A ‘conspiracy of silence’ – William Morris, his wife and her lovers

About the talk

There were, and remain, many unanswered questions about the nature of William Morris’s unconventional marriage with his wife Jane. Why did William Morris take out a joint tenancy on his Kelmscott Manor country home with the Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti when he knew how fond Rossetti was of his wife? Why did Jane finally distance herself from Rossetti and what made her begin an affair with the notorious philanderer Wilfred Scawen Blunt?

It was Rossetti who had first ‘discovered’ Jane Burden, the beautiful daughter of an Oxford stable-hand, catapulting her into the Pre-Raphaelite sphere. Despite the obvious attraction between them, Rossetti went on to marry another working-class girl, Lizzie Siddal, and even encouraged his good friend William Morris to marry Jane. It was therefore perhaps only natural that Rossetti and Jane would become intimate after the tragic, early death of Lizzie. Jane became Rossetti’s model and muse, featuring in hundreds of his pictures, defining the Pre-Raphaelite ‘look’.
Despite much speculation at the time, it was only when the fifty-year embargo placed on Rossetti’s letters to Jane was lifted in 1964 that the full extent of their relationship came to light. Since then, new research has uncovered further insights into the ménage à trois at Kelmscott Manor that was repeated with Blunt after Rossetti’s death. The story of William Morris, Jane, Rossetti and Blunt is one of love, death, addiction, obsession and insanity. Yet, throughout the turbulence of their marriage, William and Jane remained endearingly affectionate towards one another. It can be argued that Morris’s self-sacrifice and eagerness to put his wife’s happiness above his own was responsible for making theirs a truly caring relationship, full of compassion and empathy that ultimately survived and grew into a close and indispensable friendship.

About the speaker

Helen Elletson has been Curator of Research and Development at the William Morris Society since 2000 and a Senior Curator at the Emery Walker Trust since 2010. Amongst Helen’s publications are A History of Kelmscott House (2009) and Highlights of the William Morris Society’s Collection (2015), as well as articles on the Arts and Crafts movement including A Feeling for Beauty: May Morris, Emery Walker, and the Arts and Crafts of Hammersmith in Country Life (2017).