rossetti context

historical literary and auto-biographical

If anything ever does sweep away the barrier of sex and make the female at once and full grown a hero and giant, it is that mighty maternal love”

Rossetti’s words in a letter to Agusta Webster as to why she wouldn’t support female suffrage

‘From the antique’ in art is the practice of drawing plaster casts made from classical figurative scultpure to learn anatomy. the timelessness of women’s oppression but could also suggest that there is a female solidarity to be found in that

From the Antique - Historical Context 1

Rossetti was vehemently opposed to slavery in the American South, cruelty to animals in the prvalent practice of animale experimentation, and the exploitation of girls in underage prostitution

Christina Rossetti- Personal Context 1

Doctrine of Reserve: religious truths should only be revealed to the worthy

Christina Rossetti - Religious Context 1

Rossetti argued that God is unknowable and ‘what i write professes to be a surface study of an unfathomable depth’

Christina Rossetti: Religious Context 2

Doctrine of Analogy: the physical world is also evidence of the spiritual world

Christina Rossetti: Religious Context 3

Reinvogorated interest in Arthurian legend and that of the age of chivalry coincided with the Romantic movement. Within these myths lay the idea of the sanctitiy of women - women, such as Enid in Tennyson’s Geraint and Enid being moral superior and women as a nuturing force - idea of woman-worship and that true chivalry and masculinity is demonstrated through a man’s treatment of women.

Medieval Revival: General 1

Medival revival had massive influence on Rossetti- it had influenced a lot of the PRB’s works as well as the popular literature of the time, which often centred around english mythology and chivalry. Rossetti also belonged to a sisterhood - idea of women’s moral superiority and their nuturing role was clearly a massive influence on rossetti considering its prominence in the victorian social and literary landscape

Medival Revival: Personal Focus 1

When Rossetti composed "Goblin Market" in 1859, there was little legal protection to ensure the safety of food. In 1860 the first pure-food act was passed, but it was largely unenforced and only targeted the producer. Adulterated food was one of many facets of a society full of sin and corruption.

Food Adulteration: General 1

The Victorian 'good death' was modelled from evangelical beliefs of being with family and making peace with God.

In the mid-19th century death was too frequent and familiar to be denied. As a result, Victorians encouraged close proximity to the dying.

A slow death from, for example, tuberculosis, was romanticised. It gave ample time for spiritual reconciliation and for the production of deathbed drawings and memoirs.

Victorian Fascination with Death: General 1

In most elegiac poetry, the male speaker has been either unable to get the female to succumb to him or the female has died, which is the case in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's "The Blessed Damozel." The female speaker in "Song" does what Dante Gabriel's idealized and objectified woman can’t- the dead woman literally addresses her beloved from the grave and for once is allowed to "talk back" and be heard. The obvious impossibility of this situation occurring under normal circumstances suggests the extent to which the female voice was suppressed in society.

Song: Literary Context 1

Rossetti’s father died in April 1854

Christina Rossetti: Personal Context 2

Rossetti had a major religious crisis in 1857

Christina Rossetti: Personal Context 3

death of a young woman was the most beautiful of all poetic subjects. Many such poems are actually spoken by male characters throughout (as in "The Blessed Damozel" and "Porphyria's Lover"), or end with male voices (as in "The Lady of Shalott"). Christina Rossetti offers the rare example of a Victorian woman poet who talks back

Female Suffering: General 1

individual women found gender roles incredibly suffocating - led to bouts of hysteria bc they didn’t have any purpose - florence nightingale and elizabeth barret browning both from well-to-do families but felt constricted by womenly duties

Female Suffering: General 2

singing bird imagery often used in romantic poetry

William wordsworth emphasised the importnce of expressing feelings when he argued that it his intention to create poetry which was a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”, someone who inspired Rossetti a lot as a child

Symbolism: Literary Context 1

Rossetti also appended a footnote to her poem in 1875: “I retain this little poem, not historically accurate, but as written and published before I heard the supposed facts of the first verse contradicted”

In the Round Tower at Jhansi: Personal Context 1

Chivalry of Skene and them dying in each others arms - romantic image - invokes arthurian or mythical images - link to Medieval Revivialsm and also idea of english as morally superior - muscular christianity

In the Round Tower at Jhansi: General 1

On 5 September there was a report with vivid details in the Illustrated London News about the death of Captain Skene. Story was all that the country could talk about - dominated the British press

In the Round Tower at Jhansi: General 2

When first published, this poem was accompanied by an illustration which placed Muade Clare in rich finery in the centre of attention in the middle of a crowd as she accused the couple

