Analysis of “Cousin Kate” by Christina Rossetti This poem was written by Christina Rossetti in the late Victorian time, on the 19th Century. It is not a typical poem of its time context because of its theme and as we can see analyzing it, Christina although making her meaning clear, uses ambiguities, double senses. Simply because in that time, women would be seen as impure and as an “outcast thing” if they had affairs while being not married. This controversial poem to the Victorian era is a letter to the narrator’s cousin about her feelings. In the poem, the narrator was having an affair with a lord.
Her marriage has wounded her to an intolerable degree and she just wants to escape it, but is slow to admit this to herself. The next line describes the sobs are arriving with a "sharp surprise" (line four). This diction suggests that she refuses to confront herself with the fact that she hates her marriage. Given the period in which Meredith composed this poem (1862, during the Victorian Age), convention probably forced both husband and wife into a union
When Victoria accused to Melbourne who is a men influenced her life. She complained that her mother's close almost promised "torment for many years", Melbourne suggested her marriage might could be avoided it. Victoria called her marriage as a "shocking alternative". Victoria showed interest in Albert’s education, prepared for the future role, he would have to be her husband. After a short while, they were married on 10 February 1840.
In Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, and Our Mutual Friend, by Charles Dickens, two proposals, despite their few effective moments, end up being horrendously ineffective. The first of which, William Collins proposes to Elizabeth Bennett. And the latter, Bradley Headstone—his last name, which he will need after he dies from the painful embarrassment of his rejection—proposes to Lizzie Hexam. What makes a marriage proposal successful is a display of commitment, intimacy, and passion—though not too much or too little of any one factor! A lack of one or more of these—which both proposals are guilty of—will lead the proposer down the path of one of the main struggles of wooing: rejection.
Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three and twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character…She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper” (3). Sadly, the issue of male and female relationships which Jane Austen presents through Mr. and Mrs. Bennet is not very pleasing and just in case readers were unaware of this, she makes it explicitly known. “Had Elizabeth’s opinion been all drawn from her own family, she
Similarly, “My Last Duchess” is a dramatic monologue yet in contrast it is the only poem where the narrator is a man. In the poem the Duke of Ferara tells a stranger about his deceased wife making it sound as if he has killed her. Similarly, “Anne Hathaway” is about the wife of William Shakespeare however in the poem the wife is loved and appreciated yet in “My Last Duchess” the duke hates his wife. In “Anne Hathaway” we hear about the love life between Shakespeare and his wife. This contrasts to “Salome” where the narrator despises men.
It is immediately clear that Sonnet 130 challenges traditional concepts of romantic love. The sonnet follows a strict mechanical form that is shaped by rules and conventions, however, there is an organic element in the way in which the poet-speaker engages with those conventions. Conventions are literary devices so widely used they become accepted and expected as foundations for a framework within which to write (Murfin and Ray 80). A popular convention with sonneteers is the use of conceits established by Italian poet Francesco Petrarch that present an exaggerated image of the beloved through the use of hyperbole and oxymoron (379). In his Rime Sparse, Petrarch repeatedly comments on the “physical charms and unassailable virtue” of the beloved, stating her beauty as due to “golden hair, resplendent eyes…lustrous skin, ruby lips, white hand and neck” (Vaccaro 243).
In the novel, The Awakening, took place in the late nineteenth century, a time frame in which the society imposed many restrictions on the role of the female and public expectations women’s behavior. Edna’s emotional and sexual awakening is exemplified by a significant revelation in regards to the main character. The protagonist, Edna Pontellier, is a young woman caught in a loveless, but pampered marriage with husband, Léonce. Mrs. Pontellier did not fit the mold of most females, or mother-women, as defined in The Awakening as “women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels” (Chopin, 1899). A psychoanalytical perspective will enable readers “to reveal the influence of the subconscious in the text's plot, setting, conflict, symbols, point of view, language, and character development” (South University Online, 2011).
Duty to Self vs. Duty to Others When Henrik Ibsen’s popular realistic drama, “A Doll’s House”, was published in 1879 it was harshly criticized for its controversial portrayal of the marriage relationship, as well as Nora’s final rejection of her inherent duty to her husband and children. The protagonist, Nora Helmer, battles a dilemma whether to put first duty to self or to others. Nora has never been truly happy in a home, but nevertheless has complied with implicit societal expectations of a woman of the time period. She reaches her breaking point when her husband, Torvald Helmer, reacts unexpectedly to the news that she had secretly taken out a loan from Nils Krogstad by forging her father’s signature. Although, by abandoning her family Nora lost everything she thought she once knew and loved, she has finally gained the one thing she sincerely wanted, control of her own life.
Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is a famous novel related to mixed emotions concerning family issues. The main theme of the novel is marriage and its importance in the society. ‘Pride and Prejudice’ portrays the significance of how marriage was treated in the nineteenth century, where the elopement of a woman with a man was very common yet it wasn’t socially accepted. In the nineteenth century women had a lower status in society than men, for instance they were not allowed to vote. At the time women were not permitted to inherit their fathers wealth and therefore had to choose husbands who were financially stable.