Religion and Relationships in Christina Rossetti’s Work

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Recommended: The role of women in the Victorian era

Religion and Relationships in Christina Rossetti’s Work

Our dreams are commonly known as the subconscious manifestations of our inner desires. Creative writing, like dreams, can represent an outlet, a method of pseudo-fulfillment for those unrealized wishes or fears. In the case of much fiction, especially poetry, these hidden triumphs are often so subtle that the reader may not recognize the achievement or the repressed emotion to which it relates.

Christina Rossetti is known as one of the primary female figures of the Victorian Period. The majority of her poetry falls into one of two categories: religion and relationships. Many of her poems on relationships included a theme of death, yet often centered on the relationship between the dead or dying and their loved ones. She wrote a number of poems on love, as well, but these often bring forth a sense of loss, avoidance, fear, or disbelief. Based on some of these love poems and the fact that she was reportedly in love twice during her lifetime, it seems clear that Christina Rossetti was no stranger to the desires of humanity. We, as people, tend to have a natural urge to be seen on a very personal level, to be understood for that which makes us unique, and to be loved in spite of these things. Rossetti’s “religious poetry acknowledged these longings and formed an outlet for them. Many of her ‘poems explore what she saw as the great danger that the Victorian cult of love and marriage posed to the souls of woman’” (Touché 4). She held very strongly to her faith and is reported to have turned down two men whom she dearly loved because of religious differences that she could not overcome. “As a deeply religious woman she was afraid somebody ‘could co...

... middle of paper ...

...J. and Vivienne J. Rundle, ed. The Broadview Anthology of Victorian Poetry and Poetic Theory. Orchard Park: Broadview Press,1999.

Everett, Glenn. “The Life of Christina Rossetti.” Victorian Web. 26 Nov. 2004. 14 Dec. 2004. <www.victorianweb.org>.

“Maid.” Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary. 1976.

Rossetti, Christina. “Promises Like Pie-Crust.” Net Poems. 2003. 13 Dec. 2004. <http://www.netpoets.com/classic/poems/052012.htm>.

Touché, Julia. “The Longing for Motherhood and the Concept of Infertility in the Poetry of Christina Rossetti.” Victorian Web. 26 Nov. 2004. 14 Dec. 2004. <www.victorianweb.org>.

“Virgin.” Def. 1a. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary. 1976.

Womble, Alison. “Sappho and Christina Rossetti II.” Victorian Web. 26 Nov. 2004. 14 Dec. 2004. <www.victorianweb.org>.

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