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AnnaAntonowicz
seethatthespectaculargrowththeywitnesseddidnotoffermuchsolidityand
stability,butinsteadwascapableofappallingwasteandutterdevastationof
allfixed,fast-frozenconcepts,relationsandpolicies.Asaresult,Nietzsche
2
states,atroubledindividualdesperatelyneeded“asetofJawsofhisownłfor
self-preservation,self-heightening,self-awakening,self-liberation”toinitiate
arevolutionagainstthetotalityofmodernexistence.“Ourinstinctscannow
runbackinallsortsofdirections,”theauthorcontinues,butthetypicaltype
ofthemodernmanthrowshimselfintoparodiesofthepast:heneedshistory
becauseitisthestorageclosetwhereallthecostumesarekept,butinsteadof
comfortheexperiencesmomentsofdespairoverthefactthatnosocialrole
inmoderntimessuitshim:
ThehybridEuropean[ł]requiresacostume:heneedshistoryasastoreroomof
costumes.Tobesure,henoticesthatnoneofthecostumesfithimproperly-he
changesandchanges.Letuslookatthenineteenthcenturywithrespecttothese
hastypreferencesandchangesinitsmasqueradesofstyle,andalsowithrespect
toitsmomentsofdesperationonaccountof“nothingsuiting”us.Itisinvainto
getourselvesupasromantic,orclassical,orChristian,orFlorentine,orbarocco,
or“national,”inmoribusetartibus:itdoesnot“clotheus”!
3
Thisinnermodern/anti-moderndichotomyisvisibleinnumerousexamples
ofVictorianideasandpoliciesofprogress,modernizationandmodernismbeing
balancedwithnotionsandactsofdecay,regressionorsentimentalism.Agood
exampleofsuchadichotomyintimesofmid-VictorianmodernityisthePre-
Raphaelitedress.Thisartisticdressofthemid-19thcentury,designed,painted
andphotographedbysuchartistasWilliamMorris,DanteGabrielRossettior
JohnEverettMillais,keptitsdistancefromthemoderndressofthetimeby
drawinginspiration-artisticandsocial-fromavisionofthe14thcentury.
Ontheotherhand,thefreedraperyandun-corsetedbodyonthePre-Raphaelite
dressbecameanimportantpartoftheVictorianvisionanddebateofwhatit
meanstobeandlookmodernforaVictorianwoman.Thus,thedressmightbe
seenasamorallyandaestheticallyregressivereactionagainsttheuglinessof
modernindustrialcivilizationand,atthesametime,asaprogressivestyle
settingthetoneandartisticexpressionforreformedmodernity.Thepurpose
ofthisarticleistodiscusstheun-corseteddressoftheVictorianeraasan
expressionofculturalcontradictionsbroughtaboutbytheadventofmodernity.
ThemodernparadoxofthePre-Raphaelitedresspartlystemsfrombeing
acriticalreactionagainstthemid-Victorianfashionablecorseteddressthat
2
MarshallBerman.AllThatIsSolidMeltsintoAir.TheExperienceofModernity.New
York1982,pp.17-19.
3
FriedrichNietzsche,op.cit.,ch.7“OurVirtues”,para.223,
www.marxists.org.
