Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was born in 1828, but not with that name; not entirely, that is. In truth, he was born Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti, son of an Italian scholar living in London, but later changed the arrangement of his name so as to closer identify himself with the great 13th-14th century Italian poet Dante Aligheri, author of la Divina Comedia and Vita Nuova (Everett, np). His obsession with Dante impacted his work, both literary and artistic; from his masterpiece "Beata Beatrix" to his poetry buried with wife Elizabeth Siddal, he lived and worked under the duality of beauty, the fight between the body and the soul, best expressed in "The House of Life," particularly sonnets 77 and 78, "Soul's Beauty" and "Body's Beauty" respectively.
Even early in his career, Rossetti's interest in Dante is apparent. In 1848, he translated portions of Aligheri's Vita Nuova, which details Dante's unconsummated love for Beatrice, a theme that also runs through the Divine Comedy. It is at this time that Rossetti changed the order of his name and initials, dropping "Charles" altogether. This would become a lifelong identification with the poet, emphasized by his relationship with Elizabeth Siddal (Rodgers, p 16).
In 1860, Rossetti married Siddal, a model and artist with whom he had an affair. This wasn't a happy marriage, both partners suffering from depression and drug addiction. Moreover, this was a "pity" marriage, done not out of love but out of loyalty to Siddal, believing he could save her from herself. Part of Rossetti's obsession with Dante became an identification of two kinds of love, one being chaste and spiritual and identified with the person of Beatrice, the other being earthly and physical. In marrying Siddal, Rossetti felt he was destroying her position as Beatrice, despite the fact that they were already lovers. The marriage was a short, tumultuous one, ending in the suicide of Siddal by way of a drug overdose of Laudanum, an opiate. Depressed, especially since the miscarriage of their only child, and no doubt also by Rossetti's infidelities, particularly with Jane Morris, wife of friend and fellow Pre-Raphaelite William Morris, Siddal is thought to have intentionally overdosed on the narcotic.
Dante write one of the masterpiece of the literature, a book that even third fourths of a century later people still reading but behind dark lines like as “Through me you enter into the city of woes, Through me you enter into the eternal pain, Through me you enter the population of loss” (Dante 19.1-3) must exist a reason or a purpose to write these lines. Dante born in 1265 in the cradle of Florence. In his childhood only two things happen that has transcendental for his work in literature, her mother died in 1272 (when Dante had 7 years old). Also, in may 1 of 1974 he meets Beatrice when he was nine years and her eight years and Dante instantly falls in love with her. “She began in a soft angelic voice”(Dante 13.47), this type of word Dante
Dante, an Italian poet during the late middle ages, successfully parallels courtly love with Platonic love in both the La Vita Nuova and the Divine Comedy. Though following the common characteristics of a courtly love, Dante attempts to promote love by elevating it through the lenses of difference levels. Through his love affair with Beatrice, although Beatrice has died, he remains his love and prompts a state of godly love in Paradiso. Dante, aiming to promote the most ideal type of love, criticizes common lust while praises the godly love by comparing his state of mind before and after Beatrice’s death. PJ Klemp essay “Layers of love in Dante’s Vita Nuova” explains the origins of Dante’s love in Plato and Aristotle themes that designate
Friar Lawrence in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet "We still have known thee for a holy man"
"Friar:'Take thou this vial, being then in bed, ?And this distilling liquor drink thou off"'(IV, I, 93-94) This was an easy task for the Friar since he grows and sells herbs and medicines to the people of Verona. Although he tried to send word to Romeo explaining the plan he had produced, it never made it to him. “Friar: ‘Hold! Get you gone, be strong and prosperous/ In this resolve, I’ll send a friar with speed /To Mantua, with my letters to thy lord.’ ” (IV, I, 122-124) Instead of hoping that the letter would make it to Romeo, the Friar should have made an excuse to delay the wedding and spoke with Romeo the next day. Hearing that Juliet had died, Romeo poisoned himself by her corpse. Upon awakening, Juliet discovered her dead husband and stabbed herself so that she may also be dead.
