Sisters of Inspiration. From Shakespearean Heroine to Pre-Raphaelite Muse

Dana Percec

doi:10.2478/genst-2021-0001

Abstract

Abstract The paper aims to make a connection between the female models of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the portrayal of Shakespearean heroines, given that the 19th-century school of painting was using the Bard not only as a source of legitimation and authority, but also as a source of displacement, tackling apparently universal and literary subjects that were in fact disturbing for the Victorian sensibilities, such as love and eroticism, neurosis and madness, or suicide. As more recent scholarship has revealed, the women behind the Brotherhood, while posing as passive and contemplative, objects on display for the public gaze, had more agency and mobility than the average Victorian women.

Highlights

The Pre-Raphaelite movement has received a lot of critical attention both in artistic terms and in terms of the literary sources of inspiration this school of painting used
Some of them, belonging to modest, working-class backgrounds, got actively involved in the artistic movement, conducted by professional middle-class men, showing an upward trajectory that was very hard to achieve by a woman in the socially conservative 19th century
Muriel Foster was so important for John William Waterhouse that he adapted his subjects, over the decades, so as to suit the age and figure of his model

Summary

Introduction

The Pre-Raphaelite movement has received a lot of critical attention both in artistic terms and in terms of the literary sources of inspiration this school of painting used. The Pre-Raphaelite painting favours medieval settings, Biblical or mythological themes, lavish costumes and vivid colours. All, it brings to the forefront the female subject: beautiful young women in a melancholy pose, enigmatic and inactive, statuesque and aloof. It brings to the forefront the female subject: beautiful young women in a melancholy pose, enigmatic and inactive, statuesque and aloof Despite this overall impression, recently published biographies of the real women behind the idealized faces and. Emma Madox Brown started by being the long-time lover, later wife, of the painter, and continued by choosing the subjects of his compositions for which she sat, imposing her will and point of view. Muriel Foster was so important for John William Waterhouse that he adapted his subjects, over the decades, so as to suit the age and figure of his model

Shakespeare’s heroines and their Victorian perception

The story behind the story: fiction and reality

Conclusion