We’re in week three of history, and you may recall that this year we are covering the Victorian Era and in the Americas, the Westward Expansion. Week one was nice and easy: husband-Jamie, the Victorian scholar, provided plenty of lecture and discussion as an overview of the period. He brought out maps and really really old films of Victorian Londoners. The kids read Horrible History books, watched Horrible History episodes, perused our old standby, Take Me Back, and in general we had a smashing good time.
Marie Antoinette herself
Week two brought the French Revolution. My digging at the library produced a PBS documentary of Marie Antoinette, and we love good documentaries. So after the first day or so of discussion, we popped in the film. And… oh, my. See, this is when it is really funny that I am no history scholar. For those not in the know, let me enlighten. The year is 1770, and Austrian teenage princess Marie is sent to marry French teenage prince Louis XVI. As it turns out, they weren’t exactly “in” to each other. They got along fine, just not in the bedroom sort of way. This became a major problem for the French, and there was oh-so-much-discussion about the lack of sex between the royal couple. Sex, the lack thereof, and the rumors of extra-marital sex were actually major themes throughout the PBS documentary.
And I haven’t even told you about the pamphlets. As Marie Antoinette became increasingly unpopular, private illustrators began generating all sorts of R- and X-rated pamphlets featuring Marie in compromising and scandalous positions with various men; these were distributed throughout the countryside. The story was fascinating – the full power of the press was still unfolding, and Marie had no idea for such a long time how catastrophic these images were to her position. And there were tons of these pamphlets. I know this, because PBS took great pleasure in showing us all of them.
You are probably wondering now why I didn’t stop watching the film with my 9 and 12 year old. Well, hindsight and all. But as the documentary got increasingly uncomfortable, I kept feeling like surely the worst was behind us. And this was history, and we could be mature about this, yes? We talked a lot about what we were learning, and I tried Very Hard to put the sexual themes in political context, and downplay their more racy natures. And I let the kids talk privately about how they felt about it all. But hoo-boy, had I previewed the film, let’s just say I would have chosen differently.
Ultimately we did stop it once Louis was beheaded and Marie and her children were imprisoned. The breaking point happened when they took Marie’s young son from her; reportedly Marie could hear him crying at night in another part of the tower. I mean, that almost broke me. Tender-hearted Eva simply dissolved in tears.
Wowza! That day and the next, we talked a lot about the revolution and the documentary, and after all it did lead to good discussion. We laughed at the awkwardness, posed theories about why the French Revolution ended up so differently than the American Revolution, commiserated with the French’s frustration with Marie and Louis, and felt sympathy for her suffering, despite her frivolity and general uselessness as a queen. And when it’s all said and done, neither Ian nor Eva will forget Marie and Louis and the French Revolution, I guarantee ya.
This week we have moved to the Regency era of England, and after a short discussion of the general events, we settled in to watch the BBC’s fabulous mini-series adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Normally I would have the kids read our literature selections instead of watching filmed adaptations, but this one is done so beautifully; the fashions, the culture, the music, the charged interactions between classes and gender all put the audience right there in that world. The kids are already in love with Eliza, annoyed by her mother, mixed in opinion about broody Mr. Darcy. They love Mr. Bennett, and are rooting for Jane and Mr. Bingley. It is such a refreshing change from our dark and scandalous Marie Antoinette.
So that’s where we are, my friends! Imperfect and messy and little bit scandalous. Just like history.
PS: on my last post about biology, I failed to create the link for the additional resources I’m using. I’ve fixed that now, but basically, it was simply a link to my Curricula and Resources page. Sorry about that!
Gwyn, I enjoyed this so much. I long to be in school, now, with you teaching. Instead I will now resume work.
You’d laugh your butt off, Amber. Some days, I mean to say. If you want the Most Embarrassing Moment of all, do a little internet research and find out what Louis XVI confided in Marie’s brother about his sex life. Holy Cow. I never knew that PBS shows should have ratings!
Gwyn, I’m not sure I’ve ever commented here, but I got your link from Amber a few months ago during a conversation about gifted children and have been ‘lurking’ ever since. Ian and Eva are incredible individuals — truly inspiring — and your dedication to them and their learning is downright humbling. Anyway, I just wanted to say that this post made me laugh out loud, and that it sounds like a much more fun (and lasting) method of learning history than my public school education!
