Why Did Elizabeth Rossetti Have To Die? Part 2.

Ophelia,  J E Millais,  1952.

Next we shall consider an element of Elizabeth's life which is often neglected : her poetry.

Her poetry,  though sublime,  is haunted by frequent references to death, rejection and unfaithful love. In 'Dead Love', C  1855-1857, she wrote;

"And love was born to an early death,

And is so seldom true."

In 'A Year And A Day', C 1857, she wrote;

"There to die all empty of love,

Like beaten corn of grain,"

This reflects her fears that Dante would reject her in favour of a younger model, and the anxiety which she felt in their relationship. This is understandable for several reasons.  They were married, with out the presence of friends or family, and with only strangers as witnesses,  and he was reluctant to introduce her to his family. In their relationship,  she served primarily as student to his theories and model for his art: a blank slate and a form to be projected upon . Despite being his wife, and even after her death, she was rarely depicted as herself, but instead as some tragic archetype or character from legend. Although the Pre-Raphaelites were not intentionally cruel to her, they were at best thoughtless and at worse dehumanising,  and this must have influenced her state of mind,

Infamously, Dante exhumed her body on the fifth of October 1868 to retrieve a book of his poetry which he had buried with her. This implies , at the least,  a great deal of disrespect.

Her poetry suggests a preoccupation with death, or predictions of her own death. In 'At Last' (1862),  she appears to write about her unborn son, with whom she was pregnant in the year that she died:

"Tell him I died of my great love,
And my dying heart was gay. "

The morbid tone of her writing is hardly surprising considering the poor health and depression which she suffered.  The exact nature of her illness can't now be known for sure, due to the state of health care at the time and the secrecy surrounding her death (suicide being against church doctrine and scandalous). She is thought to have suffered from one or a combination of the following;  tuberculosis,  intestinal disorders, opioid addiction and anorexia. It is know that she was prescribed laudanum after the miscarriage  of her stillborn daughter,  but she may have used it from an earlier date. An eating disorder,  intestinal disorder or loss of appetite from use of opiodes would explain her constant poor health,  and her pale, slender appearance.

Sadly, it was this ghostly , ethereal appearance which Dante and the other Pre-Raphaelites found so appealing.  In every painting she looks pale, malnurished and miserable, which is most likly how she often looked.  Elizabeth looked like the perfect dying Ophelia,  the archetypal tragic heroine. Her illness, and the dignity with which she struggled against it, made her the perfect model to project tragic ideals onto.

Which takes us back to the points made at the beginning of this essay.

What would it be like to be considered more beautiful,  and as a model more valuable,  in poor health than in good health? To be more attractive because one was depressed?

If one lives only to create and inspire beautiful art, and one is considered the most beautiful when was is dying,  then perhaps we can see why Elizabeth Rossetti had to die.

Why Did Elizabeth Rossetti Have to Die?

Beata Beatrix,  Dante Rossetti,  1869.

What would be like to be valued more as an image than a living human? To be a muse first and a lover second ? What value would one place on one's life in a subculture where death is idealised beautifully? 

What would it have been like to have done lived and died as Elizabeth Rossetti? 

Even if you have only a minimal understanding of art, you will have seen her face. The pale, slender neck and sensuous mouth reproduced dozens of times by the artists of the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood, most notably by her husband Dante Rossetti. However, you may not know much of her short and miserable life, or that she herself was a talented poet.

Together, we will consider the events and motives leading to her suicide,  at the age of 28, on 1862.

Of her cause of death, there is no reasonable doubt . Overdose of an opioid,  most likely laudanum.  As Jerome H. Buckley wrote in The Pre-Raphaelites :

"She died- ill and neurotic - from a deliberate dose of sedative. "

What is of interest are the details of her short life, the treatment  (and possibly abuse)  of her peers, and her own thoughts - as expressed in her poetry.

We shall begin with a brief summary of her life.

Elizabeth was born into a working class family in 1834. In her teens, she worked as a milliners assistant, where she was "discovered " by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.  They considered her an ideal form of the 'new beauty ' because of her ethereal appearance and dignity.  She began modelling for them, and was also taught to write poetry and to paint. Most famously,  she posed for Ophelia by  J E  Millais in the winter of 1851 to 1852. In the role of the drowned heroine she had to pose in cold bath water and became seriously ill. She became attached to Dante Rossetti and soon posed only for him. They were married in 1860, at which time her health was very poor (to be discussed in depth later). Elizabeth gave birth to a stillborn daughter in 1861 and began suffering from postpartum depression.  Soon after, she was pregnant a second time, but died before giving birth.

To Be Continued ...