Images of Victorian Women by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Essay

Hunt was one of the founding members of the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, which made their debut in 1849, upon sending their artwork to the Royal Academy. The Awakening Conscience, which is uses a medium of oil-on-canvas, is typical piece from the PRB who were concerned with very serious moral subjects and modern life subjects. Attention to detail was key for the PRB, as was making sure the artwork was true to nature. Alison Smith, a Tate London Curator, argues that ‘Hunt was offering an alternative narrative to the downward trajectory through prostitution to the grave propagated in much of the contemporary literature surrounding the fallen woman’. Hunt challenges the often repetitive Victorian narrative of the fallen woman.

The paintings and sculptures that first appear as a general and social commentary on the depiction of African Americans in the 18th and 19th century art canon, painted by contemporary artist Titus Kaphar, have given a voice to Black figures in the historical and artistic context. In The Preacher 's Wife (2010), a painting part of the ‘Classical Disruption’ exhibition, Kaphar seeks to explore the role of black women and their misrepresentation in the 18th and 19th art historical trajectories. Recreating paintings by great American artists such as Copley and Eakins, Kaphar reconstructs social and historical narratives (Berzon). While maintaining a common denominator throughout his works, Kaphar’s art has been recognized for inserting African Americans in paintings and telling the narrative of their absence and exclusion from the art historical canon. A graduate of Yale Art School, Kaphar also credits the contemporary style of his art to his studies at De Anza College in Cupertino where he took an African American Literature class that introduced to the art of the Harlem Renaissance with Omonike Weusi Puryear. Yale and De Anza College, collectively, contributed to the way Kaphar gives form and authority not only to black men, but also to the women who have been objectified or erased altogether from the art historical canon (Frank).

Throughout history civilizations have been governed by patriarchal societies dependent on the status and respectability of men. Men held all the power while women were subservient and even sometimes owned by men. This notion is only emphasized the moment we go back in time in the Victorian Era. Women were subject to men’s oppression, held no actual roles besides motherhood and were reliant on their chastity to project an agreeable image of themselves and their spouse. The status of a Victorian woman is depicted in “The Lady of Shalott” by Alfred Lord Tennyson and in a more feminist approach in “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti as being dependent on their chastity, servitude to men, and ability to present themselves.

and the family was seen as a sign of order; it was perceived as the

Her softly lit women with unpinned hair, are full of sensuality, longing, sadness and beauty. Their powerful emotions fill the dark shadows and diffused backgrounds of their portraits. Her soft-focus technique gave her images a dream-like quality, often using dramatic and symbolic lighting. Cameron had no desire to produce sharply focussed descriptions of her models. She wanted to create photographs with the subtle qualities of light and shadow that she admired in the high drama of Old Master paintings, rather than a depiction of fact.

Most prominent positions in early Western countries, including artists and commissioners of said art, were male, yet so much of the work that was created used the female form. The novelist and historian, Marina Warner, wrote about this phenomenon in her book, Monuments and Maidens: The Allegory of the Female Form, when she said, “… The female body have been projected the fantasies and ongoing terrors of generations of men through them of women, in order to conjure them into reality or exocrine them into oblivion.” Warner goes on to address the use of the female body in monuments when she states, “The iconography appear chiefly in public commission and in the edifices where authority resides because the language of female allegory suits the voices of those in command.” Having the female form used as an, “allegory,” of those in command makes it so those authority figures get to decide what the female form means, and in doing so they take away the authenticity of the real female form, and replace it with an interpretation. The irony of the female form being presented in public commissions for government buildings is that when these statues were created there were no women holding that seat of authority, therefore the use of the female form as iconography to perpetuate the, “voice of those in command,” completely undermines the woman's voice in society. While men were using this idealized female form as an allegory to support their own motives, political or otherwise, women became a consumer of this media. Since the interpretation of the female form by men became how the female form was widely accepted in popular art and culture, it left genuine womanhood

The Victorian rich women wore scarves, and nice things. Some rich women even wear pearls, and nice things in there hair. The pearls are good size and they are white, brown, and pink typically are those colors. Even though women were rich they still had to follow the rules and ware a very nice skirt, or long dress. They had to were very nice black shiny high heels. They sometimes wore top hats, and like nice straw hats. The top hats are very tall and there always black.

