Gerard Manley Hopkins and the Pre-Raphaelites

The poet and priest Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) was largely unknown during his lifetime, only achieving global recognition over thirty years after his death. He became revered as a visionary and modern poet with many of his works being highly complex pieces of verse grounded in a deep Christian belief and a unique understanding of the world. This talk will examine the journal entries and letters of Gerard Manley Hopkins which demonstrate how he interacted with a number of figures from the Pre-Raphaelite movement. They also provide an insight into how he regarded their works and philosophies and as such gives us an assessment of the reception of Pre-Raphaelitism by someone who was a witness and outsider to the movement's growth. I will highlight some of the key encounters Hopkins had with Pre-Raphaelitism, his comments and critiques of the movement, as well as some of his own poetry which sought to respond to works by the likes of Christina Rossetti and others.

Jordan Welsh is a PhD student at the University of Essex. His thesis focuses on the influence of place and space in the depictions of religion and nature in the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Christina Rossetti and Gerard Manley Hopkins. He was awarded the BARS Stephen Copley Research Award in 2021 which contributed to his research on the legacy and influence of the Oxford Movement. His other research interests include the Golden Age of Crime Fiction, geographical influences in literature, and eco-criticism.