The Pre-Raphaelite Art of the Victorian Novel: Narrative Challenges to Visual Gendered Boundaries. Ohio State UP, 2005. 208p bibl index afp ISBN 0-8142-5129-3 pbk, $29.95. Reviewed in 2005 May CHOICE.
In this delightful and thoroughly researched study, Andres (Univ. of Texas, Permian Basin) unites feminist and narrative theory with Pre-Raphaelite art criticism. Focusing on George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Wilkie Collins, Andres marshals evidence from letters, diaries, and journals in order to link the paintings with individual novels. She examines how "reconfigurations of notable Pre-Raphaelite paintings within the Victorian novel" offered "the Victorian novelist innovative ways of depicting controversial gender issues." In so doing, she complicates current interpretations of gender roles within these novels. Although others have linked the Victorian novel with the sister arts – for instance, Hugh Witemeyer in George Eliot and the Visual Arts (1979) – Andres is the first to offer a full-length study exploring the complex relationship between Pre-Raphaelite art and the novel. In a final chapter, Andres asks her readers to emphasize connections between the present heightened visual culture and the visual culture in the Victorian era; in so doing, those traditionally overwhelmed by Victorian triple-deckers might very well become captivated. The book is beautifully illustrated, with 16 color plates. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. – D. L. Cumberland, Winona State University
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