Author: Lady In Green

In an Artist’s Studio and The Greek Captive

When observing the posture and body language in this artwork, the relationship between the man and the woman captures the viewer’s attention right away. The man, positioned further back in the composition, seems to exert control over the Greek woman, who is portrayed in a submissive, vulnerable position on the floor. The title of the piece suggests key aspects: that the woman is Greek and possibly held captive, underscoring themes of conquest, cultural superiority, and gender disparities. The man’s religious attire indicates that he is likely a high priest, and his stance and expression convey authority, alongside a palpable tension between him and the audience. His gesture towards a weapon hint at readiness for violence or force, presumably to protect the women depicted in the scene from any potential harm. The artist’s perspective creates a voyeuristic experience, as though we are witnessing a live moment.

The contrast between the sitting woman and the standing man highlights the gender hierarchy prevalent during the Victorian Era. This artwork embodies the male gaze, presenting the woman’s body as both exotic and an object of display, reflecting on how foreign women were portrayed in colonial and orientalist art. Relating this analysis to course materials, the piece address’s themes of perception, sensuality, fear, curiosity, and temptation. By engaging with gendered power structures and the Western interpretation of the Eastern world, it demonstrates how visual art can both create and reflect the cultural and historical contexts of domination and desire, such as the concepts of the Femme Fatale and the Angel in the House.

Moreover, both this artwork and Christina Rossetti’s poem, “In an Artist’s Studio,” position the woman as a vessel for meaning rather than a creator of her own narrative. Elements of fear, sensuality, temptation, and control surround her, yet her voice is notably absent. The shared tension in both works—evident in the woman’s posture and the poetic tone—highlights how the artistic gaze can contribute to both preserving and confining. Connecting the painting and the poem enhances our understanding and reveals a broader cultural trend of silencing and aestheticizing women under the guise of beauty, art, or devotion. Both pieces challenge us to rethink our perceptions and consider who has the power to define and present imagery.

Angel In A Yellow Room

“The room was in a glow of golden light; no ladylike antidote, however strong, could lead one to ignore it. It was radiant, bold, unapologetic, unabashed. It was not the room that my ideal woman would have created. My ideal woman would unfailingly choose a nice tone of grey-blue. Certain suspicions which I had harboured that Clara Haydon was my ideal woman grew stronger as I watched her quiet English face bent over the tea-tray. I liked the straightforward look of the girl, her blue eyes and fair complexion. If I was to give up my liberty, the reins should be handed over to a kind, sensible young woman like Clara, who would hate to make herself remarkable, or her drawing-room yellow.” (Caird 104).

The narrator (presumably a man) describes the yellow drawing-room using the following description words: “It was radiant, bold, unapologetic, unabashed. It was not…” (Caird 104) Meaning, that the narrator does not use these noteworthy adjectives when illustrating his ‘ideal woman’ and his expectations for her, providing a stark contrast from a traditional ‘ladylike’ outlook. The yellow room represents a beak from conventional female autonomy, symbolizing the need for female autonomic independence, rights, and expression. The “grey-blue” color that the narrator prefers, doesn’t stand out or present the striking qualities in the analysis above. Therefore, the yellow room serves as a challenge to the norms of femininity in Victorian society.
The narrator’s selection of “a nice tone of grey-blue,” (Caird 104) as the ideal color for a woman’s drawing-room suggests his masculinized lens as to how a woman should behave in Victorian society. This is particularly relevant in the illustration of Clara Haydon, perceiving her as passive, submissive, and an idealized style of beauty. The keywords in the passage above connotate with the following claim: “quiet English face, … straightforward look, and blue eyes and fair complexion.” (Caird 104). Furthermore, this emphasizes the yellow room as a woman who does not rebel against constricting social and societal norms. With this description, Clara is perceived as an “Angel in the house,” (Victorian Web 2) and a limitation of women’s independence and self-autonomy in the domestic sphere, marriage, and confining middle-class wives in the home.

