Research Questions on Interior Spaces

KU LEUVEN KU LEUVEN FaculteitLETTEREN Architectuur FACULTEIT BLIJDE INKOMSTSTRAAT 21Hoogstraat BUS 330151 3000 LEUVEN, BELGIË 9000 GENT, BELGIË

The Concept of Women in Fin-de-Siècle Art:

Imagery of Women in Symbolist Literature through Reflections

by Astrid De Mazière

ELG2 Research Questions on Interior Spaces coordinated by Dominique Bauer 15.06.2021

Abstract Many Symbolist artists depict women in their work: both in paintings and in literature. In all the examples we studied this semester, the imagery of womankind through the male gaze was narrow in diversity. Going from the many representations of Khnopff’s almost idealized sister, to the femmes fatales in Franz von Stuck’s paintings or the comparison of the melancholic city of Bruges with a dead woman. One could say, that generally the female characters could be categorized into two boxes: the femme fragile and the femme fatale.

Both stereotypes represent the female subject as a fixed, 2D individual with locked, stable thoughts. It is not the representation in itself, where the woman becomes a subject, that is questionable, because Symbolist artists even depicted themselves as a subject in a staged background, but rather the lack of diversity and limited elaboration of her inner thoughts that become problematic. My purpose here is to search for an example in Symbolist literature where we as readers experience a more layered and unpredictable translation of women.

In the following paper two symbolist literary works will be compared: “Brugesla-Morte” by Georges Rodenbach and “The Lady in the Looking Glass – A Reflection” by Virginia Woolf. Both works revolve around the representation of women through the reflections in mirrors, objects and the interior. This constant use of reflections instead of writing the reality as it presents itself, is a method many Symbolist writers use in their work. Mirrors and reflections refer to stability and eternality, and were used to describe the inner-life of the characters as a psychological reading. This again was a popular theme in Symbolist literature.

However, the undertone in how women are represented through these reflections is completely different. Two important notes need to be made. The first being about the writer and the main character: in Bruges-la-Morte the story, and therefore reflections, are explained by a man. Not unsurprisingly, because the book is also written by a man. Thus, we can say this work captures the representation of women through the male gaze. This is opposed to the second work by Virginia Woolf, that is written by a woman and where the gaze remains genderless. This difference in male and gender-neutral gaze needs to be considered when comparing. Secondly, there is a difference in time frame.

Bruges-la-Morte was published in 1892, whereas “The Lady in the Looking Glass – A Reflection” was written in 1929. This is a time gap of 37 years, during a time where shifts started to happen in what the role of women meant in society.

Especially after WOI, women gained more ground in society and started being heard. I will mention the historical-cultural context and the shifts that occurred shortly in the introduction. As will I shortly touch upon the role of women in Khnopff’s artwork, since Khnopff himself forms the initial impetus of this paper.

In comparing the works of Rodenbach and Woolf, I hope to encounter a less monotone depiction of women in Symbolism. With “The Lady in the Looking Glass – A Reflection” a more diverse layering in the psyche of women will be described, a given that will further grow in the following literary movements of modernism.

2

Introduction The fin-de-siècle is characterized as a period of many paradoxes caused by the rapid changes that occurred starting at the second half of the 19th century. This bipolarity, caused by a rupture between the Old and the New times, is a widely used motif in fin-de-siècle art and Symbolism particularly. One of these paradoxes at the turn of the century is the changing image of women, being expressed into two opposite stereotypes ‘the femme fragile’ and ‘the femme fatale’. The femme fatale concept became a popular motif in French literature by mid-19th century, being presented as a woman who uses her sexuality and seductive manners as a way to depower man and eventually pull them into total destruction. The concept of this life-threatening woman grew into a popular motif, a fascination for many artists and writers triggered by the destabilization of the male-female relationship (Savic, 2019).

