1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,040 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy ve Wilson. Tracy Ann Radcliffe has 4 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:20,159 Speaker 1: been on my list for a long time, I know, 5 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:26,400 Speaker 1: particularly for an October subject. So hooray, we're into the 6 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: best season. Because she is considered the sort of the 7 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 1: queen of the Gothic novel, Thomas de Quincy called her 8 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,839 Speaker 1: the Great Enchantress. She's been cited as an inspiration and 9 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: influence for the likes of Mary Shelley and even Ed 10 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: Grellan Poe. She was seriously famous in her lifetime, but 11 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:45,159 Speaker 1: she preferred a quiet life out of the spotlight, and 12 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: she doesn't get as much attention as some other authors 13 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: that kind of fall in that space of spooky or 14 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: eerie fiction. But as I dug into her story, it 15 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: also became apparent that it was a little bit tricky 16 00:00:58,200 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: because there are a lot of places you look that 17 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:05,679 Speaker 1: will we don't know anything about her. That's not true, 18 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: but there have only been a few modern biographies of 19 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: her that really dig into the details of her life, 20 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 1: and it's actually a pretty interesting life, particularly because her 21 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: reclusive nature led a lot of people to speculate wildly 22 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: about the details of her life, and sometimes all of 23 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: that really upset her. So today not only are we 24 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: covering her, but I feel like she's one of those 25 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: people that's probably due for a two parter. This whole week, 26 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: it's Anne Radcliffe Week. In today's episode, we're going to 27 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: talk about her early life and her marriage, and her 28 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:45,280 Speaker 1: years actively publishing her work because it's a pretty short timeframe. 29 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: Next time, we're going to talk about her retirement and 30 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: her death and the ways that historians and biographers are 31 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: still piecing together details about her. So. Anne Ward was 32 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: born July ninth, seventeen sixty five or in the Holborn 33 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: district of London, England. Later in her life she would 34 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 1: cite a book that was published the same year she 35 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:10,880 Speaker 1: was born as one of her main influences. That was 36 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: Horace Walpole's Castle of Otranto. Her family was relatively comfortable financially. 37 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:20,639 Speaker 1: Her father was a haberdasher named William Ward. She was 38 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: named after her mother, Anne Oates. Oates was connected to 39 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: King George the Second through her uncle William Sheesldon, who 40 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: was a king's physician. Ann's mother was also connected to 41 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:34,639 Speaker 1: a number of other high society people through the family, 42 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: although the Wards lived a lot more modestly than most 43 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: of those other connections. When Anne was still young, sometime 44 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: before the end of seventeen seventy two, the family moved 45 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:48,639 Speaker 1: from London to Bath. There, William Ward managed a china 46 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,520 Speaker 1: shop that featured Wedgwood, and the Wedgwood Company had an 47 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: ownership interest in the shop. We don't really know a 48 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 1: whole lot about Ann's childhood or early a day adulthood. 49 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: We do know that she was well read. She was 50 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: said to have been so smart and charming that members 51 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: of the family who were higher up the social letter 52 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: than her parents often invited her to spend time with them. 53 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: So she probably met quite a few interesting people at 54 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: a young age, although we'll talk about the fact that 55 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:21,360 Speaker 1: she was perhaps charming to people she could open up with, 56 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: but she was overall very, very shy. This charm and 57 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 1: delight was particularly the case when she stayed at her uncle, 58 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: mister Bentley's house, and this actually ties back to the 59 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: Wedgwood involvement in her father's career, because her uncle Bentley 60 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: worked with Wedgwood. Biographer Richter Norton makes the case that 61 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: Anne may have actually never returned to her parents' home 62 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: and may have actually stayed with her uncle long term. 63 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 1: We know that her uncle had an assortment of interesting 64 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: friends who may have made an impression on young Anne 65 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: and influenced her later work, including separatist theologian Joseph Priestley, 66 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: who was featured in our recent episode on carbonation. As 67 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: for Anne herself, she's been described as short in stature 68 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: and very, very pretty. Her personality was marked by shyness 69 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: from the beginning, and that would continue to be the 70 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: case for her whole life. She's said to have not 71 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 1: even been comfortable being called an author or talking about 72 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,360 Speaker 1: her work