On male seriousness and the woman as a trifle: considerations on nineteenth-century patriarchal society through Delacroix's painting

Abstract

The paper aims to provide an overview of nineteenth-century patriarchal structures through an analysis of the paintings of the French romantic artist Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863), with a focus on the conceptions of masculinity and femininity that emerge from an interpretation guided by a feminist perspective. The main argument is that Delacroix's paintings cannot be entirely understood apart from the sexist values that underpinned the nineteenth-century European society, so that the representation of men and women can provide a valuable account about how the social order was conceived by a white male, privileged point of view. The paper's argument is endorsed by excerpts of Eugène Delacroix's essays and from his journal. The analysis covers three paintings: The Massacre at Chios [Scène des massacres de Scio], dated 1824; Death of Sardanapalus [La Mort de Sardanapale], dated 1827; and Odalisque [Odalisque], dated 1857. Keywords: Delacroix, masculinity, femininity, patriarchy, romanticism.