At the end of the 19th century, women started to slowly gain territory in a society dominated by male power. The concept of the New Woman, who aspired financial independence and a professional life, was introduced, yet not welcomed by male society due to her threatening the traditional values of the male-female relationship (Sutherland, 2015). Female emancipation and the birth of feminist movements provoked many anti-women ideas from men, desperately holding on to stereotypical images to keep women as the secondary gender.

Some of the most acclaimed philosophers, thinkers and scientists helped to keep up this image by stating radical ideas of female gender inferiority (Savic, 2019). Schopenhauer substantiated his thesis of women being inferior with arguments as ‘their lack of taste for aesthetics” or proclaiming that women had brain limitations due to their biological nature (Schopenhauer, 1851). Sigmund Freud wrote in “Some Psychological Consequences of the Anatomic Distinction Between the Sexes” (1925) the following sentence, almost putting women on the level of nihilism: “Women oppose change, receive passively, and add nothing of their own.” Freud later stated that women’s superego “cannot attain the strength and independence which gives it its cultural significance” (Tapper,1986).

All these largely documented ideas and theories of the female gender resulted in an inferior image of women, limited by her biology and characterized by a lack of intelligence and genius, entirely constructed by the male gender. This one-sided definition of women reflects itself also in the art created at that time (Savic, 2019). Not only was the depiction of women in all forms of art extremely stereotypical and a victim of the male gaze. The lack of belief in female geniuses or brilliance resulted in an art world dominated by men, not giving women the opportunity to express their concept of what being a woman meant.

In “Modernity and the Spaces of Femininity” (1988), Pollock discusses the different spaces where man and woman of the 19th century operated in and how these spaces were translated into art. As these spaces alto suggest a bipolarity, they can be associated to the bipolar meanings of the “good” femme fragile on one hand and the “bad” femme fatale on the other. Where men could move freely between different spatial spheres, in both the public and private world, Pollock 3

notes that women were supposed to only occupy the domestic space freely.

The free-minded space of men is impersonated by the flaneur, a wandering voyeur who can observe freely, without having a feeling of being watched. A privilege women could not enjoy (Wolff, 1985). As Baudelaire’s poems insinuate: women do not look. They are positioned as the object of the flaneur’s gaze. Thus, women weren’t only banned from different spaces in society, they also had no opportunity to express how they experienced space due to a lack of a female gaze, resulting in a two-dimensional, stereotypical representation of women and the spaces in which they moved.

In fin-de-siecle artwork, women of class are regularly depicted in parks, theatres and boulevards, hidden behind their fan or umbrella, stiff, formal, self-controlled.

Or in more intimate artwork, there are many examples of the maternal woman in her domestic space. Both spaces display the Ideal woman, being vulnerable to the male gaze. This world, explains Pollock, is the space of the Bourgeois woman, ‘the femme fragile’, representing the Ideal femininity in an ideological, pictorial space. On the other hand of the feminine spectrum, there is the world of fallen women: actresses, whores, bartenders placed into more decadent, erotic backgrounds. The world of the femme fatale is completely irreconcilable to the world of the femme fragile. This results in having two opposite spaces, where not one registers the real female sexuality correctly.

To get a wider understanding of the complex female psychology and sexuality during the fin-de-siecle era, analysing art work or literature created by women will almost certainly be more accurate, although they are more rare to find.

Moreover, one must be aware that even the female gaze is subjective and influenced by this male-driven society, making it even more difficult to find a true and authentic female voice. For that reason I chose to analyse a literary work of Virginia Woolf, who can also be considered a New Woman and who is one of the first feminist literary voices. Though the “The Lady in the Looking Glass – A Reflection” was written more towards the end of the fin-de-siecle, during a transitional time between Symbolism and Modernism, it is still highly relevant because of the same literary methods that are used in Symbolist literature.

Before starting with the analysis and comparison of Rodenbach’s and Woolf’s work, a short introduction to Khnopff’s view on the female gender is needed as his understanding is way more layered than some of his contemporaries and also will be relevant when discussing Woolf’s and Rodenbach’s work.