publicly. One thing that may have heavily influenced 73 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: that work is the degree of formality that she was 74 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,360 Speaker 1: exposed to as a guest in the homes of relatives 75 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: and family friends who are a lot older. She's almost 76 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:36,360 Speaker 1: always described as really struggling in social situations. She was 77 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: a bookish child. She read a lot, and it seems 78 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:41,680 Speaker 1: like a lot of her knowledge of the world came 79 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 1: from her reading rather than formal instruction. In seventeen eighty seven, 80 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,800 Speaker 1: Anne married William Radcliffe in Bath. The couple lived in 81 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 1: London after the wedding. William had initially intended to be 82 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: a lawyer, and he had studied at Oxford, but he 83 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: became a journalist when he became editor of The Gazetteer 84 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,919 Speaker 1: and then part owner of the paper, The English Chronicle, 85 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: at which point he also assumed editorial duties for that. 86 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: As his work kept him away from home, Anne began 87 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 1: to use her time alone to write, and is said 88 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,279 Speaker 1: to have read her work of the day to William 89 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: each evening. From the start, she wrote things that elicited 90 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 1: the reader's fear. In a biographical memoir written after her passing, 91 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: it was said that quote so far was she from 92 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: being subjected to her own terrors, that she often laughingly 93 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: presented to mister Radcliffe chapters which he could not read 94 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: without shuddering. Anne and William did not have children, and 95 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:39,680 Speaker 1: they seem to have been very much in love. Two 96 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:42,720 Speaker 1: years after Anne and William got married, she published her 97 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 1: first novel, which she did anonymously. That book was The 98 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,919 Speaker 1: Castles of Athlen and Dunbane. It was really not a 99 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 1: critical success, but it does have a lot of the 100 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: characteristics that would become hallmarks of her work. It opens 101 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: with two warring Scottish claims associated with the castles that 102 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:04,800 Speaker 1: are named in the title, and there's a woman who 103 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 1: has been widowed by the ongoing conflict and takes her 104 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: revenge and then retreats to a quiet life to raise 105 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:15,280 Speaker 1: her two children. The book then picks up years later 106 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: when the kids are young adults, and it follows their 107 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: exploits which intertwine with the stories of the two clans. 108 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:25,359 Speaker 1: There are a lot of story points that would seem 109 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,919 Speaker 1: pretty tropy now, like the child believed to be dead 110 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: but actually alive who's reunited with their family as an adult, 111 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: and star crossed lovers from enemy families, the discovery of 112 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: long term captives within castles, complicated lines of title and 113 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: twists of inheritance, and a happy ending. There are also 114 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:50,239 Speaker 1: a lot of flashes of lightning and decaying structures, things 115 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: that really evoke a mood of spookiness in their descriptions 116 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: and set the scene for this Gothic romance. It also 117 00:06:57,600 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 1: features one of the things that came to be read 118 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:04,279 Speaker 1: clear signature style of suspense and terror, so some suggesting 119 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:06,840 Speaker 1: that something bad is about to happen, only to have 120 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: it be a benign or beneficial thing. For example, in 121 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: this first book, The Angenue, Mary is pursued in the woods, 122 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: and there's a passage that reads, quote the clattering of 123 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: hoofs advanced in the breeze. Her heart misgave her, and 124 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: she quickened her pace. Her fears were soon justified. She 125 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: looked back and beheld three horsemen, armed and disguised, advancing 126 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: with speed of pursuit. Almost fainting, she flew on the 127 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 1: wings of terror. All her efforts were in vain. The 128 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: villains came up, one seized her horse, the others fell 129 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 1: upon her. Two attendants, so Mary faints at this point. 130 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: There's also a lot of fainting in these books. She 131 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: faints at this point, and she was vaguely aware that 132 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,560 Speaker 1: she was being carried through the woods. But then when 133 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: she regains consciousness, she realized that the people who had 134 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: seized her were in fact friends. Another key part of 135 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: her writing from the very beginning was detailed descriptions of 136 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: lance and settings that created a really ominous or spooky mood. 137 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 1: An observation of the landscape is often part of the 138 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: character's psychological development. In a paper written for the Schottenhouse 139 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: Library in twenty twelve. Writer Ruth Facer noted, quote Landscape 140 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 1: is always more than a backdrop to her novels. It 141 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: is a device through which we come to know her 142 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: characters and through which Radcliffe outlines her theories of the 143 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: sublime and the picturesque. Anne considered this first novel and 144 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:36,199 Speaker 1: all of her books to be romances. Her second book, 145 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:40,080 Speaker 1: also published anonymously, came out just a year after her first. 