Nell Gwyn: Royal Mistress

Abstract

Mistress Eleanor Gwyn, the colorful offspring of a disreputable family, was a child of poverty who grew up in the vile slums of seventeenth century London. She was wild, coarse, sprightly, alluring, humorous, and thoroughly captivating. Technically a member of "the oldest profession", she rose eventually to become one of the brightest lights in the seraglio of the royal voluptuary Charles Stuart. She was a harlot, and thus possibly repugnant and distasteful to the strait-laced and puritanical. Nevertheless, the fame and popularity of Nell Gwyn, the vivacious mistress of King Charles II of England, has managed to endure the passage of time and still continues to fascinate people even of the twentieth century. Her name, once celebrated and frankly notorious, is still quite capable of conjuring romantic images or this charming, warm, and lovely woman--as well as all the pomp, excitement, and rowdiness of the gay and lusty court of the Restoration. Her crude speech, elaborate dress and love of feminine finery, lively antics, and Rabelaisian character reflect the turbulent, rollicking, and "dissolute" spirit that characterized the reign of the "Merry Monarch".