Women in Khnoppf’s work and life When studying Khnopff’s oeuvre, one person occupies a prominent place in many of his paintings: his sister and muse Margaret. Her ethereal presence and androgenous features fitted well the theatrical and symbolic themes that Khnopff wanted to capture. Her presence can be interpreted in different ways: his sister can be seen as an extension of the artist himself and so, giving an insight into the intimate life of Khnopff. Or on the other hand, by the constant repetition and differences in representation of his sister, Khnopff questions the limits of the images of the Self.

4

In Memories, this repetitious doubling is explicitly done by collaging seven different images of his sister. They all capture one version of her, each of them lost in their thoughts. All these figurantes reveal characteristics of her, but not one captures her true self, nor does the totality of the seven women together (Moran, 2018). This second interpretation is far more psychologically loaded and fitting to his other works, but may be less obvious to the viewer. Khnopff challenges the spectator, partly because of the multiple images, but also by covering his subjects through clothing and staging and therefore making it difficult to see through this.

Illustration 1: Memories, 1889, Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium

1 As

discussed in class.

Khnopff’s art is an indirect reaction to the age it was created in (Moran, 2018). By using the stereotypes of his time as building blocks for his paintings, it suggests Khnopff clearly was aware of the social and political changes. This given is also visible in how he represented the women in his life, covered in robes, costumes and sometimes gloves. In a way, he covered them in coats of stereotypical clothing, giving the impression that both his mother and sister were femme fragiles. Perhaps this chaste presentation was also a safe move after the scandal of 1885 Khnopff was involved in (Moran, 2018). By covering his female subjects, there is no danger of humiliation or carnal distraction by female nudity. In fact, because of the extensive layers of clothing the attention is fully brought to the expression of the subject, to her gaze, resulting in a disconnection between body and face. This separation is clearly visible in the portrait of Madame Edmond Khnopff, his mother. Where the black dress, looking flat and two-dimensional, is in sharp contrast with her pale sculptured face. Her hands lead the spectator to her gaze, revealing a contemplation. The act of deep contemplation contrasts distinctly with the plain clothing that seems to imprison her.1 5

Illustration 2: Portrait of Madame Edmond Khnopff, ca. 1900, private collection.

Not all the subjects in Khnopff’s art are covered in heavy clothing, sometimes Khnopff purposely did paint naked figures. Not by painting the male or female body, but by depicting an androgenous individual. An individual not identified by gender, but as a symbol for the epitome of self-awareness. By not covering up the androgyn in clothing, it also suggests a mental freedom. The androgyn is no victim of shallowness and is no longer suffocated by the many shells and layers society is putting on him/her. This free state of mind, this upper self-awareness, without taking gender into account, is a recurring motif in Khnopff works. It represents the Ideal (Cole, 2009).

Khnopff never explicitly declared his thoughts about gender, but through his work we can interpret what it could be. He represented women in a stereotypical way by fully covering them with chaste clothing. Although it contributes to the idea of femme fragile, this stereotyping was only a cover up for the inner state that was hidden underneath it, but was revealed in a subtle way through the 6

gaze. This contemplation and focussing on the inner life of an individual, male or female, is the real motif. In the end, Khnopff really didn’t care about gender.

He recognized qualities in both men and women, merging them together in his depiction of the androgyn, but also in his own persona (Cole, 2009). He represented himself to society as a dandy-like man with both female and male traits. According to Delevoy (1987), this was mainly the result of his upbringing and the close bond he had with his mother.

