CAMEO APPEARANCE

ANOTHER important Victorian accessory was the cameo brooch. Cameos could be carved and produced in the UK, but they could also be brought as gifts from abroad. Italian cameos were a favorite gift.

In George Eliot's Middlemarch, Dorothea buys a set of cameos during her honeymoon. The marriage is to the old and indifferent Mr Casaubon. Already unhappy, Dorothea talks about the cameos with Will Ladislaw, the young man with whom she is already in love.

Will commends her taste, but Dorothea tells him that the cameos are for her sister Celia, and puts them away.

This scene has been read as a rejection, by Dorothea, of traditional roles for women -- she rejects the role of the married woman by showing her unhappiness during the marriage trip.

I disagree with this. I believe that the rejection of the cameo is part of Dorothea's rejection of beauty and love, something she will come later to regret.

Eventually, she will go all for beauty and love and choose to marry Will Ladislaw, who is renowned for his bright curly hair and pretty looks.

Cameos require great skill on the part of the jeweler; they can be made with shell, gemstones and other materials, such as onyx, jade and turquoise. Italy remains one of the famed places for cameos!