The Wolfe Collection

The Wolfe collection was created by the mid-1870’s after Catharine and John Wolfe commissioned pieces from Canabel, a man who had a great reputation due to his painting ability and portraits of aristocrats. One piece of his, in particular, reflects not only the character of May in The Age of Innocence but also Nora in A Doll’s House. His work, “The Birth of Venus” concerns a biblical figure portrait where a woman is seated in Paris wearing a white sating evening dress that was the height of French fashion so much so that viewers admired the subject’s long, elegant hands and her posture. The visual image of the woman in “The Birth of Venus” reminds me of when May is in her wedding attire at the Opera. Although it is noted that “it was the custom, in old New York, for brides to appear in this costly garment during the first year or two of marriage (211)” I thought that it was interesting how May didn’t decide to wear it until Archer and May enter the Opera, where we are first introduced to them. Moreover, I also wondered whether or not the wedding dress was used as a threat in order for May to remind Archer that they are in a relationship and therefore, he must be faithful to her even as he is falling for Countess Olenska. Yet is also symbolic how May tears her wedding dress when she walks out of the carriage and also spoils it by letting the dirt muddy it. Unlike the woman in “The Birth of Venus,” who is the romanticized image that the Wolfe collection wants one to believe, it is unreachable similarly to other conventionalities that can even lead up to what we currently know as the American Dream. These figures epitomize a society that is perfection filled with archetypal images that we strive to reach but are ultimately unattainable. Therefore, May’s torn wedding dress is illustrative of the fact that purity is unsustainable. It may last fleetingly but it is unable to last forever. Moreover, May’s name itself alludes to the concept of the seasons, nature, and flowers. Yet like all things, spring is not everlasting and flowers will eventually wilt or die. Moreover, flowers can also be prickled, thorny, sharp and edgy. Likewise, Nora also wears dresses often in A Doll’s House and similar to May, she uses it as a manipulative tool in order to remind her husband to keep faithful to her even when she has done something disloyal. In May’s case it is the fact that she lies to Archer about her pregnancy while for Nora it is the fact that she has committed forgery. Although the motives are different, in the end both women use this image of a dress for the same reasons. Nora wears the dress in order to emphasize her beauty, her physique so that she can ‘entertain’ her husband while May wears the dress as a safeguard to protect herself. Thus Wolfe’s “The Birth of Venus” is a falsified conception generated by society based on artificial archetypes that are meant to bolster an advertisement of the ideal woman when such a prototype is ultimately unattainable.