“Bien au-delà de l’âge réputé adulte, Khnopff semble avoir tenu à vivre aussi longtemps que possible sous l’aura maternelle. C’est là qu’il faut peut-être trouver l’origine de son attitude devant la femme: sa mère se serait attachée non seulement à briser tout penchant qu’il aurait pu manifester vers les femmes mais aurait aussi tendu à annuler en son fils toute virilité.” (Delevoy, 1987, 189)

Bruges-la-Morte – Georges Rodenbach In Bruges-la-Morte, the reader follows Hugues, a widower lost in grief, who recently moved to Bruges. The melancholic city of Bruges comforts him, as it reminds him of his dead wife. He desperately tries to find analogies in order to keep her alive in his mind. During an evening walk, he meets dancer and actress Jane Scott who is the spitting image of his late wife. Through Jane, Hugues can almost revive his dead wife. Blinded by his grief and melancholy, he projects the love for his dead wife on Jane. Hugues is not able to face the reality of Jane behaving completely differently. Even when he discovers her cheating, he still can’t let go of her. Because when he loses Jane, with her Hugues loses his late wife a second time. Towards the end of the book, Jane’s true colours begin to shine through, resulting in her more and more distancing herself from the image Hugues wants her to portray. Eventually, the story ends with Hugues killing Jane, when she starts to mock the relics of his late wife Hugues so heavily worships.

As discussed in class after reading Bauer (2018) and Pudles (1992).

2

Mirroring surfaces, loaded relics and the reflective nature of the city are the carriers of Bruges-la-Morte. The real motif of the story is the concept of representation.

The reader goes back and forth between all these reflections. The inner emotions of Hugues are explained through reflections.² He projects his inner feelings on the surrounding city, objects and also Jane and loses himself in an immaterial world constructed out of his own memories. The reader experiences the story through the male gaze of Hugues, also giving an insight in how Hugues perceives the image of his female supporting characters.

This work displays the dualistic view of women, tangible between the death wife and the actress Jane. His death wife is presented as the Ideal woman, a femme fragile with a weak health, glorified during the whole story. Throughout the book the reader can collect small fragments of who this woman was, yet the overall picture remains superficial and limited to elements of her appearance. Even in her looks, Rodenbach doesn’t take any effort in making her unique, he sticks to the characteristics of blond long hair, chaste clothing and a pale skin, typical for 7

a femme fragile (Verhasselt, 2010). The given that she is dead even contributes to her image of being an ideal woman. Kemperink implies that the ultimate incorporeal state, typical for the femme fragile, is her death, since she becomes disconnected from all the material and therefore bodily nature of life.

“In de dode geliefde is de uiterste grens van onlichamelijkheid bereikt. […] Ze is nu dichter te naderen dan ooit, aan te raken zelfs, zonder dat er daarbij sprake lijkt te kunnen zijn van enige lichamelijke lust. De dode geliefde is de ideale geliefde.”

(Kemperink, 2001, 188) Jane on the other hand is portrayed as the archetypical femme fatale, beginning with her inappropriate job and flamboyant existence surrounding the theatre world. Later, her mean character starts to shine through: Jane acts opportunistic and almost evil. Also her appearance characterized by dark long hair, a smirk on her face and a couple of strong eyes contribute to the image of femme fatale.

The inhabitants of Bruges are shocked by the deception of Hugues, a pious man becoming a victim of this horrible woman. As a result, the reader gets the feeling the end of the story will lead to the total destruction of Hugues. But then the opposite happens, Hugues kills Jane by strangling her with the symbolically loaded hair of his dead wife. In the moment Jane dies, this image of femme fragile seems to disappear. The two death women merge to one, the mirroring of his dead wife in Jane has reached its height (Komandera, 2011).

“Les deux femmes s’étaient identifiées en une seule. Si ressemblantes dans la vie, plus ressemblantes dans la mort qui les avait faites de la meme pâleur, il ne les distingua plus l’une de l’autre – unique visage de son amour. Le cadavre de Jane, c’était le fantôme de la morte ancienne, visible la pour lui seul.” (Rodenbach, 1892, 271-272) When Jane is alive, this reconciliation of both women seems impossible. Their similarity in appearance is undeniable, yet the completely different nature of both women makes it impossible for Hugues to complete the metamorphosis of Jane into his dead wife, even after Jane changes her hair colour and wears the clothes of his late wife. Her soul, reflected through the gaze, betrays the different intentions Jane has.

