Christina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti was born into an artistic, well-educated Italian-English family. Her father was a political exile, poet, and translator, and her maternal uncle, John Polidori, was a writer and physician to the famous Romantic poet Lord Byron. Rossetti was educated at home by her mother, Frances, who was devoutly religious and influenced her daughter’s lifelong devotion to the Anglican faith. Despite the family’s literary connections, they were relatively poor. Like many young women in her position, Rossetti prepared to become a governess (one of the few “respectable” occupations for women at the time), but poor health prevented her from teaching. The Rossetti household was intensely creative and artistic. All three of her siblings were writers, and her brother, Dante Gabriel, helped found the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, one of the most influential artistic movements of the Victorian period. Although not an official member, Rossetti collaborated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, contributing poetry to their journal, The Germ, under the pen name Ellen Alleyn, and modelling for their paintings. Rossetti’s early poetry—influenced by Romantic literature as well as her own ill health—focused on themes of love and death. As her family’s financial situation worsened and her health deteriorated, Rossetti grew more devoutly religious. Choosing to remain single, she led a relatively restricted life devoted to poetry, religion, and companionship with her mother and aunts. Between 1859 and 1870, Rossetti volunteered with the Church Penitentiary Movement, which offered a home, religious instruction, and training to women who were formerly prostitutes. The experience influenced her thoughts about fallen women and may have influenced “Goblin Market,” which she published in 1862. Rossetti was a prolific writer. She published several more collections of poetry, devotional works, and short stories, and contributed to magazines and charity publications. During her lifetime, Rossetti had an excellent literary reputation in both the U.S. and the UK, where she was considered as a possible candidate for Poet Laureate following Tennyson’s death in 1892. Rossetti died in 1894, and today she is recognized as one of the finest poets of the nineteenth century.