In Poe's short story entitled "The Oval Portrait," the unnamed narrator is in Italy where he is in a "desperately wounded condition." In order to get the narrator out of the damp air his valet has located an abandoned chateau in which they stay the night. Since the narrator is in a weakened condition his observations and impressions while he is there may be unreliable, especially since he admits to an "incipient delirium."
While the narrator rests in these small, richly furnished rooms he tries to rest by regarding the "very spirited modern paintings displayed on the walls." He also peruses a small book that contains descriptions and criticisms of these paintings. When he moves the candelabrum so that the light will fall more directly upon this book the narrator notices that a small niche which has been in the dark is now illuminated. Within this previously darkened niche there is a portrait of a beautiful woman. This portrait particularly arrests the narrator's attention because of the impression that the narrator receives as he looks at it:
Could it have been my fancy, shaken from its half-slumber, had mistaken the head for that of a living person?
The narrator is transfixed by this portrait. After he replaces the candelabrum to its original place and again darkens this niche, he turns to the volume which contains a discussion of the oval portrait.
It is with this description and its accompanying tale of the artist and his model, who was also his wife, that the allusion to Elizabeth Siddall comes into play. Elizabeth Siddall was a model for several Pre-Raphaelite painters. One of these artists was Dante Gabriel Rossetti who was so captivated by her beauty that he painted her obsessively and later married her after a tumultuous on and off romantic relationship that spanned a decade. When she gave birth to a stillborn daughter Elizabeth went into a deep depression. Her existing addiction to laudanum worsened and she died of an overdose two years later.
According to the tale contained in the volume which the narrator peruses, the artist who married the beautiful young woman later insisted upon painting her. But, because his art was her rival for affection and love, the young wife did not wish to be a model for her beloved husband. Nevertheless she sat for him because she was "humble and obedient." However her husband, who was "passionate and wild and moody," did not notice that the wife's long hours spent sitting for him drained her of her strength and spirit. For in his artistic ardor he rarely turned from the painting to regard his wife who "pined visibly." Tragically the obsessive painter failed to realize that as he added colors to the portrait, he stole from his wife her "lifeblood." Much like Elizabeth Siddall, the lovely wife lost her will to live and, as he turned to her, the husband realized she was dead.
The anonymous narrator is a man who is traveling accompanied by his valet. The presence of a valet suggests that he is relatively wealthy and the language and sophistication of the impressions suggest that he is well educated. He also mentions that he was somehow wounded and may be delirious from his wounds. Thus he is not an entirely reliable narrator; while he has no motive for dishonesty, being tired and wounded means his perceptions may not be accurate.
There is a second narrator as well, the anonymous writer of the volume of descriptions of the paintings. It is written in the third person and we are given no information in the story about the nature or identity of the writer.
Elizabeth Siddall/Siddal was a model who was painted by members of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood including Dante Gabriel Rossetti (who married her), Millais, and Ruskin. She was generally frail and died at the age of 33, perhaps as a result of posing in icy water as Ophelia for Millais. Rossetti (who had been a rather neglectful and unfaithful husband) buried the only copy of many of his poems in her coffin. Since Siddal died in 1862 and Poe's story was written in 1850, the story is not about Siddal per se.
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