When I changed LizzieSiddal.com to blog format, I had hoped (and still do!) for more interaction with visitors. Based on the number of emails that I received on a daily basis, I felt sure that these people who were so willing to email me to discuss Lizzie would surely post comments on the site once they were able to. I love each and every email I receive, but I wanted a way for people to share their stories and opinions with the site, not just me. Because this site is not just for me. It’s for those of us who are fascinated with Lizzie and those who have just discovered her. Or perhaps it is for her. Either way, I do not want these pages to be static. I want interaction with others who are just as interested in this enigmatic muse.
The funny thing is, I’ve received even more email now than I did before the format change! Thank you, I love your emails even though I find it very difficult to answer them all. Please, try and post a comment instead of emailing me. Having read so many emails a day, I know that the majority of them are thoughtful and insightful comments and other visitors to this site would benefit from reading them.
So, I’m inviting comments now on LizzieSiddal.com’s previous post, the transcript of Lizzie’s inquest. Post your thoughts! I transcribed it verbatim in an effort to stay true to the original procedure. But the lack of punctuation makes it a bit difficult to read, don’t you agree? Perhaps I should also post an edited version, to make it easier to consume.
What struck you as you read the inquest? The main thing that stood out to me was the doctor who delivered Lizzie’s stillborn child and who was called in on the night of her death, mentioned that he had not seen her since the delivery, but that a week or so before her death he saw her in the street.
Stop and take that in for a moment.
What must that have been like for Lizzie? In an age with no counseling, or knowledge of post partum depression? To endure such a traumatic ordeal and then be expected to quickly recover and resume life as it was? And to make matters worse, many of the women in Lizzie’s life were also expecting at that time. She was surrounded by pregnancy and early motherhood. She was surrounded by the very thing she was denied.
To suddenly see her doctor, THE doctor, in the street must have jarred her. On a very personal note, and I have never been personal on this site, I have a son who was born with Spina Bifida. That was ten years ago. I have never again seen the doctor who gave me the news. But his face, his voice, his words are embedded in my memory. Even ten years later, I would recognize him on the street if I saw him. But I would not enjoy it. For me, he belongs in the past. He is part of a moment that changed my life in a way that I never expected. But unlike Lizzie, my painful moment became a beautiful beginning. Looking back on it, I would not change a thing.
Poor Lizzie. Was it an unfortunate accident? Fate? Or did she fear that her current pregnancy would end in similar misfortune?
Post a comment, I want to know what your impressions of the inquest were and if you have an opinion on her death.
It is often said that what goes around comes around. One of the most beloved people in Elizabeth Siddall’s current lifetime has been her family doctor, whom she credits with having saved her life in 1984 when, during an era in which the disease was only beginning to be understood by the medical profession, he diagnosed her with postpartum depression. In short, the former Dr. Francis Hutchison (not Hutchinson) was not about to lose his 1862 overdose patient to suicide again–especially from the same malady.
Hutchison (whose modern-day office was located, even years before Siddall and Rossetti met again in this lifetime, in the neighborhood where Rossetti’s family lived and to which Siddall’s family later moved) had, as you mentioned, attended Siddall at the stillbirth of Rossetti’s child in May of 1861, and, along with three other doctors, had spent the night of February 10 and morning of February 11, 1862 trying to revive her after her laudanum overdose.
And yes, it was suicide. Because of the repercussions, Rossetti and Siddall (whose art-school romance evolved into a 35-year friendship in this lifetime) and their respective families are still in the process of healing.
Thank you, interesting comment. I’m not quite clear about the 1984 date or the “art-school romance evolved into a 35-year friendship in this lifetime” statements. Are you discussing possible reincarnation? Of the doctor, Lizzie, and Rossetti?
Long past possible. They and at least three dozen other individuals associated with them during the Victorian era are still connected, including, besides the Rossetti and Siddall families, the Millais, Burne-Jones, Holman-Hunt, and Morris families; also other individuals such as Swinburne, Deverell and Collinson. Three generations are involved.
Siddall now lives with the sobering reality of the effects of her suicide. Had she known beforehand how far-reaching they would be–and what responsibility she would bear for them–she would have chosen some other avenue.
On a lighter note, she prefers her surname’s original spelling.
Thank you for sharing, but for the purposes of this site, I’d like to keep comments limited to the events of Elizabeth Siddal’s life and work and not delve into any reincarnation theories.
What you are saying may be true, I’ve learned not to doubt anything too much. But I will say that I receive a great deal of emails from people who believe that they are reincarnations of Lizzie or know someone who is. I’ve even received emails from a couple of people who think that they are the reincarnation of Lizzie and Rossetti’s stillborn child.
I fully understand. Nor would I jeopardize these families’ privacy. Only a few of the individuals are aware of their past identity at any rate, and some of the others, because of their beliefs, would remain skeptical even when confronted with the stunning likenesses in their Victorian portraits and photogravures.
The main point in my posting is that it was indeed suicide, and even more so, that Siddall regrets her rash act beyond expression.
Your website is beautifully designed, great work. Thank you for responding to my post.
This is a haunting document. It is a window into the last days of Lizzies life as she comes and goes in the grimy London of 150 years ago. We see her, as it were, in black and white rather than the brilliant colours of a painting. As if the colours of her own life have gone out leaving just the daily reality of her despair. Her life had become black and white to her. No way forward. Those who knew her shake their heads sadly, but you dont feel it was a surprise. Except to DGR, perhaps. Her drug abuse seems not to shock those who knew her, least of all DGR. The document brings to mind the final pages of Mme Bovary. The reaction of Charles to Emmas suicide. Cest la faute de la fatalite. Thats about it, I reckon. Well done for making it available.
