COVE

This image, initially published in the November 1900 edition of The Idler Volume 18, depicts the Grecian myth of Andromeda (Internet Archive). In the classical myth, Andromeda is chained to a rock as a sacrificial offering to a sea monster—a punishment for her mother, Cassiopeia’s, bragging. In Sime’s illustration, Andromeda’s figure is shadowed, her black hair covers her face, and white is used predominantly for exposure on her breasts, thighs, and stomach, thus drawing attention to her vulnerability and exposure to the elements. As Andrea Sauchelli states, stylistic features of art elicit a horrific feeling established through “gesture, highlighting, and shadow” (43). Sime’s use of shadows and sparing highlights brings the horror of the myth to life by creating an eerie scene that emphasizes Andromeda’s isolation and evokes fear in female viewers by emphasizing her body, demonstrating how women are viewed only for their outward appearance and the imprisonment they feel in society. Similarly, By depicting Andromeda in a state of entrapment, Sime reinforces one of his four categories of women figures, the “sacrificial victim” (Thesing 27). Sime’s “Andromeda” reinforces male dominance over female autonomy, evoking fear by presenting women as perpetual victims of sacrifice whose value and identity are constrained by their physicality and vulnerability. 

Sauchelli, Andrea. “HORROR AND MOOD.” American Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 51, no. 1, 2014, pp. 39–50. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24475369. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.

Sime, Sidney. “Andromeda.”The Idler, vol.18, numb. 2, Aug. 1900- Jan 1901, pp.302.  Internet Archive,  https://archive.org/details/the-idler-v-13-1898-feb-july/The%20Idler%20v18n02-v18n06%201900%20%28Sept%29-1901%20%28Jan%29/page/306/mode/2up. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

Thesing, William B. “Demonized Coal Miners and Domineering Muses in Sidney H. Sime’s Fantastic Illustrations.” Caverns of Night: Coal Mines in Art, Literature, and Film, 2000, pp. 19–31.