No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this thesis is to determine the importance of biographical inreading to a study of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's The House of Life. Although most of Rossetti's critics have predicated a biographical imperative in examining this work, the validity of their approach can be seriously questioned. The tendency to employ biographical criticism perhaps stems from an excessive concern on the part of both biographers and critics with the sensational details of Rossetti's life. Because of this concern, The House of Life has been treated more as an autobiographical record than, as an integral work of art. It is necessary to re-examine the poem through some approach other than the biographical. Chapter One outlines three standard approaches to the study of literature. The first, the historical or extrinsic, includes the study of the poet's biography as well as the various external influences on him. The second, the organic or intrinsic, concentrates on internal aspects of the literature, such as imagery and form. The third, the synthetic, is a more fluid approach than the other two in that it attempts to employ all available tools of literary criticism, including biography. Chapter Two reviews certain pertinent facts about Rossetti's life and considers a number of biographies and biographical studies which have appeared since his death, and which, to a considerable extent, have created an inaccurate legend about him. Chapter Three considers the specific problem of biographical inreading in The House of Life, and discusses some of the criticism based on that inreading. It also traces the general development of The House of Life from the two essentially biographical preliminary versions (the Fortnightly Review sonnets, and the Kelmscott sonnets) to the complete version of 1881. Chapter Four examines The House of Life as a work of art rather than as a biographical document. A reading of the poem is suggested in which The House of Life is seen as a series of cycles depicting the "transfigured" life of the poet. An exegetical analysis of The House of Life necessarily involves the critic in an examination of biographical data. However, once the development of the sequence has been traced, the critic must employ intrinsic criteria in order to determine the essential structure of the poem. In other words, the best approach to The House of Life synthesizes both the extrinsic and intrinsic methods of criticism. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

The importance of Robert Buchanan's onslaught upon Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Poems in 1871-2 has never been minimised by the poet's biographers. This crucial episode undoubtedly contributed to Rossetti's death ten years later. Buchanan's criticism also raises the question of the poetry's "fleshliness", with which all Rossetti students eventually have to come to terms. Some critics consider him to be a romantic, trying to express his apprehension of the eternal to be found behind natural phenomena; others see him, as Buchanan saw him, as a man vainly trying to etherealise man's basest drives, a sensual materialist masquerading as a spiritual idealist. Buchanan's indictment has been said to be clearly representative of "the 'classical' or conservative school of criticism." Swinburne's Poems and Ballads, published in 1866, had shocked many. It was widely known that Rossetti had been one of the major influences upon the younger poet, and Buchanan expressed the outrage many felt at the immorality of the more mature, and thus more reprehensible, Rossetti. Buchanan's manner and tone were adopted to impress readers with his judicious impartiality, even though personal animus certainly inspired his criticism. Buchanan despised Rossetti's effeminacy, his lack of sanity, his lack of humanity, even; he despised his introspection, his effete luxuriation "in his own exquisite emotions." While such objections are virtually the same as those made against Keats, Buchanan did subscribe to the romantic belief that the sincere expression of some clearly perceived truth gave poetry its distinguishing characteristic of "spiritualization." To him, Rossetti's insincerity was the most patently obvious thing about his work. Thus it can be seen that Buchanan used both classical and romantic criteria to achieve his purpose. Buchanan, on the one hand, and Swinburne and William Michael Rossetti, on the other, had been exchanging polemical broadsides for at least five years prior to 1871. The thesis traces the origins and the course of the controversy, and presents salvoes by both Buchanan and Swinburne which have hitherto gone unnoted. Rossetti had not figured in the controversy before, but it was Buchanan's harsh review of William Michael's edition of Shelley that prompted the poet to organize the critical reception of Poems in the first months of 1870. This fact, until recently, has received scant attention in other accounts of the controversy, but this "working the oracle", besides giving Buchanan another stick with which to beat Rossetti, must have made the anticipated attack all the more deadly when it finally came. The continuation of the controversy after Rossetti's breakdown in June 1872 is described, as is the reluctant involvement in it of Walt Whitman, a poet whom both sides admired greatly. To assess what validity that attack may have had for Rossetti, a close textual collation has been made between the "fifth" edition of Poems, that reviewed by Buchanan in the Contemporary Review of October 1871, and subsequent republications of the poetry. It is clear that Rossetti did revise several poems because of the views that Buchanan represented. The omission of the sonnet "Nuptial Sleep" from subsequent collections has long been known to be directly attributable to Buchanan's attack. The thesis ends with a brief account of Buchanan's literary career from 1871 until his death in 1901. A confirmed mutineer and controversialist, he gradually lost credit as a poet worthy of serious consideration, and now his work has found a neglect that it may not totally deserve. