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Portrait Of A Prostitute: A Feminist Analysis Of The Victorian Sex Worker In 19th Century Art And Literature, Marissa Merlino

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Despite their deplorable reputation in the conservative eyes of Victorians, prostitutes became the subject of numerous literary pieces and visual artworks. The comparison between characterizations of the sex worker by male writers versus female writers highlights the distinct intentions of both genders. The prestigious Pre-Raphaelite writer and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti exhibits a dramatic presentation of his male savior complex in both his poem “Jenny” and his painting “Found”, along with its accompanying poem. In contrast, feminist writer Augusta Webster provides her prostitute speaker, Eulalie, with a voice that allows her to articulate how agency plays a role in her …