Well said, Gareth, well said! Thanks for such a beautiful comment.
Gareth again. It does surprise me that working with Morris at theRed House didnt help at all. If youare depressed February has to be the darkest month to get through. How cold that flat of hers must have been , a unchanging view of tapers of grey smoke from innumerable monotonous chimney pots. In the streets slush and raw sewage and the poor shuffling about. Always the brown river with its bitter, freezing winds along the embankment. Her last night in Leicester square with its yellow lamps and posters and prostitutes DGR would no doubt move on to later. All just round the corner from the little shop in Coventry street where it all began. Her wheel had turned full circle.
Dear Stephanie, many thanks for publishing both my comments on your website. It really is a beautiful website, actually, and I am both pleased and honoured to be included. With best wishes. Gareth.
Please, no thanks necessary. This site is a labour of love for me and I am honored and appreciative every time someone posts a comment.
I’m not a scholar, by any means. But studying the life and works of Elizabeth Siddal is important to me, and I hope that it is also important to visitors to this site. I wish more of them would comment (as you have done) with their thoughts and ideas.
Dear Stephanie, many thanks. I dont wish to burden you with off centre ideas and I wont, but it did occur to me today driving back from Leeds that Lizzie now would probably have made movies. A bit like Debra Hill or Jane Campion. What does continue to absorb me is how she viewed herself and her own vocation as an artist and poet. DGR was the enabler in her life. Hence her intense loyalty to him. He felt the same about her, thats the irony….they were soulmates, no doubt about it. No wonder his painting of her after she died is the most wonderful image of a woman ever painted. With best wishes. Gareth.
Interesting! You may be on to something. And yes, I feel that DGR was an enabler in her life.
And your not burdening me with off centre ideas…that’s what this site is for! To provide the opportunity for people to discuss their ideas about Lizzie.
Thankyou. I appreciate what you say. The laudanum angle is tricky…as always with the Victorians. From a remedy for toothache to chronic addiction. They were so very secretive. Did DGR introduce her to it. If so with what motive. Perhaps to absorb her into the extra world he inhabited…maybe he had to have her in there with him. Maybe in the end it was all she had left to help her hold on. But the degree of overdose suggests she was holding on too hard. An accidental/on purpose suicide makes more sense than a cry for help. She was far beyond that. Or simply a need to return to this extra world they had once shared. How little we know even those closest to us, let alone the remote dead. Yet scholars claim to have it all worked out. I have adored Emily Brontes poems since my teens and pondered them quite deeply. I remember the shock I felt a few years ago when it suddenly occurred to me that if Emily wasnt a mystic then opium had to be the answer. Fortunately I am not a scholar myself, therefore unqualified to judge whether she was a mystic or not. G.
Finally, although Im sure it must often have been commented on, La Belle Dame sans Merci by John Keats would surely have overwhelmingly influenced both DGR and Lizzie. Their medieval and Arthurian work. The poem isnt typical Keats, its a haunting little piece very simple and spare. Some critics have remained cool about it or else waxed eloquent about the symptoms of TB or how Keats felt about women, but I have always sensed a whiff of opium in it. This, too, may have been noted long ago. Best wishes. G.
Dear Stephanie, once again many thanks. It always seems important to me to remember that what happened to DGR when he met Lizzie was a moment every young man dreams of. To set eyes on a woman who is everything you ever wanted in one human being. Extraordinary. You see her and you stand still in wonder. What next. To me the marvellous Roy Orbison, the greatest singer of love songs there has ever been, he gets it just right. Yes, she turns and she walks back. Thats how it was for DGR that first moment he saw Lizzie. Oh, pretty woman.
Dear Stephanie, you are good to me. Lets try to imagine the Blackfriars flat. Cobbled streets. A terraced house in a block, the brickwork blackened by soot and chimney smoke. A large house, a basement and four or five floors interconnected by the type of staircase Lizzie uses in the background of Lady Clare. She uses what she knows. At the front door a stucco porch with a square gas lamp. Inside, a ground floor passage bisects the centre of the house at ground level, rooms either side, t5he corridor continuing through to the rear of the house and then down a few stone steps to the scullery. Return along this passage to the stair case and you start to climb to the second floor. How very high the ceilings are. Up and turn, up and turn, each landing with its own window seat and window. Its own view. Heavy windows that slide up and down. Open the flat door and again what strikes you is the height of the ceiling. High walls smelling of damp from the river. A small fireplace below a marble shelf. A oval mirror. A square table and chairs on a thin carpet. A worn couch has seen better days. On the walls pictures in frames like stamps in an album. Gas lamps, verticle [standard] lamps and table lamps. Green glass shades. In the bedroom where Lizzie died…..Am I making sense. Lets time travel a bit in our minds. This is why the drawings are so important with their hints of fixtures and fittings. Lets go back then and see how it feels to be there with them. Lets hear Lizzies footsteps on the stairs and DGRs quick step as he hurries up after her. Let us open our balcony doors and look out over the dark river with its little lights in the shifting mist….come back in again….set up a picture…lean on a chair lost in thought…return to draw one another in the lamplight. Was Lizzie short sighted. See how far forward she leans over her easel. DGR sits back with his feet up. Its her he looks at, always her he sees. Who needs photographs. The mind is a kind of camera of the imagination for each one of us. This was what DGR taught Lizzie. Let us use our minds to return to them so long ago. G.
