Christina Rossetti - Rest

REST
by: Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

EARTH, lie heavily upon her eyes;

Seal her sweet eyes weary of watching, Earth;

Lie close around her; leave no room for mirth

With its harsh laughter, nor for sound of sighs.

She hath no questions, she hath no replies,

Hush'd in and curtain'd with a blessèd dearth

Of all that irk'd her from the hour of birth;

With stillness that is almost Paradise.

Darkness more clear than noonday holdeth her,

Silence more musical than any song;

Even her very heart has ceased to stir:

Until the morning of Eternity

Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be;

And when she wakes she will not think it long.

• REST - euphamism of death?
• Sleep- similar to dying until you wake up.
• PEACE in death/rest - 'Hush'd in and curtain'd with a blessed dearth of all that irk'd her from the hour of birth.'
• TENDER- 'sweet eyes', 'holdeth her', 'blessed dearth'
• 'Harsh laughter' - out of place, peaceful. No true emotion. Resting from emotion and feeling. Any kind of emotion breaks this peace and takes her out of the resting trance.
• 'Paradise' and 'Darkness' , 'Eternity' capitalised : we reach paradise when at peace/death/resting. Heaven? Religion? Sense of timelessness. Everlasting state.
• All problems leave us in this state - 'Hush'd in and curtain'd with a blessed dearth of all that irk'd her from the hour of birth.'
• Rest/death is better than life itself?
• FORM/STRUCTURE: Like a PRAYER or LULLABY.
• 'th' creates a soft sound, hushed + peaceful.
• 'ceased to stir' , 'holdeth her' - idea of her being protected in this state. Safe and neutral. 'Darkness' acts as a shield to her.
• 'Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be' - living within the moment. treasuring.
• ENJAMBMENT - (continues sentence on next line) Similar to HARDY.
• 'Dearth' - lack of

Christina Rossetti

Remember

REMEMBER me when I am gone away, Gone far away into the silent land; When you can no more hold me by the hand, Nor I half turn to go, yet turning stay. Remember me when no more day by day You tell me of our future that you plann'd: Only remember me; you understand It will be late to counsel then or pray. Yet if you should forget me for a while And afterwards remember, do not grieve: For if the darkness and corruption leave A vestige of the thoughts that once I had, Better by far you should forget and smile Than that you should remember and be sad.

FORM: Plain shape. Simple form, simple statement. Like loving remembering words on headstone.

STRUCTURE: Alternate rhyme scheme

LANGUAGE: loving, tender, peaceful 'silent', 'smile', 'hold by hand', future that you plann'd' and 'turning stay' shows reluctance to leave.

remember when she is 'gone' - euphamism of death?

CONTRAST: between Thomas Hardy's 'Your Last Drive' - 'You may miss me then. But I shall not know how many times you visit me there.' , 'I shall not care'- Emma wants Hardy to feel guilty- contrast to how Rossetti wants her reader to feel NOT guilty: 'Yet if you forget me for a while and afterwards remember me, do not grieve.'

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

COME NOT WHEN I AM DEAD

Come not, when I am dead,
To drop thy foolish tears upon my grave,
To trample round my fallen head,
And vex the unhappy dust thou wouldst not save.
There let the wind sweep and the plover cry;
But thou, go by.
Child, if it were thine error or thy crime
I care no longer, being all unblest:
Wed whom thou wilt, but I am sick of Time,
And I desire to rest.
Pass on, weak heart, and leave me where I lie:
Go by, go by.

Two stanzas
No set syllables except for lines 5 and 11 (ten syllables) and 6 and 12 (four syllables)
A B A B C C
D E D E C C
Last line of each stanza repeats 'Go by' like an echo

The writer of the poem states that upon his death, he wishes not to be mourned by someone who is most likely a lover or a child of theirs. He emphasises the lack of caring for the mortal world after they have passed (similar to 'Friends Beyond' theme - Thomas Hardy), and there is a stress on moving on from the inevitability of another person's death. Indeed, he even states that in a sense, he will be glad to pass eventually, for he is 'tired' of the physical world which he seems to describe as being something quite petty.

