British Modernism: Text and Image: Sentimental Prints

"There were stags' heads stuck up all over the dining-room of the hotel. The one over our table was as big as a cow's. Its enormous glass eyes stared past us. In the bedroom there were prints-'The Sailor's Farewell', 'The Sailor's Return', 'Reading the Will', and 'Conjugal Affection'. They had a calm, sleepy look, as if they were drawings of stuffed figures-the women very tall and plump and smiling and tidy and the men with long legs and bushy whiskers; but the placid shapes of the trees made you feel that that time must have been a good time" (77).

Throughout the novel, Anna misses her home in the West Indies and is treated poorly by men. She finds herself drifting, and her days are made up of streets, bars, and rooms in hotels, many of which have drawings on the walls. In this scene, Walter has brought her to the country and she is observing the drawings hanging in the bedroom. I think being able to see these pictures and understand what they are of better helps us read the character of Anna. With the exception of Reading the Will, all of the pictures are rather intimate portrayals of either lovers or a family; all things which Anna longs for. So having these pictures be the ones that are hanging in her bedroom and what she sees may help us to better understand what she is going through.

The Sailor's Farewell was produced in 1790 by British landscape and genre painter George Morland. Young lovers are shown bidding farewell on the seashore, with their forms set against a dramatic background.

The Sailor's Return was produced by Thomas Stothard and the engraver on the piece was William Ward in 1798.

Reading the Will was produced by Sir David Wilkie in 1819.

Conjugal Affection was produced by Robert Smirke in 1799.