Dear Stephanie, I think I got it about right. Streetwise memory/observation with a pinch of imagination thrown in. Thanks for giving me the chance. Best wishes, Gareth.
Dear Stephanie, please read Cranbourn Street for Coventry Street in one of my previous submissions. Sorry. I dont look at books when I write. There is probably as much of victorian London available now as when I soaked it up 40 years ago. I did once [in 1976] spend a wonderful evening in Bedford Park [near Turnham Green W4] with an old lady of 96, a lifelong socialist, who attended lectures by Morris at his house [still there] on Hammersmith Mall beside the river. She told me he was astounding. Totally inspirational. She would have been 16 or 17 years old back then. So I have experienced a living link with someone who talked to someone who knew both DGR and Lizzie. How she would have loved that house in Bedford Park, the entire estate a product of Morris and the arts and crafts movement. It even had a minstrals gallery. I never heard any singing, however. I lived in Chiswick [W4] in those days and the old joke [said to be victorian] was that Turnham Green was where they sent the yellow lettuces. That would have amused DGR, I suspect, though Morris less so perhaps. With best wishes, Gareth.
Dear Stephanie, me again. Really there are so many fascinating connections for anyone who wishes to make them. The church at Turnham Green/Bedford Pk, [St Michaels, I think] itself a product of the arts and crafts movement, inspired a small drawing by Vincent van G on a letter he wrote in 1876 before he started painting. To what extent Vincent was influenced by PRB output and ideas Im not at all qualified to comment [someone should] but its obvious to me that the picture DGR did of Christina in chalks in 1866 anticipates Vincents portraits by twenty years. Its a brilliant picture. Did Vincent ever see it, I wonder. Best wishes. G.
The Pre Raphaelites were young people in revolt against old ideas of art and the dehumanizing all pervasive influence of an industrial society on the make. In those days a long life was a luxury so they got on with it and made the most of whatever they had going for them. They had no media or counter culture to back them up. Lizzie and DGR were leading spirits both by talent and inclination, their lives made a difference to how we think and feel today. But how would they feel about now were they to return. How would Morris react to our 21st century world. I think all three of them would tell us to trust our own instincts and ignore fashionable opinion. What I believe all three of them would most mistrust about our society now would be consumerism as a substitute for creativity. Our supermarket culture, cheap goods, cheap labour, cheap values, cheap ideas when we as individuals have never been better off. Why do we want more all the time at the expense of the third world instead of treasuring the individual and sharing our experience as human beings. For creativity is individual. This is the rediscovery we need to make. The ideas of the PRB are as valid now as they were in Surrey and at Blackfriars all those years ago. No doubt if they were with us now they would tell us so. Best wishes. G.
Dear Stephanie, many thanks for the Chatham Place photos. I had never seen them. I had always wanted to. I had based my July 30 letter on my memories of buildings in the vicinity plus hints in the drawings plus plenty of imagination as cement, so to speak. I still think I got it about right though the balcony was a floor higher than I imagined it. Very high, actually. It is eerie, dont you feel, to look down at the pavement [not cobbled, sorry] that Lizzie and DGR walked along day after day for so many years . You are putting together quite an historical record here. Keep going. Best wishes. G.
I must admit I only recently became aware of Lizzie Siddal(l) and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, but I have since been fascinated by learning more about their lives (I may have learned about Rossetti long ago as a student, but I didn’t really study art history in any depth.)
After reading a few different accounts of Lizzie’s death, I have a question. Since she was in such good spirits the night of her death (according to the account by Georgiana Burne-Jones on this web site) and actually seemed to be doing quite well, considering her illness, is there ANY chance she could have been murdered? Is there anybody who might have wanted her dead? A mistress of Rossetti’s perhaps? Did he have a mistress at that time? Or any woman interested in him in his life at that time? A model perhaps? Would any of Rossetti’s models have had access to the house or Lizzie’s medicine? Someone who wouldn’t want to see them happily having a child perhaps? Someone who would have been distressed that she seemed to be coming out of her depression? I find the circumstances of her death to be suspicious, even though she was known to be depressed previously.
No, I don’t think Rossetti killed her, lest anyone suspect that. I entertained that notion briefly, but I think he really did love her and wouldn’t do such a thing. I’ve read enough on this web site alone to be convinced of that.
I know this is a rather off-the-wall question I’m asking, but this woman is being judged very harshly (even on this site) for committing suicide. What if she didn’t commit suicide at all? What if there is more of a mystery here than people have acknowledged? How much do we really know about the suicide note? Where did that rumor originate? Could the rumor have been planted by someone wanting people to believe it was suicide?
Let me repeat the account of the night of her death that gives me cause for concern:
“The evening before she was in good health (for her) and very good spirits – she dined with her husband and Swinburne and made very merry with them”
Could it be that she was happy because she was going to have another baby? She was said to have been very joyous when she learned she was pregnant the first time. And post partum depression would not necessarily have lasted more than a year – her spirits that night are not indicative of a depressed person, who generally wouldn’t be able to hide their emotions (I know this from personal experience). And just looking at her sad pictures, I don’t think this woman could be joyous one moment and kill herself the next, I don’t think she could fake it quite honestly.
