NO Thank You John

Before Reading Remember… Rossetti was a devout Christian who twice declined marriage because of her high Anglican scruples and in later life spent most of her time in seclusion engaged in charitable work and religious contemplation.

Rossetti and The Women Question In 1870, the acclaimed Victorian poet Christina Rossetti ( ) sent a letter to her brother, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, in which she commented on her abilities as a writer. Comparing herself to her great female predecessor, Elizabeth Barrett Browning ( ), she noted: ‘It is not in me, and therefore, it will never come out of me, to turn to politics or philanthropy with Mrs. Browning: such many-sidedness I leave to a greater than I’. While Rossetti might not have written about politics in such a focused and sustained way as Barrett Browning (whose works examined issues such as nationalism, revolution, slavery, and industrialisation), there was one key area with which both poets were concerned: the politics of gender and power. The Victorian period witnessed massive changes in thinking about women’s roles in society with much debate concerning women’s education, employment opportunities, marriage, sexuality, psychology, and the right to vote. Within this context, Christina Rossetti had complicated views on female suffrage and equality. At times she used the Biblical idea of woman’s subordination to man as reason for maintaining the status quo, while at others she argued for female representation in Parliament and spoke out against the sexual exploitation of women in prostitution. In many ways this shows her to be a particularly complex thinker about the position of women in society and it is certainly a concern which she comes back to time and again in her poetry. Her views may not always be ‘radical’ as such, but they are usually far from conservative and often questioning, challenging and potentially subversive.

Marriage and the complexities of relationships In a number of her poems Rossetti examines women’s position in society through consideration of the institution of marriage. Can you think of any?

Read the Poem… First Impressions? What is happening in the poem? What are the main themes? What do you think Rossetti is saying about women?

Discuss the poem in relation to each statement Rossetti rejects John because she does not want to marry him. Rossetti thinks that John only wants her for sex. Rossetti pities John. Rossetti is dominant in her relationship with John. Rossetti makes fun of John’s feelings for her. Rossetti wants John and her to be friends. Rossetti is angry at John’s accusations of her. Rossetti is tired of having to tell John that she does not want him. 1.Order them in terms of which you agree with most. 2.Find evidence to support OR challenge each statement and write it on the card.

A spirited and feisty narrator turns down a suitor in this one sided conversation written as a response to a suitor's demands. We are given an impression of John's demands through the responses of the narrator, although we never actually hear the words spoken by the character John. Decide what you think he says in response to the speaker’s words.

What form does the poem take? Dramatic monologue How would you describe the female speaker? Candid, honest, sense of equality with the man How does Rossetti appear to silence John? By only providing his responses through what the female speaker says. At the time, for a woman to be so outspoken would have been surprising,as society expected women to want male admiration.

How does the speaker present John as subservient in stanza two? Sick with love? Pale and weak, a mere ghost of a man How does she further this idea of weakness and vulnerability in the next stanza? The idea of pity and other women pitying him Explain her cold, implacable logic in stanza four. If you accuse me of having no heart, then how can you possibly expect me to give you my heart? In what way does Rossetti appear to have reversed gender stereotypes? She is cold, logical and lacking in emotion; he is full of emotion and pleading.

How would you describe the tone of stanzas 6-8? The speaker adopts a typically ‘masculine’ voice, with language of business and war, suggesting a meeting of equals which would not have been typical between men and women at the time. How has she tried to allow him not to lose face? She offers to ‘turn a blind eye’ to his offers of love, allowing him to keep his pride. What is the impact of this final line of the poem? Her denial is emphatic – “No” a fairly masculine response in its confidence and assertiveness. However, the very polite “thank you” suggests a mutual respect and is perhaps a wink to the gender of the speaker.