Analysis of Cousin Kate by Christina Rossetti
'Cousin Kate' by Christina Rossetti describes a cottage maiden who was seduced and used by the lord of the estate for which she worked. She was surprised and taken a back by the fact that someone so great and powerful could be slightly interested in her, and so she automatically fell in love with him. It wasn't until after he had slept with her that he left her for her cousin, Kate. The cottage maiden was devastated that he had done that to her. She felt unclean and unwanted. The lord asked for Kate's hand in marriage and she accepted.
The cottage maid thought that he married Kate because she was innocent and pure, 'Because you were so good and pure/He bound you with his ring' -
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Men would then look down on you in disgust, as would friends and family. The poem demonstrates how a man can love a woman, then throw her away and move onto another as he pleases, and because he was a Lord the cottage maiden could not say a thing. This brings into light the difference between higher and lower class people. If the cottage maiden had said anything, people would not believe her and turn a blind eye to her and to her accusations. According to the maiden, Kate's love was not real. 'O cousin Kate my love was true, your love was writ in sand'.
This tells us that Kate's love was going to disappear and was only a temporary emotion which was later just blown away like writing in the sand, whilst the maiden's love was real. The maiden may just be saying this for revenge against Cousin Kate to try and make herself feel better but we do not know. The Lord's love towards the maiden was not real, 'His plaything and his love'. 'Plaything' and 'love' are two very different contrasts with each other. Did he really love her for a while or was it all just a game to him? He used her and made her believe that he liked her then left her for Kate.
The maiden was infatuated by the Lord and fell in love with him instantly. He used this, his power and his wealth against the maiden.
The Lord casts off the female once he meets Kate, who is 'fairer' than the narrator. This shows that males do not always get emotionally involved in
Christian Rossetti utilizes a unique insight into her works of ‘Maude Clare’, ‘Goblin Market’ and ‘Amor Mundi’ to express the struggle of religious values of the Victorian era. Throughout the three passages Rossetti uses devices such as alliteration, repetition and symbolism in order to express sentiment.
In Jane Austen “Love and Friendship” she illustrates the gender disparity of power and rebellion. The Romantics feature prominently the ideals of rebellion and revolution. In William Wordsworth essay “Preface to Lyrical Ballads” he describes the poet “He is a man speaking to men: a man, it is true, endued with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness, who has a greater knowledge of human nature, and a more comprehensive soul, than are supposed to be common among mankind” (pg 299) However, Jane Austen uses parody and satire as a way to show the sexism behind the Romanticism particularly the sensibility novels. That the portrayals of rebellion in “Love and Friendship” were just as important as our heroines pursuit for love and friendship. “Love and Friendship” is a perfect parody of sentimental genre and shows the sexism in England at the time and how the exaggeration of the middle-upper class characters to show how ridiculous the depictions of women are fiction at the time.
As singer-songwriter, Eric Burdon says, “Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other.¨ Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini's Daughter” is a short story about a young student called Giovanni who falls in love with a girl called Beatrice. Will Weaver’s “WWJD?” is about suzy who is a very religious sixteen year old girl. She is a transfer student to Riverfolk high school, she is often bullied by Eddie and his gang. Both pieces of literature share a lot of similarities and differences. One main theme that stands out between the two pieces is corruption.
Christina Rossetti's Poetry: Controlled and Passionate Rossetti's poetry has been described as both controlled and passionate. Making clear what you understand by the terms discuss which of these two views you have more sympathy with and why. Refer closely to at least three of the set poems.
