- Radio Times
- Review by:
- Claire Webb
In this episode Lucy Worsley gamely glugs herbal potions and is strapped into a scold’s bridle — a gruesome iron muzzle used to punish rowdy housewives. It doesn’t silence Worsley for long. Ripping it off with a shudder, she reveals how 17th-century women extricated themselves from medieval misogyny.
Again, the programme is stuffed with fascinating insights, such as that modern weddings are cut-price by comparison with the 17th century: the prohibitive cost spawned a kind of Las Vegas in the dodgy marriage pubs of Fleet Street. Or that Restoration women devoured sex manuals so candid that even our thoroughly modern historian can’t help but blush.
About this programme
2/3. Lucy Worsley explores the domestic lives of women in Restoration England. She explains how marital status was seen as a defining factor in determining a woman's worth, with those who fell outside the accepted norms often becoming social outcasts. However, she also discovers a surprising number of women began to question society's expectations of them - particularly in terms of bearing children.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Presenter
- Lucy Worsley
Crew
- Executive Producer
- Emma Hindley
- Series Director
- Nick Gillam-Smith
- Series Producer
- Nick Gillam-Smith
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