…for whatever it’s worth, something I remember getting a lot out of at Eva’s age was the American Girl concept. This was before the young upstart Pleasant Company had been sold to Mattel (which still hurts my heart)… but if you can avoid the gimmick of the new ‘modern’ dolls and focus on the traditional characters, there is still some valuable history to be gained, particularly from the books and the ‘Peek into the Past’ historical sections at the back of each one. Though they’re fairly short, each character has six books, so even a voracious reader like Eva might be kept busy for a little while! Not sure how much history you’re covering this year, but I always particularly liked Felicity (Revolutionary War), Addy (Underground Railroad), and Molly (WWII). Anyway, you guys may already be well aware of everything I’m saying, but I have a lot of fond memories tied up in those books, so just thought I’d mention them. At any rate, you certainly won’t run into any racy Marie Antoinette pamphlets! 
Also, though it’s clear you have more than enough material and resources
Take care and keep up the great work. I enjoy these peeks into your world very much.
Amber is such a dear. You have my respect if you are one of her friends! I’m glad you enjoy the blog and our adventures. It makes me happy to be of use to others, which is why I started this blog to begin with. It’s not always been easy, and I like to offer help where I can. Plus I like writing and taking pictures, and now I have an excuse!
I’m very familiar with American Girls – I’m a children’s librarian, and so I order, find, and shelve them all the time. But we’ve never read them. Thanks for bringing them up again. It’s time to really check them out as I’m checking them in… (har har).
Lurk away, my friend, and please let me know if there’s anything I can offer in the way of information or support in gifted issues or anything else-
History is scandalous! When reading history and being surprised by some human atrocity, I sometimes feel the same brow furrowing emotion as when I glance at an insane tabloid title as I’m unloading the grocery cart in a near trance-like state. Only for history the insanity is actually happened.
My kids are much older now so exposure to most any depravity is within bounds, but when we first started home school there were many unpleasant surprises starting with examples such as the death of Hypatia of Alexandria and Spartan methods for selecting the most fit offspring. There were shocking surprises around ever turn. Having been through the scrubbed clean US public school version of history, my eyes were widened significantly.
I also remember my surprise at the the naughtiness unveiled in the Horrible History books when my boys first started reading them. I remember thinking how there is no equivalent, that I’m aware of (or at least at that time), circulated by US publishers. I could not help thinking how much more comfortable British culture was with the gruesome truths than US culture seems to be.
For us the truths, though dark, were welcome. We could discuss morality and ethics using the real life dirty deeds of actual humans. And, for us, studying history with the shocking bits included and with analysis of impact from time to time and culture to culture made the subject far more interesting than the bland account of dates and names I’d been forced to consume.
Well said! There is so much to be learned from the actual discourse of history – not simply the cleaned up version. And I’ve also noticed the lack of US counterparts to Horrible History books. However, I’ve also noticed how many American kids love them. Perhaps there is a market after all? (Maybe that will be my next career.)
We’ve always tried to be “real” with history, even when the kids were younger; it’s just that this is the first time sex came up so … in your face. I was unprepared for the explicit nature of the narration, images, and discourse between Louis and Marie’s brother. Especially that last bit. I’m really open and frank with my kids, but when Louis started detailing the second-by-second account of his intercourse with Marie (and when I say “intercourse,” I’m not talking conversation), I actually jumped up and started singing and talking with extreme volume. It was ridiculous and hysterical. What a great unit!
Oh my! That is naughty! Makes me wonder… What kind of brother would want that type of detail about his own sister, and if Louis knew we would have access to these details would he still have written the letter?
I like the tactic you chose.
Distraction is a great tool
We used to use distraction, now, if it gets too rough, we use “close your eyes” and “plug your ears”… and they actually do it. Not sure how long that is going to last.
Ha! The close your eyes/ears works for my kids too.
And I KNOW – who writes this stuff down, anyway? And from what I understood, the brother was staying with them (he was sent by Marie’s mother, the Queen of Austria to address some of Marie’s behavior problems, including lack of bedroom action). His physical presence makes it more impossible that Louis would actually write all that down. But apparently he did. Interestingly, shortly after the brother left, Louis and Marie began having children – 4 in pretty quick succession. Guess the brother had some handy advice for him.