The Eternal Tug of War: Sexual Conflict in D. G. Rossetti's Poetry and Painting

永恒的拔河：羅賽蒂繪畫與詩歌中的性別衝突

10.6420/DHJHS.200307.0061

陳國榮(Kuo-Jung Chen)

羅賽蒂 ； 雙重藝術（繪畫與詩歌） ； 性別衝突 ； D. G. Rossetti ； double work of art (painting and poetry) ； sexual conflict

東華人文學報

5期（2003 / 07 / 01）

61 - 92

英文

本文試圖探討羅賽蒂(D. G. Rossetti)雙重藝術—描述同一事物之繪畫與詩歌－中性別衝突的主題。雖然羅賽蒂對畫作擁有自主性的理念與其所提倡由繪畫與詩歌之類同而達成的「最高完美境界」並不一致，然而這兩種藝術型式所呈現出的性別衝突反因其異質性之共置和同質性之互補而更為增强。羅賽蒂在繪畫中對美麗女人之沉迷，因為在對應詩中她可能與一位現身或隱身背後的男人具有衝突，而表現的更為顯著。這個男人可能現身畫中而與女人有身體間的掙扎，如在Found和Mary Magdalene at the Door of Simon the Pharisee中。他也可能出現，但與女主角是在意志間做掙扎，如在Cassandra中。甚至他完全未出現在畫中，如在Lady Lilith與La Bella Mano中，但在相對的詩中卻扮演重要的角色。在羅賽蒂性別衝突的場景中，女性的意志幾乎都是凌駕於男性之上。如果這種勝利在畫中並不明顯的話，讀者在讀完其相對的詩後總會獲得明確的答案。

This paper attempts to explore the theme of sexual conflict in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's double work of art-his painting (drawing) and its corresponding poetry. Though Rossetti's idea of the autonomy of painting may be inconsistent with his advocacy of the ”supreme perfection” achieved by the close resemblance between painting and poetry, the sexual conflict manifested in these two art forms are nonetheless enhanced by the juxtaposition of their heterogeneity and the reinforcement of their homogeneity. Rossetti's preoccupation with beautiful women in his painting is rendered all the more prominent by an implication of sexual conflict with an absent or present male opponent, often specified in the corresponding poetry. The male counterpart may be present in the actual physical struggle as in Found and Mary Magdalene at the Door of Simon the Pharisee. The sexual conflict may also be indicated without actual physical contact as in Cassandra. The male counterpart may not even appear on the canvas as in Lady Lilith and La Bella Mano, but he nevertheless figures more protuberantly in the corresponding poems. In Rossetti's scenarios of tug of war between the sexes, the willpower of women almost always triumphs over that of men. If this kind of conquest is not clear-cut in the painting, the corresponding poetry often removes any doubt from the viewer-reader's mind.

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