If this is the author talking to a lover:
'Child' implies an innocence at heart, and also a youth, but in the context of the poem would suggest a foolishness and naivety. Furthermore he calls her 'weak heart', suggesting that he thinks of her as very fragile and weepy for being the sort to mourn his death. These expectations seem unreasonable, and even patronising, although he clearly means them in her best interest.
If the author is in fact talking about his son or daughter:
The father is growing old, as he is 'sick of Time'. The phrase 'Wed whom thou wilt' is indicative of the times, where a father's permission was required to marry.

Regardless, the authoritative tone in the piece is clear. 'Wed whom thou wilt' is an imperative sentence – that is, it is a command, spoken in this case as a permission. He never uses an interrogative sentence (a question). The use of the word 'child' also emphasises this, as he places himself as the subject's senior. He also uses direct language, and avoids euphemisms, using the word 'death' without softening it to something such as 'passed'. This may be his attempt to be directly understood, or may be his attempt to show his lack of fear to the reader.

Still, it is clear that he cares for the person whom he is writing about, or at least that the person cares for him. He hazards them not to drop 'foolish tears' on his grave. This implies that he does not wish for them to mourn, Although his tone is a little harsh, using negative words such as 'foolish', 'sick', 'unhappy' and virtually no positive language, the word 'child' indicates some level of endearment, and looking deeper we can see an old man afraid not of death, but of the grieving of his loved ones when he dies.

A Doll's House

Attitudes of men towards women:

Torvald- (Shovenist)

• 'The squanderbird's a pretty little creature, but she get through an awful lot of money. It's incredible what an expensive pet she is for a man to keep.'
• 'Aha! So little Miss Independent's in trouble and needs a man to rescue her, does she?'
• 'If rumour got about that the new vice-president had allowed his wife to persuade him to change his mind...'
• 'I shall think of nothing but you- my poor, helpless little darling.'
• 'My child shall have her way.'
• 'What, not look at my most treasured possession?'
• 'I pretend to myself that you're my secret mistress...'
• 'Wretched woman!'
• 'It was simply in your inexperience you chose the wrong means. But do you think I love you any the less because you don't know how to act on your own initiative?'
• 'feminine helplessness.'
• 'It means she has become his property in a double sense...she is now not only his wife but also his child.'
• 'Your duties toward your husband and children.'

Women rising rising above men:

Christine/Mrs. Linde:

• 'I thought it my duty to destroy all the feelings you had for me.'
• 'There's no joy in working just for oneself. Oh, Nils, give me something- someone- to work for.'
• ' I need someone to be a mother to; and your children need a mother.'

Nora:

• 'Oh you're always right, whatever you do.' (Humouring him.)
• 'Don't look at me like that, Torvald!' (Demanding, standing up to husband, traditionally must 'submit' to him)
• 'Never see him again. Never. Never. Never. Never see the children again.' (women walking out, unusual at the time, breaks traditional roles.)
• 'Let me go! You're not going to suffer for my sake. I won't let you!' (demanding.)
• 'No, don't interupt me. Just listen to what I have to say.'
• 'It's something I must do myself. That's why I'm leaving you.'
• 'It's no use trying to forbid me any more. I shall take with me nothing but what is mine. I don't want anything from you, now or ever.'
• 'My duty towards myself.'
• 'I don't really know what religion means.'
• 'I don't love you anylonger.'
• 'I don't accept things from strangers.' (Disowns Torvald.)

Contrasts in attitudes to 'A Woman of No Imporance':

Krogstad: 'It's the old story, isn't it - a woman chucking a man because something better turns up?'

Mrs. Arbuthnot: 'The woman suffers, the man goes free.'

