Compare and contrast how Rossetti shows her views on death and the after-life in the poems 'Song' and 'Remember'

'Song' and 'Remember' by Christina Rossetti both explore her views on death and the after-life. In both, Rossetti describes death as freedom, this could be due to the restraints Victorian women faced in life. Moreover, Rossetti compels the reader to abandon the consensual rituals for grieving.

In 'Song', Rossetti imagines her death in, and leaves instructions to the reader on how to deal with her death. Rossetti once again wants to break away from any societal norm, even after her death, and rejects common rituals such as when the speaker says "plant thou no roses at [their] head". Although normally this would be considered respectful, Rossetti doesn't want any cliche's. Instead, the persona asks the reader to "be the green grass above [them]". A much more humble request than roses, it reflects the common saying "the grass is greener on the other side". The persona wants the reader to move on, if they perform all the consensual rituals they will stay mournful and sad, but if they are the "green grass" then they will be able to move on from her death.

Similarly, in 'Remember', Rossetti once again takes control of how her death will be dealt with, commanding the reader in what they should and shouldn't do. This assertiveness suggests Rossetti empowering herself, and breaking away from the traditional Victorian values where it is the man who decides everything. 'Remember' reinforces this, where the speaker calls out the reader: "You tell me of our future that you plann'd". The pronouns are significant as they expose the patriarchal constraints that Victorian women faced. Although it was their future, it was the reader that dictated what would happen, and only now in death is the persona able to break free, and in 'Song' it is illustrated with a nightingale: "I shall not hear the nightingale / sing on, as if in pain". The nightingale is the speaker, and upon their death they will no longer have to "sing on as if in pain", pain brought on by the constrictions Victorian women had to deal with.

Not only does Rossetti address death, but she also talks about life after death. In the second stanza in 'Song', the speaker describes life after death as "dreaming through the twilight". "twilight" is when it is no longer day, but not yet night - a liminal state. From this it's right to presume that Rossetti considers life after death to be in a sort of everlasting 'limbo', where the days "doth not rise nor set". However, the speaker does not consider this to be a bad thing, "dreaming" has positive connotations that imply that life after death will be a long peaceful sleep. And, in 'Remember', the speaker uses the euphemism "silent land" to symbolise death. The fact that the speaker uses "silent land" suggests that they believe in a life after death, and that they may be physically gone but their soul may live on. This would coincide with Rossetti's religious views, as she was a very devout Anglican. "Silent" further suggests that Rossetti imagines life after death to be peaceful, as in both 'Song' and 'Remember', both speakers describe life after death to be an absence of any sensations: "I shall not feel the rain".

Rossetti's ideas of life after death are also illustrated through the rhythm in the poem 'Song'. In the final two lines of the poem, the speaker contemplates what she will know beyond the grave. The penultimate line is: "Haply I may remember". This line has a trochaic rhythm, which contrasts with the majority of the poem that follows an iambic rhythm. Following that, is: "And haply may forget". The final line follows the rhythm of the poem perfectly with an iambic trimeter. What the penultimate line suggests is that for a second the speaker falters in her seemingly certain views on the after-life, hence the contrasting rhythm, and then straight after the speaker comforts themselves once more with the idea of forgetting, and the rhythm resumes back to normal. Furthermore, the word "forget" kills the rhythm, and displays an feeling of inevitability and finality. It shows the speaker's certainty towards the matter. It could also be the speaker's last breath, and in fact this was all being said to the reader at their deathbed, and after they had delivered the instructions to the reader and consumed themselves with notions of "dreaming through the twilight", they were able to let go, and thus "forget".

'Remember' is in the style of a sonnet. This is significant because normally a sonnet is a love poem for a woman. Rossetti takes this and makes it her own, turning it into an assertive list to the reader, where the speaker plans her own death after having their whole life planned for them. This creates very anti-romantic connotations, displaying that Rossetti is tired of the patriarchy and so she warps the consensual idea of a sonnet.

Initial assessment essay - improved.

"No, thank you, John" - Discuss Rossetti's portrayal between men and women

In "No, thank you, John" Christina Rossetti addresses and challenges the patriarchal values that defined victorian relationships.

Arranged marriages were extremely common in the Victorian era, and this poem illustrates the problems that arranged marriages caused. The persona in "No, thank you, John" confronts John, a general, depersonalised character on the aspect of arranged marriage. By using such a common name, the readers at the time were able to visualise themselves and their own relationships in the poem, thus Rossetti was able to empower women all over Britain, freeing them from the possessive arms of men and arranged marriage.

Rossetti's poem would have been quite controversial when it was published as at the time it was expected of a woman to agree to a marriage proposal in order to gain wealth and status - love wasn't a contributing factor. However, Rossetti disregards these patriarchal values and exposes them one by one in each stanza. For example, the persona offers to the reader the double standards that women face: adultery and cheating. Although it was common for a man to bed many women and even after they married, it was compulsary for a woman to remain a virgin until married, they would lose all respect if they weren't and faced much major consequences for adultery in comparison to men. And so, the persona tells John about "Meg and Moll". Once again Rossetti has used fairly common names to illustrate her point, but not only that, she takes it one step further and uses alliteration to reinforce the idea that to men, women's names were so insignificant that they all blended into each other. Although the persona does not want to be with John, she still addresses his unfaithfullness to emphasise the audacity that John has to try and wed her when he himself is not pure. This links to context, as Rossetti was a very religious woman whose beliefs would come before any man, she even called of an engagement after her fiance reverted back to Catholicism.

