The Pre Raphaelite Siblings. The Victorian Age was a time of massive change for England; economic, social, and

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1 Drobney 1 Samantha Drobney Mrs. Stanford Research Essay May 22, 2015 The Pre Raphaelite Siblings The Victorian Age was a time of massive change for England; economic, social, and scientific changes were happening rapidly and continuously. With society reforming to multiple different occurrences, literature became one of them. This reformation of literature is better known as Pre Raphaelitism. Two siblings that were part of this new way of writing, painting, and thinking were the Rossetti siblings, Dante and Christina Rossetti, who showed the world of literature new and creative works that had never been seen before. When Pre Raphaelitism first emerged, it was known as a brotherhood between seven men. Dante Rossetti was one of the founders, and one of the most well known Pre Raphaelites. Christina Rossetti was a female, it was not possible for her to resent in the Pre Raphaelite brotherhood, hence the word brother, as in only males. Yet, her works resemble all the aspects that are required for it to be Pre Raphaelite literature. Hence, even though she is a female and not in the so called brotherhood, Christina and Dante Rossetti are some of the most well known Pre Raphaelite authors. The Rossetti siblings brought about this new form of literature, Pre Raphaelitism, due to the reforming of society, their rebellion towards the modern day literature, and the way their lives impacted them. Revolutions swept the land of Britain and an uprising of social reformities broke out. These revolutions unsettled Britain, and while reforms were coming up everywhere, seven

2 Drobney 2 rebellious young artists in London formed a secret society with the aim of creating a new British art. These seven men were all students at the Royal Academy, and together they created a brotherhood. That is how Pre Raphaelitism started, seven artists with one idea. One of the men being Dante Rossetti. Although there were only seven men who started the movement of new art in society, they were not the only Pre Raphaelites. Many authors, artists, and musicians discovered this secret society and joined the movement, such as Christina Rossetti. Pre Raphaelites works revolved around early Renaissance Europe time period and the late medieval time period. To further describe the attributes of this art form, Pre Raphaelite art typically focuses on classical or medieval subjects, and is notable for its vivid color, use of detail and symbolism, and a frequent depiction of nature and sexualized women (Prettejohn, 2000). All these aspects aspire in every Pre Raphaelite work, it is what made their works distinguishable from other forms of art. Furthermore, the description and qualities of Pre Raphaelitism were quite extensive, but there were four principles that all these artists had to follow. The first principle is simple, yet ideal, and it is to have genuine ideas to express. The second principle is evident in all works, to study nature attentively, this is so the author knows how to express it throughout their work. Third principle is complicated, yet is acquired within these works, it states to understand the compassion and devotion that was put into previous art and to not copy or exemplify that art in one's work. Fourth and final principle is absolutely necessary to the creators, it states to produce thoroughly good pictures and statues. (Meagher, 2000). All in all, most of these pictures and statues the artists created idealized women. Nature and women were commonly combined in Pre Raphaelite works and critics say that these works were apart of the women progressive era,

3 Drobney 3 which started in the Victorian Age. Pre Raphaelitism brought a lot of new things to the table in the 1800 s and made it so literature would never be the same again. Dante Rossetti is the second oldest child between the four Rossetti siblings; he was born May twelfth 1828 in London. As Dante Rossetti was growing up, he was always interested in both painting and literature. As a child he incorporated the two subject matters together in his earliest paintings. He intended to be a painter when he grew up, from childhood to adulthood he illustrated literary subjects in his drawings. When he was younger he was tutored at home and read many readings that would be complicated for a younger child, such as the Bible, William Shakespeare, and Charles Dickens. He was raised in an environment of cultural and political activity that, it has been suggested, was of more importance to his learning than his formal education. Dante Rossetti had a great artist influence his work according to the critics of Poetry Foundation, they state, After leaving school, he apprenticed himself to the historical painter Ford Madox Brown, who later became his closest lifelong friend (Poetry Foundation, 2015) is when he and the six other men formed the Pre Raphaelite brotherhood. The rest of his works were based on the guidelines and principles of the brotherhood. Dante Rossetti has numerous amounts of poems and paintings that became very well known. Some of these are even before the Pre Raphaelite time period, but majority of his poems are during the reformation of literature era. Some of his famous poems include Silent Noon, Blessed Damozel, My Sister s Sleep, and Jenny. One poem that resembles every aspect of Pre Raphaelitism is Silent Noon. This is because it describes a woman by using primarily the attributes of nature and it expresses the idea of being infatuated with love. For example, Dante Rossetti states, Your hands lie open in the long grass; The finger points look through like rosy

