Ophelia’s Muse
Ophelia’s Muse chronicles the tumultuous relationship between Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his muse, Elizabeth Siddal. Told from alternating points of view, the novel picks up with Lizzie, a lower-middle-class millinery assistant. She is alluring and intelligent, and longs for more than the monotony of her current circumstances. Lizzie comes to the attention of Walter Deverell, a painter embroiled with the rebellious Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Lizzie’s association as his model brings her into Rossetti’s orbit, and also takes her down an unexpected path of scandal, sickness, and sadness.
Lizzie Siddal was easily the first supermodel. Stunningly beautiful, she sat for several of the painters in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood; she was also an accomplished artist and poet. Unfortunately, she was better known for her modeling work, including John Everett Millais’s iconic Ophelia, which would become one of the most recognizable portraits of the period. She would also become known for her turbulent relationship with Rossetti.
Cameron’s depiction of the two artists is fairly accurate in terms of their personalities. At times, the writing seems patronizing, which can be annoying for readers who have a solid grasp of the time period. Lizzie and Dante’s volatile relationship is depicted well; it was clearly co-dependent and, as such, reading about their ups and downs can be tiring. Lizzie goes from being an intelligent, independent woman with aspirations to a hypochondriac obsessed with Rossetti and his refusal to marry her. By the time the two finally commit to each other, the reader may just wish for the end to hasten as Lizzie has become a drug-addicted shrew, and Dante spends all his time drinking and cavorting with his models. A sad conclusion for both artists, who apparently could not live with – or without – each other.
