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tirsdag den 15. marts 2011

Victorianske romantiske kvinde-selvmord i London

En sær ting ved Victoriatiden var en fascination af "faldne kvinder", der blev dyrket i en myte om kvinder som faldne engle, eller truende dæmoner. Hysteriske uligevægtige væsener, der i romatisk fortvivlelse og sindssyge pludselig kunne finde på at kaste sig i døden. Waterloo Bridge, der i London krydsede den stinkende kloak Themsen, blev kendt som The Bridge of Sighs (Sukkenes bro). Et sted præget af selvmord. Kvinde-selvmord, forstås.

Young Martyr by Paul Delaroche (1853)

Realiteten var at mænd også dengang, i kraft af mere effektive metoder, stod for broderparten af selvmordene. Men det var kvindernes selvmord som blev mytologiseret og dæmoniseret. Derved kunne solid nedgørelse og undertrykkelse af kvinder pakkes ind i "undrende" retorik om kvinders uransagelige væsen.

Et karakteristisk eksempel herpå er digtet The Bridge of Sighs af Thomas Hood. Det skulle være inspireret af en ung kvindes selvmord. Som ung mor var hun forladt i ekstrem fattigdom, prostitution og slavearbejde. Ingen vej frem, men ned i flodens snavsede vand. Sådanne detaljer pakkede digtet ind i at præsentere hende som sindsyg, og en slags dæmonisk syndefuld martyr.

Digtet var skrevet ind i myten, og inspirerede andre til visuelle fremstillinger.

Claude Monet - Waterloo Bridge

The Bridge of Sighs

ONE more Unfortunate,
   Weary of breath,
Rashly importunate,
   Gone to her death!

Take her up tenderly,
   Lift her with care;
Fashion'd so slenderly
   Young, and so fair!

Look at her garments
Clinging like cerements;
Whilst the wave constantly
   Drips from her clothing;
Take her up instantly,
   Loving, not loathing.

Found Drowned by George Frederick Watts RA, 1867

Touch her not scornfully;
Think of her mournfully,
   Gently and humanly;
Not of the stains of her,
All that remains of her
   Now is pure womanly.

Make no deep scrutiny
Into her mutiny
   Rash and undutiful:
Past all dishonour,
Death has left on her
   Only the beautiful.

Still, for all slips of hers,
One of Eve's family—
Wipe those poor lips of hers
   Oozing so clammily.

London by Night - Charles Selby

Loop up her tresses
   Escaped from the comb,
Her fair auburn tresses;
Whilst wonderment guesses
   Where was her home?

Who was her father?
   Who was her mother?
Had she a sister?
   Had she a brother?
Or was there a dearer one
Still, and a nearer one
   Yet, than all other?

Alas! for the rarity
Of Christian charity
   Under the sun!
O, it was pitiful!
Near a whole city full,
   Home she had none.

Sisterly, brotherly,
Fatherly, motherly
   Feelings had changed:
Love, by harsh evidence,
Thrown from its eminence;
Even God's providence
   Seeming estranged.

John Everett Millais (1829-1896) - 'The Bridge of Sighs'

Where the lamps quiver
So far in the river,
   With many a light
From window and casement,
From garret to basement,
She stood, with amazement,
   Houseless by night.

The bleak wind of March
   Made her tremble and shiver;
But not the dark arch,
Or the black flowing river:
Mad from life's history,
Glad to death's mystery,
   Swift to be hurl'd—
Anywhere, anywhere
   Out of the world!

In she plunged boldly—
No matter how coldly
   The rough river ran—
Over the brink of it,
Picture it—think of it,
   Dissolute Man!
Lave in it, drink of it,
   Then, if you can!

George Cruikshank - The drunkard's children - The poor girl, homeless, friendless, deserted, destitute, and gin-mad, commits self-murder

Take her up tenderly,
   Lift her with care;
Fashion'd so slenderly,
   Young, and so fair!

Ere her limbs frigidly
Stiffen too rigidly,
   Decently, kindly,
Smooth and compose them;
And her eyes, close them,
   Staring so blindly!

Dreadfully staring
  Thro' muddy impurity,
As when with the daring
Last look of despairing
   Fix'd on futurity.

Perishing gloomily,
Spurr'd by contumely,
Cold inhumanity,
Burning insanity,
   Into her rest.—
Cross her hands humbly
As if praying dumbly,
   Over her breast!

Owning her weakness,
   Her evil behaviour,
And leaving, with meekness,
   Her sins to her Saviour!

The Bridge of Sighs - Bas relief by Mattew Noble


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