Christina Rossetti Flashcards
Alice Kirby, Proto-Feminist Poet?
Her poetry “demonstrates a concern with the position of women in Victorian society and the constraints placed upon them”
She “challenged these restrictions: she was born into an artistic, literary family, who gave her a rich intellectual education at home, she worked for a living and chose to stay unmarried at a time when matrimoney, along with motherhood, was seen by many as a woman’s highest achievement”
“her female characters act as a reflection of her experiences”
Alice Kirby, Maude Clare
“The lilies, connoting innocence and fragility, could be symbolic of Maude Clare’s virginity, and the fact that they are ‘budding now’ could hint at an illegitimate pregnancy. Maude Clare has become a ‘fallen woman’”
“Having lost her virginity and hence her respectability, does not behave the way Victorian society would have expected of a woman in her situation…she is unashamed and proud”
Alice Kirby, Goblin Market
“Rossetti’s criticism of society is furthered by the character of Laura, who attempts to explore possibilities outside the sister’s sheltered existence”
“Laura is exploring her own identity beyond the domestic sphere. The goblins, therefore represent the perceived danger of a woman”
“The punishment visited upon Laura is indicative of Victorian society’s attitude towards ‘fallen’ women”
“the fact that Rossetti worked as a volunteer at a ‘house of charity’ for former prostitutes and single mothers for many years suggests her sympathy with the plight of such women”
Sarah Phillips, Painting in Words- Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
“aimed to provoke artistic renewal and moral reform through works”
“In an era of huge population growth…her poems are lonely and uncrowded”
“[her female protagonists] share their honest ideas free from patriarchal restrictions”
