Context: Rossetti's views on social conflicts Flashcards
Female emancipation, Position of women, Sexual double standards, 'Fallen' women, Religion.
What were Rossetti’s views on female emancipation?
Rossetti reffered to the Bible a lot to justify her view that women and men are different. This includes their position, duties and responsibilities. E.g ‘Goblin Market’.
What were Rossetti’s views on the position of women?
Rossetti was aware of the disadvantage of women in Victorian society and the social standards imposed upon them. She voiced some concerns in some of her poems E.g ‘The Lowest Room’
What were Rossetti’s views on sexual double standards?
Victorian male writers often portrayed women as either the innocent maid/mother or as the sinful temptress. Rossetti challanged this perception in some of her poems by mixing a range of qualities such as intelligence, loyalty, faith, and devotion to create a balanced image of female characters e.g ‘Goblin Market’.
What were Rossetti’s views on ‘fallen’ women’?
Rossetti admired Webster’s poetry and was specifically concerned with the welfare of women who wanted to come out of prostitution. During the 1860s, Rossetti worked as a voulunteer in a home for ‘fallen’ women. She uses this home in her poetry as proof that women who were previously prostitutes can change and still make a contribution to society. E.g ‘Mary Magdalene and the Other Mary’
What were Rossetti’s views on Religion?
Rossetti was a devout Anglo-Catholic and many of her beliefs can be seen in her poems. More than half of her work is devotional; her later years of poetry and prose is almost exclusively religious.
