Rossetti Critical Interpretations

Gilbert & Gubar - Goblin Market

• ‘The bond between Laura and Lizzie…represents not just a sisterhood of sacrifice, but a potential model for female solidarity against patriarchal forces.'

Andrew Stewart - Maude Clare

• ‘Hegemonic’ (dominant) definitions of Victorian femininity.’

Gaynell Galt - No Thank You, John

• ‘To reject a marriage proposal seemed counter to the Victorian mentality.’

Anthony H. Harrison - Twice

• ‘Powerlessness of women in a rigid patriarchal society.’

Anthony H. Harrison - A Birthday

• ‘The only true and permanent fulfilment of love is to be found in the art it gives birth to.’ (love is fleeting, but the emotion provides permanent fulfilment.)

Lars Wallner - Shut Out

• ‘Religious ideals are here in conflict with the character’s inner desires.’ (the desire for personal happiness is rejected by the ‘shadowless spirit.’)

Dolores Rosenblum - From The Antique

• ‘In a patriarchal culture, woman inevitably experience herself as object and other.’

Stephen Halliday - Up-Hill

• ‘Rossetti frames the poem as a question-and-answer conversation.’

Maurice Bowra - Remember

• ‘There is a deep basis of experience, of misery in a defeat which has been hard for Christina to endure.’

Frances Thompson - Echo

• ‘It is conceivably possible that Christina heard of this, and the resonating memories of that time ‘long ago, my love, how long ago!’ came back to her.’ 

Judith Plotz (Power)

• ‘Rossetti’s women are often trapped in roles defined by gendered expectations, yet they demonstrate a subtle form of resistance, whether through silence, withdrawl or defiance.’

George Landow (Power)

• ‘Rossetti’s poetry critiques the unequal power dynamics of her time, framing women’s suffering as a consequence of and a reaction to the patriarchal structures they inhabit.’

Suzanne Williams (Fallen Women)

• ‘Her fallen women do not necessarily have to die to be redeemed and are often given a voice with which to speak back against their ruination.’

Dinah Roe (Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood)

• ‘Though its goals were and heartfelt…the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood was founded in a spirit of waggish male camaraderie.’ (playful, mischevious)

Simeon Avery (Religion)

• ‘Rossetti depicts the disastrous consequences of being attached to worldly pleasures rather than remembering the importance of spiritual devotion.’