The Cult Of Domesticity In John Millais's 'Mariana'

If one thing stands the test of time, it is the cult of domesticity. Whether we examine art and literature from two or two hundred years ago, it can almost always be ascertained that women were (and still are) expected to become a wife, have children, and be happy. Alfred Tennyson saw this, and the other imperfections in his society, and didn’t hesitate to take to the page to write about it. In his poem, “Mariana,” he takes on this cult of domesticity, challenging the importance of marriage to women, and why it matters so much. English painter John Millais followed Tennyson’s poem by painting a portrait of his own interpretation. Millais’s “Mariana” strengthens the argument that Tennyson was well aware of social inequalities. In the painting, Millais clarifies the analysis of a woman’s social norm, and the entrapment of women masquerading as marriage, all while trapping Mariana himself—in the form of paint.

“Mariana” is comprised of seven stanzas, with twelve

Only a small amount of the house is shown, however in that small space, there is a table, bench, and a dresser. A part of a bed is even shown in the far corner. This could be Millais’s interpretation of Mariana’s—and other women of that time period—prison-like sentence to domesticity. Everything that women were expected to need is shown in the painting; Millais showed an altar and stained glass windows for prayer, and an embroidery table for sewing. The bed in the corner could be a symbol for the woman’s fertility. The closed-in space that Millais chose to depict the woman certainly shows the entrapment of women in that time period. The leaves strewn about the scene represent both the abandonment of the farmhouse, and the passage of time that Mariana has spent waiting for her lover. Millais beautifully depicted a trapped woman, desperate for validation from both a man, and