146 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: This one was titled a Sicilian Romance, and it once 147 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: again features a woman from whom choices or property have 148 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:50,080 Speaker 1: been taken away. In this case, the heroine is a 149 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: woman named Julia, whose marriage has been arranged by her father, 150 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: the Marquis of Mazzini. He is not a sympathetic character 151 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:00,200 Speaker 1: at all, and the reader follows Julia's search for her 152 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:02,960 Speaker 1: lost mother and her love of a man who is 153 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,679 Speaker 1: not her fiance as the plot unfolds, and it echoes 154 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: a lot of the same ideas as her first novel, 155 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,200 Speaker 1: and those ideas that further developed her writing. It also 156 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: was not especially well received. For example, a big issue 157 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 1: was that Anne had never visited Scotland, which figured in 158 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:24,480 Speaker 1: her first book, or Italy, which figured in her second, 159 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 1: So her descriptions and details about these places, which were 160 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 1: often just wrong, drew a lot of criticism. Coming up, 161 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:34,920 Speaker 1: we'll talk about Radcliffe's third novel, but first we will 162 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 1: pause for a sponsor break. Anne's third novel was The 163 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,719 Speaker 1: Romance of the Forest. The plot of this book, which 164 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:53,960 Speaker 1: is set in France, involves a young woman, Adeline, with 165 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:56,440 Speaker 1: a mysterious past, who ends up in the care of 166 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: a couple on the run from their debt. If these 167 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 1: are starting to sound like they all have really complicated, 168 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 1: multi layered plots, that is correct. One of the main 169 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,439 Speaker 1: through lines of the book is an examination of morality 170 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:10,840 Speaker 1: and hedonism and what it means to be a refined person. 171 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 1: The villain of the book, for example, the Marquis de 172 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:19,440 Speaker 1: Monte pontificates with the following ideology quote, nature uncontaminated by 173 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:23,920 Speaker 1: false refinement, everywhere acts alike in the great occurrences of life. 174 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: It is the first proof of a superior mind to 175 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: liberate itself from prejudices of country or of education. There 176 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: are people of minds so weak as to shrink from 177 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:38,439 Speaker 1: the acts they have been accustomed to hold wrong. However advantageous, 178 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: they never suffer themselves to be guided by circumstances, but 179 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: fix for life upon a certain standard from which they 180 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 1: will on no account depart. Self preservation is the great 181 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:53,000 Speaker 1: law of nature. When a reptile hurts us, or an 182 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:55,880 Speaker 1: animal of prey threatens us, we think no further, but 183 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:59,360 Speaker 1: endeavor to annihilate it. When my life, or what may 184 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 1: be essential to my life, requires the sacrifice of another, 185 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:07,680 Speaker 1: or even if some passion wholly unconquerable requires it, I 186 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:11,160 Speaker 1: should be a madman to hesitate. Radcliffe had never been 187 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 1: to France either, so for her descriptions of these settings, 188 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: she used paintings by Salvador Rosa and Claude Lorraine as reference. 189 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:22,080 Speaker 1: This really seems to have helped stave off some of 190 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:26,120 Speaker 1: the critique of her earlier work that hadn't been maybe 191 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:30,599 Speaker 1: as accurate. The Romance of the Forest was a huge hit. Initially, 192 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:34,079 Speaker 1: it had been published anonymously, like Radcliffe's first two books, 193 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 1: but when it came time for the second printing, Anne's 194 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 1: name was included as the author. Radcliffe's first three novels 195 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:44,679 Speaker 1: have in common a young character who might be kind 196 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: of a self insert for Anne herself. They also have 197 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 1: a sense of being very proper and shy, but also, 198 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:56,120 Speaker 1: they all get happy finales to their stories. Yeah, we're 199 00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: not doing a ton of literary analysis in these two episodes. 