Something here just doesn’t add up, and I find it distressing. You all have studied dear Lizzie much longer than I have (and I must say I find this woman to be very endearing, as I’m sure you do too). What are your thoughts? Has this ever crossed your mind? And if it was even remotely possible, who might have done it? Could she be fooled into taking a higher dose (I don’t know how laudenum was delivered.) Could someone have forced her into taking it that night? I would like to hear a respectful, intelligent discussion of the possibilities, based on what you know of the circumstances. Are we all jumping to conclusions about the suicide? Any other evidence of her spirits leading up to that particular night?
I say all of this out of no disrespect to Lizzie Siddall or Dante Gabriele Rossetti. Indeed it is with the utmost of respect for these people that I ask you to consider this prospect. I’m not convinced this woman intended to kill herself that night. I think her life was beginning anew, others saw it, and somebody could have put a stop to it. But who? And how? Is it possible?
Kind regards,
Hope
In follow-up to my previous comment, I again want to emphasize that I intend no disrespect to any of these individuals who lived long ago and still live so beautifully in the memories of those who honor them.
However, I did a little more research (reminding you that I am new to the ranks of those who study and appreciate the lives of Lizzie Siddal(l)/Dante Gabriel Rossetti, so please do correct me if there are historical inaccuracies in any of my questions).
Here are some more questions. And here I want to say first that I mean absolutely no disrespect to Fanny Cornworth or any other potential mistress in DGR’s life at the time either. I’m simply conducting an investigation similar to what might be done today if a woman was found dead, no disrespect to anyone.
First, is there any evidence that they examined the formulation of Lizzie’s medicine at the time of death? Was it confirmed to still be laudenum? Did they do a chemical analysis using the science of the day?
Second, was her death itself consistent with a laundenum overdose? It sounds like she was conscious in the morning but not lucid. Was there any other substance commonly available at the time that would have produced these symptoms?
There does not appear to be any sign of a struggle in her bedroom the night of her death, just in case someone forced her to take an overdose. She was very frail, it would have been fairly easy to force her to take it if someone was much stronger than her. Even a strong woman could have done it. Was Lizzie alone in the house? Were servants present that night? Could she have taken a normal dose and someone quietly dribble more into her mouth after she was sleeping, with no struggle at all?
You can really keep going with these questions once you start thinking about him. Where did they eat dinner that night? Did she eat or drink anything unusual there? Again, a THOROUGH investigation, without ASSUMPTIONS, not ruling out ANY possibility.
Modern pathology would be able to answer questions about the formulation of what killed her, even now, if there was any doubt at all. Although there would need to be A LOT of very real doubt to justify disinterring this poor woman for yet a SECOND time (I shudder at even having the thought, but yes, it did cross my mind just now, my apologies for even relating it…)
And next, has anyone ever investigated how Fanny Cornworth’s husband died? I read on another web site that he died right around the time Lizzie died. How did he die? When exactly did he die? Was it before or after Lizzie? I know there are accounts of Fanny being a noble character in the remaining life of DGR, and I’m not saying that wasn’t true, but police today would investigate her, no doubt about that and would consider that she might have had motive, especially given that DGR’s blatant affair with her ended when Lizzie returned and they were married and Fanny is said to have been very upset at the time, according to something I read on another web site. What if Fanny heard about Lizzie’s second pregnancy, and she finally was driven over the edge in her desire to fully restore her relationship with DGR? Yes, yes, much speculation and once again, these are just honest questions, absolutely no disrespect to anyone long gone intended.
Let’s once again think about what kind of police investigation would have been conducted today under similar circumstances. Police today would have found it suspicious that Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Fanny were having an affair and Fanny’s husband died around the same time (if indeed his death preceded Lizzie’s), if there were ANY unusual circumstances surrounding this man’s death (whose name escapes me at the moment – I know he was a mechanic, I’m sure some of you probably know), and I have no idea if there were any unusual circumstances.
They also would have investigated whether Fanny or someone else might have had access to the house. Did she have a key as housekeeper years before? Had the locks been changed?
Yes, DGR himself would have been interviewed as well. But my strong intuition tells me that he would not have dreamed of killing this woman so dear to him, despite horror stories from the modern age of similar things occurring. He would have had the most opportunity and the police might have thought motive as well due to his affairs and her frail state, but his character is not consistent with doing such a thing, nor his very obvious grief at her death. Even his later disinterment of her body is not evidence enough to me that he would do such a thing – he was in a vulnerable state when that occurred years later. But yes, the police would have investigated this briefly no doubt if Lizzie’s death were to occur today, especially if she didn’t appear like someone about to commit suicide on the night of her death.
There was one account I read that indicates DGR may have actually been with Fanny on the night of Lizzie’s death. If true, that would really raise the suspicion of police, but again, I’m not about to disparage DGR’s character. In the spirit of an honest investigation though, he would need to be examined too I suppose, despite my intuition to the contrary. His love for Lizzie is said to have waned prior to her death, but he was torn apart by the death itself, thus my intuition that he loved her deeply. Does anyone know how DGR reacted to her new pregnancy? Was he thrilled about it as one might expect?
And back to Lizzie’s apparent merriment the night of her death…One could consider her exceptionally high spirits at dinner were due to the fact she had made up her mind to go and that finally gave her a sort of happiness. She was just counting the minutes until she could carry it out, one might say, although I honestly find this to be SO inconsistent with her character. I think she would have been morose and as a Christian terrified of committing suicide if it could mean instant residency in hell (I’m not sure about her Christian beliefs. Was she an Anglican? What do they believe about the souls of people who commit suicide?) I honestly think Lizzie would have been afraid to boldly kill herself on a night she seemed so fully present at dinner, just because of her religious faith alone. I’m also very curious what she was like in the week before. Is there any account of how she reacted to her new pregnancy? How long before her death did she discover she was pregnant? Do we know any more details from this time frame?
