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Tipping The Velvet Analysis

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The objective of this essay is to examine the female character Nancy Astley in the Television Series ‘Tipping the Velvet’ in relation to theories of modernity, feminism and the expanding city. Originally a book by Sarah Waters and then adapted into a television series for the BBC Tipping the Velvet is set in Victorian England during the 1890s. Nancy Astley is a young girl from Whitstable who works in the family oyster parlour. During an attendance at the local variety show, Nancy falls in love with a male impersonator, Kitty Butler. Following this night, Nancy eventually pursues her love to London where they have an affair only to be heartbroken and then goes on to find her own means of living in the City. The series focuses on sexuality, gender, and social through the eyes of Miss Astley and her self-discovery as a young woman in 19th Century London. The Victorian era was the beginning of women questioning the patriarchal standards of society. Women were oppressed, and confined to the house. Society expected women to have children, raise them and run the household while the husband had opportunities to work and to even make something of themselves in society by working their way up. The working class women had the …show more content…

Gender was not assigned at birth as your sex is, it is a learned idea, influenced by generations and traditional ideas, and enforced by the media and cultural stigma. If gender is performance, then it is subject to change at will. Nancy, in that sense, is pushed into becoming a male impersonator on stage because of her love for Kitty. It is not something that she consciously pursue, but rather as she delves into the character of Nan King, the sustained use of male signifiers, such as attire and haircut, along with male mannerisms creates the character. Judith Butler refers to these repetitions as ‘sustained social performances’ which create the reality of

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