“Certes elle avait toujours les mêmes yeux. Mais, si les yeux sont les fenêtres de l’âme, il est certain qu’une autre âme y émergeait aujourd’hui que dans ceux, toujours présents, de la morte.” (Rodenbach, 1982, 128) In Bruges-la-Morte, Rodenbach envisions the bipolarity of the female identity by creating two female characters, each fulfilling the role of a stereotypical female image. Rodenbach doesn’t experiment with deviations of this archetype, nor does any character development happen. Both women are objectified in Hugues mind, as a tool to deal with his grief. All of this results in a two-dimensional image of both women without any depth in her inner life, only having one fixed truth of her identity.

8

Lady in the Looking Glass – Virginia Woolf Lady in the Looking Glass: A Reflection (1929) is a short story, telling the fictional biography of an unknown, mysterious woman called Isabella. Although some critics are convinced that the story is for a large part autobiographical, revealing personal aspects of Virginia Woolf’s life (Squier, 1981). Woolf starts with the following sentence: “People should not leave looking-glasses hanging in their rooms any more than they should leave open cheque books or letters confessing some hideous crime.”

(Woolf, 1929a, 46) A bolt opening, immediately creating a suspense that warns the reader of the vicious nature of a mirror. The story is told by an unknown narrator, sitting in the drawing room of Isabella’s house, describing what he/she sees in and beyond the mirror. The narrator tries to catch glimpses of Isabella working in the garden, through reflections in the mirror, in order to form an image of Isabella’s true Self.

As the story unfolds, frustrations start to grow. The narrator becomes aware of how little is known about her, beside some generic facts and imaginative ideas created by others. He/she acknowledges that Isabella must have a vivid inner life, however completely locked up from the outside world. The last paragraph, the suspension rises as Isabella starts to walk towards the house “becoming larger and larger in the looking-glass” (48). The narrator anticipates a reveal, giving an ultimate ending to his/her reverie of Isabella’s true Self. However, when Isabella stands in front of the mirror, her complete persona crashes.

“And there was nothing. Isabella was perfectly empty. She had no thoughts. She had no friends. She cared for nobody.” (Woolf, 1929a, 48) The mirror removes all the veils that the narrator previously has built. In the end, a total demystification occurs (Seeley, 1996). Woolf ends the short story with a familiar sentence: “People should not leave looking-glasses hanging in their rooms” (48). The structure of the short story is a mirror itself, bringing the reader back to the beginning (Seeley, 1996).

The role of the mirror is highly complex and widely used in her other works as well. The concept of a mirror, representing a fixed, stable, eternal world, is a common theme in Symbolism; yet Woolf goes much further by connecting the mirror with the oppressed Self of women. Squier (1981) discusses the feminist significance of the mirror encounter, as there is a clear distinction in the manmirror and woman-mirror relationship. In “a Room of One’s own” (1929), Woolf describes the man-mirror encounter, as following: “Woman have served all these centuries as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.” (Woolf, 1929b, 35)

9

Woolf here suggests that women are the mirrors that men face. In women, men find a comforting figure who supports them even it means to disguise the truth.

This is a privilege women don’t receive in return. Instead, when a woman sees herself through a man, she will be transfixed by the male gaze (Squier, 1981).

Here lays the oppression of women: women are depowered due to this fixation.

And it’s this oppression of the inner Self, Woolf tries to point out by critically blaming the mirror by comparing it to a crime, indirectly meaning that this fixed image of a woman actually depersonalizes her. A mirror reflects the surface of the publicly-shown Self. Woolf suggests that this one reflection is not one truest Self (Howard, 2007). Through multiple reflections and similes, Woolf slowly reveals the complexity of Isabella’s inner life, making the reader also aware of the problematic reality of that time where it was impossible for women to publicly show their inner feelings and thoughts.