4 Drobney 4 blooms; Your eyes smiles peace (Silent Noon, 1448). Dante Rossetti portrays the image of a woman lying in a grass field, with all her limbs sprawled out. The simplest of things resemble beauty in his eyes, such as the end of her fingers and they way they are laid. Just the way her eyes glistened made him supposedly fall deeper in love with her. This is only one example out of many where he displays the most unique and appreciated Pre Raphaelite work. This is what Dante Rossetti was known for, the way he painted pictures. Not only did he do it in the mind of his readers, but he was very good at painting the most marvelous of pictures. Some of his famous paintings are the following, Soul s Beauty, Body s Beauty, and the front cover to Christina Rossetti s volume of Goblin Market. All of his paintings are filled with nature and resemble the beauty of women. Many times he painted his sister, Christina Rossetti, with flowers and vines around her. In these paintings Dante Rossetti is trying to convey that the women s beauty that he painted is compared the the natural beauty of nature. Dante Rossetti had so many works throughout this time period because he wrote poems and created paintings, he dedicated his life to making works that would change the world of literature forever. Although Dante Rossetti was one of the founders of the Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood, it was because of his colleagues that he joined the group. Critics argue that he should not even be considered one of the founders because he was not a true Pre Raphaelite in the beginning of the era in which literature was being changed forever. The creativity that Dante Rossetti expressed growing up can not be argued, it was remarkable and he was incredibly talented from the start. Yet, his creativity toward pursuing the Pre Raphaelite guidelines didn t come about until he started working alongside William Hunt and the other scholars he met at the Royal Academy. (Poetry Foundation, 2015) Many are in belief that Dante Rossetti was the main

5 Drobney 5 founder of the Pre Raphaelite brotherhood, but he just tagged along and combined everyone s ideas together to create his works. Literature was changing in many different aspects, but to certain critics he was not the reason it was reforming. Now on the other hand, there was the youngest Rossetti sibling, Christina Rossetti. She was the person who brought feminism into Pre Raphaelitism. She was born December fifth 1830, raised in the same house as her brother, Dante Rossetti, and was only two years younger but still the baby of the family. Rather than being self taught, she was influenced by family members. This is stated by Glenn Everett, author of The Victorian Web, Although her fundamentally religious temperament was closer to her mother's, this youngest member of a remarkable family of poets, artists, and critics inherited many of her artistic tendencies from her father (Everett, 1988). She grew up around poets and artists that were in the Pre Raphaelite brotherhood, her brothers Dante and William Rossetti. Being raised around poetry that follows a specific set of guidelines and unique creativity, she caught on to the ways of Pre Raphaelitism, and her works were all considered part of that era. As Christina got older, her life got harder, she constantly was dealing with illnesses such as angina and tuberculosis. Additionally, She was troubled physically by neuralgia and emotionally by Dante's breakdown in The last 12 years of her life, after his death in 1882, were quiet ones. She died of cancer December 29, 1894 (Everett, 1988). Christina Rossetti suffered a lot throughout her life, but that did not stop her from becoming the first female to represent Pre Raphaelite poetry. Influenced by Dante Rossetti's leadership in the Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood, Christina Rossetti's poetry adheres to the ideals of the movement. Her poetry is filled with various types of symbols, and symbols play a big role with Pre Raphaelite poetry. Christina Rossetti was talented

