Art and Forbidden Fruit

William Morris is one of the most admired figures of the Victorian era. Prolific poet, master designer and ardent socialist, Morris still amazes us with his superhuman energy and multiple achievements. Nonetheless, for all of his visibility, an air of uncertainty has always clouded his image. For the past half-century, biographers and scholars have portrayed Morris as a victim, bound to an adulterous wife. In “Art and Forbidden Fruit: Hidden Passion in the Life of William Morris”, John Le Bourgeois lifts the mask of appearance and conveys the truth about Morris’s life. Providing a close analysis of Morris’s poetry and biography, the author discloses Morris’s early attachment to his sister Emma. Le Bourgeois shows how she became the principal source of his artistic inspiration, how Morris’s ideas evolved, and how those ideas were influenced by his love for his sister. When he started to write poetry again in the mid 1860s, Morris allowed his poetic inspiration to re-emerge, bringing seven years of a happy marriage to a tragic end. Gabriel Rossetti’s involvement with Jane Morris takes on new significance in light of Morris’s forbidden love.