ABSTRACT

This essay examines a particular transmedial moment in the early eighteenth century which promoted the agency of women as heroines at the heart of classical narratives. Opening with a case study of Aphra Behn’s contribution and evolving place within John Dryden’s influential edition of Ovid’s Heroides, I show how later illustrative engravings came to prioritise, and productively extend, Behn’s impetus and model for female experience, one which was initially sidelined in the volume. This provides a model for thinking about the wider artistic sources available to us in understanding ways in which women took increased control and influence over their representation in art, chiefly as elite patrons, curators and subjects. In this analysis, the decade of the 1710s comes into particular focus as a time when women demonstrated and communicated creative agency inspired by the courtly culture of Queen Anne. Despite the dearth of easel paintings at this time representing classical and historical themes, engraving and mural painting were their key vehicles and, through the latter form especially, women wrought influence using classical narratives as conduits for communicating their agency as heroines at the centre of their own narratives.

摘要

本文探讨了十八世纪初的一个特殊的跨媒介时刻，该时刻促进了女性作为古典叙事核心的女英雄的地位。首先，我对阿芙拉·贝恩 (Aphra Behn) 在约翰·德莱顿 (John Dryden) 颇具影响力的《奥维德英雄》版本中的贡献和演变地位进行了案例研究，展示了后来的插图版画如何优先考虑并有效地扩展了贝恩 (Behn) 对女性体验的推动力和模式，而这一点最初在《奥维德》中被边缘化。体积。这提供了一个模型，让我们思考更广泛的艺术资源，以了解女性如何增强对艺术表现的控制和影响力，主要是作为精英赞助人、策展人和主题。在本次分析中，1710 年代的十年尤其受到关注，因为在这个时期，女性展示并传达了受安妮女王宫廷文化启发的创意能动性。尽管当时缺乏代表古典和历史主题的架上绘画，但版画和壁画是它们的主要载体，尤其是通过后一种形式，女性利用古典叙事作为传达她们作为女主角的媒介的渠道来发挥影响力。自己的叙述。