200 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:02,600 Speaker 1: I can certainly throw you to people in the reference 201 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:05,840 Speaker 1: list to a ton of it, but it's worth noting 202 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 1: that she is she does seem to be like making 203 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:11,960 Speaker 1: herself part of the stories. She followed up those first 204 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: three with Mysteries of Udolpho, which was released in seventeen 205 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:18,360 Speaker 1: ninety four, and it's very similar in theme and plot 206 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 1: to her previous work. Once again, it features a young 207 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:25,720 Speaker 1: woman protagonist, this time Emily Saint Aubert, who is orphaned 208 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 1: and deals with mistreatment for the people around her. This 209 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:33,800 Speaker 1: particular book involves what is a seemingly haunted castle. That's 210 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 1: the Udolpho of the title. So the word seemingly when 211 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 1: we talk about that Hana castle, is very important here 212 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 1: because this book is really where she comes to full 213 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:47,200 Speaker 1: force with another characteristic of her writing. Her work in 214 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:51,520 Speaker 1: the supernatural and terror is grounded in reality, meaning that 215 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: things will seem as though they are haunted or perhaps 216 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 1: not even of this realm, but they always end up 217 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:01,080 Speaker 1: with a rational explanation. Anne is often credited with creating 218 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: the style technique that's called supernatural explained for example, in 219 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,920 Speaker 1: the Mysteries of Udolpho, the character of Emily is walking 220 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:14,080 Speaker 1: through this very frightening castle which has a great many 221 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: pieces of art, and she experiences something that terrifies her. 222 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:21,520 Speaker 1: After she gives in to the temptation to look at 223 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: exactly the thing she is so afraid of. That's a 224 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:29,480 Speaker 1: very large frame that's covered with a black veil. Radcliffe 225 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:32,320 Speaker 1: writes of this moment before the veil is lifted, quote, 226 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:35,240 Speaker 1: as she passed through the chambers that led to this, 227 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:39,280 Speaker 1: she found herself somewhat agitated. Its connection with the late 228 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:43,600 Speaker 1: lady of the castle and the conversation of Annette, together 229 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:47,120 Speaker 1: with the circumstance of the veil, throwing a mystery over 230 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 1: the subject that excited a faint degree of terror. But 231 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: a terror of this nature, as it occupies and expands 232 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:57,960 Speaker 1: the mind and elevates it to a high expectation, is 233 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 1: purely sublime. Leads us by a kind of fascination to 234 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 1: seek even the object from which we appear to shrink. 235 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 1: So when Emily lifts this veil, she sees so much 236 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 1: more than she anticipated. It is not an artwork at all. 237 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 1: The frame is actually an opening to another room. But 238 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: guess what, we the reader do not know what she sees. 239 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: Emily falls to the floor she faints. This scene takes 240 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: place a little over a third of the way through 241 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: the book, and it is not until the end of 242 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: the book, as all of the plot lines are resolving, 243 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 1: that we learn what she beheld. This is how it's written. 244 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: Of quote. It may be remembered that in a chamber 245 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: of Udolpho hung a black veil, whose singular situation had 246 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: excited Emily's curiosity, and which afterwards disclosed an object that 247 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 1: had overwhelmed her with horror, for onlifting it, there appeared, 248 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,520 Speaker 1: instead of the picture she expected, within a recess of 249 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: the wall, a human figure of ghastly paleness, stretched at 250 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: it ti length, and dressed in the habiliments of the grave. 251 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 1: What added to the horror of the spectacle was that 252 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:10,560 Speaker 1: the face appeared partly decayed and disfigured by worms, which 253 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: were visible on the features and hands. On such an object, 254 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: it will be readily believed that no person could endure 255 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 1: to look twice. Emily, it may be recollected, had after 256 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: the first glance, let the veil drop, and her terror 257 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 1: had prevented her from ever after provoking a renewal of 258 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 1: such suffering as she had then experienced. Had she dared 259 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: to look again, her delusion and her fears would have 260 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,840 Speaker 1: vanished together, and she would have perceived that the figure 261 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 1: before her was not human but formed of wax. So 262 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:46,040 Speaker 1: this character of Emily had spent the whole book believing 263 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:50,040 Speaker 1: that Signor Montoni, who lived in the castle, had murdered 264 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:54,640 Speaker 1: his wife and then concealed her body in this recessed area. 265 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:59,160 Speaker 1: The reason that the odd wax figurine is actually what's 266 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:03,320 Speaker 1: there has its own odd story woven into the text quote. 267 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 1: The history of it is somewhat extraordinary, though not without example. 268 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 1: In the records of that fierce severity which Monkish superstition 269 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 1: has sometimes inflicted on mankind, a member of the House 270 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 1: of Udolpho, having committed some offense against the prerogative of 271 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:24,640 Speaker 1: the Church, had been condemned to the penance of contemplating 272 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:29,040 Speaker 1: during certain hours of the day a waxen image made 273 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: to resemble a human body in the state to which 274 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 1: it is reduced after death. This penance, serving as a 275 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: memento of the condition which he must himself arrive, had 276 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:44,360 Speaker 1: been designed to reprove the pride of the Marquis of Udolpho, 277 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: which had formerly so much exasperated that of the Romish Church. 