Icons of desire : the classical statue in later Victorian literature

Thomas, Jane

Abstract

The sculptural trope enjoyed a revival in later Victorian literature, especially the classical sculptural nude. These ancient figures retain their function as mediators between the gods and their human votaries for their Victorian admirers, but they also represent an art that excites desire that is aesthetic and troublingly sensual — sometimes aberrant. In Henry James's 'The Last of the Valerii'; Vernon Lee's Miss Brown and 'Dionea', and Thomas Hardy's 'Barbara of the House of Grebe' classical and neoclassical statues serve as a focus for a critique of the petrifying effects of prevailing attitudes to gender and sexuality.

Citation

Thomas, J. (2010). Icons of desire : the classical statue in later Victorian literature. Yearbook of English Studies, 40(1/2), 246-272

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2010
• Deposit Date: Nov 13, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 13, 2014
• Journal: Yearbook of English studies
• Print ISSN: 0306-2473
• Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 40
• Issue: 1/2
• Pages: 246-272
• Keywords: REF 2014 submission
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/463830
• Publisher URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41059790
• Additional Information: Copy of article first published in Yearbook of English studies, 2010, v.40, issue 1/2