I’m curious if any scholar has even remotely considered looking into these ideas. Yes, Lizzie appears like someone who might commit suicide, given what appears to be years of depression, but was she really in the frame of mind to do so at the time it occurred?
And what about this reported suicide note? I’m curious to learn more about that too? Where did accounts of the note originate? What are the details we know?
Occam’s razor suggests she committed suicide, yes, but that doesn’t mean other possibilities should be ruled out without any consideration whatsoever. An accidental death seems more unlikely, she was fully present that night at dinner and she knew how much medicine was the proper dose for her (she had certainly taken it long enough to know). As far as other possibilities, this dear woman deserves the respect of a more thorough analysis just in case her death isn’t what it seemed at the time.
Respectfully to all who loved her,
Hope
I’ve been thinking about this some more, as it is really troubling me now that I’m learning more about Lizzie, DGR and the other people in their lives. I mentioned it to a couple others in my life, and now it’s even bothering them too (and none of us are art history buffs or prior Lizzie Siddell fan club members
I think we have a genuine mystery on our hands, I really do. Heck, even today, just now there is a report in the news about investigations into the circumstances of Beethoven’s death, where they have discovered some things that weren’t known back then (no not murder, something else, look in the news if you are curious). Why shouldn’t we critically evaluate the death of a woman who even to me, so newly acquainted with her, has become very dear to us??? If she really DIDN’T commit suicide (and again, this is STILL speculation, be very clear about that), can you imagine how much our dear Lizzie would want all of us to know the TRUTH, whatever it may be?
By the way, I do want to send a personal note to the person who posts as “l.s.”. I know you do sincerely believe in some things about Lizzie, her associates and reincarnation, and I mean no disrespect to you either. I happen to have an open mind about such things myself. However, I must respectfully say that the circumstances of Lizzie’s death need to be reconsidered in its historical context. And I by no means intend to offend you by this discussion. But it is a discussion that I believe needs to take place.
OK, back to what I’m thinking about this morning. The question that now comes to mind is whether Lizzie would also make merry on the night that she was about to kill her unborn child. She is a person of character, and even if she had been reported to be morose and distant that night, I’m not convinced she could kill both herself AND her child, not to mention knowing it was her dear husband’s child too, and I don’t think anyone has any doubt that she loved DGR dearly and would want to have his child. Yes, she could have had post partem depression (I need some more details on exactly how many months after the stillborn baby she became pregnant again) – I happened to suffer from post partem depression myself, so I have some understanding of it – however, let’s not jump to conclusions. There was no Zoloft back then, yet she was reported to be in good spirits, sure sounds like she was coming out of it to me. Maybe laudenum (unfortunately addictive) helped her with it, who knows?
So would Lizzie, on a night when she was reported to be fully herself and even apparently happy, kill not only herself, but the unborn child of a man she dearly loved as well?
And let’s not underestimate the fear of hell. I’m not an expert on Anglican Christianity, but given that she would not have had a Christian burial if she was deemed to have committed suicide, I must conclude that she was taught you went instantly to hell if you killed yourself. As a person brought up in conservative Christianity myself, I must emphasize that you CANNOT under-estimate how frightening the prospect of hell might have been for Lizzie, even if she was living a life somewhat in contradiction to her religious inclinations (her poetry suggests she was indeed a spiritual person, and even though she talked of death often, it seemed she thought God would take her through illness, not through her own actions). As far as hell goes, they probably had Dante’s “Inferno” lying around that household (think about it, yes they would), which perhaps she read, which provides VIVID descriptions of what she might get to experience there as a suicide victim, based on her belief system. Maybe she contemplated suicide at times, but if she even REMOTELY had any attachment to the religious teachings of the day, I believe her fear of hell would have been a VERY strong deterrent from actually carrying through with it, especially on a night when she was not apparently “out of it” mentally, had just had a nice dinner with friends. Not to mention once again her carrying DGR’s baby.
And back to the murder theory again. The movie “Fatal Attraction” keeps coming to mind. If DGR was still having an clandestine affair with Fanny at the time, Fanny might not have appreciated the potential domestic tranquility returning to the household of Lizzie and DGR. There is a scene in “Fatal Attraction” that I’m reminded of, where the woman who is “scorned” observes the domestic tranquility of the family of her lover with disgust and envy. And yes, in that movie, she does go on to attempt the murder of the wife of her lover, but this isn’t a movie we’re talking about here, so let’s not get TOO distracted. I’m just saying there is a very real plausibility factor.
What if Fanny missed her life of comparable luxury with DGR and thought it could be restored somehow? Even if Fanny’s husband died of natural causes (and again, I have no idea if his death preceded Lizzie’s), maybe that would have left Fanny in total squalor, making life restored with DGR even more potentially attractive.
OK, yes, I know, I know, LOTS of speculation here, and some of it could be completely off-base, but these are plausible scenarios the police of today would INDEED consider, and so should we.
Respectfully once again,
Hope
P.S. There is a typo in one of my original messages where I talk about what could have happened at that dinner and I accidentally said “him” when I meant “them”. I didn’t want anyone to think that I suspect DGR poisoned her at dinner by referring to “him” accidentally. Really, I think the dinner is irrelevant (although would have been investigated in a thorough police inquiry), except for the fact she was in good spirits, which is VERY relevant. Why was everyone so shocked she had killed herself? Could it have been they thought she was coming out of it? Heck didn’t her good friend just have a baby, and wouldn’t that have made her look forward to the birth of her own child? Sorry, I’ll go on and on…I look forward to hearing from some of you. I would LOVE to get a historian from academia involved in this discussion too. I can’t imagine NOBODY has ever thought of this angle on her death, although I can’t find anything about it online, so I wonder…
Thank you for such thought provoking questions, Hope! I am going to combine them into a new entry, so that I may be able to answer you in a more concise way.
