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Michael Field's La Gioconda: Redefining Female Beauty In Art

Alix Caissie and Nicole Farrell

Ryerson University

Edith Emma Cooper and Katherine Harris Bradley @

Michael Field

Art in the Victorian era was primarily focused on the importance of aesthetics and beauty for beauty’s sake. Women quickly became revered for their physical beauty and thus were the inspirations for many works of art. Since women were the source of inspiration, the majority of writers and artists were male, and viewed the female form as something to be admired through poetry and imagery. During this time, a poet named Michael Field became prominent in the literary circle for poems inspired by the female form. Although on the surface it appears that Michael Field was just another male writer, in actuality the name was a pseudonym for two females who were in a relationship together. Edith Emma Cooper and Katherine Harris Bradley chose to write under a male name because at this time, women were oppressed and not taken seriously in the art and literary sphere. In choosing to write under the pseudonym of a male alias, they were able to circumvent public gender criticism, and furthermore allow for the possibility to push beyond what was considered acceptable from female writers.@ Through this, they were able to explore and reinvent perspectives on art which to some extent allowed for their work to be read without bias against their gender.

Marion Thain describes Michael Field as “a created and creative space of lyric production,”3 which defines the duo not as two individuals working in tandem, but as a complete and separate entity which functions with the purpose of creating singular works of poetry and drama. Although conducive to their own relationship as lovers, this sense of uniformity was controversial within the Victorian context, as it devalued the importance placed on singular authority and individualism. 4This focus on singularity reflects the dominant male perspective and opinion on art which this essay will explore in further detail in reference to the painting La Gioconda by Leonardo Da Vinci. La Gioconda was painted in the early 1600s but became a part of popular culture in the 1800s due to the accessible reproduction of the image via the printing press. As one of the most famous images of a female, much has been written about her beauty. In exploring the various perspectives, it has become apparent that when viewed through the eyes of a male, La Gioconda becomes inherently sexualized and in turn victimized because the observer demonstrates power over the objectified female image. In the poem “La Gioconda” by Michael Field, there is a transfer of power in which the female image is interpreted as having dominance which contradicts the more traditional male view. This essay will analyze Walter Pater’s essay on La Gioconda and his interpretation of the female image as both an idealized and sexualized object in contrast to Field’s perspective on reconfiguring the sexualization of the male observer and transferring dominance from the male observer to the female image.

Observing La Gioconda

Taken at the Louvre in Paris, France

Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Lady Lilith

Typical sexualized representation of women

The physical female body was praised as being the ultimate in beauty, but the mental, emotional and intellectual aspects of women were thusly oppressed. The focus on bodily beauty overshadowed the women themselves and turned their physicality into a commodity. Many women in paintings were portrayed as being “a young girl crying silently, a suffering Madonna, asleeping prostitute...” which are “images of passivity and subservience.” @Although the focus was on the outward appearance of women, they were not painted in neutral or positive settings or situations. Instead, they were represented in positions of submissiveness and had little power or authority over their selves and bodies. The female image was desired and lusted after, and even idealized and made unrealistic, but was not respected. This meant that the power lied with the male observer who was not only oppressing women’s voices in literature and art, but also degrading their worth by manipulating their physical images. Since males were sexualizing the female form and expressing the importance of beauty, women were seen as objects of sexualized wanting and portrayed as passive, submissive, and weak. In an article exploring how women are portrayed in Victorian art, it is argued that male speakers impose their own voices and opinions upon women, thus silencing women from having their own ideas and also compressing their entire aura into one fixed meaning.@ This objectivist approach towards women was the traditionalist perspective during this era, and Field set out to explore and redefine gender influence in aesthetics. The male perspective is incredibly narrow as its focus is purely on physical aesthetics, whereas Field’s goal was to create a more subjective view that would take into account the complexity of feelings and emotions behind the art form.

