This is related to my "Love Party" story but I think is a general point. I wanted to continue the adaptation story line but to do that I really need classic stories with strong female parts which could easily turn erotic but there are very few. Pride and Prejudice - this I used, Elizabeth and 4 sisters under 23, awesome. Vanity Fair - Becky Sharp, and her less attractive friend, but she ages but is a grade A minx Jane Eyre - But she's kind of on her own Middlemarch - Dorothea and Lydgate's wife but the story is intellectual ... might work though Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Sex on legs but pretty much the only female character Wives and Daughters - A Milf and 2 daughters but not well known Madame Bovary - Possibly manages enough for several characters 3 Musketeers - Milady obviously, Constance and many other possibilities ... films have upped M's part but I don't know if there are many more, Scarlett Letter? They have been porn or soft porn versions of much of "D.H.Lawrence so I guess they seem too easy. There are other Jane Austen books which are good candidates. I Claudius - Huge cast and strong female characters with Livia, Julia, Antonia, Livilla, Messalini and Agripinilla, but there was a scene in the 70s adaptation so gross that they cut it out of the repeat plus there are a few other events it would be difficult to mention. I guess this could be worked around but the only female character close to a lead is Livia and she's not even that young at that start. Nowadays strong female characters are either physically strong or bad-ass and often don't come from high quality literature. I would be very grateful if anyone had any more ideas. The criteria are: 1. Should come from recognised classical literature up to say 1950 (or more recently written stories set before then). 2. A strong female character who if a film were made had a part big enough to be a Best Actress, who finds herself in a few possible sexual situations. 3. A least one more secondary female character who do likewise.
The Lion in Winter (film) - Eleanor of Aquitaine; Henry's mistress Alais Capet. Supported her sons' revolt against her husband. Eleanor is just as strong as a historic character. There's an episode of her going on crusade along with her ladies-in-waiting. Shakespeare's comedies seem a good bet, though the characters might not be as strong as you'd like. The Tempest - Miranda "Oh, brave new world, that hath such people in it!" (as she sees the shipwrecked men). She could have some very busy times. One could read in the witch Sycorax as well. A Midsummer Night's Dream - Helena and Hermia, Hippolyta, Titania. Wouldn't take much doing to add some loin-baring. So maybe the tragedies; well, still maybe not so strong. Lear, maybe? King Lear -- Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia Hamlet -- Ophelia and Gertrude Romeo and Juliet -- Juliet, Juliet's nurse Greek drama and mythology have various strong female characters. Antigone (sister-daughter of Oedipus, at odds with her brother's cruel decree) might be the outstanding example. And then there's Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (significant bawdiness) Boccaccio's The Decameron has a double charge -- a circle of storytellers, more women then men, telling stories in an idyllic country estate to amuse one another, often with stories related to relations among men and women, including humorous or farcical stories about love affairs and unfaithful husbands and wives. The storytellers are distinct characters themselves, particularly Fiammetta, who was possibly based on a woman Boccaccio admired. They take turns being "King" or "Queen" for the day, setting the rules for the stories. An adapted story could continue the flirtatious stories to conclusions among the storytellers. Female storytellers -- Pampinea, Fiammetta, Filomena, Emilia, Lauretta, Neifile, and Elissa. Here's an incomplete list of Decameron storyteller character sketches: http://decameronbyboccaccio.blogspot.com/2010/03/who-was-in-decameron.html Oh, and how about Kristin Lavransdatter? Looks like it might match your criteria. Definitely sexuality and romance are parts of the drama. The Wikipedia summary mentions seduction, adultery, reckless love afairs, jealousy, suspicion...
[QUOTE="Zingiber, post: 887, member: 56 Boccaccio's The Decameron has a double charge -- a circle of storytellers, more women then men, telling stories in an idyllic country estate to amuse one another, often with stories related to relations among men and women, including humorous or farcical stories about love affairs and unfaithful husbands and wives. The storytellers are distinct characters themselves, particularly Fiammetta, who was possibly based on a woman Boccaccio admired. They take turns being "King" or "Queen" for the day, setting the rules for the stories. An adapted story could continue the flirtatious stories to conclusions among the storytellers. Female storytellers -- Pampinea, Fiammetta, Filomena, Emilia, Lauretta, Neifile, and Elissa. Here's an incomplete list of Decameron storyteller character sketches: http://decameronbyboccaccio.blogspot.com/2010/03/who-was-in-decameron.html Oh, and how about Kristin Lavransdatter? Looks like it might match your criteria. Definitely sexuality and romance are parts of the drama. The Wikipedia summary mentions seduction, adultery, reckless love afairs, jealousy, suspicion... [/QUOTE] Thank you so much for all your suggestions. I'd forgotten the Decameron, the tales are very racy and of course provided inspiration for people like Shakespeare. Regarding Shakespeare, AMND is an excellent suggestion and of course it gets a little kinky with Titania and Bottom ... I don't think that would count as bestiality! Lear I hadn't even considered, long periods people going mad, but then you do have very strong female characters unfortunately though 2 of them bad and difficult to identify with. R&J well I realise you can adapt it. In Baz's version, which I loved, he upped the ages, in the Vatican sponsored Zeferelli version they didn't much but we would have to here. Nurse and Father Lawrence scene, and I believe Mrs Capulet's a real milf. Hamlet ... incest scene? My favourite play, Twelfth Night, sadly presents problems. Erotic scenes until the end would be difficult. I can see Maria getting involved in a drunken gangbang but Viola and Olivia would have to imagine sex with their beaus and Olivia is going to be sadly mistaken (maybe she's secretly a lesbian, and the Duke is secretly gay?). Taming of the Shrew could culminate in a sex contest with Kate winning by offering anal. There are many others, Cymbeline, Love's Labour Lost (terrible play but so many possibilities), Much Ado (all that LLL isn't and possibilities) and another very good candidate which has a strong female lead, As You Like It. And of course I'm forgetting the strongest non-historical female character of all, Portia - what's in her box? Having gone through all that, it's just enough example of how great Shakespeare is. Unlike Dickens' fantastic and detailed descriptions, Will can establish character in a few words. The fear with Shakespeare is changing the text - I think I heard Julian Fellows talking about adding some ... not a good idea. So you're left with a decision to go with the original or just use the story, which might well be able to stand on its own. I read your link to Kristin Lavransdatter and that seems excellent. I had never heard of it. It seems very suitable and ripe for adaptation. I might just use the Wiki guide, which admitted I did with P&P although I'm very familiar with that story. As for going Classical there's Lysistrata of course with scope for sex before and after as well as few possible cult orgies thrown in. Now I feel inspired, Ivor Bigun (yes I'm sorry about the name but I was thinking Ben Dover, whose son is a well known BBC actor now under the exotic name of Tiger Drew Honey) can consider many new projects. By setting my story in the future I sadly don't get to use current celebrities which would give this adaptations an extra fizz - a future project I guess. Thank you again.
