Marriage in Christina Rossetti's Promises Like Pie-Crust and Edgar Allan Poe's Bridal Ballad

Marriage in Rossetti's Promises Like Pie-Crust and Poe's Bridal Ballad

In Christina Rossetti's "Promises Like Pie-Crust" and Edgar Allan Poe's "Bridal Ballad" female speakers encounter the milestone of marriage. Facing strong pressures from society, Rossetti's speaker refuses marriage in three well-reasoned arguments which are veiled in a guise of superciality. Conversely, Poe's speaker accepts marriage, but by the end of the poem realizes the dire consequences of her decision. Rossetti knows what she wants and does not want out of life; subsequently, Rossetti realizes that personal satisfaction and even joy may exist without a man and thus makes the tough decision not to marry. Poe's naive bride trusts in society and marries not out of love but in an attempt to attain happiness. Failing to either examine her inner thoughts or accept her misgivings, Poe's bride remains emotionally unready to marry. A paragon of the nineteenth century woman, Poe's bride, despite her doubts, succumbs to marriage whereas Rossetti's strong-willed speaker vehemently rejects the institution.

Poe's ostensible conformity opposes Rossetti's independent spirit; however, society's pressures affect both women. Poe writes "Bridal Ballad" in 1837 in America while Rossetti writes "Promises Like Pie-Crust" during the Victorian era in England; during both periods society demands that women marry (Mayberry 11). Referring to the unwedded woman as an "old maid" or "spinster", society reinforces the notion that matrimony alone leads to a contented, blissful state. Born and bred to marry, a woman's disruption of the wed-and-then- procreate cycle engenders not only society's disrespect but also frightening uncertainty for the woman (Mayberry 11). ...

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...ed bliss." Emotionally attached to her dead lover, Poe's bride proves her incapability of loving anyone else besides the dead D'Elormie. Citing several valid reasons, Rossetti eschews the decadent dessert while Poe's bride, deafened to reason by society's expectations, ignores Rossetti's arguments, seeks marriage as a panacea, and chokes on her medicine.

Works Cited

Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. H. Abrams. “Christina Rossetti.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 2012. 1489-512. Print.

Sova, Dawn B. “Bridal Ballad”. Critical Companion to Edgar Allan Poe: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 11 Dec. 2010. <

http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCEAP1298&SingleRecord=True>.