"It's a weary life, it is; she said: -.
Or, better than any being, were not".
In the above lines, taken from Christina Rossetti's From the Antique, she lets her speaker openly express female discontent. Apart from displaying the speaker's wish for death, the poem also underlines her wish to be a man. The speaker implies that being a man is the second best alternative after death, for man's lot in this world is at least better than woman's. These discontentment originate from the biased models or definitions that were available for a Victorian woman, which rendered them victims at the hands of man and which never allowed the expression of their individuality. This paper is an attempt to study this dissenting voice, in response to the inappropriate standards that a Victorian woman was subjected to, in three of her poems- A Triad, In an Artist's Studio and Goblin Market. Further, the paper shall also seek to study how Rossetti tries to implicate a re-structuring of these standards in an effort to engage with important gender issues of her time. .
For a woman, marriage meant the acquisition of an "establishment", her own place financed by her husband. Marriage did not secure women the same right with men; however, was a norm that devised structures for judging women in Victorian society. Fletcher in his book The History of English Literature argues that Victorian respectability hides the importance of sexuality in the love relationship in a dark cupboard. As several critics have convincingly argued, Rossetti's poems on love and marriage challenge the patriarchal ideology of her time and suggest that she was engaged in a harsh analysis of the Victorian concept of marriage. Rossetti viewed the Victorian marriage market as a place of competition and betrayal. People of Victorian Era idealized the Angel in the House," the view that the perfect woman was embodied in the submissive, selfless devotion of the domestic housewife.
As poet Maurice Bowra wrote, "Christina finds herself in her poetry when emotion has conquered her words, when then creates her most characteristic poetry" (Packer,29). ... All four children found an interest in poetry and other arts. ... This is when her passion for poetry began. ... Dante Gabriel edited much of Christina's work. ... Rossetti believed this, and she proved it through her poetry. ...
The two poems I will be comparing are, Cousin Kate by Christina Rosseti, and the other one being The Seduction by Eileen McAuley. ... The story for Christina Rosseti's poem is that. ... Both the poems structures were in versus but Christina Rosseti's Cousin Kate has got six small versus and The Seduction has got fourteen small ones and one big one. ... But Christina Rosseti's poem, used first person narrative, only giving one point of view, as only one-person spoke. ... It was used in the poems as "She stifled" in Eileen McAuley's and as "shameful, shameless" in Christi...
Wyeth was introduced to Christina Olson, who would become the icon of his painting, "Christina's World." ... Although Christina Olson was the inspiration of the painting, she was not the only one. Betsy, Wyeth's wife who was then fifty-five, also posed a part of the painting model, for she was the torso of Christina. Christina's World was first exhibited at the Macbeth Gallery in Manhattan in 1948. ... I like how Christina is portrayed in the piece, I can connect with it. ...
These serious illnesses had great affect in her outlook on life and her poetry. ... But in 1871 she developed the Grave's disease and often believed herself to death, religious devotion and mortality became consistent themes in both her poetry and prose. ... In 1892, Christina was operated on for cancer. ... Christina died on the morning of December 29, 1894. ... With the criticism of (Harris 554) her poetry is marked by a diversity of stanzaic patterns and displays and impressive facility in rhyme. ...
Queen Christina of Sweden was known as one of the most diverting women of her age. ... However, her father ordered for Christina to be educated as if she were a prince. ... Christina was a lover of the arts. ... Christina immediately left Sweden and relocated to Rome. ... Conclusively, Queen Christina died in 1689 and was buried in St. ...
Christina Rossetti's Death Through Time Christina Rossetti's "At Home" captures the true definition of time related to life and death through metaphors and ingenious word context. ... Christina Rossetti titled her poem "At Home" based on the definition and the affect the words at home have on a persons emotions. ... Christina Rossetti used images of death to reflect the past and images of time passing through death. ... Christina Rossetti uses the narrator in the last stanza to show evidences of the two friends being human and that humans often forget the past. ... All in all, C...
"Christina Rosetti seems towards the dark side of life." ... A common interpretation of the work of the 19th century poetess, Christina Rosetti, is that her work is depressing, morbid and highly pessimistic. ... One of the obviously fundamental aspects of poetry is the language used and the literary devices employed, and Rosetti's poetry is certainly no exception to this. ...
Christina chased me until I was too tired to run anymore. ... Eating Habits: I spoke with Christina's mother who told me that one of Christina's favorite foods was pizza. Also, that Christina hated tomatoes. ... Christina is a clear-cut example of Erikson's terms. ... Christina was a well-behaved intelligent young girl. ...
Christina suffers because of her actions, and she also causes her father to suffer. ... They are suspicious of Christina being bitten by a snake. ... (p. 57) Therefore, Christina withdraws herself "into a shadowy silence." ... Later on, the ship runs into a storm which causes Christina to deliver her baby early. ... Christina suffers the ultimate price, death, and others suffer because of her. ...
