Identifying a Transformation
Images of Lilith in the Poetry and Art of
Dante Gabriel Rossetti

After Keats' poem "La Belle Dame sans Merci," there exists a gap of over forty years in which there are no known representations of Lilith. With the emergence of the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848, however, came a renewed interest in this mythical figure. This renewed interest was a direct result of Goethe and Keats' work on this subject and, in many cases, represents an elaboration upon, or remark toward, their work. While it was the influence of Goethe and Keats that led to the adoption of Lilith as a theme of the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood, it has been the wide-spread recognition of the PRB (whether positive or negative in viewpoint) that led to her adoption by writers and artists after the disintegration of the Brotherhood.

In the poetry and art of this era, Lilith's transformation is solidified as she becomes the eternal femme fatale, a woman whose beauty is just as important -- perhaps more so -- as her vice. Specifically, the works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti have been pointed to by numerous scholars as representing the moment of transformation for this mythical figure. Rossetti has been described as "a dramatic imagist, a seeker of meaning, a mythmaker" (Gardner, 57). It is the depiction of him as a "mythmaker" which will be of concern here. Did Rossetti revision the image of Lilith in such a way as to make her myth anew? Were his artistic and poetic portrayals of her the impetus for current feminist reclamations of this mythical figure? These questions, as well as a survey of Rossetti's uses of Lilith, will be considered in this chapter.

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Outline of Chapter Three

I. Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and Its Influences (1848-1954)
A. Defining the PRB and Dante Gabriel Rossetti's role in the PRB
B. Influences on the PRB, especially Rossetti
1) Goethe
2) Keats
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II. Dante Gabriel Rossetti's painting "Lady Lilith" (1863 and 1864-1868?)
A. Lilith peering into her mirror, self-satisfied and beautiful
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III. Dante Gabriel Rossetti's poem "Lilith," later published as "Body's Beauty" (1868)
A. Lilith as Adam's first wife; emphasizes affiliation with the snake and her ensnaring hair
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IV. Dante Gabriel Rossetti's "Eden Bower" (1869)
A. Unique melding of Biblical accounts and the Lilith legend
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V. "Femme fatale" images in other Rossetti poems
A. A Sea-Spell (1868)
B. The Orchard Pit - a fragment (1869)
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