Initial Uncaptioned Headnote

Initial Uncaptioned Headnote

Headpiece of Thomas Hardy's, "An Imaginative Woman"

This image is the headpiece that appears in The Pall Mall Magazine, accompanying the printing of Thomas Hardy's "An Imaginative Woman". It shows Ella engulfed in a book, probably of poetry. This image is the only one that Arthur J. Goodman created where Ella is not burdened by her role as a wife and mother. Here, she simply exists to read and take in literature, which is something she is very passionate about in the story. Goodman places the image of the poet Robert Trewe, who becomes the object of Ella's affection, on the left side of the picture, enforcing his importance to the story that followss. This illustration perhaps portrays Ella in the way that she would want to be portrayed, alongside her object of affection, Trewe, and not being burdened by the responsibilities of her children or her husband. The isolation Ella experiences from her family and the outside world is foreshadowed in this image, highlighting the unorthodox woman she was for her time.

Goodman, Arthur J.

Victorian Web

The Pall Mall Magazine

April 1984

Allingham, Philip V.

Victorian Web

Scanned Image of Lithograph

Illustration