The story takes place in 1763, when the UK as a whole was still in the era of small farmers, the Jenny spinning machine that reversed the era had not yet come out, and the first industrial revolution was still in its infancy. Relying on the manor, land, and hereditary salaries, the aristocrats lived a life of extravagance and extravagance.
Lower-class women usually work as maids, dressmakers, and washerwomen, earning less than £5 a year. The rewards of prostitution are quite tempting for these poor women.
In the poor streets and in the civilized SoHo district, some women at the bottom choose to work during the day and sell their bodies at night in order to avoid starvation. Marrying a poor man also means potentially working at night.
The scale of "Famous Shu" is not only a map of London, but also a sketch of British economic history.
There is a lot of blatant sex, and even child prostitution is legal.
London has become a veritable "city of sensuality", a paradise for men.
"I got a report on Harris' experience." (Oh, not a health check, but a brothel story memoir)
A group of young and beautiful women gathered around the table, laughing and reading the hottest "Guide to the Courtesan": full of comments on the girls' appearance, character, taste, sex in bed, and humorous comments.
Covent Garden was originally the seat of the monastery. After the English Reformation in the 16th century, it became a fruit and vegetable market and became a settlement for the lower class of the West End. Historically, "The List of Miss Harris Covent Garden" is real, and it is updated every year for 38 years (the author should be rich and not short-lived).
Published on Christmas Day from 1757 to 1795, it sold an average of 8,000 copies a year at two shillings and sixpence each, and even outsold the Bible at that time. Each directory records 120-190 prostitutes, and the practitioners are proud of the above list, and they all care about the evaluation inside.
Slum bust Margaret Wells (MK), who was bought into a brothel by her mother at the age of 10 for a pair of shoes. Since then, she has tried her best to survive. She was unwilling to live in this slum, and she hoped that with her girls, she would no longer be in the company of drunkards, hooligans, and thieves every day. To this end, she must upgrade the industry and move out of here.
She dreams of moving into "an upscale neighborhood of Greek Street." A small family can live a comfortable life with servants for only £500 a year, but without their own carriage; the picture below shows the income of farmers in 1790 (30 years later), Jane Austen in her will £800 left = £60,000 now.
One pound = 20 shillings (at that time, 1 pound was 85 times the purchasing power of today, and now 1 pound = 8.95 yuan), and it only takes 5 shillings for a man to lead the way to happiness (modern 1*85 *8.95/4=190 RMB). A house in London is about £60,000, and it is £2,000 in the suburbs of Shanyuan. She can't believe it, but she has been trying to save the rent; in order to scrape together the first expenses, she has worked hard.
The move angered the senior prostitute Mrs Quigley (G), Margaret's old club. The girl who had been bought back by her with a pair of shoes and later betrayed her to live on her own. Living in a slum can be tolerated. But to be on an equal footing with her and enter the upper class is absolutely not allowed, she decided to cut off the life of this intruder.
Mrs. Quigley found Florence (F), a female missionary, and why should women embarrass women? If Florence really hates prostitutes, why should one prostitute take revenge on another?
Everything has not escaped the law of the world: money. F As a missionary, she is blind and has no source of income; she lives on the food she gets from the church and lives on the alms of others. Mrs Quigley made her "free" across from Margaret's dream home and moved out of the slums, and she became a tool of others' struggle.
F took Margaret to court in the name of God and was fined £100 for running a depraved brothel.
Margaret is a shrewd businessman, although she is never lenient with the girls under her;
And because of their past experiences, respect and protect them;
In this era when women have no status, like a soldier leading her soldiers to kill blood.
Margaret has been struggling in the bottom society for many years, when she struggled several times, from a girl with nothing to a prostitute in a brothel; from an exploited laborer to a small and micro business owner;
She is pungent, persistent, independent, and has a hungry determination to counterattack;
This is a huge fine, but the education given to her by society is: if you give up, you can only be slaughtered.
I haven't seen her shed a tear in the whole episode, and she walked in her own direction with tenacity and determination.
(She is the woman who impresses me the most in the whole play, like a grass that will not admit defeat, tenacious and full of vitality, nothing can make her back down, full of security)
we'll have a place
The huge fine (currently RMB 8,500) made Margaret's dream far away.
