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ROSSETTI CONTEXT - Coggle Diagram
ROSSETTI CONTEXT
FAMILY
Strong Italian roots established through her father who was additionally a political exile
Literary family due to her mother's connections (she was the sister of Byron's doctor)
Mariah (eldest) entered an Anglican covenant which was an active order used to help with the education of the downtrodden
Became a nun to dedicate their lives to God, and was one of the only ways for a women in society to remain single and contribute to the larger community whilst simultaneously affirming a positive female network
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Dante was one of the renowned founders and original painters and poets of the PRB alongside William Michael who was a civil servant, essayist and critic
RELATIONSHIPS
James Collinson - one of the original members of the PRB, and was initially a High Anglican/Tractarian
Became a Roman Catholic later in the relationship with Rossetti - Dante Gabriel Rossetti reminded him Rossetti's attitudes to marriage and relationships with someone who was not a co-religionist
Rossetti was known to draw a firm line with Tractarianists - she was part of a faith which did not accept authority from the Pope as a result of the Reformation which occurred in the 16th century, which consisted of a movement towards a reformed Catholicism which rejected errors of the Papacy (Pope power)
Practiced in the belief that the catholic identity of the Anglican Church was the original and true Christianity, and that Rome was the deviant branch
As a result, Collinson reverted back to High Anglicism because of Rossetti herself, who now accepted his proposal. Short lived - he became more infatuated with religious feelings that transcended the romantic, and eventually strode to become a celebate roman catholic priest, however he later married to someone else in 1858
Charles Cayley - a scholar, but was rejected from marriage due to his agnosticism
John Brett - was fond of Rossetti, but eventually never proposed to her
CONNECTIONS TO PRB
Close relationships to her siblings led her to be around for the emergence and early meetings of the PRB
Dante wanted her to become part of the literary club, presumably for recognising her literary prowess from an early age
Rossetti was alternatively concerned with display with the understanding of public exposure, yet ironically became one of the classical faces featured within the PRB paintings
Posed for artworks such as The Girlhood of the Virgin Mary, The Annunciation - despite being contradictory to her words, she sat in paintings in order to pretend to be someone else, rather than herself
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Often portrayed in artworks which depicted her knowledge and religious appreciation of Christ and his life
In PRB paintings, there was a known essence of jewel-like imagery and a great authenticity which accompanied the style of Rossetti's natural imagery in her poetry
RELIGION
Practiced in High Anglicism which was influenced by the Oxford Movement and Tractarianism, which was also her specific faith
This additionally shaped her daily life, infusing her mundane experience with daily readings and prayers dedicated to the Bible
Went to Church alongside her mother and sister in Albany street regularly, where her exposure to Anglicism and the returning elements of the pre-reformation church began - there was an emphasis on bringing Catholicism back into Anglicism
Regular attendance deepened her connections and experience with Christ through the Eucharist - considered a holy moment and significantly intimate moment between herself and Christ - Eucharist often associated with sacrifice
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Rossetti's part of religiosity was particularly scholarly, and subsequently allowed women to be part of the scholarship which focused on reading and understanding, with motivations for women to also become theologians
ARTISITIC INFLUENCES
Rossetti experimented with Tennyson's arrangements in Memoriam
Maude also was taken as inspiration through the experimentation of rhythm and meter
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Contemporaries were inspired by Elizabeth Barret Browning, with whom she also had social contact with
Background of Dante, due to both her father and sister also being scholars
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VIEWS ON FEMINISM
Perspective stemmed, unsurprisingly, from her strong sense of church hierarchal and patriarchal beliefs, so her attitudes were made by her point of faith
She socialised with feminists such as Bessie Parks and Anna Howard Shaw, even participating in their publications
Instead draws attention to religiosity, and focused on feminine principles which needed to be grounded theologically - an example would be how the sense of an ideal and Christ-like condition was often identified with femininity
She signed the Anti-Suffrage petition, partaking in the opposition against women's right's to vote, however contradictorily stated how mothers would make good MP's, due to their domestic knowledge and experience in raising a family
She volunteered at the St Mary Magdalene house of charity in Highgate, which was known to be a refuge for prostitutes or 'fallen women'