In the ‘Lady in the Looking glass’ Woolf uses different reflective agents, all giving the reader a suggestion of Isabella. These reflections are interpreted into different images of Isabella by the narrator, who Woolf describes as a “naturalist”, “watching the shyest animals”, “moving about freely, themselves unseen”. A flaneur-like figure who tries to understand the inner-life of Isabella, but is also a victim of society by believing there is only one true image of the female Self. The narrative begins with facts of Isabella: her age, her status, her wealth; and small clues about her physical appearance. These don’t satisfy the narrator and he/she is surprised about how little one knew about this woman, even though she appears to be a prominent figure in social life. As the tension rises, the narrator shifts his attention to the objects in the drawing room which also have a reflective nature. He/she fantasizes about what could be hidden in locked drawers, or what the opened letters tell. The narrator makes up different interpretations of their underlying meaning. As a reader, you start to feel the complexity of all possible reflections of the Self. Even when, all of a sudden, the mirror captures a glimpse of her eyes.

One would expect her gaze to reflect a more personal insight into her inner-life, but the opposite happens (Howard, 2007): “a veil of cloud covered the sun, making the expression of her eyes doubtful” (47). Towards the end of the story, the narrator becomes almost desperate, declaring “her mind was like her room (…) full of locked drawers, stuffed with letters” (48), suggesting she is impossible to read. Then the grand reveal happens, where both the reader and narrator expect to see Isabella as who she truly is.

“The looking-glass began to pour over her a light that seemed to fix her; that seemed like some acid to bite off the unessential and superficial and to leave only the truth”.

(Woolf, 1929a, 48) This truth appears to be completely deconstructive. In one instant she loses all her mystery and meaning. Woolf points out two important issues in this final reveal. Firstly, it suggests the confrontation, humiliation and depersonalisation women of her time faced, when reflecting themselves upon others. Or even worse, when the reflecting gaze is their own when standing in front of a mirror.

As mentioned above, this stripping of her identity and reducing it to an external appearance, was a detriment only women experienced.

10

Secondly, through the use of the verb “seem” Woolf suggests that this one truth being revealed may seemingly be the ultimate reflection of the self, but it most definitely is not (Seeley, 1996). It suggests that the mirrored Self of Isabelle, is her public Self, the Self society sees and judges, but that her real truth is actually too complex to capture. In the end, the reader still doesn’t know who Isabella is.

The only certainty is that nobody will ever fully know, because she exists out of infinite reflections of the Self.

Conclusion Both literary works portray women through the gaze of the other by repeatedly using reflections. However, the female image that these reflections construct is completely different. In Bruges-la-Mort, this image is limited to two female concepts; the femme fatale and the femme fragile, represented with all the corresponding stereotypical characteristics. Two possible hypotheses could be made, when interpreting why he doesn’t develop these female characters more profoundly. Perhaps Rodenbach didn’t feel the need to make a feminist statement or he simply didn’t find these ideas of women problematic. Another possibility is that Rodenbach used the stereotypical figures of society at that time as building blocks to prove the real motif of the story: the concept of representation. The in-depth elaboration of the female character wasn’t needed to make his point.

In fact, the bipolarity of the female figure, typical for Symbolism, even helped to reach a tension and show the limitations of this never-ending series of representation. This second hypothesis seems more presumable and in line with Khnopff, his friend and contemporary. Rodenbach used what society had to offer at that time, it being two archetypes of women, to create Symbolic literature.

One can only guess if he agreed with these dualistic images or not.

The underlying motif of Virginia Woolf’s short story is not the representation itself, it’s the problematic nature of representation towards women and the harmful limitations it causes on the identity of women. In making her feminist statement, Woolf uses the same tools as many Symbolic authors would do, yet she further elaborates it. It doesn’t stop with one image of the female Self. On the contrary, the further the story goes, the more the reader becomes confused of all the possible narratives society created about this one woman, all based on her appearance. In the end, the reader is confronted with the effect that reflections and mirrors have on a woman; they completely strip her off her emotions, her deeper thoughts and overall identity. Mirrors limit the female character as it presents one fixed, eternal image: one truth. A misconception Woolf wants to refute: the true Self exists of infinite reflections of the Self. The only truth is the ultimate unknowability of one’s Self. This concept of multiple truths instead of one fixed image, was at that time a modern intake and became a recurrent theme in Postmodernism, years later. (Howard, 2007) The ambivalent nature of the inner life is also a frequently used theme in Khnopff’s work. Although he didn’t relate this profound search for the inner 11

