The Convent Threshold

Following the Romantic era, the Victorian era lasted from about 1837 to 1901 during the reign of Queen Victoria in England. This poetry focused on sensory elements, the conflict between religion and science, and criticism of contemporary society. One of the most praised innovations of the movement was the dramatic monologue form. The time also experienced a boom in women writers in both poetry and novels.

Rossetti’s relationship with her brothers Dante Gabriel and William informed both her work and decided her legacy. From a young age, Rossetti and Dante Gabriel often played games where they invented poems. In her teenage years, Rossetti often sat for his paintings. Based on their extensive correspondences, Dante Gabriel helped prepare her first collection, Goblin Market and other Poems, though Rossetti spiritedly rejected some of his suggestions and revisions. Her brother William edited the posthumous publication of her complete body of work, titled The Poetical Works of Christina Georgina Rossetti. Modern critics have focused on what some consider revisionist editing of the poems. While certainly flawed in arrangement and divisions, this collection became the standard edition until 1979’s publication of the first edition of Rebecca W. Crump’s collection.