A Room with a View - Woman at a Window
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A Room with a View
Examining the Film through an Art Historian's Lens
Curated by Melissa Martin
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| Caspar David Friedrich, Woman at a Window, 1822 |
"Women like looking at a view. Men don't." - Mr. Emerson Wise words from Mr. Emerson, the film's wacky yet astute patriarch. He utters them at the very beginning, while Charlotte Bartlett, Lucy Honeychurch's cousin and chaperon, complains about their room's lack of a view. For the reason stated above, Mr. Emerson offers up his and his son George's suite, thereby solving the horrendous problem and triggering a romance between Lucy and George. In the time of both Caspar David Friedrich's paintings and the Edwardian era of A Room with a View, this kind gesture would have held special significance. As evidenced by Friedrich's other works, men spent much more time out of doors than their female counterparts. While they experienced nature firsthand, women were often confined to the comfort of their domiciles, meaning much of their interaction with the outdoors was through glass panes. Windows in paintings such as Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window or Woman at a Window offer unique perspective from women viewing the outside world through comparatively tiny peepholes, much like Lucy Honeychurch's attempt to step out of her sheltered lifestyle.
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