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AnnaAntonowicz
especiallytraditionalgendernorms.AsTimBarringernotes,itwasonlyinthe
late1860sthatthemovementsbeganto“flouttheorthodoxmiddle-classbeliefs
thathadbeenassiduouslypromotedinthePre-Raphaeliteworksofthe1850s.”20
WhatiscrucialforthepresentstudyisthatthemedievalismofPre-Raphaelite
workshapedthegenderdynamicsofthePre-Raphaelitewomanthatwasnot
onlysupposedtolookanti-moderninherantiquateddress,butalsobehavein
astrictlyconservativewayfollowingrigidgenderedlines.Thismeansthatthe
artisticdress,atleastatisconceptualphase,rejectedbothaspectsofVictorian
modernityindress-beingmodernandlookingmodern-asitpromotedan
antiquatedlookaswellastheregressivenotionofmale/femaleseparatespheres.
Moreimportantlystill,boththerevivalistaimsofthePre-RaphaeliteBrotherhood
(intermsoftheirpaintings’techniqueandcontentaswellassartorialculture)and
itsaffirmationoftheregressivedefinitionsofwomanhood,soevidentinthefirst
waveofthemovement,wereultimately,duringthesecondwave,recognisedas
progressiveandmodernising.
Themedievalconventionspresentinlate-1840sandearly-1850sPre-Raphaelite
worksprovideaprescriptivedoctrineofhowthedepictedwomenandtheir
dressshouldbeviewed.ThearchetypalwomenofthePre-Raphaelitepaintings
-religiousfigure(liketheVirginMary)andliteraryheroines(likeOphelia
andMariana)-offeredgenderedvisionsthatseverelylimitedtheacceptable
behaviourofwomenand,accordingtoFrisch,thepresenceofmedievalelements
clarifiedthesemessages.Thewomendepictedcanbedividedintobeauties
meanteithertobeconsumedbythemalegaze,ortotypifyidealchaste
womanhood,ortopictorializethosewhofacetherepercussionsoftransgressing
theirfeminineroles.Inallofthesecases,theBrotherhoodconstructsprescriptive
idealfemininitythatdoesnottranscendtherestrictivenotionsofgender,including
femaleconfinementindoors,separatespheres,andrepressedsexualityaswell
asmalepatriarchalcontroloverwomen.ThequestionishowPre-Raphaelite
21
dress,aspartofmedievalinspiration,servedasthesourcefortheseimagesof
womanhood.
TheimageofVictorianidealwomanhoodisbestshownRossetti’s“Ecce
AncillaDomini!”(1850).AseriesofRossetti’spaintingsdepictstheVirgin
andherlife,beginningwithhereducationinpietyandcrafts,continuing
throughayoungadulthoodofchastity,andendingwiththeAnnunciation.
Inthisway,RossettirevivestheimageoftheVirginastheidealwomanfor
theVictorianaudience,andhismainargumentspointathervirginityasmuch
asaprogrammeoffemaleeducation.Inthe“GirlhoodofMaryVirgin”,Mary
learnspiousdevotionandembroideryfromhermother,St.Anne,whoprepares
20
TimBarringer,op.cit.,p.18.SeealsoChapter3.
21
Ibid.,pp.6-8.
