|
The couple's betrothal takes place in Graves' Chapter 8. It is here that Livia and Urgulania (mother of the bride) break into uncontrollable laughter. According to Graves, the wedding itself was uneventful, although he does have Urgulanilla dropped while being carried over the threshold by two elderly Claudians. Pulman condenses bits of material from two nonconsecutive chapters of I, Claudius for this scene and adds a bit more to them: Claudius' stumbling, his first glimpse of his bride, the laughter of everyone present at the oddness of this couple. Pulman does not include Claudius' earlier betrothals mentioned in Suetonius and poignantly developed in the novel. Graves is the source for this scene, but he places the betrothal in AD 4 and the marriage in AD 6. The ancient source, Suetonius, merely provides a catalog of Claudius' wives- no details about Urgulanilla's appearance or the wedding. Suetonius does, however, state the grounds for their divorce. |
|
|