In reading critical analysis of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" I found that many people call Friar Lawrence a moderate man who elicits to others his voice of wisdom and reason. An example of this sort of conclusion is George Ian Duthie's opinion that Lawrence is "A very worthy man", "prudent" and "worldly-wise"(xix.xx). G.B. Harrison views him as "sympathetically treated", "wise, grave, patient"(6). Due to this continuing interpretation, the view of Friar Lawrence has not really changed through the years. Mutschman and Wentersdorf followed the herd when they stated in their book that
Thesis- Dante and Virgil have an interesting relationship that changes throughout Dante’s Inferno. They started off very different and Virgil didn’t care much for Dante. Dante looked at Virgil differently after he had heard Beatrice sent him to guide him. Throughout their travels, their relationship changed as they went through every layer of hell. Something happened in each one that changed their relationship either drastically, or barely at all. Their travels are very intriguing and their relationship is very complex. They become very close, so much that Dante acquires a deep trust in Virgil. They are no longer “just friends.” They are both poets and can communicate very well through words and Literature.
Ruud, Jay. Critical Companion to Dante: a Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On
Divine love is an essential moving block from a state of misery to one of happiness. We learn that Virgil has only come to Dante’s aid because he has been summoned by Beatrice. This is an example of relying on divine love. He says to Dante “Do not fear, the journey we are making none can prevent: such power did decree it. Wait here for me and feed your weary spirit with comfort and good hope; you can be sure I will not leave you in this underworld” (Dante pg.45). Despite fear Virgil reasures Dante with indirect and divine love. Virgil and Dante are anxious and weary about the journey that they are about to take on. However, Virgil reassures Dante that he will not leave him in the underworld. Instead they both will eventually ascend to paradiso. He believed that sometimes it is important to live through other people 's happiness in order to seek happiness. Dante felt that having knowledge of the divine love will eventually lead to happiness and get one through the hard times. Even in the inferno, divine love is still present and guides Dante through his battles, fears, emotions and
In Rossetti’s poem “In an Artist’s Studio”, she illustrates a man in the art studio surrounded around his canvases. On each of his canvases, he has painted the same woman in different positions, as depicted in, “One selfsame figure sits or walks or leans” (Rossetti 104). This man continuously paints the same women, each time depicting her differently as demonstrated, “A saint, and angel…” (Rossetti 104). Similarly, in McKay’s poem he illustrates for the readers, a dark skinned, half clothed woman dancing. Both of these poems focus on how men view women, and how men idealize women for their beauty, or some other desirable part of them. Both of these poets express that men do not appreciate the wholeness and complexity of both of these women. McKay’s idealized woman is also a woman of colour, which may lead into a discussion of race gender, and sexuality. In Rossetti’s poem, the artist “feeds upon” (Rossetti 104) the object of his affection, “not as she is, but as she fills his dreams” (Rossetti 104). Also, McKay’s narrator idealizes her physical beauty and describes how everyone “devoured” her beauty, even though “her self was not in that strange place” (McKay 18). The main difference is that McKay’s narrator sees his desired woman as having “grown lovelier for passing through a storm” (McKay 18), whereas Rossetti’s artist uses his art to wash away the pain-and by extension, the
middle of paper ... ... Dante showed the true meaning of courtly love and was a gentleman throughout his life. Dante Alighieri met the love of his life when he was only nine years old, but never stopped loving her. She passed away when he was about 25 and Dante was never the same as before. After 16 years, his love for her never faded, even though both had married.
In Canto XVII, Virgil gives great insight to the two types of love. As asserted by Morgan “Dante learns of the goodness of natural...
La Vita Nuova is a collection of poetry and prose describing Dante’s love for Beatrice Portinari. Though both Dante and Beatrice married others during the time chronicled in La Vita Nuova, the love he professes for her is pure and all consuming. Indeed, for Dante, Beatrice represents absolute beauty and nobility of spirit. He refers to her as his “most gracious lady,” and she comes to represent the most perfect object of love.
Harrison, Anthongy H. Christina Rossetti in Context. University of NC Press, Chapel Hill and London: 1988.
...ence. Shortly after they moved to Florence and had four sons and one daughter. In Florence, Artemisia enjoyed huge success and was the first woman to be accepted into the Academy of Drawing. She also became good friends with the most respected artists of her time and was able to maintain good relations with them thought her lifetime. Despite Artemisia success the Florentine period was full of problems with her and her husband, and these problems later lead to her returning to Rome in 1621. The road of life is filled with countless twists and turns and Artemisia Gentileschi entire life shows exactly that. Artemisia’s life was one big struggle, but battered and bruised she made it through, and as a result of her lifetime of pain, she made an eternity’s worth of art works. Today she is regarded as one of the most progressive and expressionist painters of her generation
Rossetti’s use of repetition emphasizes the idea that the artist is able to set expectations for women by controlling who they are, what they do, and what they feel by recreating them through art. Rossetti shows us a woman who is repeatedly being depicted in the artist’s paintings. Repetition of the word “one” (1,2,8) conveys a sense of homogenization: many women