{ The Representation of Victorian Women in Art during the Victorian Era By Daniel, Tilly and Shatyam

During the Victorian Era, women were not equal to men, and were thought to be very neutral – as it was perceived that their opinions did not matter, or indeed that they did not have valid or useful opinions. Generally, there were two states of the Victorian woman in paintings: 1.Of a seductress and dangerous kind, not to be trusted 2.Of a submissive, dainty character who is seen to be weak and under the power of her husband.

Lady Lilith – The Impossible Mirror The perfect idea of a woman – there to help the family, selfless. The self indulgence and levels of vanity shown by Lady Lilith as she looks in the mirror is contradicting this idea. This may suggest that many women during the Victorian era were, perhaps, merely putting up a facade to society and, when in private, exposed their narcissistic and egotistical behaviour.

Lilith is in a place of darkness, with dying flowers engulfing her. The mirror in the background, however, reflects only the candles, and the room that Lady Lilith is in is reflected as bright and beautiful. There is a suggestion that Lady Lilith should be in the place that the mirror reflects, but due to her submissive nature, she is not.

Red symbolizes energy, passion, danger, and desire. The constant use of red in this painting (Lady Lilith’s hair, her red band, her luscious red lips, the red flowers surrounding her) suggests to use that she possessed many of these attributes – attributes that a woman shouldn’t reveal.

Ophelia Painted by John Everett Millais between Shows one of Shakespeare's characters, scorned by Hamlet readying herself to die in a river in Denmark

The way in which Ophelia is lying, with her palms up shows that she is accepting of death. Shows her in a very passive and neutral way, with no particular feeling – implying she is somewhat useless She dies after Hamlet rejects her, and she is described to overreact in Hamlet, suggesting people thought women as both totally hysteric but then utterly passive.

The picture displays Ophelia in death but also enclosed in what seems to be a garden. Women were also shown in gardens or houses which symbolises the lack of freedom from the domestic life of a woman, and how alone, they had no means of making a decent life for themselves. She is also surrounded by flowers and dainty things, which shows how women were depicted as petty and trivial.

Fair Lady The concept of his fair lady arose early in Rossetti's life. From these works, he began formulating a woman- image type: a blond, slender, round-armed, straight-nosed, gray-eyed, white-skinned, red-lipped, bright-faced, white-teethed, small and firmly breasted, slim-waisted female who also embodied grace, stateliness and chastity. Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Ecce Ancilla Domini (1850), one of the earliest Pre-Raphaelite paintings, depicts the commonly illustrated moment when the angel Gabriel comes to the Virgin Mary to tell her that she will give birth to the Lord.

Gabriel holds out a stem with lilies, offering them to Mary and seemingly presenting her with an embodiment of the chastity and purity she is fated to continue throughout her life; an embroidery hanging at the end of the bed, which Rossetti depicts her working on in The Girlhood of Mary Virgin, plays a contextual role -- this is a young girl's bedroom and so one might expect to find her needlework in this space -- as well as perhaps representing her active choice to live purely since she has chosen to embroider a lily as lilies represents purity. Mary wears a simple white dress. Rossetti does not ignore the importance of blue as the color associated with the Virgin and heaven: he places a blue screen directly behind her, and out the window, the sky is a similar shade of blue, alluding to heaven, again representing her purity.

The most striking image in the picture is the figure of Mary sits on her bed and slouches against the wall. She is markedly adolescent with her beautiful young features, unbrushed straight hair, childishly skinny body, and the hesitance, fear and melancholy with which she responds to the angel Gabriel's glorious pronouncement. Wisps of her messy, auburn hair spread around her neck, silhouetted against her white dress, reminiscent of Christ's crown of thorns. Rossetti has no use for the stiff, exaggerated poses of primitive Virgins. He seems most concerned with the sincere response of a young girl who has been saddled with a burden that is both wonderful and laden with responsibility.