Published by Elkin Mathews and John Lane in 1892,@ Michael Field’s Sight and Song is a collection of poems which represents their collective position as female writers working within the Victorian era. On the surface, the short volume is made up of thirty-one poems that depict a wide range of paintings which were viewed during their tours around some of Europe’s best art galleries. However, while this selection of paintings do not reflect a specific theme, there is a notable concentration on those which centre around the female form, such as the The Birth of Venus, A Portrait and La Gioconda. This focus directed towards the study of the female image brings forth the true intentions of Field’s work which was to redirect the female aesthetic experience and moreover, provide a critique against their contemporaries and the traditional interpretation of female objectification. Furthermore, as Ehnenn argues, it is through this observation of famous female representations that Field’s poems “reclaim previously objectified paintings and resists contemporary notions of sex and gender.” @This is presented within the overall context of Sight and Song through the removal of the actual image from the translation.

As Lysack notes, the collection forgoes the use of images and instead values the use of text.@Unlike traditional interpretation of a figure, as seen for example in Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s poems which were accompanied by visual representation, Field’s denial of the image secures their position of non-objectivity. Through this denial, Field demands that the audience participate in the reconstruction of “an absent image through words,”@which allows for the participation of the audience in viewing the figure. The use of non-visualized poems to describe not only visual, but well known objects, forces the viewer to re-imagine the image not in terms of the innate continuity of the male gaze, but as being outside of its traditional and historical context. Field then reclaims the image through this interpretation, and places her as an independent figure, which can be viewed through multiple interpretations and without direct objectification.

Alix Caissie and Nicole Farrell

Ryerson University

Pater’s essay on the painting La Gioconda focuses mainly on how he interprets Da Vinci’s inspiration and perspective. He argues that Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa as a representation of his “ideal lady, embodied and beheld at last.”@ Again, the concept of objectification is brought into the interpretation of art. The woman being “beheld at last” creates the notion that she is something hard to attain and thus worshipped, making her essence less realistic and more idealistic. The suggestion of Da Vinci having created the Mona Lisa as the ideal of femininity is congruent to the dominant male observation of sexualizing women in art. He goes so far as to say that when “set...beside those white Greek goddesses or beautiful women of antiquity..how they would be troubled by this beauty!”@ Not only is the Mona Lisa the idealized woman, but she is even more beautiful and more yearned for than goddesses, who are known for being untouchable and the ultimate in male adoration. It is also important to note that Pater chose to analyze La Gioconda in an essay format, and focused on Da Vinci’s inspiration behind the painting. Instead of personally expressing his feelings about the painting through poetry or more informal prose, he structured an essay which reflects the rigidity and objectivity of the male observer. His focus on Da Vinci’s interpretation shows his attention to how other males saw the image and what might have inspired Da Vinci to paint La Gioconda, which he deduces as an idealization of the perfect woman. By choosing to write a structured essay, his argument becomes a representation of the objectivity of the male observer and the focus on one fixed meaning of the image rather than in Field’s poetry which was a more personal reflection and subjective in its exploration of what the female image represented.

Walter Pater

Illustration by Simeon Solomon

Although it may seem that the idealization of women’s beauty is a way of appreciating their influence and importance, it only succeeds in doing the opposite because the focus is not on the women themselves but rather on a fake, over exaggerated idea of what a woman is or should be. It could be interpreted that Pater appears to be taking the subjective approach by individualizing Da Vinci’s feelings about the female form, but he is in actuality looking at the painting with an objectivist approach because of the dominance he has over the image and the narrow meaning by which he defines it. The female form is sexualized, thus becoming defined as the object of males’ desire. With no emphasis on any other aspect of the female’s being, her meaning becomes fixed and objectively viewed. The male observers, in this case both Da Vinci and Pater, view the image with sexual connotations in mind, thus creating an imbalance of power. The sexual overtones of the image define the woman as being important for the desire of the male, thus making the woman an aide in abiding to what the male wants. This gives the power to the male, and the female becomes submissive and objectified.

