Rossetti AO3 Flashcards
What is Rossetti’s family history? (6 points)
Her family was very intellectual and well-educated - filled with scholars and artists
Her uncle was John Polidori, Lord Byron’s physician
At 14, she was diagnosed with religious mania after a nervous breakdown
Never married but had a very close relationship with her siblings and mother - lived with her mother for most of her life.
Became very ill herself later in life, suffering from Graves disease for nearly 20 years
She eventually died of breast cancer in 1894.
What was Rossetti’s relationship history (4 points)
In her late teens, she became engaged to James Collinson, a painter in the Pre-Raphaelite movement with Dante - broke it when he became a Catholic
Charles Cayley ( a noted linguist) later proposed but she rejected him because he couldn’t share her Anglican faith - remained close friends until his death
She was also proposed to by John Brett, but refused him as well.
Rossetti had a continual sadness about being childless.
What were Rossetti’s beliefs about women in society? (5 points)
Christina and her sister both volunteered at the St. Mary Magdalene Penitentiary, a refuge for former prostitutes and fallen women.
Many of Rossetti’s poems express distaste for the double standards of the time, particularly regarding sexual morality - disliked the presentation of women as either ‘Angel of the House’ or ‘temptress’.
She had a particularly progressive view that a mistake or sexual misdemeanour should not condemn a woman for the rest of her life
Women’s rights changed enormously during the Victorian era, but most of the time Rossetti was writing, married women could not own property
In 1870, Rossetti was asked to support a campaign to give women the vote - refused based on her beliefs about the role and responsibility of women (equal but different)
What is Rossetti’s religious history? (5 points)
Was an Anglican, specifically a Tractarian – a branch of Christianity that emphasizes ritual and ceremony in worship
Rossetti believed that all individuals can be assured of their place in heaven after death
She read and studied the Bible
Rossetti was writing at a time when Darwin’s ideas were being explored - has no engagement with the conflict of science and religion.
Rossetti’s poetry sometimes explores a conflict of earthly and heavenly joy, with the belief that one must be sacrificed to enjoy the other
What is the context behind the ‘fallen women’ archetype? (3 points)
Victorian society’s values were built on ancient and medieval ideals of sinfulness and the seductiveness of Eve
Moral purity was seen as tied to physical virginity rather than one’s character - victims of sexual violence weren’t exempted from this notion
Sexual innocence was highly valued and sex was only deemed appropriate within marriage
What was a ‘fallen woman’ in Victorian society? (4 points)
Someone who rejected Victorian society’s oppressive moral values concerning domesticity, sexuality, and femininity
Whether women were seduced, raped, prostituted themselves or chose to have a sexual relationship, they were considered ‘fallen’ if they engaged in such activities outside of marriage
Viewed as a threat to respectable society - became shunned as they were seen as tainted and spoiled
Was popularly portrayed in art, literature and the media as Victorian moralists warned against the consequences of losing one’s virtue
What were gender roles like during the Victorian era? (3 points)
Before the 19th century, it was normal for women to work alongside their husbands and brothers in the family business
As the 19th century progressed, wives, daughters and sisters were left at home all day to oversee the domestic duties that servants increasingly carried out
Became commonly believed that women belonged at home - most women could not afford to leave it
What is the ‘the Angel in the House’ archetype? (3 points)
It was the popular Victorian image of the ideal wife/woman - someone devoted and submissive to her husband
The Angel is passive, powerless, meek, charming, graceful, sympathetic, self-sacrificing, pious, and, above all, pure
The phrase comes from Coventry Patmore’s poem of the same name, in which he holds his angel wife up as a model for all women
What is the context behind the Age of Doubt? (4 points)
During the Victorian era, there was much controversy around belief systems and opinions surrounding the creation of the Universe
Darwin’s theory of evolution opposed the belief that God was the sole creator of the Universe and all living people
Geologists discovered evidence of Earth’s processes, proving it was at least 1000 years older than the Bible suggested
This lead to people questioning what was written in the Book of Genesis - created tension and doubt for religious Victorians
What were Victorian attitudes towards marriage like? (3 points)
In Victorian society, an unmarried woman was regarded as a failure
Young girls weren’t expected to focus on finding a husband - being ‘forward’ in the company of men suggested a worrying sexual appetite
Women were assumed to desire marriage because it allowed them to become mothers rather than to pursue sexual or emotional satisfaction
How was Victorian society misogynistic? (2 points)
The female body was idealised and objectified by Victorian society
Sexual double standards – women were expected to be chaste while men faced fewer consequences for their sexual behaviour
