christina rossetti context Flashcards
what late 19th century movement was Rossetti associated with
Pre-Raphaelite
What was the pre-raphaelite movement?
an artistic movement dedicated to recapturing the beauty of a (much-mythologized and romanticized) Middle Ages.
Who was rossetti’s brother and why was he important
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a founder of the pre-raphaelite brotherhood movement aswell as being an accomplished painter and poet himself
What mental disorder did Rossetti suffer from
Religious Mania
What is religious mania?
an intense religious experience, which could be delusion or false beliefs
When was rossetti born and when did she die?
1830 - 1894
What are the main focuses of rossetti’s work?
focuses on mortality, religious devotion, and the complexities of women’s lives in a conservative Victorian society
Who is Rossetti often compared too?
Elizabeth Barrett-Browning
Of what faith was Rossetti?
Anglo-Catholic
What was significant about rossetti’s ethnicity?
By being italian rossetti takes influence from italian work such of that of Petrarch
What were the key influences of rossetti’s works
The bible , fairytales and folklore
Who was the monarch at the time of rossetti’s writiing
Queen Victoria
What were the expectations of the victorian woman?
English women of the “Victorian age” were expected to conform to strict expectations regarding everything from education to sexuality and marriage
prior to the mid 1800s what was it legal for a man to do
to use beating as valid form of authority over his wife
in what year did the matrimonial causes act come into law
1878
what was the matrimonial causes act
an act that allowed woman to seek legal separation from their husbands in cases of adultery , cruelty or desertation
what were married women legal rights like in the 1800s
very few legal rights when married and not recognised by law as separate beings
what was the feminist movement of rossetti’s time period called
the suffragettes
what was rossetti’s view of women’s role
sometimes argued that in a biblical sense a woman was subordinate to a man but also argued for women representation in parliament and often spoke out against the sexual exploitation of women
what was rossetti’s work considered to be in comparison to elizabeth barrett browning’s
less intellectual , less political and less varied but with a greater lyric gift
what did rossetti’s father call her and brother dante
the two storms
rossetti’s temperament
prone to tantrums and fractious behaviour
how much of rossetti’s work was devotional
more than half
where does rossetti’s morbidity come from
bouts of serious illness and her almost constant and sadly smitten personality
what did rossetti volunteer to do in 1854 but was rejected
join the crimean war as one of florence nightingale’s nurses
where did rossetti volunteer in 1859
St Mary Magdalens penitentiary for fallen women
