Effie: A Victorian Scandal

by Merryn Williams

Victorian scandals don't come much more intimate and revealing than a wife seeking an annulment from her famous husband because their marriage has not been consummated. When Effie Ruskin sought escape from her desperately unhappy life with art critic John Ruskin, she shattered the Victorian illusion of the perfect marriage. That she could then dare to hope for respectability and even happiness as the wife of artist John Everett Millais fuelled a scandal that was to reverberate around Victorian society for years to come.

Ruskin, Millais and Effie were exposed to the kind of gossip today's wannabe celebrities can only dream of. Effie was regarded as mentally ill, immoral and certainly tainted - Queen Victoria initially refused to receive her - while Ruskin was seen either as noble and virtuous or deranged and impotent. Ruskin was repelled by Effie's body; Millais used her as a model in some of his greatest paintings. Millais went on to become one of Britain s most popular painters, but the stigma of his wife's past would never be forgotten.

From the heart of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood comes a story as fascinating today as it was shocking in the 1850s.
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Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Art, Victorian, 19th Century, Audiobook

230 pages, Hardcover

First published May 27, 2010

About the author

Merryn Williams is a poet and the author of books on Thomas Hardy and Margaret Oliphant. Raymond Williams, her father, is Emeritus Professor of Drama, University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge.

Reviews

[Chrissie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do you like Pre-Raphaelite paintings? I do. Don't know what they are like? Here is "Ophelia" by John Everett Millais:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophelia...

Pretty huh? For this reason alone, I thought I would read the book. It is non-fiction.

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Why in the world did I have trouble with this book? It is well researched. Both the good and bad qualities of the three prime characters – Effie Gray Ruskin (1828-1897), John Ruskin (1819-1900) and John Everett Millais (1829-1896) are depicted. No character is white-washed and none painted black. The book follows each of them to their death.

Quotes from letters abound. Here lies part of the problem. Too many quotes and too little analysis of how we should view the divergent statements. The author presents the facts and she is very careful to state what is probable but not actually known. What I miss is an in-depth discussion of the relationships. She has all the facts, she has done all the research, and yet I am left uncertain where the blame lies. Clearly it is not all on one side. During Victorian times it was Effie who took the brunt; she was the woman, she was of the “weaker sex”! Today we look with different eyes. Yet, I cannot but wonder if we don’t give the benefit of the doubt now to her. This bothers me. I see faults on both sides. I am left with the nagging worry that we are only able to judge what happened with our 21st Century eyes.

Another problem I have is that while Millais artwork is painstakingly noted, he did this on this date and that then, I do not have the faintest understanding of how this man came to paint “Ophelia”, shown up above. You look at the paining and you learn about the man, but I cannot for the life of me understand how this man painted that painting. I don’t understand the man. I wanted to know more about the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

Rosalyn Landor reads the audiobook. Her reading fits perfectly with the Victorian lines. It is interesting, both the quotes and the way the author expresses herself feel Victorian. Her language, her phrases and her ways of speech feel steeped in Victorian ideology. This too gave me trouble. Quotes are one thing but I felt the author could have expressed herself more clearly.

Every chapter begins with a quote from Middlemarch by George Eliot. The author states that this is the basis for that story.

[Linds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched the (very good) movie Effie Gray this week and I wanted to do some research. I enjoyed this book very much but I would only recommend it to someone interested in Pre-Raphaelite paintings or divorce in the Victorian age.

[Savina King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could n't put this book down as I adore the pre raphaelite paintings and so already had my toe in the water, so to speak. The way the woman was made to shoulder all the blame from victorian society was just so unjust. She would either brave societys moral stance or stay in a marriage with no love, a mentally disturbed husband and no children to comfort her. The fact was that Ruskin liked very young girls and wethter he could even consumate a relationship with any of these leaves room for doubt. A brave woman who was loved dearly by her one true husband, Millais.

[Freya Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story but it was far more a book on Ruskin and Millais's careers than of Effie herself. I suppose the title should have warned me on that - 'from Ruskin's wife to Millais's Muse' - never her own person. Which is a bit of a shame.

[Katrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting true life story of the women and the period if history.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hugely entertaining and horrifying — it is hard to go wrong with this primary material — but also weirdly defensive/reactive to 20th cen opinion, including on behalf of Ruskin who does not deserve to be defended. It’s hilarious to read sentences about how he was actually a noble man… not a male chauvinist… and okay maybe a pedophile but of course he would NEVER have ACTED on it!!! (which may be true but isn’t the same as saying “there’s no evidence to suggest that…”) — and then read about his absolutely ghoulish conduct toward pretty much everybody, especially Effie and poor godforsaken Rose Latouche.

Still, very enjoyable, though some of the glosses are to be taken with a grain of salt. Her insistence that Middlemarch is about this triangle is also a bit too much — again there’s a difference between resonances etc, a possible reference point, and it being The Source, which I think is quite clearly not the case.

PS Birth control is the greatest of man’s inventions, oh my god.

[Keily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great bio. Those who think there wasn't enough about Effie: its hard to find concrete evidence of a woman's life in this time period without looking at the men in their lives. I thought the story telling and facts were great

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting biography. I'm glad it had a happy ending. Lots of references to letters and primary sources.