Nymph Mania: J. W. Waterhouse’s Femme Fatales and Victorian Anxieties About Shifting Gender Dynamics
Arts
HAVC 55: Unclothed
J. W. Waterhouse’s Hylas and the Nymphs provides a valuable insight into late 19th century anxieties about shifting gender power dynamics. Through its depiction of the femme fatale, we are introduced to the Victorian “New Woman” as a nymph: a deceptively beautiful woman characterized by her long, unbound hair, who, beneath her demure exterior, is morally corrupt and wild and uses her sexuality to manipulate and overpower men. Re-examining the implicit ideology of this painting is necessary to understand how it mirrors more recent anxieties around sex and gender power dynamics. I argue that its temporary removal in 2018 by the Manchester Gallery was not a dangerous step toward art censorship, but a successful attempt at prompting open discussion around this misogynistic artistic archetype and its place in our current society.
