18th Century Agony Aunt

After I finish off the Lady of Shalott, I was thinking I might do some more paintings of literary heroine types, such as Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Juliet, Lorna Doone, or Cathy from Wuthering Heights. Another I thought of doing was Bess the Landlord's Daughter from the poem 'The Highwayman' by Alfred Noyes.

http://www.potw.org/archive/potw85.html

I only discovered this melodramatic ballad relatively recently, and it appeals to my romantic side. I did think the lass's self-destruction was a little rash, though (futile, too, in the event). Someone else obviously had the same thought, as I came across this amusing parody of an agony aunt pointing out that she has other options... http://www.silverwhistle.co.uk/problems/problems2.html