Δευτέρα 23 Δεκεμβρίου 2013

Nelson in Love - Vivien Leigh & Laurence Olivier, That Hamilton woman



Lord Nelson : What mood is this? One guess.

Emma : Nelson, allowing himself to be just a little bit happier.

Lord Nelson : Nelson in love.

Emma, Lady Hamilton, is best remembered as the mistress of Lord Nelson and as the muse of George Romney. 
Lady Hamilton became a close friend of Queen Maria Carolina, wife of Ferdinand I of Naples. As wife of the British Envoy, Emma welcomed Nelson in 1793, when he came to gather reinforcements against the French. She is described in 1797 in the diary of 18-year old Elizabeth Wynne as a "charming woman, beautiful and exccedingly good humoured and amiable". Nelson returned to Naples five years later, in 1798, a living legend, after his victory at the Battle of the Nile in Aboukir. However, Nelson's adventures had prematurely aged him : he had lost an arm and most of his teeth, and was afflicted by coughing spells. Emma reportedly flung herself upon him in admiration, calling out, "Oh God, is it possible?", as she fainted against him. Nelson wrote effusively of Emma to his increasingly estranged wife, Fanny, Lady Nelson. Emma and Sir William escorted Nelson to their home - the Palazzo Sessa.
Emma nursed Nelson under her husband's roof, and arranged a party with 1.800 guests to celebrates his 40th birthday. They soon fell in love and their affair seems to have been tolerated, and perhaps even encouraged, by the elderly Sir William, whose own health was now failing and who longed for retirement. 




Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:

Δημοσίευση σχολίου