- Joined
- Dec 13, 2008
- Messages
- 142
- Reaction score
- 23
I've been kicking around the idea of a novel on the pre-Raphaelites, particularly Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal, his wife. Siddal was a painter and poet, but she's most famous for being the model for, like, half of the paintings of the pre-Raphaelites, such as "Ophelia" and "Beata Beatrix." (These are very, very famous paintings, and you have certainly seen them before. In fact, if you've seen more than 2 pre-Raphaelite paintings, like by Millais and Waterhouse, you have probably wondered if the subjects are all the same woman. For the most part, they are.)
The reason I find them interesting is that 1) I've loved the pre-Raphaelites since I was a kid, and more importantly, 2) Elizabeth modeled as Ophelia more than once, and Beatrice (from Dante) more than once--and in a case of what seems like life imitating art, she lived (and died) like Ophelia and Beatrice. And her relationship with her husband Rossetti, in life and death (respectively), resembles the Ophelia/Hamlet and Beatrice/Dante relationships from fiction. And Rossetti, like Hamlet, experienced a downward spiral of insanity for his short life. His was due to drug addiction mostly, rather than mommy issues. But I digress.
So I can't figure out if my interest is academic or a source of fictional ideas, for one thing. That's my first problem. My second problem is that I can't figure out if it's lame--Siddal committed suicide, and Lord, I don't want to do a suicide girl project, like fiction about Sylvia Plath or something. That would be utter tripe. (And God knows, if this is lame, please say so. I have three ideas at any given time that I can work on, all involving mounds of research, all moving at a glacial pace. One less won't hurt.)
Here are the ideas for approaches I've come up with about the whole affair:
1) A sort of Hamlet from Ophelia's POV. Probably would not work, and would probably also be 14 year old goth girl fodder. *shudders* But because of the art imitating life factor, I keep thinking about it.
2) POV of an outside party, like Millais or her benefactor. Could be interesting, but I haven't come up with a good reason for them to be worthy of primary POV. Their lives were pretty boring.
3) One of those horrid, dysfunctional romances where each party tries to out-manipulate the other; i.e., a dark romance. This is the only kind of romance that I like, at all. Still, could easily be trite.
Here are the relevant facts:
1) Elizabeth was poorer and from a lower class family than Rossetti.
2) Their relationship/engagement lasted ten years before marriage; IIRC, Elizabeth was 30 by the time she and Rossetti were married. This was thought to be because Rossetti was too much of a pansy to risk angering his parents and sisters. (God, what a wimp! I hate this guy.) They married after Elizabeth almost died of illness. Friends of theirs pressured Rossetti to marry her for years.
3) Elizabeth delivered a stillbirth daughter while married to Rossetti, and was understandably devastated. She became pregnant again quickly thereafter (or at least, she thought she was pregnant), but then died of a laudanam overdose, which is thought to be self-inflicted.
4) At her burial, Rossetti buried his book of poetry with her, in her hair. He became obsessed with it and decided that he wanted the poetry back a few years later, and had her grave exhumed. This haunted him for the rest of his life. He published the poetry, but it received bad reviews due to their erotic nature.
5) Rossetti probably cheated on Siddal many times with younger models.
In sum, I'm having trouble coming up with a story about the details that doesn't strike me as cliched. I think the biggest problem is that Rossetti is such a douche and Elizabeth just takes it, and then kills herself when she can't take it anymore. I like heroines that are strong, even if they don't succeed, and it's hard for me to see her that way. Any advice?
The reason I find them interesting is that 1) I've loved the pre-Raphaelites since I was a kid, and more importantly, 2) Elizabeth modeled as Ophelia more than once, and Beatrice (from Dante) more than once--and in a case of what seems like life imitating art, she lived (and died) like Ophelia and Beatrice. And her relationship with her husband Rossetti, in life and death (respectively), resembles the Ophelia/Hamlet and Beatrice/Dante relationships from fiction. And Rossetti, like Hamlet, experienced a downward spiral of insanity for his short life. His was due to drug addiction mostly, rather than mommy issues. But I digress.
So I can't figure out if my interest is academic or a source of fictional ideas, for one thing. That's my first problem. My second problem is that I can't figure out if it's lame--Siddal committed suicide, and Lord, I don't want to do a suicide girl project, like fiction about Sylvia Plath or something. That would be utter tripe. (And God knows, if this is lame, please say so. I have three ideas at any given time that I can work on, all involving mounds of research, all moving at a glacial pace. One less won't hurt.)
Here are the ideas for approaches I've come up with about the whole affair:
1) A sort of Hamlet from Ophelia's POV. Probably would not work, and would probably also be 14 year old goth girl fodder. *shudders* But because of the art imitating life factor, I keep thinking about it.
2) POV of an outside party, like Millais or her benefactor. Could be interesting, but I haven't come up with a good reason for them to be worthy of primary POV. Their lives were pretty boring.
3) One of those horrid, dysfunctional romances where each party tries to out-manipulate the other; i.e., a dark romance. This is the only kind of romance that I like, at all. Still, could easily be trite.
Here are the relevant facts:
1) Elizabeth was poorer and from a lower class family than Rossetti.
2) Their relationship/engagement lasted ten years before marriage; IIRC, Elizabeth was 30 by the time she and Rossetti were married. This was thought to be because Rossetti was too much of a pansy to risk angering his parents and sisters. (God, what a wimp! I hate this guy.) They married after Elizabeth almost died of illness. Friends of theirs pressured Rossetti to marry her for years.
3) Elizabeth delivered a stillbirth daughter while married to Rossetti, and was understandably devastated. She became pregnant again quickly thereafter (or at least, she thought she was pregnant), but then died of a laudanam overdose, which is thought to be self-inflicted.
4) At her burial, Rossetti buried his book of poetry with her, in her hair. He became obsessed with it and decided that he wanted the poetry back a few years later, and had her grave exhumed. This haunted him for the rest of his life. He published the poetry, but it received bad reviews due to their erotic nature.
5) Rossetti probably cheated on Siddal many times with younger models.
In sum, I'm having trouble coming up with a story about the details that doesn't strike me as cliched. I think the biggest problem is that Rossetti is such a douche and Elizabeth just takes it, and then kills herself when she can't take it anymore. I like heroines that are strong, even if they don't succeed, and it's hard for me to see her that way. Any advice?
Last edited: