‘Mariana in the South,’ by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

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Mariana in the South

Artist: Dante Gabriel Rossetti

1857

Wood engraving; cut by William Linton

100 x 80 mm

Alfred Tennyson, Poems, 84.

This poem is a variant on the author’s ‘Mariana’ (also included in the 'Moxon Tennyson’) and is another version of the maiden’s long, frustrated yearning for Angelo in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. Rossetti stresses Mariana’s physical and psychological enclosure as he crams her figure into a congested, windowless room; the barred cupboard in the background also underscores her status as a prisoner. [Click on the image to enlarge it. Commentary continues below; mouse over the text for links.]

This approach forms an interesting contrast with Millais’s treatment of Mariana’s predicament (7). Millais uses gesture, Rossetti the menace of box-like space, cancelling the viewer’s desire to see further into the background in a metaphorical representation of the character’s limited perspective. The viewer yearns for a clear, outward view, just as Mariana does.

Image, caption material, text and formatting by Simon Cooke. You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you credit the person who scanned it and the Victorian Web.

Link to Related Material

Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Proofs for Tennyson’s Poems in ‘The Moxon Tennyson’

Bibliography

Tennyson, Alfred. Poems. London: Moxon, 1857.

Created 6 August 2025