Christina Rossetti - Women and Highgate Penitentiary

Rossetti Context Slides - The Status of Women and Rossetti and Gender

What did lots of women campaign for in the second half of the nineteenth century?

The right to vote.

Was the view that women should be given the vote universal?

No - many women still could not read and worked in the home either as servants, mothers, housewives, or carers, so weren’t concerned with parliamentary representation. Also, it was widely believed that fathers and husbands should guide their daughters and wives. With this in mind, many saw parliamentary representation for women as unnecessary.

When were women given the vote on the same terms as men in the UK?

1928, compared to 1913 in Norway.

Which poet wrote to Rossetti in the late 1870s asking for her support in the suffragette campaign?

Augusta Webster.

What did Rossetti write to Webster when she wrote back to refuse her request?

“Does it not appear as if the Bible was based upon an understood unalterable distinction between men and women, their position, duties, privileges?”, likely thinking of Eve. It seems, Rossetti believed men and women were created fundamentally different by God, so therefore should have different responsibilities and rights.

How do some of her poems challenge Coventry Patmore’s ‘Angel in the House’ and other male-written poems?

They challenge the distinction made by male writers of two sorts of women: the angelic wife / mother and the wicked temptress (Angel in the House). She presents a much more balanced and complex portrayal of women.

Which of her poems offer a bleak view of enslavement for the Victorian female?

From the Antique and The Lowest Room.

What was a ‘fallen woman’?

A woman who was a ‘prostitute’ (engaged in pre-marital sex, was an actress etc.)

When did Rossetti volunteer at a home for fallen women?

During the 1860s.

What was the name of the fallen women’s home she volunteered at?

Highgate Penitentiary.

What was Rossetti’s view on fallen women?

They should not be deemed outcasts for the rest of their lives. Instead, she sought to change stereotyped assumptions.