Mrs Mary Robinson 1783 - 1784

This is Joshua Reynolds's portrait of Mrs. Mary Robinson. It’s important to understand Robinson's life, as her identity as a woman and public figure shaped the perception of this portrait. Mary Robinson was an actress, poet, and novelist, who became famous for her role as Perdita in Shakespeare’s *The Winter’s Tale*. She was a woman making her way in the public sphere. Reynolds captures Robinson in profile, against a stormy seascape, imbuing her with a melancholic air that perhaps speaks to the precarious nature of celebrity and the limitations placed on women in the 18th century. Portraits of women at the time often emphasized domesticity and virtue. Reynolds, however, captures Robinson as an individual, gazing out into the world. "I was launched into a world of which I knew nothing," she wrote. Consider how Reynolds uses the conventions of portraiture, while hinting at the complex realities of Robinson's life, and her defiance of societal expectations.