How this works:
Each chapter is dedicated to a singular poem
If there are any extra things I feel like highlighting- e.g. Rossetti's biblical intertextualities- these will be included after the summary.
Terms in bold are explained after the poetry summary.
Page numbers are taken from Penguin Classics: Rossetti's Selected Poems
Christina Rossetti
Christina Georgina Rossetti is a Victorian poet with 7 published, poetry collections jam-packed with poems. These span from sonnets created within sibling competition, (bout a rémes), to critically dissected poems like 'Goblin Market' and 'The Convent Threshold'. Rossetti is definitely not a stuffy Victorian!
One of my favourite things about Rossetti is her ability to play with conventional forms and their features or conventional subjectso. Not only does this create intriguing poems but also present numerous opportunities to go deeper in analysis.
The same applies to her vibrant imagery which reflects the Pre-Raphaelite paintings her brother and fellow artists were creating in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a brotherhood she was extremely important to and I, on her behalf, take issue that this has been overlooked!
Regardless what you think of her, at a very basic level, I could see her poetry split into a couple of different 'themes':
· Religion/Spiritual Devotion- EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Rossetti was known as a devout Christian throughout her whole life and was also a theologian herself as shown by her book 'The Face of The Deep'. A chunk of her poems are known as the 'Devotional Poems' that was how serious she was!
· Women- Marginalised/Fallen/ Strong Woman/ Female Gaze... the list goes on.
· Isolation
· Journeys
Of-course this is a very basic list as the interpretation can go on and on, but as a starter I feel these can give a basic understanding.
Enough blabbing- on with the show! Read on for my 'One Line Poetry Summaries' of Rossetti from the Edexcel A-Level syllabus.
Note: The summaries written are not meant to offend or degrade the author or anyone at all, they are just my personal ideas. If you don't get the humour, that's fine, and if you don't agree with me- even better! Please share your own interpretations or ideas about the poems. The whole point of English Literature is analysing and forming your OWN arguments and ideas- it's meant to be debatable otherwise it would be boring!!
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The Discombobulated Guide to: Christina Rossetti
Non-FictionAnyone else trying to wade through English Literature books?? Join the club! Although I love English Literature one does have to keep the passion alive and therefore during my exams I got a couple of ways of making it fun and decided to share with y...
