What is Victorian Swoon? Immensely popular during the era, it provided an imaginative escape for working class readers (and ladies with secrets) into the fantasia of unlikely romance with mysterious gentlemen. Known in England as penny romance, and in America as dime store fiction, it continued throughout the decades, revamping itself into higher forms of sophistication. Highly popular Author Laura Jean Libbey beat many fair maids into emotional oblivion with her novels of painful love… that is until the new woman of the twentieth century cried for equality, tossing corsets and books into the flames of yesteryear.
Often distained, modern paperback romance is still a jackpot winner for authors, though today’s heroes are unlikely to ravish us in the parlour (sigh!) So, if you prefer the velvet chaise, stay upon it, writing of overwhelming hazy sensations. Ignore fast sex. Introduce heroes that tease and withhold. Sting empty beauties with jealousy as they read of what might be.
What is Victorian Erotica? Read by connoisseurs of theatrical seduction, 19th century erotica plays heartily on teasings and temptations, and includes all preferred forms of stimulation. The ladies are plump and lustrous, with every fold of the flesh being a delight. Gentlemen most often recline in luxurious settings, savouring imported brandy and cigars, while the show proceeds in a flurry of femininity. As a variation, couples live out rhapsodic episodes from the privacy of their boudoir.
In both Swoon and Erotica, the essentials of a story are important, as the writer cannot rely on modern explicit language and fast sex to satisfy readers who are reaching into the unrestrained subconscious. The flames of passion tend to intensify. Mystery, thriller, fantasy and even horror can be spooned into the plot. Swoon is pure era romance with extended preludes and interludes.
Nothing needs to be socially correct in Victorian writing, as characters are freely allowed to perform as themselves. They may be scoundrels, but they are not required to reform at the end of the chapter. Submissive females do not automatically rise up to give us a perfect ending. Poverty is not duly rewarded. Rich, lewd lords nip pearly bottoms.
Whatever occurs in natural, daily life has no softening or reason. Search the streets, parlours, boudoirs and attics. Truth is not hidden. Therefore, write with an erect and proud pen, diminishing nothing of the song of the manacles.
Esmerelda Jones… writer of desires
Victoriana, Victorian Swoon & Erotica, The Wisdom & Romance of Ancient Greece.