The second daughter, Lucy, is not yet an adult, and she sees her growing up in a lustful flow;
She knew that her mother had high hopes for her; she also understood that there were not many choices in life, so she accepted her future quietly and numbly.
Because of the huge fine, Margaret had to auction her second daughter's first night in advance.
Since it was a secret auction, everyone handed in an offer sheet, and no one knew who won the bid, so she sold it to 2 people.
The prostitutes under Mrs. Quigley read Shakespeare, play the piano, learn to dance, and learn the etiquette of aristocrats, with arrogant eyes;
They speak fluent French, have upper-class ladylike demeanor, and serve exclusively wealthy aristocrats.
The girls under Margaret are simple, down-to-earth, and full of dust.
A girl, Lacey, quits;
She needs to learn the skills, etiquette from Mrs. Quigley;
The way to change the boss at that time was to have the new boss help pay off the debt: Lacey owed £5 ;
It's not that you don't have enough food and drink to work every day, but you always have to save some money yourself: send it to your family or leave some private money.
The same goes for Mrs. Quigley. Skirts, perfumes, shoes, meals, and rooms are all deducted from the money earned;
Another girl who jumped on the other side owed Mrs Quigley £60 , although every man who walked past her crotch would have to keep £3.
If you think you can get rich, it is a big mistake;
Classes are everywhere, nobles and wealthy people marry each other;
Family property is inherited by the eldest son, and women can only marry with dowry;
After marriage, the right to use the property is controlled by the husband.
And the women at the bottom don't have rich dowries, and they can't even find decent husbands; (Jane Austen is not married, but at least she can live without food)
For women at the bottom of society, marriage is like being a free nanny + partner;
Compared with marrying a low-level coachman, a manservant, or a housekeeper, and at the same time doing manual labor;
Living in poverty and being beaten by her husband at any time, starving to death or being killed at any time, no one cares;
Being a prostitute is already considered the most lightweight tragedy, so many women choose this industry both helplessly and voluntarily.
Margaret understands very well that marrying the bottom means turbulence in this life;
Stable survival guarantees only exist in the elites; and women at the bottom have only one chance to obtain guarantees—to become mistresses and the property of the nobles.
Charming Charlotte, mistress of Baron Howard;
Margaret strongly persuaded the eldest daughter to sign the deed of prostitution and get a lifetime guarantee;
But the elder sister never really refused to surrender to the powerful, she wanted to have her own dignity;
Instead of a business transaction, it has become a plaything for the nobles.
Quigley served the upper class, hooking up with the courts, the nobility, and the royal family;
She also kidnapped ignorant teenage girls and tricked them into working as prostitutes;
When the girl under her command contracted a venereal disease, she immediately abandoned it. (This is also the final destination of many women at that time)
Margaret mobilized populist wisdom in the face of Mrs. Quigley's various targets;
She finds the former oiran: Mary Cooper, who was discarded because of an illness, and makes the tabloid reporters fight back with rumors.
In that bleak era when women were as humble as dust, they worked hard to live and pursue what they wanted;
Has a longing for life and dreams, with rock music BGM.
Only with economic independence can there be a free life and free love.
So Margaret said: Money is the only power a woman has.
It is worth mentioning that "Famous Shu" is adapted from real events. Margaret (MK) is based on Elizabeth Wesborn as the character prototype, she specializes in raising the first night of girls, and the other (G) It's Charlotte Hayes , the prostitute of a high-end club . She pays great attention to the cultivation of her own qualities and knows how to market herself. She opened the brothel to Soho and King's Road. At that time, prostitutes earned from a few shillings to a few pounds at a time, but there were not a few people with an annual income of four hundred pounds. Famous prostitutes became the mistresses of nobles and royal families, while the prostitutes held the lifeblood of men, but also held huge amounts of wealth.
In 1752, the Regulation of Confused Places was enacted in England to punish unregistered brothels. Not so much to crack down on prostitution, but to regulate it and take a slice of the industry. I've made money, how can I lose my share?
The inexhaustible golden and silver affairs of the ancient and modern times
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