Moreover, Rossetti turns to the lack of voice that Victorian women had. "No fault of mine made me your toast", implies that the persona wanted nothing to do with John, that she didn't decide for this all to happen. "your toast" really foritifies the objectification that victorian women faced. "your" shows possessiveness, as if the persona could have been owned by John, and "toast" alludes to the image of John showing the persona off and that he had the audacity to believe that she was even his to show off.

The persona uses masculine phrases and assertive words and phrases when addressing John. For exmaple, she asks John for them to "strike hands". Handshakes have always typically been associated with men and masculinity, the persona takes that and claims it as her own. This breaks the patriarchal barrier between them, and symbolises the unity that could come between man and woman if they were to leave mysoginistic values in the past and allow women - and the persona - to be independant. Furthermore, through enjambment the persona says "And points not understood/In open treaty". Using "treaty" to describe a personal relationship intensifies the persona's confidence and authority, as during the victorian era it was uncommon for women to use political terms. Finally the use of enjambment belittles John, and the break in the sentence shows that she knew that John wouldn't undesrtand as the enjambment creates a pause.

In conclusion, I believe that Rossetti writes "No, thank you, John" to break down society's gender roles and try to illustrate their ludicrousy.

Maude Clare by Christina Rossetti

Plot of Maude Clare

·         The man (Lord Thomas) and Maude Clare had a romantic relationship, they are in love

·         Due to different social class, Thomas must marry Nell who is of the same upper class

·         So Thomas and Maude Clare cannot marry each other even though they love each other

 

Nell

• Nell loves Thomas and is proud and triumphant to be married to him
• Her character is of upper class, and this is affirmed by her way of dealing with Maude Clare: she shows off that she "won", that she gets everything that she wants (Thomas)
• Although she is quite childish in the way she confronts Maude Clare, she is also very brave for choosing to marry Thomas despite him loving someone else; although it could also be evidence for her caring about status over love.

 

Order the characters speak in

The mother is the first character to speak in the poem, this indicates her high status and power, that she has the first say above any of the other characters. This is significant to consider when analysing the order in which the other characters talk. Case in point, the next character to talk is in fact Maude Clare. Maude Clare has the lowest status of all four characters, yet not only is she second to speak she also possesses five out of the twelve stanzas. This alludes the reader to believe that Maude Clare has the upperhand in this poem, she manages to manipulate Thomas, reducing him to no more than one stanza, only able to say her name: "Maude Clare". On the other hand, this could be Rossetti's way of exposing the class system present during the Victorian era, that no matter how much Maude Clare had to say, her voice would not be heard - she had little to no influence. Last to speak is Nell. By speaking last Rossetti has given Nell the last word, which is an important part of any poem. Therefore, Rossetti is telling the reader through Nell's words that although there is true love between Maude Clare and Thomas, she has won - the class system has won. Alternatively, Rossetti may have put Nell last to show that she has the least power (in this situation) of all, that she is left trying to wrap things up between Maude Clare and Thomas.

 

Nell and Maude Clare

"Maude Clare" by Christina Rossetti is the poet's way of exposing the faults in the Victorian class system. Straight away in the first stanza she challenges class roles, comparing Nell (an upper class lady) to a "village maid", and Maude Clare (a woman of a much lower class) to a "queen". The descriptions that she has given these two characters accentuate Rossetti's belief that your class does not always equate to how you actually are.

As I previously mentioned, Maude Clare has a much bigger and more powerful role in the poem in comparison to Nell, and this could be due to the fact that Maude Clare holds more power and influence where Thomas is concerned; because he loves her, not Nell. Moreover, the stanza's in which Nell does speak show not only an air of triumphance, but also a desperation: "And what you leave, I'll take". straight away, the first line that Nell speaks lives up to Rossetti's description of her at the beginning of the poem: a "village maid". It's almost as if Maude Clare is the lady, and she's leaving her left overs (Thomas) with Nell, leaving the worst parts with her, as Maude Clare has already stolen the best part: Thomas's heart.

The desperation subtley continues until the end of the poem, it is clear Nell knows that Thomas is in love with Maude Clare, but she still grasps on to all that she can "For he's my lord". She may have lost him romantically, but she still has him for status and for title. A final thing to notice is in the two stanza's that Nell's character speaks, she ends both with "Maude Clare". The repitition could be an indication of her nervousness, she keeps faltering at the last moment and falling victim to Maude Clare's name, just as Thomas did before her. Structurally, Rossetti may have done this with intention to imply that Maude Clare cannot be forgotten, her name will always linger in not only Thomas's but also Nell's mind.

 

 
 
 
 

 



Christina Rossetti