by Stephanie Chatfield
Elizabeth Siddal has had a deep and lasting influence on my life. Despite living centuries apart, I know her face as well as my own.
Through her art, poetry, and the Pre-Raphaelite works she appears in, Elizabeth Siddal has the power to captivate. The story of her life and struggles beckons to us across time, pulling us into her thrall.
As artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s muse, we can see her influence on his early Pre-Raphaelite works. She then boldly made the move from muse to artist and embarked on a career that was far too brief, but showed great promise.
Unfortunately, many of the dramatic details of her life overshadow her artistic ambitions. Even so, I believe she inspires women and has become a symbol that can motivate us; she represents a 19th-century female strong enough to create her own mark in a rigid, patriarchal world.
Sadly, Lizzie also represents what happens when circumstance and tragedy conspire to prevent that work from coming to fruition.
Jan Marsh’s The Legend of Elizabeth Siddal contains the insight that “in writing about Elizabeth Siddal, women are painting collective self-portraits.” This resonates with me deeply.
No matter how much we learn about and discuss her, she remains somehow unreachable, suspended in an enigmatic mist. I think we project our own needs onto her. She becomes a symbol of ourselves, perhaps the part of us we want to rescue.
When we champion Elizabeth Siddal, we as women are cheerleaders for our own creative endeavors, fighting in a way she couldn’t against those who disappoint us; waging, as she was ill-equipped to do, battles against obstacles like depression and addiction.
Pursuing her has brought a wealth of gifts to my life, including love and friendships that I treasure dearly. Studying her has been a labor of love, and it has rewarded me in ways I will always be grateful for.
For that, Lizzie Siddal deserves a sincere thank-you and it is a thank-you whispered in my heart with a combination of respect and joy.
Thank you, Lizzie.
To read further about Elizabeth Siddal’s legacy, see Did Elizabeth Siddal Inspire Bram Stoker?, Elizabeth Siddal and Sylvia Plath: Tragic Loss Separated by a Century, and Framing Siddal: How We See Her and Why It Matters.
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