“Why did she provoke so much hostility?”: What upset Miranda Seymour while writing the biography of Lady Ottoline Morrell

Abstract

The article is focused on the emotional contexts of the biography of Lady Ottoline Morrell (1873–1938), written by the distinguished author Miranda Seymour. One of the main emotional attitudes of the biographer is sorrow and sadness. The reason for this is the distorted image of Lady Ottoline in memoirs and fiction; she was portrayed in several novels in an unfair and satirical manner. Literary representations of her can be found in Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley, Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence, Between the Acts by Virginia Woolf and several other contemporary works of fiction. Special attention is paid to the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Lady Ottoline Morrell, the difference in their characters and their attitudes to dress. Lady Ottoline is judged in terms of “integrity” (the concept of George Moore) but her character does not fit into the philosophical schemes. This case study includes analysis of Lady Ottoline’s vestimentary habits, her bohemian style. Another important emotion of the biographer arises from the difficulty of discovering the truth, since Lady Ottoline’s memoirs and diaries were selectively censored, cut and edited upon publication. With access to documentary sources in the archive, the author reconstructs the full scope of lady Ottoline Morrell’s biography. Besides sorrow, Miranda Seymour demonstrates genuine admiration and compassion for her heroine and always defends her against unfair representations.