After completing this book, I had a sudden desire to research everything Pre-Raphaelite. As I researched through the form of books, online journals, and blogs, I learned what I thought being a Pre-Raph beauty was.
By that I mean the term, Rosetti coined early in his career:
"Stunner"
The word to mean, embodied Pre-Raphaelite beauty.
(Yep, google even has a definition for this word which is pretty cool if you ask me!)
This simple word became an obsession. As a teenage girl living in 2017, me (and all other young adults) have a tendency to remark and critique their every flaw. But unlike other girls, I didn't want to look like a photoshopped model created by a marketing team.
I wanted to look like a "stunner"
I wanted to have Jane Morris' hair, Lizzie's ethereal look, and Fanny Cornforth's eyes. I wanted to emulate what Rosetti (and all the other Pre-Raphaelite's deemed beautiful) I had somehow formed the idea that the only way I could be attractive was by emulating what a group of dead male artists thought was pretty. Even so, I wanted more than the superficial aspects of being a muse. I dreamed of inspiring some of the greatest paintings of the Victorian era. I imagined my hair painted in thick curly trestles and my velvet dress made of jewel-toned emeralds and azures.
I told myself that my hair wasn't pretty because it had no hint of Lizzie's signature copper red. Whenever I tried to imitate her etheral look, by curling my hair or coating my lips in a deep shade of burgundy, I only felt myself dig deeper into the despair of not being good enough. But one-day things changed when I came across a quote from the blog The Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood that made cracks in my foundation of insecurity:
"What we perceive as Pre-Raphaelite beauty is an amalgamation. The Pre-Raphaelite's were a varied group of and their induvial perceptions of what was ascetically pleasing have combined together into something beautiful and bold. And it holds possibilities. It tells us that we are each Pre-Raphaelite stunners. It took several types of women to develop the Pre-Raphaelite ideal; it takes women of all types to make up our world. Resist the narrow definitions that society uses to define us. Embrace what you feel are your strengths and silence the negative voice that finds faults. Look in the mirror, strike a pose and know you are a Beauty personified."
I might not have Jane Morris' hair, Lizzie's ethereal look, or Fanny Cornforth's eyes but I do have my hair, my look, and my eyes.
I misunderstood what the root of being a "stunner" was. It was not meant to bring women down but was meant to bring women up. Being a "stunner" was more than external beauty. The term was intended to empower all types of women with confidence.
The Pre-Raphaelite's beauty ideals were developed and based on a group of amazing women who were all beauties in their own right. The Pre-Raph's considered women who, at the time did not fit into the Victorian era's ideals, gorgeous. They transformed these women from ugly ducklings in the eyes of the public into striking swans. Not just externally, but internally.