Edith Emma Cooper and Katherine Harris Bradley

Michael Field

Field, however, denies this objectivity and instead presents La Gioconda as a figure who denies the male gaze and takes on a more dominant role outside male objectification. As Lyseck presents, the first half of “La Gioconda” plays into the exchange of the female form as an object of male consumption, listing off the desired attributes which demonstrate how easily the female image can be consumed.@ The breaking down of the female form into the eyes, lips, cheek, and smile mimics the approach that Pater takes, which defines the female “not as a real woman, but as a series of male fantasies.”@ Furthermore, the implementation of the word “historic” to describe these qualities is a direct critique towards Pater’s idealization of La Gioconda, and the eternalization of the female as a sexualized commodity. Accordingly, Field’s utilization of this word allows them to enter into a criticism not only of Pater’s essay, but of the encompassing role of female aesthetic within the Victorian context; whereby they can move away from simply translating the painting to arguing for its importance in redefining the female aesthetic experience.

Historic, side-long, implicating eyes;
A smile of velvet's lustre on the cheek;
Calm lips the smile leads upward; hand that lies
Glowing and soft, the patience in its rest
Of cruelty that waits and does not seek
For prey; a dusky forehead and a breast
Where twilight touches ripeness amorously:
Behind her, crystal rocks, a sea and skies
Of evanescent blue on cloud and creek;
Landscape that shines suppressive of its zest
For those vicissitudes by which men die.@

With the introduction of a semi-colon on the third line of the verse, “La Gioconda” suddenly takes on Field’s perspective.@ The poem switches, turning away from the description of the female form to a description of her motive. Yet, the introduction of the lines, “hand that lies/ Glowing and soft, the patients in its rest/Of cruelty that wait and doth not seek/For prey” presents a duality. On one hand, the act of passivity attributed to La Gioconda, “exposes the institutionalized silencing of women under the male gaze,”@ thus providing a strict critique of Pater assertion of male dominance. However, it also demonstrates a resistance within the figure, which provides La Gioconda with agency. Although the passivity provides that La Gioconda does not become outwardly dominant, it does create a sense of imagery where she appears almost spider-like, waiting patiently for those seeking only her beauty to become entrapped in her web. La Gioconda then becomes the one that preys on the subject, turning the objectification towards the reader, whereby they become consumed by her. Moreover, with the introduction of the colon on the seventh line, Field is denying the consumption of the image as a whole. By directing the reader towards the background, they refocus the reading to something which is “far less satisfying,”@ reinforcing La Gioconda’s dominance as woman outside of a sexualized object.

The Mona Lisa (La Gioconda)

Leonardo Da Vinci

This re-direction of consumption and the inversion of the gaze is reflective of Field’s push to redefine the role of the female, both within authorship and as part of the aesthetic. The refocusing of the female form as a dominant figure denies the role of the viewer who, like Pater, may objectify and sexualize the image. Through inverting the gaze, so that the reader becomes objectified, La Gioconda can stand independently as both subject and object, which further re- asserts Field’s position of multiple interpretation. This is further reinforced by the lack of physical representation, which as previously stated forces the reader to recreate the images and therefore lets the image stand on its own.

Through analyzing Field’s “La Gioconda,” this essay has determined that Field was a pioneer in establishing a new perspective that redefined how women were perceived in both art and society. In contrast to Pater’s structured, objectified analysis of the female form, Field was able to infiltrate the male perspective and deconstruct this singular form of interpretation for a more complex plurality of female beauty and meaning. Due to their ability to begin the change of female representation, it opened up the opportunity for women to gain more respect and intellectual standing in the literary sphere. Although women were still idealized for their beauty, Field gave the female image in art power beyond the objectification of outward appearance and allowed the female form to embrace and take ownership of their beauty. This agency given to the female form created a a positive atmosphere of female empowerment.

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Michael Field's La Gioconda: Redefining Female Beauty In Art

Alix Caissie and Nicole Farrell

Ryerson University

Endnotes

1 <span title="External Link: http://thefindesiecle.com/post/540805414/unbosoming-by-michael-field-katherine-bradley" real_link="http://thefindesiecle.com/post/540805414/unbosoming-by-michael-field-katherine-bradley" class="ext_linklike">http://thefindesiecle.com/post/540805414/unbosoming-by-michael-field-katherine-bradley </span>

2 Lee, Michelle. "Inventing Michael Field: Can Two Women Write like One Man?" Poetry Foundation. 27 January 2010. March 16 2011.

