Christina Rossetti: Selected Poems

Born into the Anglo-Italian Rossetti family. Brother Dante Gabriel co-founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Christina's devout Anglo-Catholicism shaped every aspect of her life and art.

Twice refused marriage on religious grounds. Volunteered at St. Mary Magdalene Penitentiary for "fallen women" — profoundly influencing poems like Goblin Market.

The "Woman Question": intense debate about women's roles, rights, education, and sexuality. The "Angel in the House" ideal dominates, but feminists challenge it.

Victorian crisis of faith (Darwin, biblical criticism) shakes religious certainty. Rossetti's faith remains firm but her poetry acknowledges doubt and suffering.

Inherits Romanticism's focus on emotion and nature but complicates transcendence — her speakers often fail to transcend, remaining trapped in earthly suffering.

Part of the women's poetry tradition alongside Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Less overtly feminist but subtly interrogates gender constraints through form and voice.