How “The Muse of the Violets,” Renee Vivien, Redefines “Prince Charming” by Vivian Zhang

Today, Renee Vivien is regarded as one of Europe’s most prolific and well-respected poets and writers of the 19th century, esteemed for the eloquence and passion in her verse. Masked by her renowned pen name, by which she is presently known, is English-born Pauline Tarn’s identity as an eminent lesbian. “The Muse of Violets,” is a compilation of Vivien’s poems translated from their original French by Margaret Porter and Catharine Kroger and published in 1982 long after her death by the Naiad Press. Taken together, the poems open a window through which to deeply explore the intertwining themes of love and sexuality pervasive throughout Vivien’s literature.

“The Muse of Violets” is a small, thin, seemingly unimpressive book at first glance, yet offers a wide, panoramic view across Vivien’s life, character, and perspective. It opens with an Introduction written by one of Vivien’s contemporaries and translated by Jeannette Foster. In this firsthand account, Vivien is portrayed as a wanderlust, a cosmopolitan who despite her young age had tasted all the diverse cultures in different corners of the world. Her urbanite experiences surface in the flamboyance with which she drapes her residence in Eastern influences and in the eagerness with which she sheds her English identity in favor of a more romantic, passionate French one. These audacious qualities provide context behind her decision to be openly queer in 19th century Christian Europe. Vivien is described to faithfully worship the lesbian Greek poet Sappho, though she attributes to Sappho the likeness of a close female friend with whom she likely had romantic ties. Furthermore, the imagery of violets is deeply ingrained throughout her writing and life. “The Muse of the Violets” is illustrated with a sketch of two violets facing each other, symbolizing her queer sexuality, and she was at one point reported to attempt suicide cradling a bouquet of violets. One poem, “The Disdain of Sappho,” particularly embodies Vivien’s unyielding boldness in maintaining her sexuality in the public eye. She directly addresses her critics who “judge [her]” for being lesbian, indignantly informing them that they mean “nothing to [her]” and will “never know how to tarnish the devotion of [her] passion for the beauty of women.” She repeatedly emphasizes the serenity of her soul amidst a sea of criticism, exhibiting courage, faith, and pride in her chosen identity.

The attitudes expressed in “The Disdain of Sappho” corroborate the messages woven into “Prince Charming,” which we explore in class. In “Prince Charming,” the protagonist Sarolta falls in love with her neighbor Bela at a young age and marries him later in life. However, Vivien cheekily twists this supposed fairytale ending, as the Bela who Sarolta lusts over and ends up marrying is revealed to be his sister Terka posing as her brother. Moreover, Sarolta is described to have fallen in love with Bela for purely his feminine disposition and beauty, rather than any masculine quality. Vivien’s satirical buildup of lesbian romance under the guise of a sublime heterosexual love culminates in the shattering of said virtuosity – the abruptness with which she conducts the grand reveal is derisively dismissive of traditional expectations of purity in love and makes a mockery of straight, Christian perceptions of romantic union.