The Empathy Habit: Vernon Lee's Psychological Aesthetics

Einfühlung, or “feeling into,” has attracted critical attention in recent years, particularly in the sense of empathy as a mode of aesthetic engagement and distinct from the empathy of social participation. Violet Paget (1856-1935), the author, art historian, and aesthetic theorist more prevalently known by her pseudonym, Vernon Lee, considered perception, imagination, and empathy throughout her life. I offer a brief biography; discuss aspects of her manual explaining aesthetic preference, The Beautiful: An Introduction to Psychological Æsthetics; and compare Lee’s ideas with current understandings of both empathy and emotional adhesion. I also advocate for a reconsideration of Lee’s understanding of aesthetic empathy as it might inform our reading and interpreting texts, rather than confining its application to the visual arts.