 |
[email protected] |
 |
3275638434 |
 |
 |
| Paper Publishing WeChat |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Muse Turned “Femme Fatale” in D. G. Rossetti’s Painting and Poetry
Pritha Kundu
Full-Text PDF
XML 524 Views
DOI:10.17265/2159-5836/2013.12.004
Junior Research Fellow, Calcutta, India
In many of D. G. Rossetti’s paintings, Elizabeth Siddal appears as a model. In real life, they formed a married couple, and the relatonship was not as idealistic as it might have been, between a muse-figure and an artist. After Elizabeth’s death, Rossetti seemed to have been preoccupied with the “Lilith” theme in his painting and poetry, and somehow he could not free himself from the haunting memory of the “wronged wife”, the muse. This often found manifestation in his portrayal of the “femme fatale” images. Applying psychoanalysis to art-criticism and literary appreciation, this paper is an attempt to explore the relationship between a model and an artist, which both psychologically and aesthetically, seemed to be working beyond the former’s death. Through a detailed analysis of the “Lilith” image in D. G. Rossetti’s art, this paper has shown the coplexities of the artist’s agony and anxiety over the image of a muse, a homely beloved—turned into a threatening “femme fatale”, now distant, unknown, frightening yet fascinating, and mystified by death.
D. G. Rossetti, “Lady Lilith”, Elizabeth Siddal, femme fatale, pre-Raphaelite art
Gitter, E. G. (1984). The Power of women’s hair in the Victorian imagination. PMLA, 99(5), 936-954.
Goethe, J. W. V. (1828-1829). Faust, Part I. (B. Taylor, Trans.). Penn State Electronic Classics Series Publication (2013). Retrieved from http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/goethe/goethe-faust.pdf
Hawksley, L. (2004). Lizzie Siddal: Tragedy of a pre-Raphaelite supermodel. London: André Deutsch.
Marillier, H. C. (1899). Dante Gabriel Rossetti: An illustrated memorial of his life and art. London: George Bell and Sons.
Marsh, J. (1985). The pre–Raphaelite sisterhood. New York: St. Martin’s.
Miller, J. H. (1991). The mirror’s secret: Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s double work of art. Victorian Poetry, 29, 333–349.
Rossetti, C. G. (n.d.). In an artist’s studio. Retrieved from http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/crossetti/bl-crossetti-inart.htm
Rossetti, D. G. (1860). Portrait of Elizabeth Siddal. Retrieved from http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/29/2939/44YRD00Z/posters/dante-gabriel-rossetti-portrait-of-elizabeth-siddal.jpg
Rossetti, D. G. (1860). Regina Cordium. Retrieved from http://www.saleoilpaintings.com/paintings-image/dante-gabriel-rossetti/dante-gabriel-rossetti-regina-cordium.jpg
Rossetti, D. G. (1864-1867). Lady Lilith (earlier version). Retrieved from http://www.whimzical.com/Art/Rossetti/LadyLilith.jpg
Rossetti, D. G. (1873). Lady Lilith (final version). Retrieved from http://www.geocities.jp/weathercock8926/images/lilith.jpg
Rossetti, D. G. (1886). The collected works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (Vol. 1). W. M. Rossetti, (Ed.). London: Ellis and Scrutton.
Rossetti, W. M. (Ed.). (1895). Dante Gabriel Rossetti: His family letters, with a memoir (Vols. 2). London: Ellis and Elvey.
Ussher, J. (1997). Fantasies of femininity: Reframing the boundaries of sex. London: Penguin Books.
Waugh, E. (1991). Rossetti: His life and work. London: Methuen.