Maude Clare: Literary Context 1

Traditional ballads were ofted used to make a moral statement, tell a popular story or to celebrate or attack certain institutions or people

the mostly ABCB (traditionally it would be ABAB) rhyme scheme offers a variation on the traditional ballad in that, it avoids fitting smoothly into a predictable pattern. (this is an unconventional ballad conveying an unconventional message)

Maude Clare: Literary Context 2

Rossetti was a volunteer worker from 1859 to 1870 at the St Mary Magdelene ‘house of charity’, a refuge for former prostitutes - interest in the redemption of ‘fallen’ women, a theme which is prevelant in many of her poems

Christina Rossetti: Personal Context 4

Couple are accepting of death and are almost stoic and matter of fact - embody the sterotype of the stiff upper lip spirit that defined Victorian society

In the Round Tower at Jhansi: General 3

While Dante Gabriel Rossetti's poems infuse love with elements of tragedy through the introduction of death, Christina Rossetti's work, 'Maude Clare" deals with a more complex form of tragic love.

Maude Clare: Literary Context 3

Intimacy and sexual relations before marriage in Victorian England were extremely taboo and could destroy the reputation of both parties - in the poem there is a suggestion that Thomas and Maude Clare may have had an intimate relationship, which ironically would mean that she was never going to be a suitable option for him in society’s eyes

Maude Clare: General 1

Madonna-Whore Complex: Social theory at the time made clear that there were two different representations of women in Victorian society: one the virtuous mother; submissive and powerless, also known as the Angel in the House, and the other the fallen woman; a woman of temptation and prostitution.

Maude Clare: General 2

Story of the village maid and the lord in the manor - popular, well known trope in romantic novels at the time - part of the medieval revival period - this story would’ve been familiar to Victorian readers - also subverts idea of men as being always chivalrous

Maude Clare: Literary Context 4

It has been suggesed hat the poem was inspired by John Buyan’s Christian Allegory “The Plgrim’s progress” (1678) especially in relation to the chapter ‘The Hill Difficulty’

Up-Hill: Literary Context 1

It is a devotional poem, which William Michael Rossetti wrote was “The first poem by Christina which excited marked attention.”

Up-Hill: Literary Context 2

Concept of rest in the Bible is deeply intertwined with the divine promise of eternal peace and fulfilment. This rest is not merely a physical cessation from labour but a profound spiritual state that reflects the ultimate rest believers anticipate in eternity with God

Up-Hill: Religious Context 1

John’s Gospel. Jesus comforts his disciples with the promise “My Father’s house has plenty of room; if that were not so, would I have old you that I am going there to prepare a place for you

Up-Hill: Religious Context 2

while the problem of a man’s unrequited love is a common theme in sonnets, Rossetti suberts this tradition by writing from the perspective of a woman rejecting the unwanted advances of a male suitor

No, Thank you John: Literary Context 1

Theme of men’s unrequited love and romantic conquests was a distinct part of Romantic poetry - also incredibly popular - idea of a man pursuing and ‘conquering’ a woman;s affections was standard in much of the literature - smth also influenced by the chivalric obsession of the time - so Rossetti’s poem goes against the literary tradition - presents these men not as chivalrous and admirable but more of a pest

No, Thank you John: Literary Context 2

the poem is auto-biogrpahical and refers to Rossetti’s relationship with John Brett William. He was a Pre-Raphaelite painter and had proposed and been rejected by Rossetti. In 1858 he abruptly stopped work on a portrait of her.

No, Thank you John: Personal Context 1

William Rossetti states “I am sure the painter John Brett…had appeared to be somewhat smitten with Christina.”

No, Thank you John: Personal Context 2

In one of her volumes, Christina made a pencil jotting concerning an original John and his inability to take no for an answer. Dante Gabriel Rossetti was probably aware of John’s full identity and tried to stop Christina from pulishing the poem

No, Thank You John: Personal Context 3

John could also be used to refer as a ‘generic lover’, as in the folk song “O No, John! No!”

No, Thank You John: General 1

During the Victorian period, young women were expected to be looking for a husband but were never to suggest they had a sexual appetite or preference. Women sought marriage primarily for the opportunity to become mothers, rather than for the chance to pursue their sexual desires. However, Rossetti’s poem presents a literary challenge to the traditional relationship amd power dynamics between men and women.

