Rossetti Flashcards
1
Q
Rossetti’s life
A
Sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti who founded the Pre-Raphaelite movement
Nervous breakdown and depression at age 14
Worked as volunteer at Highgate Penitentiary for fallen women
Rejected two marriage proposals on religious grounds
Ill health/Graves disease
2
Q
Rossetti’s views on religion
and society
A
Was a devout Anglican
Was against women having the right to vote - conflict between religious beliefs and recognising the ‘barrier of sex’ which prevented women’s advancement
3
Q
How was her work received?
A
Publication of GM & other Poems in 1862 was brought to attention of many writers and reviewers
Became known as an inspiring figure for the generation of women who came after
4
Q
Song: When I am dead, my dearest
A
- Religious beliefs / soul sleep / life after death
- “And if thou wilt, remember, And if thou wilt, forget” - relationship is built on selflessness, not the possessiveness of Torvald / allows partner to move on unlike Torvald in shock at Nora leaving
- “Hear the nightingale sing on, as if in pain” - reflects pain of Nora as Torvald’s ‘songbird’ as she is trapped in a cage
- Rossetti had obsession with death (religious mania)
- Linked to Remember
5
Q
Remember
A
- Religious beliefs in the afterlife
- Rossetti obsessed with thoughts of death
- “Remember me when no more day by day You tell me of our future that you plann’d” - shows male dominance, more possessive, similar to Torvald (house key / macarons)
- “Remember me when I am gone away… into a silent land” - soul sleep, death is freeing not painful
6
Q
From the Antique
A
- Attitude towards women’s rights and independence
- “I wish and I wish I were a man” shows societal expectations unbearable, links to Nora ‘It was like being a man’
- “It’s a weary life, it is, she said: Doubly blank in a woman’s lot” - shows women’s anomalous position in a prevailingly male-dominated society
- “Not a body and not a soul: not so much as a grain of dust” - Biblical allusion to Adam/Eve - idea of nonexistence preferable to being - reflects Nora’s suicidal thoughts as she refuses to let Torvald take the blame
- Idea that human life is futile/endless but God’s love is never ending (links to Rossetti’s devout Anglicanism
7
Q
Echo
A
- Rossetti’s religious beliefs, including belief in the afterlife
- Her personal life – love and family
- Key themes include death/memory and past
8
Q
Shut Out
A
- Symbolic of women being shut out from world / stuck in domestic sphere whilst men in public sphere - this is epitomised in Patmore’s Angel of the House
- The original sub-title while writing was “What happened to me”
- “The door was shut” - links to doors in ADH (secrecy/concealment/housekey) and women shut out from the world like those at Highgate Penitentiary / Rossetti shut herself out of world after breakdown at 14
- “Wherein a lark has made her nest” - emphasises role of women in society - links to Nora as ‘skylark’ - Rossetti conflict between religion and female advancement (refused to sign suffrage bill)
9
Q
In the Round Tower at Jhansi
A
- 1857 Indian rebellion against the rule of the British East India company
- “His pale young wife” - nameless/objectified/possession like Torvald’s ‘MY skylark’, both helpless without husbands - early Nora is fully reliant on Torvald (gives her allowance)
“Rossetti has created a…” Suzanne Williams - Based on true story but later discovered that couple was executed by mutineers
- Bravery: couple takes their own life shows bravery from husband but when Nora takes brave decision to leave, Ibsens asked to write alternate ending
- Both wives subservient - in poem is seen as a strong bond but in play seen a inequality - Ibsen proto-feminist / Rossetti didn’t sign suffrage bill
10
Q
A Birthday
A
- Romantic poetry - Wordsworth using nature to express feelings
- “My heart is like a singing bird”- images of nature are full of love/happiness similar to Nora/Torvald’s seemingly perfect life at start of play before realisation that Nora is putting on performance
- Bird imagery “doves”, “peacocks” and “fleurs-de-lys” show peace/freedom but in ADH relate to constriction and entrapment
11
Q
Soeur Louise de la Miséricorde
A
- Rossetti’s ideas about women/ sexual desire
- “I have desired and been desired” - Rossetti had turned down two marriage proposals on religious grounds so was able to shut down desire for what she believed in, In ADH Nora leaves everything she has ever known to follow her desire to discover herself
- Poem explores solitary nature of nuns but has no clear progression - ADH contrasts this as it explores the dependence of a woman on a man whose relationship has no real direction until she explores her solitary nature
- Idea that sexual desire is not as fulfilling as relationship with God
- Rossetti’s sister was a nun
12
Q
Maude Clare
A
- Attitudes towards women and independence
- “I’ll love him till he loves me best, me best of all, Maude Clare” - ambiguous ending - does Rossetti praise humble Nell or outspoken MC?
- Nell reflects early Nora - submissive housewife, MC reflects later Nora - decisive
- Submissive Nell acts as a foil to dominant Maude Clare like Mrs Linde (mature and experienced) and Nora (naive and helpless)
- Maude Clare called Thomas “My Lord” mockingly like Torvald patronises Nora by calling her pet names
- “Waded ankle-deep” - removing clothing/lifting skirts seen as scandalous/teasing like Nora shows Dr Rank her “flesh-coloured stockings”
- Nell was like a village maid, MC was like a queen” - ironic as Nell wedding, female competition
- “MC, “he said, - “MC -“ and hid his face” - shows embarrassment/shame - takes a woman to expose the truth
- “Thomas’ silence is a clear critique…” - Simon Avery
13
Q
Up-Hill
A
- Explores struggles and challenges in life, inevitability of death
- Rossetti faced ill-health, death and relationships
- Question and answer format looks for guidance and reassurance like Nora relies on Torvald for her every move (e.g has to ask for money)
14
Q
No, thank you, John
A
- Women’s independence/ authority
- Cyclical structure as ends with “No, thank you, John” is symbolic of Rossetti choosing to move on with her life, similar to Nora’s more commanding tone to Torvald / self-control
- “You know I never loved you, John” - like Torvald never truly loved Nora, he just loved the idea of her/dressing her up like doll
- “I’d rather say no to fifty Johns than say yes to you”
- Written after rejecting marriage to John Brett
- Links to Mrs Linde putting job/financial security above romantic relationship
15
Q
Good Friday
A
- Attitudes towards women / religion
- Questioning tone of the poem links to religious doubt - Nora seems disillusioned with religion due to her understanding of social injustices (“I will see if what the clergyman said is true, or at all events if it is true for me”)
- Rossetti high Anglican
- Sheep/shepherd/stone imagery - Jesus’ death on cross
