Ibsen and Rosetti- From the antique

Context of the poem

Never published in her lifetime

The need to escape gender expectations

attitude towards women’s rights and independence

What type of poem is it?

Lyrical poem

Who was Rosetti very involved with?

Lower class women ‘the unfortunates’

What do the metrical changes in the first stanza emphasise?

the phrase ‘double blank’ highlight the emptiness of the female world

What does the quote ‘she says’ show?

How Rossetti is distancing herself from the speaker so that she can speak more freely

Key Quote in the first stanza

‘ i wish and i wish i were a man’

What does the repetition of i wish highlight

the futility of her desire

Key quote for stanza 2

‘still the world would wag on the same’

Importance of ‘wag’

shows the lack of importance in the world

dismissive

concept of nobody noticing or caring

What does the imagery of ‘cherries’ and ‘bees’ show?

they are all short lived

brings in that concept of dying

What quote links with Nora?

‘none would miss me in all the world’

What rhyme scheme does the poem have?

regular ABCB

What does the regular ABCB rhyme scheme show?

a regularity that reflects the dullness of a woman’s life