A Fishy Tail: Gendering Pre-Raphaelite Mermaids and Sirens

Cecilia's PhD research focuses on androgynous depictions of mermaids and sirens in Victorian art and literature,  exploring the possibility that they acted as a symbol for trans and non-binary communities during the latter half of the nineteenth century. This paper focuses on the works of two highly influential Pre-Raphaelite artists, Evelyn De Morgan and Edward Burne-Jones and their exploration of gender nonconformity, both in their own lives and their artwork, but crucially through their interpretations of selected literature. De Morgan's mermaid triptych, based upon Hans Christian Anderson's 'The Little Mermaid' (1837) will be analysed in relation to the tale itself, and to both De Morgan's and Anderson's unconventional lifestyles. She will argue that, through the use of the androgynous mermaid, these three images - namely 'The Little Sea Maid' (1886), The Sea Maidens (1888) and 'Daughters of the Mist (1914) - act both as a vehicle through which to support…