Context

Question 1

Childhood - Dinah Birch

Answer 1

‘literary family life’
- age 14/15 - suffered a mental breakdown
- consequence of this was she was considered fragile = gave her the space to write

Question 2

Religion - what were Rossetti’s religious beliefs

Answer 2

‘Devout Anglican’ who read the bible daily
‘scholarly religiosity’

Question 3

Marriage

Answer 3

Rossetti never married!! - extremely subversive figure for the time

• 1848 - 50 engaged to Collinson - the engagement was called off bc he changed religions
• Possible romance with John Brett - inspo for NTYJ?

Question 4

What was Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s view of CR’s writings?

Answer 4

• he often condemned Rossetti’s writings and claimed she had a ‘muscularity’ of expression => he, like most males in this period believed that women should focus their writings on dainty, twee poems rather than tackle large issues.

Question 5

What is the relevance of the 1864 Contagious Diseases Act?

Answer 5

Act suggested that women were carriers of venereal diseases & were inherently unclean.
- Saw women (prostitutes) submit to police officers for invasive medical examinations => reinforcing teh male entitlement to female body & sexuality inherent in the Lapsarian cultural frame.
- associations of women with uncleanliness suggestive of notion that women had larger sexual appetites.

Question 6

Between what years did Rossetti volunteer at Highgate penitentiary & what did this suggest?

Answer 6

• 1859 to 1870
• Worked to ‘rehabilitate’ fallen women, clearly suggesting that she disagreed w/ Lapsarian society’s harsh reaction to these women as she believed they should be owed some compassion & offered ‘forgiveness’ and redemption. => clearly believed that they shouldn’t be forever confined to the status of ‘fallen woman’

Question 7

Why can rossetti be said to be a contradictory poet?

Answer 7

Although she was NOT a feminist by any means, she still advocated for feminist ideals.
BUT she was conflicted over feminism due to her religiosity, which ult. prevented her from signing a petition for teh female right to vote.

Question 8

Ecocriticism & ecotheology - give some examples of teh increasing environmental concerns within the Victorian era

Answer 8

• J.S Mill’s 1848 warning to the world => portrayed a very bleak world stripped of all natural beauty & resources for human gain.
• Dodsworth’s ‘sign of the times: natural disasters, war, climate change & industrialism.’
• Strong Ant-vivisection movement (animal testing & live dissections). => CR was a member of this movement. & ALSO Beatrix potter as part of climate conscious cultural frame.