278 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:54,000 Speaker 1: And he had not only superstitiously observed this penance himself, 279 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:57,240 Speaker 1: which he had believed was to obtain a pardon for 280 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,200 Speaker 1: all his sins, but had made it a condition and 281 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: his will that his descendants should preserve the image on 282 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:07,359 Speaker 1: pain of forfeiting to the Church a certain part of 283 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: his domain, so they also might profit by the humiliating 284 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:16,600 Speaker 1: moral it conveyed. The figure therefore had been suffered to 285 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:19,639 Speaker 1: retain its station in the wall of the chamber, but 286 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:23,800 Speaker 1: his descendants excused themselves from observing the penance to which 287 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:27,879 Speaker 1: he had been enjoined. So, I mean, this is maybe 288 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: a weird thing to do, but it's not supernatural. Yeah, 289 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 1: we keep a wax figure in the adjoining wall to 290 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:38,880 Speaker 1: remind us that death is coming. Yeah, but we keep 291 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:42,000 Speaker 1: it covered up because we didn't actually get that penance 292 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: to have to go look at it. Yeah, the church, 293 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:47,399 Speaker 1: the Church made us do it. This also brings up 294 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:52,600 Speaker 1: that a lot of ants writing is considered to be 295 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 1: critical of the Roman Catholic Church. This is kind of 296 00:17:55,600 --> 00:18:01,000 Speaker 1: one of them. Just FYI. This book was very popular. 297 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:04,720 Speaker 1: Radcliffe ultimately sold the copyright for it for five hundred pounds. 298 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:07,439 Speaker 1: That was an immense sum for a writer at the time. 299 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:11,879 Speaker 1: For comparison, other novelists that I read about were frequently 300 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 1: getting ten pounds for the rights to their books. So 301 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:19,200 Speaker 1: this number was so outrageous for many people to consider 302 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:22,200 Speaker 1: that bets were being placed by people that were connected 303 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:25,160 Speaker 1: to publishing. As to whether it had been reported correctly 304 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: or not, Sir Walter Scott later wrote of the publication 305 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:31,680 Speaker 1: of this book, quote, it often happens that a writer's 306 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:36,440 Speaker 1: previous reputation proves the greatest enemy, which, in a second 307 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 1: attempt upon public favor he has to encounter. Exaggerated expectations 308 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:46,400 Speaker 1: are excited and circulated, and criticism, which had been seduced 309 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: into former approbation by the pleasure of surprise, now stands 310 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:57,000 Speaker 1: awakened and alert to pounce upon every failing missus. Radcliffe's popularity, however, 311 00:18:57,040 --> 00:19:00,320 Speaker 1: stood the test and was heightened rather than diminished by 312 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:04,359 Speaker 1: the mysteries of Udolpho. It had become apparent that while 313 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:07,399 Speaker 1: most Gothic fiction and romance was considered to have a 314 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:11,439 Speaker 1: specific audience, that being women, that Anne's work had gained 315 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:15,680 Speaker 1: a wider appeal. In his biography of Radcliffe, historian Richter 316 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:19,040 Speaker 1: Norton notes that often fiction was purchased by ladies of 317 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:21,879 Speaker 1: a certain station, and then those books would be passed 318 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 1: down to women on their staff to read, and thus 319 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:28,440 Speaker 1: Anne gained this devoted following. But in a biography written 320 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty six, there is mention of the headmaster 321 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:35,960 Speaker 1: of the Winchester School, doctor Joseph Wharton, telling Anne's publisher, 322 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 1: that he had stumbled across the book and had read 323 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:41,200 Speaker 1: it in an evening because he simply couldn't put it down. 324 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:44,480 Speaker 1: So part of the reason her copyright was so valuable 325 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 1: and worth so much money was that her work was 326 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:50,600 Speaker 1: crossing through a lot of the usual audience boundaries that 327 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:54,840 Speaker 1: fiction and particuarly romantic fiction was partitioned by. There is 328 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:58,840 Speaker 1: also a unique lack of change in Anne's lifestyle as 329 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:01,840 Speaker 1: she gained fame. She easily could have started to move 330 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:05,880 Speaker 1: within high society circles as a celebrity, but she really didn't. 331 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:11,160 Speaker 1: In a likely overdramatized assessment of the situation, one biographer wrote, quote, 332 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:14,639 Speaker 1: the very thought of appearing in person as the author 333 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 1: of her romances, shocked the delicacy of her mind to 334 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,199 Speaker 1: the publication of her work. She was constrained by the 335 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:24,120 Speaker 1: force of her own genius, but nothing could tempt her 336 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,560 Speaker 1: to publish herself or to sink for a moment the 337 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 1: gentlewoman in the novelist. She felt also a distaste to 338 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:36,080 Speaker 1: the increasing familiarity of modern manners to which she had 339 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:40,080 Speaker 1: been unaccustomed in her youth, and though remarkable, free and 340 