Monocle
From Free net encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Monocle (disambiguation).
A monocle is a type of corrective lens, descended from the Quizzing glasses of the 1700s, used to correct the vision in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string. The other end of the string is then connected to the wearer's clothing to avoid losing the monocle.
Styles
There are three styles of monocle. The first style consists of a simple loop of metal with a lens which was slotted into the eye orbit. These were the first monocles and could be found from the 1830s onwards. The second style, which was developed in the 1890s, was the most elaborate, consisting of a frame with a raised edge-like extension known as the gallery. The gallery was designed to help secure the monocle in place by raising it out of the eye orbit slightly, so that the eyelashes could not jar it. Monocles with galleries were often the most expensive. The very wealthy would have the frames custom-made to fit their own eye sockets. This was achieved by having a mold of the face taken with plaster, and then deriving the measurements from that.
The third style of monocle was frameless. This consisted of a cut piece of glass, with a serrated edge to provide a grip, and sometimes a hole drilled into one side for a cord. Often the frameless monocle had no cord and would be worn freely. This style was popular at the beginning of the 20th century as they could be cut to fit any shape eye orbit cheaply, without the cost of a customized frame.
It is a myth that monocles were uncomfortable to wear. If they were customised then they could be worn securely with no effort. However, often only the rich could afford to have them custom-manufactured and the poor had to settle for poorly-fitted monocles that were less comfortable and less secure. The popular perception was (and still is) that a monocle could easily fall off with the wrong facial expression. A standard comedic device exploits this: an upper-class gentleman makes a shocked expression in response to some event, and his monocle falls into his drink, smashes into pieces on the floor, etc.
Wearers
Usage of a monocle is generally associated with rich upper-class men. Combined with a tuxedo and top-hat, it completes the costume of a stereotypical gentleman or Capitalist of the late 19th or early 20th century. Monocles are also stereotypical accessories of German military officers from this period, especially from the First World War, where the stereotypical German Oberst would plot the demise of enemy forces with monocle in place to examine attack charts. German officers who actually wore a monocle include Erich Ludendorff, Walter von Reichenau, Hans von Seeckt and Hugo Sperrle.
Monocles were most prevalent in the late 19th Century but are rarely worn today. This is due in large part to advances in optometry which allow for better measurement of refractive error, so that glasses and contact lenses can be prescribed with different strengths in each eye. The monocle did, however, garner a following in the stylish lesbian circles of the mid 20th century, with lesbians donning a monocle for effect. Such women included Una Lady Troubridge, Radclyffe Hall, and Weimar German reporter Sylvia von Harden.
Some famous figures who wore a monocle include British politician Joseph Chamberlain and his son Austen, Muslim nationalist Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Portuguese President António de Spínola, filmmakers Fritz Lang and Erich von Stroheim, Dadaists Tristan Tzara and Raoul Hausmann, esotericist Julius Evola, Poet laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson and perhaps ironically Karl Marx. In another vein G. E. M. Anscombe was one of only a few noted women who occasionally wore a monocle.[1] Famous wearers today include astronomer Sir Patrick Moore and former boxer Chris Eubank.
Famous fictional wearers include Mr. Peanut, Edgar Bergen's dummy Charlie McCarthy, Batman's nemesis The Penguin, Colonel Klink, played by actor Werner Klemperer (who once admitted his was held in place with spirit gum), and the character Cho Hakkai from the anime Saiyuki. The fictional Lord Peter Wimsey, an amateur detective from an upper-class background, possessed a set of detecting tools disguised as more gentlemanly accessories, including a powerful magnifying glass disguised as a monocle.
See also
de:Monokel he:מונוקל ka:მონოკლი (ოპტიკა) nl:Monocle fi:Monokkeli sv:Monokel