I am working on a post write now to answer your questions, so please don’t think I’m neglecting you!
OK, just one more note, then I need to get back to work (it’s lunchtime where I live in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S.)…I know some of you are very into detail, and I would really love to hear a detailed reply back from some of you, addressing each of my questions, but I know that might take some time.
One more little question….this suicide note that was supposedly pinned to her dress (yes, I just read about that too), was the handwriting analyzed? I’m sure it was destroyed long ago under the circumstances, if it existed. I really wonder what it said. Could it have been written under duress? Or could the handwriting have been not quite right (and assumed reasonably normal by those who discovered it due to her assumed distress/incapacity at the time)? Could it have been cleverly and carefully forged by someone with access to letters in the home already in her handwriting, although not exact, close enough to fool DGR perhaps in what would have been HIS very real distress and haste to get rid of the note quickly. And if she was out of it at all, as she would have had to be to commit suicide I believe, perhaps halfway to overdosing already to actually go through with it, how easy would it have been for Lizzie to pin it to her dress (any woman knows that can be potentially tricky to do if you are in a daze, depending on the type of pin)? Why wouldn’t she have left it on the table next to her bed instead, much easier than going to the trouble to pin it. And wouldn’t SHE have worried about the perception of her death and lack of a Christian burial, not to mention the disgrace for her family? Why would she leave a note at all in that time in history, given the consequences that an intelligent woman like her would surely know.
Let’s not put too much credence in the purported suicide note, that’s all I’m saying. Or if we choose to consider it, why not consider that Lizzie would have had the intelligence and forethought not to leave a note, given the consequences (of course I believe that goes farther, that she would not have committed suicide at all that night).
Who would have wanted to leave a note? Well, her murderer of course, a perfect cover-up, one that even DGR would believe, especially if the murderer at least made an attempt to imitate Lizzie’s writing. (Even someone illiterate could imitate the strokes somewhat, if they tried hard enough, and remember it would have been read and discarded in great haste, with little critical analysis.) And the murderer would want the note to be SURE to be discovered, thus pinning it to Lizzie’s dress, something I view as a bit odd. How many suicide victims pin notes to themselves I wonder in their haste?
OK, enough said for now. But the more I think about this, the more troubled I become. Let us hope that truth will prevail in the end, whatever it may be, even if it means that honest doubt is all we will be left with. But who knows? If they can figure out what happened to Beethoven this very day, why not Lizzie Siddall? There are many wonders in the modern era when it comes to forensics, are there not?
Respectfully once more,
Hope
Well, I thought I was done for now, but while walking to get my lunch, another idea popped into my head…
I was thinking about the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”. In that movie, at the very beginning, a doctor accidentally mixes up the wrong formulation of medication. And that’s kind of what happened to Beethoven, it was a medical error, just check out news today.
We need to consider all sorts of angles here, and murder is not the only one, although once you get the doctor involved, imaginations can run wild, pretty soon it will be John Ruskin himself committing the dastardly deed in some way, even if indirectly (Would HE have any motive by the way? I’ve read some interesting things about him too…no chance he was in love with Lizzie, is there??? I even heard ONE account that he was in love with DGR too! She didn’t have any contact with him in France, did she? Just wondering…Here we go again, so sorry, I don’t mean to cast aspersions on respected historical figures, that is NOT my intent here, just it’s so easy to speculate if you have an open mind and are unwilling to rule out ANY possibility…)
Anyway, back to “It’s a Wonderful Life”, here’s another theory more in line with occam’s razor and certainly in line with what can happen in the medical establishment, even today. What if it was simply a medical error? Could it be the formulation was accidentally too strong? Had they just picked up a new prescription? Could the medical establishment be covering up a bit for itself (there were 4 doctors there that night, as I understand), nothing too sinister, just so as not to get anyone into trouble and very clearly ruling the death an accident, in Lizzie’s favor. What about that theory?
As far as occam’s razor goes, I’m not convinced the suicide theory is in line with it (just look up occam’s razor if you don’t know what it means) since there are a number of improbabilities there, given the evidence of her spirits that night, the unborn child of her dear husband, and her apparent religious beliefs.
OK, now I REALLY DO need to get back to work!
With sincerity,
Hope
Stephanie,
Let me say that I really admire what you have done on this web site, and I know I posed A LOT of questions! And I just keep coming up with more it seems…;-) It may be a challenge to answer them concisely, I know! And no, I don’t think you are neglecting me at all.
Hope
Dear Stephanie, Ive only my little opium comment to make for the time being but theres no doubt that Hopes ideas open a new window. For me meticulous detail is a compensation for actually knowing so very little. Then I risk a theory or two. I usually feel a bit foolish but then when Hope comes along and does the same its a buzz. Because the scholars wont risk it. Im sure if you asked the average professor of literature how Edgar Poe felt about spending almost all his formative years in and around London the professor would regard you as a waste of space. But when you read the stories… With relish. G.
I want to ask why so many are interested in this? What are your reasons?
Is it mere interest? Puzzlement? Or are there other reasons?