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 1: cheerful with her relatives and intimate friends, she preferred the 341 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:48,359 Speaker 1: more formal politeness of the old school among strangers. So 342 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:51,200 Speaker 1: that's taken from a biography that was written shortly after 343 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,879 Speaker 1: her death, probably informed by consultation with her husband. But 344 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,840 Speaker 1: it's worth noting that for a thing not written by 345 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:02,040 Speaker 1: Anne herself, it makes all lot of declarative statements about 346 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:08,200 Speaker 1: her feelings. Yeah, we'll talk more about that biography. We're 347 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 1: about to get to Anne's one and only time traveling abroad, 348 00:21:13,119 --> 00:21:14,920 Speaker 1: and before we get into that, we will hear from 349 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: the sponsors that keep the show going. In seventeen ninety four, 350 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:30,919 Speaker 1: at the age of thirty, and left England for the 351 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,320 Speaker 1: first time in her life. Even though she had written 352 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:37,440 Speaker 1: all of her stories in foreign locales. She had never 353 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:40,840 Speaker 1: traveled abroad herself, but that year she went to Holland 354 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:44,679 Speaker 1: in Germany. In seventeen ninety five, a book about her 355 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:47,879 Speaker 1: adventures was published, titled A Journey Made in the Summer 356 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:51,360 Speaker 1: of seventeen ninety four through Holland and the Western frontier 357 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:54,720 Speaker 1: of Germany, with a return down the Rhine, to which 358 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 1: are added observations during a tour to the lakes of Lancashire, 359 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 1: Westmoreland and Cumberland in two volumes. The opening of the 360 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 1: book is not about the traveling at all, but about 361 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:09,680 Speaker 1: her husband, William quote the author begs leave to observe 362 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,000 Speaker 1: an explanation of the use made of the plural term 363 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:16,520 Speaker 1: in the following pages, that her journey having been performed 364 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:19,840 Speaker 1: in the company of her nearest relative and friend, the 365 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:22,440 Speaker 1: account of it has been written so much from their 366 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:26,600 Speaker 1: mutual observation that there would be a deception in permitting 367 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:30,480 Speaker 1: the books to appear without some acknowledgment which may distinguish 368 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:34,320 Speaker 1: it from works entirely her own. The title page would 369 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:37,600 Speaker 1: therefore have contained the joint names of her husband and 370 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:41,200 Speaker 1: herself if this mode of appearing before the public. Besides 371 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:45,720 Speaker 1: being thought by that relative a greater acknowledgment than was due. 372 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,359 Speaker 1: His share of the work had not seemed liable to 373 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:53,880 Speaker 1: the imputation of a design to attract attention by extraordinary novelty. 374 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,919 Speaker 1: It is, however, necessary to her own satisfaction, that some 375 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 1: notice should be taken of this. Assis stints, sort of sweet. 376 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:04,320 Speaker 1: My publisher doesn't want me to put my husband's name 377 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:07,160 Speaker 1: on the book, but he totally helped you guys. It's 378 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:12,560 Speaker 1: really really sweet. In seventeen ninety seven, Radcliffe released the 379 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,240 Speaker 1: last work of fiction to be published in her lifetime. 380 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:17,879 Speaker 1: That was a book called The Italian. There is a 381 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 1: posthumous book that we will talk about a little bit later. 382 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,680 Speaker 1: The tall, thin monk in the book, named Scadoni, is 383 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:28,399 Speaker 1: a representation of the Inquisition. He is the villain of 384 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 1: the piece. The hero is a man named Vivaldi who 385 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:36,160 Speaker 1: intends to marry a woman his family does not approve of. Scadoni, 386 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:39,520 Speaker 1: and Vivaldi's mother planned to kidnap Vivaldi and lock him 387 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 1: away to keep him from his love Elena. Like her 388 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 1: previous book, anseld the copyright for The Italian, this time 389 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:50,600 Speaker 1: for eight hundred pounds. Sir Walter Scott wrote of this effort, quote, 390 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:54,200 Speaker 1: here too, the author had, with much judgment, taken such 391 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 1: a difference, that, while employing her own particular talent and 392 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:01,560 Speaker 1: painting in the style of which she may be considered 393 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: the inventor, she cannot be charged with repeating or copying herself. 394 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,480 Speaker 1: She selected the new and powerful machinery afforded her by 395 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:14,360 Speaker 1: the Popish religion, which established in its paramount superiority, and 396 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:19,320 Speaker 1: thereby had at her disposal merks, spies, dungeons, the mute 397 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:23,199 Speaker 1: obedience of the bigot, the dark and dominating spirit of 398 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:26,919 Speaker 1: the crafty priest, all the thunders of the Vatican, and 399 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:31,440 Speaker 1: all the terrors of the Inquisition. He also leveled criticism 400 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:34,399 Speaker 1: at the work, writing quote, on reconsidering the narrative, we 401 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 1: indeed discover that many of the incidents are imperfectly explained, 402 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:42,960 Speaker 1: and that we can distinguish points upon which the authoress 403 