Tonight's TV
Great expectations
Dickens' Secret Lover (C4, 9pm)
ONE historian suggests it would've
been like discovering Father
Christmas coming out of a brothel.
At least he could have offered
an excuse for visiting a house of
ill repute, something along the lines of, "I was
just putting her present under the tree".
But had Charles Dickens been caught with
his trousers down, he'd have been ruined.
This was a man whom the Victorians regarded
as "a cross between Father Christmas,
Prince Albert and God". Living up to that description
was a tall order.
He was the most acclaimed writer of his
day, the best loved author in the world and
"had more clout than most politicians". But,
like many a randy old goat, he risked everything
for a pretty face. A younger pretty face.
And one that didn't belong to his wife.
It emerges in this documentary that, in
common with hopefuls on the recent TV
show, Dickens would do anything to keep his
lover a secret. He was determined to uphold
Victorian values. In public, at least. He had a
wife and nine children to look after. They
were a model family, second only to Queen
Victoria and her brood in the public's eye.
But their great expectations of the writer
would have been dashed had they learnt of
his infatuation/love/lust (delete where applicable)
for 18-year-old actress Ellen Ternan.
Dickens was 45 when he first met Nelly at
auditions in Manchester. In a neat reflection
of art reflecting life, she played opposite him
in the tale of an older man who falls in love
with a young girl.
Before you could say Bleak House, he was
as besotted by Nelly as his stage character
was by the girl she was playing. He'd fallen
for a "gaslight fairy", as young actresses
scraping a living in Victorian theatres were
called. Nelly's age meant she was young
enough to be his daughter, which puts a
whole new slant on their relationship.
I should perhaps mention that Charles
Dance, an actor who's performed in Dickens
in his time, is our celebrity investigator in
this programme. He strides across the countryside
and through old houses in a theatrical
manner, gathering evidence of Dickens'
affair.
It's not easy because the writer kept it quiet
for 13 years. He used, among other ruses, code
words when referring to Nelly. The little riddle, the princess and the magic circle of one
were among names he gave her.
He treated his wife, Catherine, badly, going
as far as to make her have tea with Mrs Ternan
and her daughters. She must have known
what was going on after a bracelet he'd ordered
from the jewellers for Nelly was delivered
to Mrs Dickens by mistake.
Dance tells us - although I have no idea
how he knows - that Dickens locked the door
to the marital bedroom, told Catherine she
was an unfit mother and was suffering from
a mental disorder.
When rumours of a sex scandal started circulating,
he denounced these slanders in The
Times. His wife was banished to another
house, while her sister, Georgina, remained
to look after the children. When rumours
suggested he was having an affair with his
sister-in-law - incestuous under the laws of
the time - he made her take a virginity test.
None of this endears Dickens to me. He
doesn't seem a very nice man. But he was
clever. He installed Nelly in a series of houses
so he could visit her whenever he felt
frisky. His performances around the country
were the perfect cover for him to visit her.
She disappears from the records for four
years, during which time she was living in
France, it's thought.
There's talk of an illegitimate child, although
Dickens' love of secrecy makes it difficult
to prove. He burnt all his papers, and
forced friends to burn the letters he had sent.
Their relationship was more than material
for scandalous tittle-tattle. It appears to
have affected his writing. Great Expectations
was the story of a man who can't have the
woman he longs for. His obsession with secrecy
and shame over their relationship
found its way into the themes of his writing.
His work, as he agonised over his secret affair,
became darker.
9:18am Monday 16th June 2008
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