Historical Romances That Don't Use the Material They've Got: Paget and Drummond in Victoria

"Bury your gays" is a negative term in romance. It refers to the trend of presenting loving gay characters, only to have them die tragic deaths. 

E.M. Forster refers to this trend whimsically in his note on Maurice. When debating whether or not to publish, he states:

[The happy ending] has made the book more difficult to publish...if it ended unhappily, with a lad dangling from a noose or with a suicide pact, all would be well, for there is no pornography or seduction of minors. But the lovers get away unpunished and consequently recommend crime.

One reason for HEA in male/male romances is to counteract the trend of punishment. Writers sometimes see themselves as correcting a wrong, opposing bigotry. 

I'm not sure it is entirely fair to perceive this trend in homophobic terms. In Victorian literature, an innocent, virginal young girl in white was pretty much doomed from the start. And if she had a cough? Hey, where's the coffin?! 

However, while watching Victoria, Season 2, I had to conclude, "Burying the gays is exactly what the writers did."

Victoria pretty much gives up being plausibly historical by the end of Season 1. The relationship between Lord Alfred Paget, Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal to Queen Victoria and the father of 14 children, and Mr. Drummond, Personal Secretary to Prime Minister Peel, is highly unlikely, not just because of the 14 kids but because Drummond was 50, not 23 at the time he and Paget would have met. A 23 gap in age doesn't preclude a relationship. Still, sorry, folks, the two were by all accounts not in love or on their way to becoming lovers.

However, again, by the time Victoria hits Season 2, it is rather like an alternate history, so, hey, why not?! 

Here's where things get weird, writing-wise. Drummond was shot by Daniel M'Naghten (see M'Naghten Rules). In fact, there were a tremendous number of assassinations and assassination attempts in the Victorian era, which puts paid to the belief that the past was so much more civilized or calm or regularized or whatever immensely silly people like to believe about "then" versus "now."

Drummond was shot by accident, M'Naghten thinking he was Peel, not because Drummond heroically stepped in front of the bullet as he does in the series. Unlike in the television series, he did not die immediately. 

Yet the episode has him die right away, after which Paget receives the devastating and shocking news. 

My reaction was, "Are you kidding me?"

Granted, the first time I watched the episode, I didn't know about Drummond dying at all. But then I read up on him and thought, "Are you kidding me?"

Dying Keats

Drummond initially survived the shot and the bullet was extracted. He died five days later, likely from infection. This is the age before antibiotics and surviving a deep wound was mostly up to the patient's robust immune system though even at the time, some doctors blamed the immediate removal of the bullet--without sterilization--and blood-lettings, which latter procedure was coming in for more and more criticism. 

From a dramatic point of view: why not have Drummond live those five days? The writers spent the entire season setting up the relationship between the two men--long glances, quick conversational exchanges, affectionate smiles, finally a kiss--and then, He's dead dead dead. Oh my, time for modern commentary on how it's so sad and unfair that Paget can't even claim his rightful place as Drummond's lover at the funeral. Dead dead dead. Sad sad sad. 

Percy Bysshe Shelley

In other words, yup, the writers were burying their gays. 

Suppose the alternate timeline/history is at work, but the culture, expectations and accoutrements of Victorianism remain as well as certain events. Would Paget be able to visit his lover-to-be in those five days before that lover's death? 

Absolutely. The Queen's Chief Equerry would have no trouble at all being admitted to Drummond's household. The two could have a final goodbye. After all, maudlin scenes of young dying men are entirely appropriate to the time period (see Keats and Shelley). If the Queen and Prime Minister Peel were currently on the outs (they weren't), possible tension could cause some dismay for the grievers. For that matter, why not have the mourning Paget attend M'Naghten's trial and be furious at his acquittal? 

Rather than using the alternate history intelligently, the writers seemed to have aimed instead for cheap shock. The season set up the characters just so the relationship could be dramatically ended and viewer distress gained. And I don't see why gays--or naive coughing girls--should have to pay that price.