Wicked Women and The Yellow Book
Eos Evite
Ryerson University
2242
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The Fatal Fairy Godmother
In contrast to Rheam’s Vivien, this exhibit samples Vernon Lee’s Snake Lady, Oriana. Oriana was introduced as a nobleman’s beautiful female companion, whose image on a tapestry mesmerizes a young prince. Oriana represents many things in the text, much like the tapestry containing her image. Oriana personifies freedom, the mythical, and the femme fatale, all together in her existence as a fairy. The lengthy short story showed Vernon Lee's gothic and decadent style, and her depiction of an oppressed female successfully divert from the femme fatale convention. Vernon Lee was the pseudonym of Violet Paget, and she was a popular gothic and decadent writer during the Victorian period (Maxwell & Pulham). Her short story “Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady” was her only contribution to The Yellow Book. Maxwell and Pulham argue that the story was Lee’s expression of her sympathy towards the unfortunate events surrounding Oscar Wilde. “Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady” was one of the longest literary pieces published by the magazine ("The Yellow Book: Introduction to Volume 10 (July 1896)”). Her style was apparent in the thirteen chapters she wrote, borrowing aspects of Christianity and mythology to contrast the real and supernatural in its world. The story is consistent with Vernon Lee’s gothic style of presenting mysterious portraits and femme fatales (Margree & Randall 230). The tapestry in young Alberic’s chambers had him wondering about the history of his ancestor and his beautiful female companion. The revelation of her full form in the tapestry invited even more questions, that the Lee does not answer until the sixth chapter. Displaying Oriana as a snake, a predatory animal, aligns with the femme fatale stereotype. |
Vernon Lee
by John Singer Sargent
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The title of the short story misleads the reader to the character of Oriana. Vernon Lee does not portray Oriana as a villain, however the other older male characters in the story do. The priest, who the young Alberic asks about the story about the first Prince Alberic and Oriana, describes Oriana as a villain. Oriana is associated with the supernatural for most of the story. Her peculiarity as a fairy, cursed in snake-form, sets her existence as a villain. Lee mentions early in the story that Duke Balthasar Maria, young Alberic’s grandfather and guardian, even associates snakes with the devil, thus his decision to take the tapestry down (Lee 290). In Lee’s story, the highest patriarchal authority is depicted against the only active female character, both directly and indirectly.
When young Alberic is exiled to a farmer's home, he befriends a grass snake and meets his fairy godmother. The snake and the fairy are never shown together. From the priest's tale of Alberic the Blond and Oriana, the reader assumes the snake and the fairy are the same being in two different forms. Despite the negative connotations about snakes and fairies, Lee shows Oriana as Alberic's benevolent caregiver. She gives him clothes, books and horses before the Jester, Jesuit and Dwarf can exploit him with these gifts (Lee 311). The priest refers to Oriana as a "witch" and "fairy" in his tale almost interchangeably, depicting how the culture understands magic and the supernatural as one and the same, and also calling her "demon" shames her status as a witch or fairy (Lee 323). Oriana was released from imprisonment after asking for a kiss. Women are not expected to request sexual contact from men, and Oriana breaks from the norm. Also, the curse on Oriana can only be fully broken by a faithful lover, whom young Alberic's ancestors failed to be (Lee 324).
Breaking curses in older fairy tales, like of "The Frog Prince", only required a kiss from a princess. Lee's choice of requesting ten years of faithfulness from a man criticizes the gender issues in the nineteenth century. Oriana's last hope was in young Alberic, who has been loyal to the lady for almost ten years, but she is killed by the older men when young Alberic was sick and unable to protect her. The Jester, the Jesuit and the Dwarf success in destroying the forbidden love between the Prince and Oriana, and the tale ends draws in the conquest of man over woman. It shows the opposite of Rheam's illustration, but it is still a successful criticism of the gender politics of the society.
Lee imposed many cultural criticisms in her short story. Some critics even argue that Prince Alberic's forbidden relationship with Oriana is a reference to Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas (Stetz). Nonetheless, Lee attacks the then-current patriarchal society in "Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady". She contradicts that women with agency can still be tame and harmless. Oriana was not seducing anyone from Alberic's family to overthrow the Duchy. She merely wanted to be released from her curse.
When young Alberic is exiled to a farmer's home, he befriends a grass snake and meets his fairy godmother. The snake and the fairy are never shown together. From the priest's tale of Alberic the Blond and Oriana, the reader assumes the snake and the fairy are the same being in two different forms. Despite the negative connotations about snakes and fairies, Lee shows Oriana as Alberic's benevolent caregiver. She gives him clothes, books and horses before the Jester, Jesuit and Dwarf can exploit him with these gifts (Lee 311). The priest refers to Oriana as a "witch" and "fairy" in his tale almost interchangeably, depicting how the culture understands magic and the supernatural as one and the same, and also calling her "demon" shames her status as a witch or fairy (Lee 323). Oriana was released from imprisonment after asking for a kiss. Women are not expected to request sexual contact from men, and Oriana breaks from the norm. Also, the curse on Oriana can only be fully broken by a faithful lover, whom young Alberic's ancestors failed to be (Lee 324).
Breaking curses in older fairy tales, like of "The Frog Prince", only required a kiss from a princess. Lee's choice of requesting ten years of faithfulness from a man criticizes the gender issues in the nineteenth century. Oriana's last hope was in young Alberic, who has been loyal to the lady for almost ten years, but she is killed by the older men when young Alberic was sick and unable to protect her. The Jester, the Jesuit and the Dwarf success in destroying the forbidden love between the Prince and Oriana, and the tale ends draws in the conquest of man over woman. It shows the opposite of Rheam's illustration, but it is still a successful criticism of the gender politics of the society.
Lee imposed many cultural criticisms in her short story. Some critics even argue that Prince Alberic's forbidden relationship with Oriana is a reference to Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas (Stetz). Nonetheless, Lee attacks the then-current patriarchal society in "Prince Alberic and the Snake Lady". She contradicts that women with agency can still be tame and harmless. Oriana was not seducing anyone from Alberic's family to overthrow the Duchy. She merely wanted to be released from her curse.
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