I've gone with Middlemarch but I hope to do 3 or 4 more afterwards. One advantage is that I own a copy of the book. Drawbacks are Victorian clothing which make quick fucks difficult - nobody at any time wore more clothes - but fortunately it's set about 40 years before it was written and its immense size and complexity, but when I saw the opportunities and added my own special relationship ... As well as writing about 6 chapters tonight I studied Victorian underwear for hours.
Good grief it took 13 episodes to do Middlemarch XXX. Halfway through I fell into a bit of a panic because there is a lot revolving around an older character and the young people's relationships seemed rather static. I had even thought of a desperate measure in introducing more young characters (which felt wrong because there are already about 10 to play with) but then just as suddenly inspiration struck and everything just flowed, trying to keep up with my aim of 2 sex scenes per episode. I shall be releasing it slowly and allowing a skip on how the 3 main Harry Potter TV actors came to appear in it - makes me wish it was the film actors. I am just debating whether to include the producer's comments with each episode (already 400-500 words each) like "Pride and Prejudice" or put them at the end. I need to find a fuller version of the Nordic Saga and it's winter in my story so I cannot film the Shakespeare as they are out of doors unless my producer takes a break. Vanity Fair is fortunately set in Georgian times, so no clothing problems, but my final choice The Decameron seems like the next one to go for.
Thanks Zingiber. I really enjoyed writing it, it's just such a shame so few people are reading it. After this I would probably like to write some original historic erotic fiction especially from the period 1750-1850 ... you have things like the Hellfire Club, the debauchery of Louis XV, Maquis de Sade, the Romantic poets and more liberated women. Unlike the Victorians who brushed their depraved society - and let's face with the extraordinary number of prostitutes operating in London, men cannot have being doing much else - under the carpet there was much more openness about sexuality. Before this story, I was much more into mind-control and the Roman Empire.
You've mentioned "bloomers" a few times, and my impression is that the pantaloons-under-skirts look is a later innovation originating in the New World. (I was also trying to figure out if Middlemarch, nominally in 1830s rural England, counts as Victorian for dress or more end-of-Regency, but couldn't quite tell). Following in some of your research footprints, perhaps, I was reading this article (featuring a picture of 1810-1820s ladies' underdrawers): http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/ladies-underdrawers-in-regency-times/
Thanks for that link (especially the diagrams of the drawers); I hadn't seen that one. Jane Austen's novels (well certainly P&P) were set in the 1790s/1800s as far as I know that was pre-drawers (I used 'bloomers' as alternative word just for variety) and for a brief period the corset became unpopular. I've actually been to Miss Austen's house and seen where she wrote next to a squeaky door but I am pretty sure they didn't show her underwear. As I understood it from descriptions they were originally like the diagrams. There were 2 types of split drawers: 1 for each leg; 1 for the front and 1 for the back. Both of these were joined by a waistband and perhaps other fastenings lower down. The articles I read also talked about how the baggy material helped cover them up somewhat. Of course they would probably have a chemise/shift over the top as well - it depends where the chemise stops and in pre-drawers time they were at least to the knee. After that the 2 halves joined fully and maybe my avatar is showing a later one . In Middlemarch XXX the ones clearly show and open front and back, whereas the ones worn on night's out and fastenings ... not always used In conclusion, the underwear changed rather rapidly but the important thing for me was that it was before the framed dresses that appeared after 1850 which really made any kind of quickie almost impossible - it was bad enough getting into a corset and lifting all those petticoats! I saw your comment about the ring. I perhaps should have put 'crass' in inverted commas as that was a view some people would have had. Of course having a 1st person writing it means I can blame Ivor for any mistakes. Throughout Elliot's book, if someone tells Rosamond not to do something, she will do it, and Fred is forever giving into temptation, so I think with a gorgeous sexy nymphomaniac sister he probably would not have been able to resist. She even visited Lydgate's rich relatives to get money out of them before she was married so I could have added some scenes with them. Apart from Emily Wilson (Elizabeth), all the other actresses are based looks wise on real actresses who have similar names, except for Petra who is based on actress with an entirely different name, but the same accent. The same applies to the male actors. Jacqui's full name was entirely subconscious and I only realized its origin afterwards. I have also been reading about Louis XV but, as far as the debauchery is concerned, he had many mistresses until Pompadour (who was a commoner - part of the scandal) and then she supplied him with a stream of girls who weren't after her power. To me that does not seem particularly debauched. Many kings have slept with loads of woman and produced dozens of bastards. I was hoping that there was some particularly kinks that he had, but no description.