Self to one specific gender. Moreover, Khnopff almost idolized this personal contemplation to understand oneself profoundly. Through music, art and reflective surfaces, a viewer could be confronted with his/her inner life, changing into a state of contemplation. According to Khnopff, this inward focusing is beneficial for all individuals, eventually leading up to an Ideal state, symbolized by the andryogyn (Cole, 2009). However, by making this process genderless, he didn’t acknowledge the difficulties and oppression women specifically face when doing so.

Bibliography Books Delevoy, R. (1987). Fernand Khnopff. Brussels: LebeerHossmann.

Kemperink, M. (2001). Het verloren paradijs. De Nederlandse literatuur en cultuur van het fin de siècle. Amsterdam University Press.

Pollock, G. (1988). Vision and Difference: Feminism, Femininity and Histories of Art. London: Taylor & Francis.

Rodenbach, G. (1892). Bruges-la-Morte. Paris: Marpon & Flammarion.

Schopenhauer, A. (1851). Metaphysics of Love. London: Walter Scott.

Sutherland, G. (2015). In Search of the New Woman. Cambridge University Press.

Woolf, V. (1929b). A Room of One’s Own. London: Hogarth Press.

12

Academic sources Bauer, D. (2018). Pastness and Enclosed Space as a Disruptive Subtext in the Work of Georges Rodenbach. Dix-Neuf, 22, 175-190.

Cole, B. (2009). Nature and the Ideal in Khnopff’s Avec Verhaeren: Un Ange and Art, or the Caresses. The Art Bulletin, 91, 325-342.

Freud, S. (1925). Some Psychical Consequences of the Anatomical Distinction between the Sexes. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XIX. The Ego and the Id and Other Works, 241-258.

Howard, S. (2007). The Lady in the Looking-Glass: Reflections on the Self in Virginia Woolf. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 8, 44-54.

Komandera, A. (2011). Entre l’absence et la presence de la Morte dans Bruges-la-Morte de Georges Rodenbach. Quêtes littéraires, 1, 42-47.

Moran, C. (2018). Fernand Khnopff and the Aesthetics of Intimacy. Dix-Neuf, 22, 204-221.

Pudles, L. (1992). Fernand Khnopff, Georges Rodenbach, and Bruges, the Dead City. The Art Bulletin, 74, 637-654.

Seeley, T. (1996). Virginia Woolf’s Poetics of Space: “The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A reflection”. Woolf Studies Annual, 2, 89-116.

Squier, S. (1981). Mirroring and Mothering: Reflections on the Mirror Encounter Metaphor in Virginia Woolf’s Works. Twentieth Century Literature, 27, 272-288.

Tapper, M. (1986). The Superego of Women. Social Theory and Practice, 12, 61-74.

Savic, I. (2019). From Femme Fragile to Femme Fatale: the Motif of Woman in the Italian Symbolism Painting. Zbornik Matice Srpske za Likovne Umetnosti, 47, 185-196.

Verhasselt, S. (2010). Het beeld van het negentiende-eeuwse fin de siècle in vijf hedendaagse romans. Unpublished master dissertation, Ghent University, Ghent.

Wolff, J. (1985). The Invisible Flâneuse. Women and the Literature of Modernity. Theory, Culture and Society, 2, 37-46.

Article Woolf, V. (1929a). The Lady in the Looking-Glass. Harper’s Magazine, 160, 46-49.

Illustrations Ill. 1 Fernand Khnopff (1858-1921). Memories, 1889, Pastel painting on canvas with marouflage, 127 x 200 cm, Brussels, Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium.

Ill. 2 Fernand Khnopff (1858-1921). Portrait of Madame Edmond Khnopff, ca. 1900, oil on canvas, unknown dimensions, private collection.

13