Art and Forbidden Fruit

William Morris is one of the most admired figures of the Victorian era. Studies of his Art and his life fill the shelves of libraries. Yet, for all this accessibility, an air of uncertainty has always clouded his image. Since Morris's death, biographers and scholars have portrayed the artist as a victim, bound to an adulterous wife. In Art and Forbidden Fruit, John Le Bourgeois lifts the veil of appearances, and shows the truth about Morris's life. In a close analysis of Morris's poetry and biography, the Author asserts the early existence of an emotional attachment between William Morris and his sister Emma, and how she became the principal source of his inspiration. Le Bourgeois follows the paths of Morris the artist and Morris the man, and points out the links between the poet's love for his sister and his evolution as an artist.