3 Byecroft, Breanna. "Representations of the Female Voice in Victorian Poetry." Brown University, 2003. Victorian Web. 17 December 2003. March 16th 2011.

4 Byecroft, Breanna. "Representations of the Female Voice in Victorian Poetry." Brown University, 2003. Victorian Web. 17 December 2003. March 16th 2011.

5 Thain, Marion, and Ana Parejo Vadillo. Ed.Michael Field, The Poet: Published and Manuscript Materials (Canada: Broadview Editions 2009.

6 Ehnenn, Jill. “Looking Strategically: Feminist and Queer Aesthetics in Michael Field’s Sight and Song.” Victorian Poetry. 43.1 (2005): 109-154. 2 Feb 2011.

7 Lysack, Krista. "Aesthetic Consumption and the Cultural Production of Michael Field’s Sight and Song."SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500-190045.4 (2005): 935-960. 2 Feb 2011.

8 Lysack, Krista. "Aesthetic Consumption and the Cultural Production of Michael Field’s Sight and Song."SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500-190045.4 (2005): 935-960. 2 Feb 2011.

9 Pater, Walter Horatio. "The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry." Leonardo Da Vinci 98-129.Victorian Web. 9 October 2003. 1 February 2011.

10 Pater, Walter Horatio. "The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry." Leonardo Da Vinci 98-129.Victorian Web. 9 October 2003. 1 February 2011.

11 Lysack, Krista. "Aesthetic Consumption and the Cultural Production of Michael Field’s Sight and Song."SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500-190045.4 (2005): 935-960. 2 Feb 2011.

12 Ehnenn, Jill. “Looking Strategically: Feminist and Queer Aesthetics in Michael Field’s Sight and Song.” Victorian Poetry. 43.1 (2005): 109-154. 2 Feb 2011.

13 Field, Michael. “La Gioconda.” Sight and Song. London: Elkin Mathews and John Lane, 1892. 87. Rpt in Michael Field, The Poet: Published and Manuscript Materials. Ed. Marion Thain and Ana Parejo Vadillo. Canada: Broadview Editions, 2009.

14 Parejo Vadillo, Ana I. "Sight and Song: Transparent Translations and a Manifesto for the Observer."Victorian Poetry38.1 (2000): 15-34. Web. 2 Feb 2011.

15 Ehnenn, Jill. “Looking Strategically: Feminist and Queer Aesthetics in Michael Field’s Sight and Song.” Victorian Poetry. 43.1 (2005): 109-154. 2 Feb 2011.

16 Lysack, Krista. "Aesthetic Consumption and the Cultural Production of Michael Field’s Sight and Song."SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500-190045.4 (2005): 935-960. 2 Feb 2011

Links

Page 1

"Inventing Michael Field: Can Two Women Write like One Man?" http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/article.html?id=238584

"Inventing Michael Field: Can Two Women Write like One Man" http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/article.html?id=238584

"Representations of the Female Voice in Victorian Poetry." http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/ebb/byecroft14.html

""Representations of the Female Voice in Victorian Poetry."" http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/ebb/byecroft14.html

"Looking Strategically: Feminist and Queer Aesthetics in Michael Field’s Sight and Song" http://muse.jhu.edu/content/nines/journals/victorian_poetry/v042/42.3ehnenn.html [Looking Strategically: Feminist and Queer Aesthetics in Michael Field's Sight and Song]

Page 2

"The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry." http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/pater/renaissance/6.html

"Looking Strategically: Feminist and Queer Aesthetics in Michael Field’s Sight and Song." http://muse.jhu.edu/content/nines/journals/victorian_poetry/v042/42.3ehnenn.html [Looking Strategically: Feminist and Queer Aesthetics in Michael Field's Sight and Song]

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