Victorian Attitudes to Marriage: General 1

Published in a set of devotional poetry - writing it itself is a religious, devotional act - devotional poem

Good Friday: Literary Context 1

enganged in devotional practices by regularly going to confession and recieveing Holy Communion. Also enganged in work for fallen women, opposition to pew rentals and anti-vivisectionist cause

Christina Rossetti: Religious Context 4

The reference to skylarks could be influenced by percy Bysshe Shelley whose poem “To a Skylark (1820) positions the skylark as a source of divine inspiration. “Wait till the skylarks pip” - she does wait and actually finds god who gives her renewed hope and sense of self

Twice: Literary Context 1

published in Goblin Market Collection - largely consisted of non-devotional poetry which differs from religious verses Rossetti concentrated on in later collections

Winter: My Secret: Literary Context 1

Original manuscript was titiled ‘Nonsense’ - perhaps mocking readers of literature who constantly try to find a deeper meaning to things - there is no deeper meaning

Winter: My Secret: Literary Context 2

Romantics traditionally associated spring with birth and renewal - subverts this tradition here by portraying spring as fleeting and unreliable: March has sudden snows, April has brief showers and even May has flower-killing frosts. Only winter remains reliable - solitude and keeping her secret, despite the cold, is the only option that is favourabe

Winter: My Secret: Literary Context 3

Published when Rossetti was in her early fifties - lends weight to the poem being a rumination on aging and the lessening of desire that occurs, particularly when Rossetti has not married

Soeur Louise de la Misericorde: Literary Context 1

She became increasingly devout in later life and so her writing became more devout

Christina Rossetti: Religious Context 5

In the later decades of her life, Rossetti suffered from Graves’ Disease, diagnosed in 1872 and suffered nearly fatal attack in early 1870s

Christina Rossetti: Personal Context 5

Rossetti wrote in Seek and Find that the Biblical line ‘vanity of vanities’ “amounts to so exquisite a dirge over dead hope and paralyzed effort that we are almost ready to fall in love with our own desolation…and to drift through life without disquietude.” This possibly applied to the poem’s repeated refrain and can be used to explore Rossetti’s interpretation of the futility of desire.

Soeur Louise de la Misericorde: Rossetti’s words 1

From the point of view of Louise de la Valliere - one of Louis XIV’s mistresses before she gave up her life at court for a convent

Soeur Louise de la Misericorde: Historical Context 1

As she aged, the King found a new lover

She found the King’s rejection very diffcult to take; she began to lose her beauty and miscarried her final pregnancy in 1670

in the early 1670s she experienced a sort of ephiphany and joined the order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin mary of Mount Carmel in 1674

Soeur Louise de la Misericorde: Historical Context 2

A ‘misericorde’ was a long narrow dagger used to grant injuered knights an honourable death - so her adopted name translates as ‘Sister Louise of Mercy’

Soeur Louise de la Misericorde: Historical context 3

Rossetti’s older sister Maria at the age of 46 joined the Society of All Saints, an Anflican order for women and Rossetti dedicated the poem Goblin Market to her- fascination with nuns

Soeur Louise de la Misericorde: Personal Context 1

In Judo-Christian tradition, the male is the Redeemer.

With the role of the saviour traditionally reserved for men, female are relegated to the supporting role (Mary/Martha) or the role of the person in need of salvation (Eve). Both female roles are of course, inferior to the male

Women as Saviours: Religious Context 1

The concept of a female Christ was not uncommon amongst Victorian writers - of women as a moral regenerator- especially insofar as they percieved their maternal role as endowing them with the power to teach and guide the race

In the book Mrs Ellis’ The Women of England: Their Social Duties and Domestic Habits, she refes to women as “supporters of their countries’ moral worth.

Women as Saviours: General Context 1

Later in the century the arguement of females’ moral power was used by some women to oppose the suffrage movement; they asserted that women did not need the vote because they already had supreme sway over male children,whom they could inculcate with their own moral and social ideals

Women as Saviours: General Context 2

In a statement in Seek and Find, Rossetti expands on woman’s likeness to Christ: “the feminine lot very closely copies the voluntarily assumed position of our Lord and Pattern. Women must obey and Christ learnt obedience”

Women as Saviours: Rossetti’s own view 1

weaker side of all polarities (day/night, sun/moon) is traditionally associated with women: thus erotic love is conventionally the realm of females whilst the higher, spiritual love is associated with men

Goblin Market: Literary Context 1

Widespread establishment of religious sisterhoods began in 1840s when Anglican sisterhoods were advocated for by Oxford Movement leaders to accomplish the dual purpose of providing useful occupation for the nation’s single women as assiting with the increasing numbers of the poor

Goblin Market: General Context 1

In the years immediately preceeding Goblin Market the popularity of these sisterhoods had been greatly spurred by the reputation of Florence Nightingale and due to her renown, the concept of ‘sister’ became secularized and associated more with the profession of nursing and the general attitude of ministering to the unfortunate

Goblin Market: General Context 2

Rossetti had personal connection to these sisterhoods, with her sister Maria joining one of them, working with fallen women and desiring to go and work with Florence Nightingale

Goblin Market: Personal Context 1

The passing of the Contaigous Disease Act in the 1860s shows that prostitution was increasingly being percieved as a dangerously contaminating form of sexual activity.

