Victorian prudery

The story of how the Victorians modestly covered the legs of their pianos is a myth. Thomas Pyles' book Words and Ways of American English contains what is claimed to be the most likely explanation, that an English traveller by the name of Captain Frederick Marryat invented the story as a joke. He wrote it in his book, Diary in America. It is a wonderful story if you want to exaggerate the idea of Victorian prudery, especially US prudery. The problem with reports of prudery or any other single behaviour type, is that it is unlikely to be uniformly spread across the whole country and across a whole time span, human society is more complex than that. The prudery of the Victorian age pre-dates Queen Victoria herself, she reigned 1837 until her death in 1901. A visit to her home, Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, will be a surprise to anyone sure of her prudery, the house contains a wonderful collection of nude statues and works of art. You could be excused if you thought that far from being prudish, Queen Victoria had a very accepting attitude to nudity.