Thackeray’s Barry Lyndon – Barry Lyndon’s First Love 1878 - 1879

Sir John Everett Millais made this illustration for Thackeray’s novel "Barry Lyndon" sometime in the mid-19th century. It depicts a scene of courtship, heavy with class anxieties. Millais was associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of artists who rejected what they saw as the artificiality of the art establishment. In Britain at this time, the Royal Academy was the gatekeeper of artistic taste. It promoted a grand, historical style. By contrast, the Pre-Raphaelites favored detailed observation of the natural world. They also wanted art to address social and moral issues. Here, Millais is illustrating a novel that critiques the social mobility of the time, and he employs a naturalistic style. The woman on the left seems to be looking away, suggesting a discomfort with the encounter. The awkwardness of their meeting speaks to rigid social structures. To understand this image, we might look to popular novels, etiquette manuals, and periodicals of the period, all of which provide insight into the social expectations and anxieties surrounding courtship and class in Victorian England.