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

A presente tese visa analisar um grupo específico de poemas de Dante Gabriel Rossetti (os chamados poemas de imagens), e pinturas e gravuras de sua autoria, a fim de mostrar como a ligação entre desejo físico e devoção espiritual ilustra a expressão de Rossetti como artista, e como ela ajuda a colocá-lo como uma figura de transição no sistema literário britânico. O desejo físico e a devoção espiritual são duas forças antagônicas que ocupam um espaço predominante na literatura e na imaginação vitoriana, e na obra de Rossetti temos o momento em que a Poesia Romântica Inglesa converge para o Modernismo experimental britânico. A tese deste estudo, portanto, é de que trabalhando com essas duas forças, Rossetti tornou-se um precursor do Modernismo na Grã-Bretanha. Este trabalho investiga, desse modo, como a tensão vitoriana entre devoção espiritual e desejo erótico é representada em pinturas de Rossetti, como as suas vozes poéticas lidam com estas questões, e que soluções são criadas nas obras do poeta-pintor. Para alcançar os objetivos acima, esta tese relata uma pesquisa bibliográfica sobre a interação entre poesia e pintura e uma análise, de cunho psicanalítico, de obras pictóricas e poéticas de Rossetti. O primeiro capítulo apresenta um histórico da discussão sobre a relação entre poesia e pintura e um resumo dos conceitos freudianos a serem utilizados na análise. O segundo capítulo faz uma revisão da fortuna crítica de Rossetti e dos movimentos artísticos e literários aos quais ele é associado. O terceiro capítulo analisa um grupo das “obras duplas” de Rossetti (i.e., quadros e poemas), identificando como são construídas as imagens de devoção e desejo, e como elas se inter-relacionam. A conclusão estabelece a contribuição da obra poética e pictórica de Rossetti para o desenvolvimento dos sistemas literário e artístico britânico, à luz da relação dinâmica entre os aspectos de devoção e desejo presentes na sua obra, e analisa seu papel no cenário vitoriano. Apresenta também o papel de Rossetti na transição do Romantismo ao Modernismo britânico. A tese contém também dois apêndices: a) uma cronologia de fatos relevantes da vida de Rossetti e das obras aqui estudadas, e b) as “obras duplas” analisadas neste trabalho. / This dissertation analyzes a specific group of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s poems (the so-called picture poems) and pictures, in order to show how the connection between physical desire and spiritual devotion illustrates Rossetti’s expression as an artist, and how it helps to place him as a figure of transition in the British literary system. Physical desire and spiritual devotion are two antagonistic forces which occupy a predominant space in Victorian literature and imagination, and in Rossetti’s work we have the moment in which Romantic English Poetry melts into experimental British Modernism. The thesis of this study, therefore, is that by working with those two forces, Rossetti became a precursor of Modernism in Britain. This dissertation thus investigates how the Victorian tension between spiritual devotion and erotic desire is represented in Rossetti’s paintings and drawings, how the speakers in his poems deal with these issues, and what solutions are created in Rossetti’s works. In order to reach the objectives above, this dissertation comprises a bibliographical review of the relationship between poetry and painting, and a psychoanalytical analysis of pictorial and poetic works by Rossetti. The first chapter presents a historical account of the discussion on the relationship between poetry and painting, as well as a summary of the Freudian concepts to be used in the analysis. The second chapter reviews Rossetti’s critical fortune and presents the artistic and literary movements with which he is associated. The third chapter analyses a set of Rossetti’s double works (i.e. pictures and poems), identifying how the images of devotion and desire are built and how they interrelate within the works. The dissertation conclusion establishes the contribution of Rossetti’s poetic and pictorial works to the development of the British literary and artistic systems in light of the dynamic relationship between the aspects of devotion and desire in his work, and analyses his role in the Victorian scenario. Rossetti’s role in the development from British Romanticism to Modernism is also presented. The dissertation has two appendixes: a) a chronology of relevant events in Rossetti’s life associated with the works studied here, and b) the double works analyzed in this dissertation.