Before the Victorian Era, the main focus of fashion was for men. Women’s’ fashion changed some, but the general idea of long skirts, tight bodices, and heavy fabrics stayed consistent. Real changes to style and fashion were not made until about the 1840’s, when Queen Victoria came into power. After her rise to Queen, the fashions began to change dramatically. Pride and Prejudice is a book written in this time, and the fashion is clearly visible. Looking at fashion of the time can be clear examples of social customs, role models, and other aspects of the time period.

We certainly can’t pick our families, though I am sure many of us have had thoughts of what life would be like if we were born into a different lifestyle. While your ascribed status is the status you were born into, your achieved status is what you achieve during your life. Oftentimes people will let their circumstances dictate what they become, but those striving to attain a higher status will usually find a way to change their circumstances if possible.

In Virginia Woolf’s short essay, Shakespeare’s Sister (1928), she explores the misogynistic world’s effect on women artists from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century. Depicted through an imaginary sister of Shakespeare, and her own experiences, Woolf explains how “in the nineteenth century a woman was not encouraged to be an artist.” Instead, women were deemed of no value beyond the home or child bearing (Jacobus 702). Such gender issues have emerged in every facet of our society, primarily concentrating on gender equality in areas like education, status, awareness, and availing of socio-economic opportunities. In today’s context, with an overall look at history, in comparison to men, women remain relatively more constrained by

A variety of art is influenced by other art. The style of a certain type of art could influence the next big type of art. This is true for Victorian art, as well. Victorian art focused more on the details, and that the point of art was to reflect what was going on in the world and not to “sugar coat” it, which gave their art a much more natural feel than other art types at the time. Another influential art style at the time, the Pre-Raphaelite style, focused more on being contemporary and rejecting the ideas of former prominent artists of their time. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, formed by William Hunt, was more about being your own artist, and not following the normal style of your counterparts. Victorian Art, along with the Pre-Raphaelite

Ladies ought to be intense, excellent and insight. By and by, ladies in the eighteenth century were depicted as hirelings did not have any say in anything simply like the account of a hour by Kate Chopin, where even in a decent marriage you couldn't do the things you needed to do. Imagine a scenario in which their spouses kicked the bucket what might happen to them. How might they feel? What's more, the incongruity of picking up flexibility however losing everything?

Today women everyday throughout the world are scene as being the weaker, lesser gender. Women are seen as fragile, powerless, or delicate. Every day between media or simply walking around in society we hear statements like “well you are JUST a girl” or “you need to hurry up and find a good husband to take care of you” because women cannot take care of themselves. In the Victorian Era, women faced similar situation but the gender role was beginning to shift. Sexism was brought to light in this Era, and feminism begin towards the end of the Victorian Era.

The Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood started in 1848 when seven men banded together in opposition of the disingenuous teachings of the London Royal Academy of Arts. The named themselves the ‘Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood’ or ‘PRB’ for short. This secret society was an avenue for the men to create how they wanted, and promote their agenda to the greater English public. Through the artists, opposition to utilitarian ethos, new found sincerity and new moral seriousness the PRB was spearheading a change in thought. One avenue they created this change was though the image of women, they used women to reflect the horrors of society, in their depictions

The role of women in the society is always questioned and for centuries, they have struggled to find their place in a world that is predominantly male oriented. The treatment of women was extremely negative; they were expected to stay home and fulfill domestic duties. Literature of that time embodies and mirrors social issues of women in society (Lecture on the Puritans). But, slowly and gradually, situation being changed: “During the first half of the 19th century, women 's roles in society evolved in the areas of occupational, moral, and social reform. Through efforts such as factory movements, social reform, and women 's rights, their aims were realized and foundations for further reform were established” (Lauter 1406). Feminist poets like Emily Dickinson and Anne Bradstreet talked substantially about feminism in different lights in the past two centuries. They were very vocal and assertive about their rights and the ‘rights for women’ in general. While they might have been successful at making a good attempt to obliterate gender biases but still there are lot of disparities between the two genders. Nevertheless, their poetry reflects a deep angst.