Angela,
I can not answer for everyone. For some, Lizzie’s poetry resonates with them. Others are drawn to her art, which was ahead of its time. Some are captivated by the fact that she was a humble girl in a hat shop who was then discovered and appeared in some of the most famous Pre-Raphaelite paintings and had the drive to become an artist herself.
Her story is a sad one because, like so many who have died because of addictions, she died at such a young age and had so much potential.
There are many reasons why Elizabeth Siddal is interesting to people.
So when you ask “why?” I guess I could answer with “why not?”.
Elizabeth Siddal apparently took two ounces of laudanum unless it was watered own by a chemist, which was the equivalent of 600 milligrams of morphine.. 60 milligrams of morphine is lethal–info from Gay Daly’s book Pre-Raphaelites in Love.
The note said ” look after Harry” who was a brother of Lizzie’s (he was referred to as feeble which I think would imply that he had some sort of learning difficulty in today’s parlance). The contents of the note would imply that Lizzie was well aware of what she intended to do and the presence of the note confirmed her intention to commit suicide. The reason for the secrecy surrounding it was that the family and friends were trying to conceal this fact so that she could receive a christian burial and also to prevent a scandal.
I know this site is very pro lizzie but I do think you have to remember that she was manipulative and used her illnesses to keep Gabriel tied to her emotionally.
I hope no one takes offence at this but I do feel that their relationship is sometimes misunderstood.
Yes, In Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, Jan Marsh writes that the alleged note said “Take care of Harry”.
In Lucinda Hawksley’s Lizzie Siddal bio, the author says “It was a suicide note asking him to take care of Henry, her disabled young brother”. And it is established that both Dante Gabriel and his brother William Michael (after DGR’s death) made payments to Lizzie’s family. According to Hawksley’s footnote: “It has been suggested this was “guilt” money. because her family realized it was suicide and Rossetti covered it up. It is more likely, however, to have been a genuine desire on the part of Rossetti to carry out Lizzie’s last request.”
Jan Marsh goes on to say about the “suicide note” in Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood:
“The view that Lizzie meant to kill herself is based on the alleged report, handed down within the Brown and Rossetti families, that she left a farewell note, which Gabriel showed to Brown, who at once destroyed it, realizing the significance of a note in relation to an inquest verdict. Hall Caine, Gabriel’s companion in his last year, seemed to have been given a similar story, and wrote that Lizzie’s note had left ’such a scar on his heart as he would never be healed.’ (Note from Stephanie Pina: If her note was a simple request about Harry/Henry, why would that leave such a scar on his heart as could never be healed?)Jan Marsh goes on to say that: ” From what is known about Lizzie, it is hard to imagine her articulating concern for Harry as she made arrangements to end her life.”
I agree with Marsh. You may see this site as “pro-Lizzie” but I see it as both pro-Lizzie and pro-Rossetti, as I strive to be objective about both (which is why, in my Lucinda Hawksley interview one of my first questions was about both Lizzie and DGR’s mental health, as I see symptoms of bipolar in both). Yes, Lizzie manipulated DGR and he manipulated people as well. They fed off of each other. But would a woman who used her health as a tool of manipulation choose to commit suicide and, in doing so, choose her last written words to be about a brother that she spent very little time with? That would not be in character at all. Because if she really wanted to manipulate Rossetti, her words would have been about her own relationship with Rossetti, not about her brother. If she wanted to manipulate him, her words would have been designed to hurt him, not help someone else.
But personally, I do not see Lizzie’s death as suicide or as an attempt to manipulate. She was an addict. And addicts often die. So, technically, her death was self-inflicted as much as any drug abusers death is by their own hand. But I think it was an accident and she did not intend to die that night. I believe that it was an overdose, but not calculated or premeditated.
But, if she did leave a note and its contents ‘left a scar’ on Rossetti’s heart, then I think that the note must have said something quite personal and private and that the story about the note being about her brother was created to disguise the true contents of the note.
I agree with some of your comments.
I think that Lizzie’s state of health: eating disorder (can’t remember offhand which of these but either Christopher Wood or Russell Ash veers towards her being bulimic as one possible reason for her longstanding health problems) together the loss of her child and also postnatal depression and also a longstanding laudanum addition would have been too much for anyone to cope with especially in the nineteenth-century when there was little treatment for psychologlcal illness and what there was was barbaric. Therefore I do not think it unlikely that her state of mind might have led her to overdose either intentionally or not.
I cannot see why the family would admit to a suicide note if there was none; after all they made pains to keep it secret and only admitted its existence many years later. Helen Rossetti Angeli mentions it in her book. Also why admit to there being a suicide note when they did as the controversy surrounding DGR had long died down. WM Rossetti was very protective of his brother’s reputation and the acknowledgement of a suicide note would just stir things. Many of the people who had known both the Rossettis were no longer alive.
I am always suspicious of Hall Caine’s accounts; he attached himself to a sick man and rushed to publish a memoir of his dealings with Gabriel. How can they be verified when it is only his word for it? Some of the things he wrote are insensitive and downright intrusive. If Gabriel did speak to him in this way then that only confirms that he took advantage of that fact and to write of the things he did just serves to show that he was prepared to do anything to ensure he made a name for himself. Note how it is only his association with DGR and that book that is remembered today although he had a long literary career and wrote many books none of which are remembered. The Gabriel of former years would have sussed him out . That is why I view Hall Caine’s comments with suspicion.
