“Whales died so I could look like this,” seventeen-year-old Charlotte (India Amarteifio) says matter-of factly to her brother, Adolphus (Tunji Kasim), on their way to London, where she is to marry the king of England. The whalebone corset she’s obliged to wear—“rather delicate and also very, very sharp”—has rendered her immobile for the siblings’ six-hour stagecoach journey, while her dress, made of two-hundred-year-old lace and encrusted with sapphires, imposes its own restrictions. “I am forced into a ludicrous gown so stylish that, if I move too much,” Charlotte continues, “I might be sliced and stabbed to death by my undergarments.” She deadpans, “Oh, how joyful it is to be a lady.”
This story is from the May 22, 2023 edition of The New Yorker.
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This story is from the May 22, 2023 edition of The New Yorker.
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BADDIE ISSUES
\"Wicked\" and \"Gladiator II.\"
LET'S MAKE A DEAL
\"Death Becomes Her\" and \"Burnout Paradise.\"
ANTI HEROES
\"The Franchise,\" on HBO.
FELLOW-TRAVELLERS
The surprisingly sunny origins of the Frankfurt School.
NOW YOU SEE ME
John Singer Sargent's strange, slippery portraits of an art dealer's family.
PARIS FRIEND - SHUANG XUETAO
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WILD SIDE
Is Lake Tahoe's bear boom getting out of hand?
GETTING A GRIP
Robots learn to use their hands.
WITHHOLDING SEX FROM MY WIFE
In the wake of [the] election, progressive women, who are outraged over Donald Trump's victory at the ballot box, have taken to social media with public, vengeful vows of chastity. - The Free Press.
DEADLINE EXTENSION
Old age, reborn.