The Puppeteer, the Fool, & the Heroine

Full quote of Focus: (no pg #’s I used Project Gutenberg)

  • “Thank your lucky star,” I heard the Count say next, “that you have me in the house to undo the harm as fast as you do it. Thank your lucky star that I said No when you were mad enough to talk of turning the key to-day on Miss Halcombe, as you turned it in your mischievous folly on your wife. …” Can you look at Miss Halcombe and not see that she has the foresight and the resolution of a man? With that woman for my friend, I would snap these fingers of mine at the world. With that woman for my enemy, I, with all my brains and experience—I, Fosco, cunning as the devil himself, as you have told me a hundred times—I walk, in your English phrase, upon egg-shells! And this grand creature—I drink her health in my sugar-and-water—this grand creature, who stands in the strength of her love and her courage, firm as a rock, between us two and that poor, flimsy, pretty blonde wife of yours—this magnificent woman, whom I admire with all my soul, though I oppose her in your interests and in mine, you drive to extremities as if she was no sharper and no bolder than the rest of her sex. Percival! Percival! you deserve to fail, and you have failed.”

Response:

This passage above reveals the underlying threads of an informal empire forming in England with Fosco as the puppeteer, Percival as the reckless fool, and Marian as the heroine. Drawing on the informal empire reading my group was given in Thursday’s class, Fosco embodies hierarchical governance over the relationships in this novel. Fosco’s character serves as an informal governmental force on the actions of Percival Glyde, ultimately manipulating him to get what he wants. Fosco is the leverage of the novel as a whole, pulling the plot forward while revealing Marian’s emotional and moral force in the story. While Marian lacks social and legal power over the marriage, she presents herself as highly intellectual, and undeniably loyal to Laura and her well-being. The quotation opens with Fosco retaliating against Sir Percival: “Thank your lucky star that you have me in the house to undo the harm as fast as you do it.” Fosco makes his dominance known in relation to Percival, implying that he would be in great danger without him sweeping in to save the other. Fosco’s language suggests that Percival is foolish and abrupt about his decision-making and behaviors. The fear of Percival’s secret being exposed, makes him vulnerable to Fosco’s exploitation.

By having Count Fosco say, “This grand creature, who stands in the strength of her love and her courage, firm as a rock, between us two and that poor, flimsy, pretty blonde wife of yours—” reveals his recognition of Marian’s heroic qualities and morally strong interior. Yet, Fosco seems to commemorate Marian’s loyalty to Laura which is quite paradoxical of a man to express to woman. Fosco goes as far to say that he admires Marian “with all his soul,” but to the extent that perpetuates male superiority and control. Additionally, he presents a clear difference between Marian and Lady Glyde insinuating that most woman lack the willpower Marian has. 

Freud & The Sensation Novel

Freud says, “At the same time one willingly leaves untouched as much of the patient’s personal freedom as is compatible with these restrictions, nor does one hinder him from carrying out unimportant intentions, even if they are foolish; one does not forget that it is in fact only through his own experience and mishaps that a person learns sense.” (Freud, 153). This passage concerns the vastness of human will and our capabilities to act based on individual experience. Meaning, Humans learn critical thinking skills and emotional intelligence by keeping track of their senses, in connection to what they are feeling. The language in my chosen passage from the novel uses repetition of the phrases “Nature” and “human interest” more than twice in its entirety. The word “Nature” is said 4 times in this passage, which made me think of autonomy and how each individual is fueled by their own interests, heightened by our senses in literature. The concept of the sensation novel is evident in this excerpt because the point of view of perception is independent of nature and perceiving one’s surroundings. 

Diving deeper into the text, Collins writes, “Those lives are most exclusively passed amid the ever-changing wonders of sea and land are also those who are most universally insensible to every aspect of Nature not directly associated with the human interest of their calling. Our capacity of appreciating the beauties of the earth we live on is, in truth, one of the civilized accomplishments that we all learn as an Art; and, more, that very capacity is rarely practiced by any of us except when our minds are most indolent and most unoccupied.” (WIW, 30). I found this quote quite compelling, concerning Freud’s idea of “obsessional neurosis,” (149) getting rid of different “thought-connections” involving phantasies, emotional impulses, experiences, and senses. The sensation novel is comprised of ‘obsessional neurosis” and the five senses to make sense of who we are and our relationship to the world around us. Art is Nature, Nature is Art, and Art is created by Nature which can be manipulated by the human.