A presente tese visa analisar um grupo específico de poemas de Dante Gabriel Rossetti (os chamados poemas de imagens), e pinturas e gravuras de sua autoria, a fim de mostrar como a ligação entre desejo físico e devoção espiritual ilustra a expressão de Rossetti como artista, e como ela ajuda a colocá-lo como uma figura de transição no sistema literário britânico. O desejo físico e a devoção espiritual são duas forças antagônicas que ocupam um espaço predominante na literatura e na imaginação vitoriana, e na obra de Rossetti temos o momento em que a Poesia Romântica Inglesa converge para o Modernismo experimental britânico. A tese deste estudo, portanto, é de que trabalhando com essas duas forças, Rossetti tornou-se um precursor do Modernismo na Grã-Bretanha. Este trabalho investiga, desse modo, como a tensão vitoriana entre devoção espiritual e desejo erótico é representada em pinturas de Rossetti, como as suas vozes poéticas lidam com estas questões, e que soluções são criadas nas obras do poeta-pintor. Para alcançar os objetivos acima, esta tese relata uma pesquisa bibliográfica sobre a interação entre poesia e pintura e uma análise, de cunho psicanalítico, de obras pictóricas e poéticas de Rossetti. O primeiro capítulo apresenta um histórico da discussão sobre a relação entre poesia e pintura e um resumo dos conceitos freudianos a serem utilizados na análise. O segundo capítulo faz uma revisão da fortuna crítica de Rossetti e dos movimentos artísticos e literários aos quais ele é associado. O terceiro capítulo analisa um grupo das “obras duplas” de Rossetti (i.e., quadros e poemas), identificando como são construídas as imagens de devoção e desejo, e como elas se inter-relacionam. A conclusão estabelece a contribuição da obra poética e pictórica de Rossetti para o desenvolvimento dos sistemas literário e artístico britânico, à luz da relação dinâmica entre os aspectos de devoção e desejo presentes na sua obra, e analisa seu papel no cenário vitoriano. Apresenta também o papel de Rossetti na transição do Romantismo ao Modernismo britânico. A tese contém também dois apêndices: a) uma cronologia de fatos relevantes da vida de Rossetti e das obras aqui estudadas, e b) as “obras duplas” analisadas neste trabalho. / This dissertation analyzes a specific group of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s poems (the so-called picture poems) and pictures, in order to show how the connection between physical desire and spiritual devotion illustrates Rossetti’s expression as an artist, and how it helps to place him as a figure of transition in the British literary system. Physical desire and spiritual devotion are two antagonistic forces which occupy a predominant space in Victorian literature and imagination, and in Rossetti’s work we have the moment in which Romantic English Poetry melts into experimental British Modernism. The thesis of this study, therefore, is that by working with those two forces, Rossetti became a precursor of Modernism in Britain. This dissertation thus investigates how the Victorian tension between spiritual devotion and erotic desire is represented in Rossetti’s paintings and drawings, how the speakers in his poems deal with these issues, and what solutions are created in Rossetti’s works. In order to reach the objectives above, this dissertation comprises a bibliographical review of the relationship between poetry and painting, and a psychoanalytical analysis of pictorial and poetic works by Rossetti. The first chapter presents a historical account of the discussion on the relationship between poetry and painting, as well as a summary of the Freudian concepts to be used in the analysis. The second chapter reviews Rossetti’s critical fortune and presents the artistic and literary movements with which he is associated. The third chapter analyses a set of Rossetti’s double works (i.e. pictures and poems), identifying how the images of devotion and desire are built and how they interrelate within the works. The dissertation conclusion establishes the contribution of Rossetti’s poetic and pictorial works to the development of the British literary and artistic systems in light of the dynamic relationship between the aspects of devotion and desire in his work, and analyses his role in the Victorian scenario. Rossetti’s role in the development from British Romanticism to Modernism is also presented. The dissertation has two appendixes: a) a chronology of relevant events in Rossetti’s life associated with the works studied here, and b) the double works analyzed in this dissertation.