Prostitution in the Victorian Era: General Context 1

From 1871 to 1873 Rossetti’s suffered from Graves’ disease. In the words of William Rossetti “her hair fell out, her skin discoloured and her eyes bulged.”

Christina Rossetti: Illness Context 1

After writing Sing-Song in 1872, an anthology of children’s nursery rhymes, she turned almost exclusively to devotional poetry.

Sing-song was dedicated to the nephew of Charles Cayley and it is thought that at 42, Rossetti desired to have children but knew she had no opportunity to.

Christina Rossetti: Personal Context 6

Christina' Rossetti’s ‘renunciatory mentality (Anthony Harrison)’ shown in a letter to William in 1887 when he was in Italy: “It sounds earthly-paradise-like, your sketch of San Remo: but even there it would behove me to feel, Arise ye and depart, for this is not your rest”

Christina Rossetti: Attitude towards life 1

Rossetti wrote herself in Letter and Spirit: “For the books we now forbear to read, we shall one day be endued of wisdom and knowledge.”

Christina Rossetti: Attitude to life 2

There is another strain in some of her poetry that can be called Gothic or even macabre Growing up, the Rossetti siblings read with delight Ann Radcliffe (Christina at one time undertook to write a biography of Mrs. Radcliffe but was unable to gather the necessary materials) and Monk Lewis.

Christina Rossetti: Literary Context 1

After 1875 she was very much involved with the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, for whom she wrote several prose works, including Called to be Saints (1876)

Christina Rosseti: Personal Context 7

Lewis Carroll and Christina Rossetti began to correspond regularly from around November 1882, only after the recent death of Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Christina Rossetti Literary Context 2

3 of Rossetti’s favourite authors were Plato, Augustine and Dante which all have similar subject matters: the drama of a soul whose quest for an ideal of love, beauty, and spiritual perfection impels an impassioned struggle against the temptations to fulfillment offered by this vain world, which is finally renounced in favor of one that transcends it.

Christina Rossetti: Literary Context 3

Augustine quickly realized that the cult of his own sensations would not yield happiness. Still, [he] did not abandon or restrain his sexual exploits. as Augustine loved to love, he also loved to grieve.

This pattern of fallen behavior — the description of which requires Augustine to dwell upon the beautiful sensations of the world even after he has renounced them — can be perceived in the background of poems by Rossetti like "An Apple-Gathering," Goblin Market, and "Maude Clare.

Christina Rossetti: Attitudes to Life 3

Hope deferred" — Christina Rossetti repeats this phrase from Proverbs 13.12 over and over again in her poetry - link to female suffering

Christina Rossetti: Literary Context 4

According to Rossetti's unpublished notes on Genesis and Exodus, the penalty of death has been laid on men and of life on women, and, for her, continuance exacts as great a penalty as extinction. Thus in a number of poems she as passionately commiserates Christ for his endurance of life as of death, A parallel may be drawn between Christ-like and feminine long-suffering.

Christina Rossetti: Attitudes towards life 4

The link between spiritual redemption and social reformation was clearly evident at the St Mary Magdalene house of charity in Highgate, a refuge for fallen women, where Rossetti was a volunteer worker from 1859 to 1870 (Marsh 238). True success in the mission of the home was found in the fulfilment of a twofold purpose: to reform penitent women into "reliable domestic servants" and to make them into active members of the Church of England

Christina Rossetti: Personal Context 8

the similarities between "Goblin Market" and a story told by the Warden of Highgate. The Warden's story is about several young women who, like Laura, take forbidden apples from an orchard, which leads them all to violence and death. A striking difference between the Warden's account and Rossetti's poem is that while the Warden's fallen women all become racked with guilt, Laura experiences neither guilt nor shame.

Goblin Market: Literary Context 2

Rossetti feared modern philisophies, ascribing them dangerous and unorthodox, writing

"it is wiser to remain ignorant than to learn evil. . . . It is better to avoid doubts than to reject them”

Christina Rossetti: Personal Context 9

Goblin Market was for a long time consideredto be written only for children

Goblin Market: Literary Context 3

the Pre-Raphaelites' obsessive concern with the great Italian poet's transposition of erotic passion to a spiritual object and condition. In "Dante, an English Classic," Christina Rossetti describes the central movement in Dante's work as one in which "the lost love of earth is found again as one higher, lovelier and better loved in paradise"

Christina Rossetti: Attitudes to Life and Love 1

Between 1815 and 1846, Parliament established the Corn Laws as a protectionist measure against cheaper foreign imports of wheat and other grains, Compounded with the potato famine of the 1840s, this bottleneck on food availability caused great misery for much of England. Victorian literature, in turn, captures this obsession with food

Goblin Market: Hunger in the Victorian era 1