Lady Worsley and a costume drama littered with f-words
FOR television audiences used to genteel period drama, hearing 18th century characters utter the f-word might come as something of a shock.
But the writer behind BBC Two’s latest offering, based on the exuberant love life of Lady Worsley, has defended the use of such colourful language as not remotely modern.
The Scandalous Lady W, starring Natalie Dormer, contains several instances of the f-word to describe sexual relations, a reference to “screwing” and one character threatening to shoot “the bitch” who intrudes on a romantic idyll.
Hallie Rubenhold, the historian on whose book the drama is based, said the language was entirely fitting for the period. “So much of what we see on screen really happened,” said Rubenhold, who drew on material in the Lambeth Palace archives to research Lady Worsley’s life.
“If you’ll pardon my French, the word ‘f---’ and the word ‘bitch’ were used very regularly in 18th century parlance. There is a fantastic line, ‘If that bitch comes in here again I’ll shoot her’ – that’s actually taken from a deposition statement.”
Lady Worsley’s extra-marital adventures became the talk of society in the 1780s when she left her husband, Sir Richard Worsley, a privy councillor and governor of the Isle of Wight, to elope with an Army captain.
Sir Richard sued the captain for £20,000 in damages. During the court case, Lady Worsley revealed she had taken 27 lovers at the behest of her husband.
The information “devalued” her in the eyes of the law, and her husband was awarded only one shilling in compensation.