6 Drobney 6 at painting pictures with her words, the amount of descriptive detail she conveyed in her works were phenomenal to critics (Academy of American Poets, 2006). To demonstrate these characteristics that she put into her work, a verse from her work Song states: I sat and wept alway Beneath the moon s most shadowy beam, Watching the blossoms of the May. Weep leaves into the stream (Song, 1490) This paints the image of the exact setting she is describing and she turns the blossoms into a symbol of sadness. She continously does this throughout all of her poems. This is Christina s main strategy when writing her poems, and this is because she wanted her literature to reform the world of literature just as her brother, therefore, she wrote within the guidelines that the Pre Raphaelite brotherhood made. On the contrary, the Pre Raphaelite brotherhood is made up of seven men. Including other men who joined the movement, such as Thomas Wollner, Charles Collins, and John Brett. All the authors and painters listed are of the male gender. Christina Rossetti can not technically be apart of a group, only men were in this group, which is why the artists named it a brotherhood. Christina Rossetti did write poetry that was very similar to those of the Pre Raphaelites but for it to be considered as part of that era is incorrect in the eyes of critics. Instead of her work being Pre Raphaelite based, she was known for a different types of literature. Critics from Academy of American Poets stated, Rossetti is best known for her ballads and her mystic religious lyrics. Her poetry is marked by symbolism and intense feeling (Academy of American Poets, 2006). Christina Rossetti was an unarguably great poet, her works resemble

7 Drobney 7 quality and feminism. Her works do not resemble the four principles that the Pre Raphaelite brotherhood created. Therefore, Christina Rossetti shouldn t be considered a Pre Raphaelite in the eyes of certain literary professionals. Dante and Christina will always be known as the siblings who took over the Pre Raphaelite era. Their poetry took over literature and changed the way people interpret, read, and write poetry. They influenced one another, and always helped each other better themselves with their works. They both grew up with influential parents that pushed them to become the best poets/artists that they could possibly be. Dantes Rossetti and Christina Rossetti s poetry resembles similarities throughout a lot of their works. Although, of course these two have differences in their poems too; Christina Rossetti emphasizes the importance of God and Heaven which Dante Rossetti does not include in his poetry. He leaves religion out of most of his poems, especially compared to his sister. Christina Rossetti was influenced by the religious temperament that her mother obtained. Dante Rossetti on the other hand focused on beauty of all sorts, and avoided religion in most of his work, as did his father (Everett, 1988). It is distinguishable that these siblings took after one parent or the other. Similarities or differences, the Rossetti siblings will always be a title that is well known because their works of the Victorian Era will never be forgotten. The Victorian Era changed literature for the better, without even knowing it, the Pre Raphaelites affected modern day literature. In many books across the world, there is Pre Raphaelitism being used. Whether if it is in a simple line of poetry, or even used throughout an entire book. The Pre Raphaelite siblings started a riot throughout Britain with their works, and the poetry and paintings they created will live on forever. If it was not for the Pre Raphaelites

8 Drobney 8 rebellion towards their modern day literature, it is questionable as to where would today s literature would be. Their influential parents taught them how to make strong and powerful works, but Christina and Dante Rossetti put their own unique twist on the poetry that they wrote. Although it has been almost two hundred years since the making of their Pre Raphaelite works, they will continue to impact the society of literature everyday for many years to come.

9 Drobney 9 Work Cited Prettejohn, Elizabeth. "The Art of the Pre Raphaelites." Prettejohn, E.: The Art of the Pre Raphaelites (Hardcover). Princeton University Press, Web. 21 May "Christina Rossetti." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, Web. 21 May Meagher, Jennifer. "Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History." The Pre Raphaelites. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Web. 21 May Everett, Glenn. "The Life of Christina Rossetti." The Life of Christina Rossetti. University of Tennessee, Web. 21 May "Dante Gabriel Rossetti." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, Web. 21 May Rossetti, Dante Gabriel. "Silent Noon." The Norton Anthology English Literature. Ninth ed. Vol. E. New York: W.W. Norton, Print. The Victorian Age. Rossetti, Christina. "Song." The Norton Anthology English Literature. Ninth ed. Vol. E. New York: W.W. Norton, Print. The Victorian Age. Sam I think this turned out extremely well. I know you struggled in the beginning, but you ve definitely found your footing within this piece and with this material. There are some overall MLA issues that need attention but they do not distract from the overall purpose and intention of your work. Nice job kiddo strong piece to end the year with. A Paper A The writer maintains a clear thesis, focus, or controlling idea. The writer demonstrates a clear understanding of the assignment and its requirements. The paper is unified, coherent, and organized.

10 Drobney 10 The details of the paper are relevant, vivid, and explicit, and provide ideas/information in depth. Sources cited are credible, appropriate to the content, and formatted accurately. The paper employs a tone that is reflective of its purpose and audience. The paper contains few spelling, grammar, usage, mechanics, format, and/or documentation errors. Departures from convention appear intentional and appropriate.