John William Waterhouse Echo Narcissus

The concept of beauty, while never formally defined, is a trait sought after throughout history. Contemporary life is still plagued by the notion that beauty equates to value, especially with woman. Women constantly strive to grasp beautiful perfection; artists constantly strive to capture it. When artists in Ancient Greece first started to explore the representation of human perfection, they focused on the male form. These kouroi were heroically nude, with idealised musculature to reflect the homo-erotic culture of the aristocracy. The female counterpart, korai, had an emphasis on the clothing detail and drapery rather than the body; women were the subservient gender and could not been seen as heroes, thus archaic Greek sculptures did not

I believe it stood out amongst his works for the simple reason that it included a male figure. The figure is of course Narcissus, fated to meet his end through his own beautiful reflection in a pond. The female is Echo, a nymph and tertiary character in the story who like many others fell in love with the beautiful boy—the only witness to Narcissus fulfilling the prophecy. Despite being fairly insignificant in the original story, Waterhouse’s emphasis—as expected—is on her. Narcissus lays on his stomach, gazing at himself; red cloth drapes around his body, his face is only partially seen under his hair and distorted in the water. Echo wistfully gazes at him, again showing the characteristically emotive profile of the Romantic era. What most fascinated me was the fact that Echo, despite being in love with Narcissus and he mesmerized with himself, is positioned to give not the best view of her body to Narcissus (as expected, as subtle interaction between the subjects) but to the observer. The juxtaposition of the two figures— his modesty covered and his posture not at all sexual contrasted with her partially nude body square to the observer and one breast exposed— again shows the objectification of women, valued for their appearance. John Berger explains ‘In the average European oil painting of the nude the principle protagonist is never painted. He is the spectator in front of the