Christina+Rossetti+and+the+Anglican+Sisterhood

In 1846, Christina Rossetti started attending Christ Church on Albany Street at age thirteen. Miss Jane Ellacombe and Miss Mary Bruce started the first Anglican sisterhood in 1845 in Park Village (D'Amico and Kent). Rossetti was very involved with the sisterhood, and her own parish was also in Park Village, connecting Rossetti and her family to a very religious neighborhood. In 1840, Rossetti’s family turned to Anglo-Catholicism. Rossetti believed in religion so fully that from 18-20 years old she was sick consistently and her doctor diagnosed her with “religious mania”. Christina and her sister Maria both supported the Society of All Saints, and in 1876 Maria became a professed sister. Rossetti’s faith was so strong that she even broke off her engagement to James Collinson when he reverted back to Catholicism. Critics suggest that Rossetti’s poetry has a sexual element resulting from the repressions her religion demanded (Rogers). Through her religious dedication Rossetti worked for almost ten years in the House of Charity, which was run by Anglican nuns. Religion entered Rossetti’s poetry from the very beginning as is demonstrated in her first poem “Heaven," written at twelve, and later in “Goblin Market” which reflects an Adam and Eve and questions many cultural norms (Casey).

Rossetti worked with fallen women and minors for many years, and this is believed by many scholars to have influenced her poem “Goblin Market.” This work with fallen woman was connected to Rossetti’s connection with the Anglican Sisterhood, because they were very involved in the High Church movement for women. The Anglican sisters worked to reduce female dependence on male figures. The Anglicanism of the sisterhood was a way to express their religious convictions. Religion provided a structure that allowed women to go against social norms. For instance, through the Anglican sisterhood, they were able to pursue careers outside of the domestic sphere. A demand for society to change its way of dealing with the poor, the young, and the deviant was a primary goal for the sisterhoods and Rossetti believed heartily in this and worked with wayward women for many years (D'Amico and Kent).

Rossetti demonstrates her support of the Anglican Sisterhood in her sister poems “Sister Maude” and “Noble Sisters”//. // These poems reflect the sisterhood communities, where sisters worked hard and regarded regular employment as a duty and privilege. “Noble Sisters” turns a home into a prison and the relationship between two sisters shows the dynamics of the sister community. “Noble Sisters” emphasizes two roles for sisters, the “protector sister” and the “protected sister” (Rogers). This balance between them is disturbed when the protected sister has a suitor. Rossetti’s faith in the sister community and the support it held in the outside world was strong. She believed in the redemptive power of sisterhood and had a utopian vision of such female communities (Rogers). The politics in the sister community of the Anglican Sisterhood revolve around how they perceive the world outside of it and how their structure and behaviour is affected by society. The sisterhood community viewed the temptation of the outside world as a threat, which is the prominent theme in Rossetti’s poem “Noble Sisters."

In her poems, Rossetti demonstrates women’s relationships within the female communities and the role that men play within them. In “Sister Maude//," // Maude uncovers a relationship between her sister and the lover. Rossetti does not treat the sisterhood relationship as a feminist movement but instead as a support system for women. Her poetry is an expression of political, not sexual, difference between women in female communities (Rogers). Rossetti’s writing, similar to other female Victorian writers, demonstrates that the connection between “male” and “female” are mutually exclusive (Rogers). In “Seek and Find” Rossetti reflects women’s likeness to Christ (Casey). Though not a feminist, Rossetti sees the possibility for a female Christ because of women and their 'Christ-like' and nurturing roles (Casey).

Out of all Rossetti’s poems, “Goblin Market” is the most famous. In “Goblin Market” Rossetti creates a world where women embody both male and female traits (Mermin). The poem reflects the experience and passion that Rossetti felt for the sisterhood. The poem excludes men, except for the goblins, which effectively reveals the potential of women’s independence and productivity (Craik). The idea of sisterhood is portrayed by the relationship between the two girls and their kinship that is both biological and sexual. In “Goblin Market,” Rossetti describes the sisterhood as relationship between two women. This relationship demonstrates the independence that helped to redefine the roles that women occupy. Rossetti found focus and relief in her devotional writing. Through this writing she was able to find an appropriate outlet for her voice. Rossetti's desire for Christ and heaven helped her find a new sense of purpose in her life. -- UVic Engl 386/2012W Works Cited:

Casey, Janet Galligani. "The Potential of Sisterhood: Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market." //Victorian Poetry// 29.1 (1991): 63-78. Web. 30 Jan. 2012.

Craik, Dinah Mulock. //A Women's Thoughts About Women.// London: Hurst and Blackett, Limited, 1858. Print.

D'Amico, Diane and David A. Kent. "Rossetti and the Tractarians" //Victorian Poetry// 44.1 (2006): 93-103. Web. 30 Jan. 2012.

Mermin, Dorothy. "Heroic Sisterhood in "Goblin Market." //Victorian Poetry// 21.2 (1983): 107-118. Web. 30 Jan. 2012.

Rogers, Scott. "Re-Reading Sisterhood in Christina Rossetti's 'Noble Sisters' and 'Sister Maude." //Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900// 43.4 (2003): 859-875. Web. 30 Jan. 2012.

Rossetti, Christina Georgina. //Maude: Prose and Verse, By Christina Rossetti; 1850.// Chicago: Herbert Stone & Company, 1897. Print.