to humanize Victoria in ways that makes her accessible, even as sovereign. It is such a fine line between queen and woman at this stage in her life but she’s trying to be both when everyone wants one or the other.

Cara: It was interesting to watch Palmerston and Feodora pick at each other this week.  Both make valid points about the other, so it remains to be seen who will come out on top. The Duchess continues to court disaster, and it seems as if events will be coming to a head soon. Victoria is not responding well to Feodora’s provocations, and that only gives her sister more power.

Victoria continues on PBS Sundays at 9PM. Interested in what we had to say about the previous two seasons, see our recaps here.