The comment “left such a scar on his heart as would never be healed” does not sound like Gabriel; it sounds like someone writing in a penny dreadful. Someone who is trying to pull at the heartstrings. It’s bathos. Gabriel was sold out so that Hall Caine could have his fifteen minutes of fame and he was prepared to stoop so low to get it. Chequebook journalism is the phrase that springs to mind. Therefore I think it unwise to attach much credit to his remarks unless they could be verified elsewhere.
I have always loved the works of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. I enjoyed watching the BBC series “Desperate Romantics” and also enjoyed reading Lucinda Hawkesley’s biography on Lizzie Siddall, which spiked my interest to know more about Lizzie’s story and her relationship with DGR. Although I admire DGR as an artist, I will be frank in saying that I do not admire DGR as a person. I found him to be a very selfish and spoilt individual, full of vanity, conceit and so self absorbed with his own wants and needs and constantly betraying and abusing the love that Lizzie had for him, as well as betraying and abusing the male friendships that he had formed, to satisfy his own wants and needs. I really do believe that DGR did have a mental disorder of some kind. I feel very sympathetic towards Lizzie Siddall though and was very sorry for her own sad end and in fact, I consider it very unfortunate that Lizzie’s path crossed that of DGR when it did. Lizzie naively allowed herself to be swept up into the world of the Pre-Raphaelites and fell under DGR’s spell, as he fell under hers. I do agree in that it was very much a “fatal attraction” type of relationship. Lizzie foolishly allowed herself to be seduced by DGR and his world and she suffered the consequences of that action. DGR would not marry her for close to ten years (which in Victorian times, would have made Lizzie very much a “fallen woman” in the eyes of polite society, as well as in the eyes of their respective families), as DGR kept her in a perpetual and teasing flux of limbo, before finally marrying her(and dispicably doing so when she was practically on her deathbed!!!). Lizzie did fret and feel insecure in her relationship with DGR (with good reason!!), because she had invested so much of herself in DGR and he had proved to be so unworthy of her love and to make matters worse, he was conducting various affairs for many years, prior to marrying Lizzie, with other women right under Lizzie’s nose, which would have totally broken Lizzie’s heart, as well as making her feel worthless and demoralized to say the least!!! Lizzie knew she had “burnt her bridges” and that there was no turning back from the road that this relationship was on, because that road only led to ruin on every front for her, if DGR DID NOT marry her. How galling it must have been for a proud Lizzie to be subjected to that feeling and how galling for her to be forced to manipulate DGR through her own illness to keep him at her side and not lose him to another woman. One can only wonder at the continual mental anguish she must have suffered at the hands of DGR. We do know that Lizzie had digestive problems to begin with and no doubt she would have eased this by taking laudanum (which was typical durng that era), prior to her fateful meeting with DGR, as well as exacerbating her already anorexic condition. Let us not forget that the Victorian era was governed by traditional alpha males, who suppressed a woman’s rights, as well as her needs and wants, which left a woman in a very vulnerable position and at the mercy and wims of her father and/or her brother, if she did not have financial independence. Even if a woman did have financial independence, that was automatically transferred anyway to her husband upon marriage!!! A woman was limited and restricted in the way she led her life in that era and she could only move (or elevate herself into a better class of society), by contracting a respectable marriage for herself, if she was fortunate enough and pretty enough (with or without a dowry), under condition that she was PURE and VIRTUOUS before marrying. If she failed to marry, then she became a liability to her family, as well as a physical and financial burden and drain on them, or she could reject her family and attempt to find paid work in areas of servitude to others i.e. she was still taking a downward road by going that way. A modern woman of today is fortunate in that she has many options before her, but I feel that a modern woman would also understand and sympathize with Lizzie. We could certainly understand Lizzie’s anger and her frustration at DGR’s failed promises to marry her i.e. “stringing her along” for so many years (which still occurs today to many modern and intelligent women who are in abusive and “deadend” relationships with men). Lizzie had in fact “burnt her bridges” in continuing her relationship with DGR, knowing that she faced social ruin and being classed as a “fallen woman”, rejected by DGR, as well as her family and polite society, if DGR DID NOT marry her. Also her mental anguish knowing about the other women and affairs DGR was conducting right under Lizzie’s very nose prior to her marriage, would have exacerbated Lizzie’s mental torture and anguish, as well as increasing her laudanum intake and addiction. Is it any wonder that she sought escape and release in laudanum in the end? Her relationship with DGR was insecure to begin with and it was an abusive relationship and one not built on a sound bedrock of love and trust, but quicksand. Is it any wonder that Lizzie used her illness to manipulate DGR constantly? Is it any wonder that Lizzie would constantly fret when DGR left her side, or disappeared from her view? Lizzie knew that she had built her hopes and dreams around DGR and that he repeatedly and constantly abused and disappointed her. Lizzie’s distress was also compounded by her giving birth to a still born child after her marriage (which would be traumatic for any women both then and now and the depression and sorrow associated with that event). I do believe that Lizzie had come to the “end of her rope” by this stage, both physically and mentally (as expressed in her final poems). I do believe that she was also totally disillusioned by DGR and her life with him, compounded with the knowledge that she was once more pregnant (and the possibility of losing that child too, because of her laundanum addiction), she would not have had the mental and/or physical strength to carry on and therefore she decided to kill herself with laudanum. P.S. It has been proven that people who are about to end their own lives, become quite resigned, even happy and euphoric before the end, so this could explain why Lizzie would have appeared quite happy and content whilst out dining with DGR and their friend, on that fateful evening. Keep up the good work on this website Stephanie, as it is invaluable for all Lizzie admirers.