Things and People are not always as they appear to be on the first sight that is why we have to examine them in different ways otherwise they may mislead us. That is more then true in the short story "The Kiss" by Kate Chopin in which she uses imagery, irony and simile to show us how deceitful a person can be. She tells us by the actions of her characters that a person should not be judged solely by his or her appearance or words because those things can be dangerously misleading. All of the characters in Chopin story play their own games and in more or less visible way try to manipulate others to achieve their own sometimes not very righteous goals, but who will eventually succeed in realizing his desires in this world of deception and
Mary Cassatt is known world-wide for her impressing art in which she focuses mainly in the everyday life of women and children. She is an American artist born in Pennsylvania on May 22, 1844, but later relocates to Europe in 1866 to pursue to work in art. This was mainly due to her family’s and society’s objections to women in the field of art. There she met and befriended famous Impressionist Edgar Degas. Because of her close friendship with Degas, she grew courage to continue to do art in her own way. She continued to paint until she slowly began to lose her eyesight and later died in 1926. Cassatt was part of the Impressionist style movement, in which she painted portraits unlike many others who painted landscapes (biography.com). Her artwork
Imagine finding out that your entire life was a lie, and that every single thing you knew about your identity and your family was completely false! Armand Aubigny, one of the main characters in Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin, experiences this exact dilemma throughout this short story. Desiree’s Baby is a story about a young man and woman, who fall in love, but Desiree, who does not know her birth parents, is considered nameless. When she and Armand have a child, they are both very surprised because the child’s skin color is not white as expected. It is obvious that the child is biracial, and immediately, Desiree is blamed for the color of the child’s skin because of her uncertain background. The truth, however, is that it is Armand who has
Throughout time, humans struggled with issues of conformity and individuality. In the modern world, individuality is idealized, as it is associated with strength. Weak individuals are usually portrayed as conforming to society and having almost no personal ideas. In “Desiree’s Baby”, a short story, the author Kate Chopin deals with the struggles of African descendants in the French colonies during the time of slave labor. The protagonist is a white woman named Desiree who is of unknown origin and birth as she was found abandoned as an infant at an aristocrat’s doorstep. Eighteen years after her discovery, she and a fellow aristocrat, Armand Aubigny, fall in love and get married. They soon have a child, yet conflict arises when the child
Catherine of Siena was born in Italy in 1347 at a time when political and religious changes were affecting the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Dedicating her life to the Holy Spirit from a very young age, Catherine pursued a life of purity and simplicity that served as a background to her great literary work, The Dialogue of the Divine Providence . Her work focuses on the importance of prayer and its transcendent power in human life.
look at but he feels as if the Duchess takes him for granted and she
only way this is possible is to kill her. This occurs to him after he
On November 1st, 2017, I saw the play Kiss Me, Kate by Samuel and Bella Spewack at the McGuire Pavilion in Gainesville. The musical is about how two famous actors who were once married, but divorced and are now going to get remarried collaborate with a few up and coming actors for Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. However, there are problems backstage between the crew due to their affairs. Fred Graham, who is played by Thomas Nightingale, is about to remarry his ex-wife and he an actor, director, and producer for The Taming of the Shrew. Louis Lane is portrayed by Brittany Bennett and her character comes off as incoherent and the audience sees her relationship with her boyfriend who has a gambling problem. Nightingale is very effective at showing his characters true feelings toward his future wife, but Bennett does a better job depicting her character.
Robert Browning wrote the two poems, "My Last Duchess" and "Porphyria's Lover." Both poems convey an thoughtful, examination profound commentary about the concept of love.
In the short story Désirée’s Baby, by Kate Chopin, surprise plays a very important role. Although the story has a surprise ending it can still have a second look with interest. While rereading the story I look for the details, which foreshadow the ending, that were missed the first time reading the story. But when I started to look for hints of foreshadowing I found that Chopin is doing more than tell us a story about a couple. She is trying to convey a message to the reader. Désirée’s Baby is like an intricate Aesop’s fable, or a fable for adults. Also an analysis of the characters helps us understand the story and it’s meaning. The main character, which presents the conflict in the story, is Armand Aubigny. To fully understand the story
In the early 19th century the men of society were dominant, they were considered the caregivers and are responsible for the actions of their women. When a woman would get into trouble they would be sent to their husband or father to be punished. Kate Chopin unlike many women did not have a male figure in her life. As an author she still had to prove herself to society that she was a good writer. Most female writers of that century wrote under a male name so they could be published, Kate Chopin wanted to be known for her work. Mrs. Mallard searches for freedom within her life. She feels trapped in her marriage, and her husband's death is her ticket to freedom. Kate Chopin shows Mrs. Mallard’s desire for freedom through the use of irony.