Rossetti Flashcards
What 3 poems link to the question “Love, death and religious belief are inseparable in Rossetti’s poetry.” How far do you agree with this view?
Sweet Death, Daughter of Eve, Have you Forgotten?
How does Sweet Death relate to the ‘love, death and religious belief question’?
The poem ‘sweet death’ explores themes of ‘love, death and religious belief’, especially focusing on the acceptance of the afterlife and the comfort it brings.
How does Daughter of Eve relate to the ‘love, death and religious belief question’?
Daughter of Eve also explores the theme of ‘love, death and religious beliefs’, but the speaker instead rejects love and goes through a social death because of it.
How does Have you Forgotten? relate to the ‘love, death and religious belief question’?
Although Have you Forgotten? explores the themes of love and religion, death is not a prevalent theme in the poem.
What is the context for Sweet Death?
- the poem is about a child’s death - at the time infant mortality was high in Victorian England.
- Ruth was a widow who was lost without a man, so looked after her mother in law. She’s an image of someone who waits around. She’s a self-sacrificing woman, link to Jesus. She subverts her typical role with God in the poem.
What is the context for A Daughter of Eve?
- the disappointing female
- the fallen woman (a poeticised account of Adam and Eve - Christianity)
- Rossetti worked with fallen women in the St. Mary’s Magdelin house
What is the context for Have you Forgotten?
- it was wrote and published in 1848, at 18 years old.
- ‘church bells’ - James Collinson proposed to Rossetti in 1848, but she rejected him on the grounds that he was Catholic, he changed but she still rejected. This is an emblem of their religious imbalance.
What is the interpretation for Sweet Death, for the love, death and religious beliefs question?
Poetry Foundation = this ‘reinforces the devotional poems’ theme of looking to the next life for reward, happiness, and fulfillment.’
- agree, the poem is about the comfort of the afterlife.
What is the interpretation for A Daughter of Eve, for the love, death and religious beliefs question?
Feminist perspective = she is a disappointing female who has given up on herself due to being socially outcast. The speaker has internalised the misogynistic outlook of society, so blames herself for her position.
What is the interpretation for Have you Forgotten?, for the love, death and religious beliefs question?
William Michael = ‘it was a blow from which she did not fully recover from for years.’
- agree, it is clear that she had a strong love for him.
How far do I agree with the love, death and religious beliefs question?
The themes of “love, death and religious beliefs” are prevalent in Rossetti’s poetry. Despite the themes importance, they are not necessarily inseparable.
What three poems link to the question “It has been observed that Rossetti “is not a feminist poet but is important to feminists.” Examine this view in Rossetti’s poetry?
From the Antique, Have you Forgotten?, Echo
How does From the Antique relate to the feminist question?
The poem ‘From the Antique’ is important for feminists as it provides a voice to the experiences of women who feel trapped by their circumstances. The poem is a powerful exploration of female desire in a patriarchal society, it speaks to the experiences of women who feel limited by their gender roles.
How does Have you Forgotten relate to the feminist question?
The dramatic monologue ‘Have you Forgotten?’ provides feminists a window into the life of the dependent female.
How does Echo relate to the feminist question?
Echo is a microcosm for how women may not have been given a voice by self-absorbed men. The poem presents the dependent female in an absorbed world. However, Rossetti distances herself from the poem through Greek Mythology.
What is the context for From the Antique?
- The poem was not published, but composed in 1854. It may have been kept unpublished as it may have damaged her reputation and she may be keeping her radical voice quiet, to maintain her conservative persona.
- 1854 was the year her dad became ill, and she took care of him.
- The poem doesn’t reflect a gender issue, but a personal one. Perhaps the poem is a reflection of her father’s life, but she feared it would be too offensive to publish.
What is the context for Echo?
- echo is a greek mythological character, while narcissus is a human.
- Rossetti is not a feminist herself and doesn’t believe in female suffrage.
- the dependent female - gender politics of Victorian period?
- Shakespearean structured poem
What is the interpretation for From the Antique?
Barton = ‘having returned home to care for her dying father in 1854, she would have been aware both of the limited career options open to women of the blinding force of domestic duty.’
- agree, speaker is a woman who is bound to her specific gender role of caring for the ill.
What is the interpretation for Echo?
Poetry Foundation = ‘the flimsiness and inconstancy of romantic love is a reoccurring theme.’
- agree, both Echo and Have you Forgotten? explore the dependent female and the longing for men who don’t feel the same romance as the female does.
How far do I agree with the feminist question?
Rossetti doesn’t directly challenge feminism throughout her poetry, but she does provide a window for feminists for the experience and life of a woman.
What three poems would link to ‘nature poet’ question?
Have you Forgotten, Sweet Death and From the Antique.
How does Have you Forgotten? link to the ‘nature poet’ question?
Rossetti uses nature metaphorically in the poem ‘Have you Forgotten?’, as a symbol for romance. Essentially, nature is used as an elaborate account to contrast the speaker’s memory and unequal relationship.
How does Sweet Death relate to the ‘nature poet’ question?
Nature is used as a metaphorical symbol for eternity in the poem’ Sweet Death’, presenting how the seasons of nature grow again after morality, it is also used as a source for comfort.
How does From the Antique relate to the ‘nature poet’ question?
Rossetti uses nature to suggest something about the speaker in ‘From the Antique’. Nature seems impersonal to the speaker, similar to how no one cares for the life of a woman. (Explored in the poem).
What is the interpretation for Sweet Death? (Nature question)
William Micheal = ‘hope does battle with despair.’
- agree, the despair of infant mortality is counterbalanced with death.
What is the interpretation for From the Antique (nature question)
Poetry Foundation = She wrote ‘poetry in which meaning is suggestive rather than explicit.’
- agree, as readers of her poetry we are able to decide for ourselves if Rossetti is a nature poet or just includes nature for it’s metaphorical benefit.
How far do I agree with the nature poem?
Rossetti is a poet who includes elements of nature throughout her poetry. However, instead of being described as a ‘nature poet’, she uses nature metaphorically to present broader themes. Essentially, Rossetti writes with nature, instead of about it.
What three poems link to the ‘rigid and conventional morality’ question?
A Daughter of Eve, From the Antique, Sweet Death.
