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.