A presente tese visa analisar um grupo específico de poemas de Dante Gabriel Rossetti (os chamados poemas de imagens), e pinturas e gravuras de sua autoria, a fim de mostrar como a ligação entre desejo físico e devoção espiritual ilustra a expressão de Rossetti como artista, e como ela ajuda a colocá-lo como uma figura de transição no sistema literário britânico. O desejo físico e a devoção espiritual são duas forças antagônicas que ocupam um espaço predominante na literatura e na imaginação vitoriana, e na obra de Rossetti temos o momento em que a Poesia Romântica Inglesa converge para o Modernismo experimental britânico. A tese deste estudo, portanto, é de que trabalhando com essas duas forças, Rossetti tornou-se um precursor do Modernismo na Grã-Bretanha. Este trabalho investiga, desse modo, como a tensão vitoriana entre devoção espiritual e desejo erótico é representada em pinturas de Rossetti, como as suas vozes poéticas lidam com estas questões, e que soluções são criadas nas obras do poeta-pintor. Para alcançar os objetivos acima, esta tese relata uma pesquisa bibliográfica sobre a interação entre poesia e pintura e uma análise, de cunho psicanalítico, de obras pictóricas e poéticas de Rossetti. O primeiro capítulo apresenta um histórico da discussão sobre a relação entre poesia e pintura e um resumo dos conceitos freudianos a serem utilizados na análise. O segundo capítulo faz uma revisão da fortuna crítica de Rossetti e dos movimentos artísticos e literários aos quais ele é associado. O terceiro capítulo analisa um grupo das “obras duplas” de Rossetti (i.e., quadros e poemas), identificando como são construídas as imagens de devoção e desejo, e como elas se inter-relacionam. A conclusão estabelece a contribuição da obra poética e pictórica de Rossetti para o desenvolvimento dos sistemas literário e artístico britânico, à luz da relação dinâmica entre os aspectos de devoção e desejo presentes na sua obra, e analisa seu papel no cenário vitoriano. Apresenta também o papel de Rossetti na transição do Romantismo ao Modernismo britânico. A tese contém também dois apêndices: a) uma cronologia de fatos relevantes da vida de Rossetti e das obras aqui estudadas, e b) as “obras duplas” analisadas neste trabalho. / This dissertation analyzes a specific group of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s poems (the so-called picture poems) and pictures, in order to show how the connection between physical desire and spiritual devotion illustrates Rossetti’s expression as an artist, and how it helps to place him as a figure of transition in the British literary system. Physical desire and spiritual devotion are two antagonistic forces which occupy a predominant space in Victorian literature and imagination, and in Rossetti’s work we have the moment in which Romantic English Poetry melts into experimental British Modernism. The thesis of this study, therefore, is that by working with those two forces, Rossetti became a precursor of Modernism in Britain. This dissertation thus investigates how the Victorian tension between spiritual devotion and erotic desire is represented in Rossetti’s paintings and drawings, how the speakers in his poems deal with these issues, and what solutions are created in Rossetti’s works. In order to reach the objectives above, this dissertation comprises a bibliographical review of the relationship between poetry and painting, and a psychoanalytical analysis of pictorial and poetic works by Rossetti. The first chapter presents a historical account of the discussion on the relationship between poetry and painting, as well as a summary of the Freudian concepts to be used in the analysis. The second chapter reviews Rossetti’s critical fortune and presents the artistic and literary movements with which he is associated. The third chapter analyses a set of Rossetti’s double works (i.e. pictures and poems), identifying how the images of devotion and desire are built and how they interrelate within the works. The dissertation conclusion establishes the contribution of Rossetti’s poetic and pictorial works to the development of the British literary and artistic systems in light of the dynamic relationship between the aspects of devotion and desire in his work, and analyses his role in the Victorian scenario. Rossetti’s role in the development from British Romanticism to Modernism is also presented. The dissertation has two appendixes: a) a chronology of relevant events in Rossetti’s life associated with the works studied here, and b) the double works analyzed in this dissertation.

Christina Rossetti and Dante Gabriel Rossetti both suffered from ambivalent feelings concerning the role female sexuality plays in the salvation of the soul. These ambivalent feelings ranged from seeing female sexuality as leading men to salvation, to seeing it as a trap for the destruction of women's souls as well as men's. The contradictory feelings of the Rossettis' typifies the Victorian people's experience and was caused by the nature of the times. Using the analysis of the period by Walter E. Houghton in The Victorian Frame of Mind: 1830-1870, this paper describes the affect the Victorians' religious zeal, their "moral earnestness," and their "woman-worship" had on the two Rossetti poets.