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:47,080 Speaker 1: had doubtless intended to lay the foundation of something which 404 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:52,919 Speaker 1: she afterwards forgot or omitted. Though she largely stopped writing 405 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 1: fiction after the release of The Italian Radcliffe continued to 406 00:24:56,560 --> 00:25:00,440 Speaker 1: write throughout her life, turning largely to poetry. She had 407 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 1: been so successful as a writer that it seemed surprising 408 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:08,160 Speaker 1: to her audience that she just stopped publishing. But Anne 409 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,399 Speaker 1: did that thing that so many of us talk about 410 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:14,119 Speaker 1: and never actually get to do. She made enough money 411 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,040 Speaker 1: to live comfortably, and then she also inherited a little 412 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:19,760 Speaker 1: bit of money, and then she used her time to 413 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:22,960 Speaker 1: travel around Britain with her husband and their dog Chance. 414 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:27,719 Speaker 1: She loved music, She attended the opera regularly. She just 415 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:30,760 Speaker 1: lived what sounds like a pretty great life of retirement. 416 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:34,439 Speaker 1: But there are many angles and theories about why she 417 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:38,240 Speaker 1: stopped publishing, both during her time and in more modern 418 00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:41,600 Speaker 1: looks at her life. We will talk about those and 419 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 1: a distressing event that came to her attention after she 420 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:51,560 Speaker 1: had retired. Next time done, Dun Dunn. I have a 421 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 1: very fun email that also comes with a personal story afterwards. 422 00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:59,159 Speaker 1: Because the email is great and it reminded me of 423 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:02,520 Speaker 1: something and then I couldn't stop laughing. This is from 424 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:08,119 Speaker 1: our listener, Kate and the absolutely Gorgeous Coco. Kate writes, Hi, 425 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:10,639 Speaker 1: Holly and Tracy, I'm catching up on episodes and just 426 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: listen to the one on Sunscreen. My family spends lots 427 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:16,679 Speaker 1: of time outdoors and we all love upf clothing as 428 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:20,439 Speaker 1: added protection when we inevitably forget to reapply our sunscreen. 429 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:24,800 Speaker 1: Animals included. My horse, Coco is a Pinto with very 430 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:27,480 Speaker 1: sensitive pink skin under all her white hair. I thought 431 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:29,440 Speaker 1: you might get a giggle from these photos of her 432 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:32,600 Speaker 1: decked out in her upf sheet and mass to protect 433 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:36,080 Speaker 1: from sunburn and flies with her mule buddies Molly and Clover. 434 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:38,960 Speaker 1: The muzzle over Coco's nose is to limit the amount 435 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:40,960 Speaker 1: of grass she can eat, as she also has a 436 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:43,879 Speaker 1: tendency to get a bit chunky. Altogether, it looks like 437 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:48,200 Speaker 1: she's ready for a spacewalk or something. On another subject, 438 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,600 Speaker 1: I meant to write about ages ago milkweed. I love 439 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:54,160 Speaker 1: gardening and supporting pollinators, but urged caution. With spreading milk 440 00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:58,119 Speaker 1: weed seeds around, it's often fatal to horses. As little 441 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:01,200 Speaker 1: as zero points zero zero five percent body weight consumption 442 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:04,639 Speaker 1: considered a toxic dose. Horses eat about two percent of 443 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:07,560 Speaker 1: their bodyweight a day. For reference, we battle many toxic 444 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:11,040 Speaker 1: plants in our pastures, milkweed and other podcast subject whilst 445 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:14,159 Speaker 1: snakeroot among them. Thanks for all the entertaining and informative 446 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:17,919 Speaker 1: episodes they make Farm chores much more enjoyable. Katie and Coco. Okay, 447 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 1: Coco's the cutest thing on the planet. I saw this email, 448 00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:24,840 Speaker 1: I was so excited. I love it. I did not 449 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:27,040 Speaker 1: know that about milkweed at all, so I'm super glad. 450 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:30,400 Speaker 1: She included that you may recall when we talked about butterflies, 451 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:34,520 Speaker 1: we had suggested that milkweed will help with their habitats. 452 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:37,760 Speaker 1: So if you do plant milkweed, be careful and try 453 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:39,719 Speaker 1: to keep it places where a horse would not be. 454 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 1: Ours is in a like a big garden tub in 455 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:45,320 Speaker 1: the on the deck, so I don't think a horse 456 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:47,000 Speaker 1: would get up there. If it did, there are other 457 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:52,199 Speaker 1: problems going on. But this is why this made me 458 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:55,200 Speaker 1: laugh so hard. And it's a personal story that has 459 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:57,159 Speaker 1: nothing to do with this show, but it's so funny 460 00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,199 Speaker 1: that I felt like I should share it. So we 461 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:00,960 Speaker 1: used to have a we have talked about on the 462 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,879 Speaker 1: show many times, mister Burns, who was a Devin Rex, 463 00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:07,000 Speaker 1: which means he has short, curly hair and he has 464 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:10,320 Speaker 1: he had coat break on his tummy, so his tummy 465 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:17,439 Speaker 1: was pretty much just his bald skin. And I also 466 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:20,959 Speaker 1: used to write trying to think of the most careful 467 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:22,399 Speaker 