Themes in Victorian Literature

Prose: The Turn of The Screw

• Gothic, including supernatural - Ghosts.
• James also relates the amount of light present in various scenes to the strength of the supernatural or ghostly forces apparently at work.
• Focus on Governess as protagonist, reflects society as Father takes no care or responsibility for Flora or Miles.
• Secrets - Peter Ouint, molested Miles.
• Madness/fear of it - Governess uncertain whether others are seeing the ghosts too 'She was there, and I was justified; she was there and I was neither cruel nor mad.'
• Dark, gothic language. 'Evil', 'Ravenous', 'Demon' p.99

Prose: The Picture of Dorian Gray

• Corruption, influence. Lord Henry.
• Society, varying perspectives that would have been seen as controvertail or exaggerated today. Socially challenging statements. (Lord Henry) 'Being adored is a nuisence. Women treat us just as humanity treats it's Gods. They worship us, and are always bothering us to do something for them.'
• Views on Women - 'My dear boy, no woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. Women represent the triumph of matter over mid, just as men represent the triumph of mind over morals.'
• Dark themes - Sibyl's suicide, Basil's murder.
• Moral Message - Highlights the power of influence and how actions can define how others see you. Responsibility. Focus on the right things, if you focus on immoral things that do not last like beauty and youth then your happiness will not last either.

Drama: A Woman of No Importance

• Views on Women (Sexist in today's society.) 'The history of women is the history of the worst form of tyranny the world has ever known. The tyranny of the weak over the poor.' And after being hearing Gerald mention women being clever, Lord Illingworth also says 'One should always tell them so.' Mrs. Arbuthnot also says 'The ending is the ordinary ending. The woman suffers. The man goes free.'
• Scandal, society's law, Marriage- 'You must marry him. It is your duty.' p.84 - Gerald. A woman is ruined if she bears a child out of wedlock, society's views can ruin somebody. 'Her life was ruined, and her soul ruined, and all that was sweet, and good, and pure in her ruined also.' p.70
• Religion and Religious Influence - 'God's law is only love.' , 'you believe in religion, and you brought me up to believe in it also.....the religion that you taught me when I was a boy, mother, must tell you I am right.'
• Underlying Moral/Message in the story - 'God's law is only Love' - Hester.

Prose: The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass-

• Fear of madness/delusion. 'But I don't want to go among mad people.'  'a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad.'
• Female Heroine - Other female heroines include Little Dorrit, Jane Eyre.

A Woman of No Importance

• Focused on the power of men over women in society
• Woman is left ruined after scandal and the man walks free. . ‘The woman suffers, the man goes free’
• Society is unfair to women - sexist. Lord Illingworth's views
• Women have 'duties' to act in the way society would deem right ‘But the marriage must take place first. It is a duty that you owe, not merely to yourself, but to all other women.’ - Religious Influence dictating Victorian life.
• Each character represents a stereotype of Victorian society.

Society in Victorian Literature

In all of the books that I have read or am currently reading, I have seen very similar views on the ideals of society and the pressure to fit within what is socially acceptable.

In the Picture of Dorian Gray we can see how Henry and Dorian learn to go against society and question its rules and boundaires. The book shows how society can destroy a person and how a person is formed by the people and changed by what society believes to be right. By going against the acceptable social behavior, Dorian is slowly destroying himself.

In the Adventures of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, we see Alice learning to question what madness is. There is an intense fear in the book of madness, that by being mad you are not socially acceptable or fit for society. The story shows how children are expected to be in society, and Alice goes against this common idea. She is a female heroine, an unusual idea for the time as women were viwed as the weaker people in society, especially children.

In Wuthering Heights we also see ideas of how people do not fit into society. Cathy is changed from being an unruly child into a young lady who is fit for society. But Heathcliff remains rugged and wild throughout the book, moreso in appearance than nature in childhood, but this develops into a malevolent trait that follows him into adulthood. Heathcliff is unable to accept that by the rules of society, Cathy is unable to marry him. She would be marrying under her class and it would be looked down upon. In the books we see the common ideas of society believing that marriage is for financial stability, not love. This is questioned by the charcater of Heathcliff in the novel as he is unable to accept this view of society.