Rossetti gender quotes

Winter my secret - “I tell my secret? No indeed, not I.”

The speaker asserts control by withholding her secret, challenging the expectation that women should always be open or submissive.

Winter my secret - “I wear my mask for warmth: who ever shows
His nose to Russian snows
To be pecked at by every wind that blows?”

• Suggests that revealing too much, especially as a woman, invites vulnerability and criticism.

In the round tower- “Close his arm about her now,
Close her cheek to his,
Close the pistol to her brow—
God forgive them this!”

The wife is passive, relying on her husband for protection and ultimately following his lead in death, reinforcing traditional gender roles.

Souer louise - “I have desired, and I have been desired;
But now the days are over of desire.”

The speaker acknowledges female desire but also reflects on how women are judged for it more harshly than men.

Souer louise - “Oh vanity of vanities, desire!”

Reinforces how women’s desires are often dismissed as sinful or meaningless, unlike men’s ambitions.

No thank you John - “I never said I loved you, John:
Why will you tease me day by day?”

• The speaker refuses to conform to the expectation that she must reciprocate a man’s love.She asserts her autonomy and independence, challenging traditional gender roles.

No thank - “With always ‘do’ and ‘pray’?
You know I never loved you, John;
No fault of mine made me your toast.”

Challenges the idea that women are obliged to entertain men’s romantic advances.

Shut out - “The door was shut. I looked between
Its iron bars; and saw it lie,
My garden, mine, beneath the sky.”

• The locked garden symbolizes lost opportunities for women, reflecting how they are often denied access to their own potential.

Shut out - “A shadowless spirit kept the gate,
Blank and unchanging like the grave.”

The gatekeeper could represent patriarchal control, barring women from freedom.

Goblin market - “We must not look at goblin men,
We must not buy their fruits.”

Reflects society’s warnings against female sexual or economic independence.

Goblin market -“She sucked and sucked and sucked the more
Fruits which that unknown orchard bore;
She sucked until her lips were sore.”

A sensual description of temptation, symbolizing how women are blamed for indulging in desires that men offer them.

Goblin market - “For there is no friend like a sister
In calm or stormy weather.”

Reinforces the power of female solidarity in a world where men (the goblins) can be predatory.

WMS- “Suppose there is no secret after all,
But only just my fun.”

The poem teases the reader, suggesting that female secrecy can be a form of playful defiance rather than submission.

ITRTAJ-“I wish I could bear the pang for both.”

The husband takes on the role of protector, reflecting the societal belief that women were weaker and in need of male guardianship.

ITRTAJ- “Pale young wife.”

• The woman’s youth and paleness symbolize innocence and fragility, reinforcing the idea that women are delicate beings who must be shielded from hardship.

SLDLM- “I have desired, and I have been desired.”

The speaker acknowledges both active and passive female desire, challenging the notion that women should be only objects of male desire, not desiring beings themselves.

SLDLM- “Now dust and dying embers mock my fire.”

Female passion, once burning brightly, is now reduced to ashes, symbolizing the loss of youth, attractiveness, and societal value.

NTYJ- “You should not tease me, John.”

• Women were expected to be polite and obliging, but here, the speaker asserts her right to refuse a man’s advances

NTYJ- “I never said I loved you, John.”

Challenges the assumption that women owe men affection simply because men desire them.

NTYJ-“I have no heart?—Perhaps I have not.”

A sarcastic response to the idea that a woman who rejects love must be cold or heartless, rather than simply uninterested.

SO- “He answered not.”

The silent gatekeeper could represent male figures (fathers, husbands, societal institutions) that deny women access to what should rightfully be theirs.

SO- “Now I sit here quite alone.”

• Suggests that women who try to claim independence are often ostracized and left without support.

GM-“You should not peep at goblin men.”

Reflects how women were warned to avoid male temptation and suppress their own desires.

GM-“She sucked and sucked and sucked the more.”

The physical imagery suggests female appetite and desire, which in Victorian times was seen as dangerous.