1: way I can ward all of this so no one 468 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:25,879 Speaker 1: gets mad at me. I used to write sewing blogs 469 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:29,880 Speaker 1: for a big company like Little how To's, and one 470 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:34,040 Speaker 1: of the ones that I wrote was a little T 471 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:36,520 Speaker 1: shirt you could make for a cat, because I had 472 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:39,640 Speaker 1: made a T shirt for mister Burns which was very 473 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:44,440 Speaker 1: cute and he loved it. And I got so much 474 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:48,440 Speaker 1: hate mail from that blog because people told me I 475 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:53,080 Speaker 1: was abusing my cat and it cracked me up because 476 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,719 Speaker 1: I eventually had to post on like that company's social media, 477 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:01,000 Speaker 1: mister Burns gets sunburns on his tell me he actually 478 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 1: needs to wear some club right, But everyone thought I 479 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:10,160 Speaker 1: was a horrible animal abuser. So listen. The internet is 480 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 1: full of people who want to tell you what to 481 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:13,200 Speaker 1: do and be mad at you. But what I want 482 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:16,200 Speaker 1: to tell you what to do is keep loving Cocos 483 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:20,440 Speaker 1: a cute yeah, ever, very cute. And I'm so thankful 484 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:22,560 Speaker 1: that you know she has a great life and is 485 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:26,920 Speaker 1: being incredibly well caredful obviously, so Cocoa, you sweet baby. 486 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:32,280 Speaker 1: And you know some animals get sunburns. They I don't 487 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 1: think people think about that very often, Like we think 488 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:38,239 Speaker 1: animals are natural creatures that live in nature. They have 489 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:42,240 Speaker 1: all their stuff sorted out by evolution. No, not necessarily. 490 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:45,640 Speaker 1: There are animals that can get sunburns and all kinds 491 00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:49,360 Speaker 1: of stuff. I had the cat that I grew up with, 492 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,440 Speaker 1: who was an outdoor cat, which is not something I 493 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:58,320 Speaker 1: would do now, got a sunburn on her nose and 494 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:02,320 Speaker 1: U It was actually pretty scary because we didn't really 495 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: know what was happening at first. It was like she 496 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:10,720 Speaker 1: kept re irritating it. So yeah, yeah, mister burns indoor only. 497 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,280 Speaker 1: But he would lie on his back. He really loved 498 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:16,160 Speaker 1: to be hot, and he would lie on his back 499 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,160 Speaker 1: with his legs splayed out, with his tummy exposed and 500 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 1: the sun the sun in front of what was in 501 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:25,320 Speaker 1: our old apartment, a sliding glass door that did not 502 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:27,360 Speaker 1: really have like a UV coating on it, And he 503 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:29,680 Speaker 1: got sunburn once, and I was like, okay, we got 504 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:33,520 Speaker 1: to address this problem. There are lots of breeds of 505 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:36,680 Speaker 1: cats that have low coat or our hairless often have 506 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 1: to deal with sun protection. So stephoy ie. If you 507 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:43,360 Speaker 1: see an animal in clothes, it doesn't necessarily mean that 508 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:47,920 Speaker 1: their person is abusing them. It's also just fine. In general. 509 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:52,400 Speaker 1: I wish we as a society would like pull back 510 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:55,640 Speaker 1: on this practice that I feel like has has really 511 00:30:55,680 --> 00:31:01,160 Speaker 1: spread through social media of always making the least like, 512 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:07,240 Speaker 1: the least generous, most critical interpretation of every conceivable thing. Yes, 513 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:10,719 Speaker 1: I would like it if we as a society did 514 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:14,960 Speaker 1: not do that anymore and instead maybe extended people that 515 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:17,160 Speaker 1: would not even the benefit of the doubt, like you 516 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:19,560 Speaker 1: just don't even need to go scream at that stranger 517 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:23,680 Speaker 1: on the internet about that shirt that they made. How 518 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:25,760 Speaker 1: will they not know? And that I know better than 519 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:28,440 Speaker 1: everyone if I don't yell at them online. Anyway, this 520 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:30,840 Speaker 1: turned into a PSA you may not have been expecting 521 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:32,680 Speaker 1: at the end of Anne Radcliffe, but here we are. 522 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:37,080 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us, maybe tell 523 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:39,040 Speaker 1: me I abused mister Burns by putting a T shirt 524 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 1: on him. Listen, that thing was black, it had pink stars. 525 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:44,600 Speaker 1: He felt very pretty. You could do that as at 526 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:48,080 Speaker 1: History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also find 527 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:50,600 Speaker 1: us on social media as missed in History, and if 528 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:52,720 Speaker 1: you have not subscribed to this show yet, we encourage 529 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:53,960 Speaker 1: you to do that. You can do that on the 530 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:58,280 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 531 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:05,320 Speaker 1: Stuff you missed in History class is a production of iHeartRadio. 532 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:10,280 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 533 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:12,440 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.