The Afterlife of Christina Rossetti

225 Pages·2000·1.83 MB·English

by  Alison Chapman

The Afterlife of Christina
Rossetti
Alison Chapman
The Afterlife of Christina Rossetti

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10.1057/9780230286009 - The Afterlife of Christina Rossetti, Alison Chapman
Also by Alison Chapman
ICON CRITICAL GUIDE TO ELIZABETH GASKELL’S MARY BARTON AND
NORTH AND SOUTH (editor)
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10.1057/9780230286009 - The Afterlife of Christina Rossetti, Alison Chapman
The Afterlife of Christina
Rossetti
Alison Chapman 4
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Department of English 1-0
University of Dundee 01
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Eyes that have been supernaturalized recognise, not literally only, but ns
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ltihkee wdiasye: itno at hfieg ueryee, pheorwta idnasr kan seisns grleev seualns; mtoo rteh elu nmiginhatr iiensn tuhmaner adbolees, om - lic
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incalculable, by man’s perception inexhaustible stars. ct.
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— Christina Rossetti, Face of the Deep co
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10.1057/9780230286009 - The Afterlife of Christina Rossetti, Alison Chapman
First published in Great Britain 2000 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 0–333–72183–7
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First published in the United States of America 2000 by 11-
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SScTh.o lMarlAy aRnTd RINef’eSre nPceR DEivSiSsi,o nL,
LC, ect - 2
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175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
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ISBN 0–312–23461–9
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
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CThhea pamftearnl,i fAe loisfo Cn,h 1ri9s7ti0n–a
Rossetti / Alison Chapman.
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p. cm.
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IInScBluNd 0es– 3b1ib2l–io2g3r4a6p1h–ic9a (lc rleoftehr)e
nces (p. ) and index.
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1. Rossetti, Christina Georgina, 1830–1894—Criticism and interpretation–
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–History. 2. Women and literature—England—History—19th century. I. Title.
bibli
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P82R15'.283—8 d.Cc2417 2000 ersitet
00–026190 niv
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© Alison Chapman 2000 d t
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All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made n
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without written permission. m - lic
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written co
permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act ct.
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1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright nn
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Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP. c
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to gr
al
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. p
w.
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The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with m w
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. o
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This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained eri
forest sources. mat
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 g
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Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire
10.1057/9780230286009 - The Afterlife of Christina Rossetti, Alison Chapman
In Memoriam
Judith and Christine
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10.1057/9780230286009 - The Afterlife of Christina Rossetti, Alison Chapman
Contents

Acknowledgements ix
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List of Abbreviations x
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List of Plates xi
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Introduction: the Haunting of Christina Rossetti 1
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1 `A Bizarre Medium': The Return of the Dead and
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New Historicism 16
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The lost referent 16
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Imaginary restorations 23
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2 Speaking with the Dead: Recovering Lost Voices 28
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Ventriloquies 28
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Feminism and the voice 35
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3 Christina Rossetti in Effect: Reading Biographies 46
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History 46
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Hysteria 50
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Histrionics 57
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4 Defining the Feminine Subject: Fraternal
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Revisions I 64
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Tracing the subject 64
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Revising hands 68
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Self-erasure 79
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5 Spectres and Spectators: Fraternal Revisions II 82

Sister to the Brotherhood 82

`Alone of all her sex' 85

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10.1057/9780230286009 - The Afterlife of Christina Rossetti, Alison Chapman
viii Contents
`Not as she is, but as she fills his dream' 94

Out of focus 102

6 Father's Place, Mother's Space: Italy and the

Paradisal 108

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Strange homelands 108
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Cor mio 120
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7 The Afterlife of Poetry: `Goblin Market' 131
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The consumptive signature
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Critical Goblin Markets
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Remembering Jeanie
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Notes
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Bibliography
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Index
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10.1057/9780230286009 - The Afterlife of Christina Rossetti, Alison Chapman
Acknowledgements

I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Snell Newlands 4
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research fund, which funded my postgraduate work on Christina Ros- 03-
setti at the University of Glasgow. The Erasmus exchange scheme funded 011-
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an idyllic three months at the UniversitaÁ degli studi di Firenze, which ct -
gave me the space and facilities for translating Rossetti's Italian poetry nne
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and exploring her Italian heritage. Thank you to Jean Ellis D'Allessandro eC
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for conversations about Christina Rossetti and Italy, and to Gillian gra
Wright for sharing the Florentine adventure. Pal
Chapters 3 and 4 first appeared in Victorian Literature and Culture and so -
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Victorian Poetry respectively, and are reprinted in a revised form with Tro
permission of the editors. An earlier version of Chapter 6 first appeared et i
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in The Culture of Christina Rossetti, edited by Mary Arseneau, Antony H. ote
Harrison and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, and is reprinted here in a revised bibli
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form with the permission of Ohio University Press/Swallow Press, sitet
Athens, Ohio. ver
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I would particularly like to thank my supervisor, Richard Cronin, who o U
guided and encouraged me through the doctoral research on which this d t
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study is based and which owes a tremendous debt to his sympathetic en
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feedback, indefatigable support and good humour. Antony H. Harrison m - li
generously gave me pre-publication access to his edition of Christina co
Rossetti's letters. Although my Christina Rossetti may not be the figure ect.
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he recognises, I could not have produced this book without his meticu- on
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lous scholarship and gracious assistance. Conversations with Jan Marsh av
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have enlivened and illuminated my acquaintance with the Rossettis. al
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Thanks are owed to Catherine Maxwell for her time, enthusiasm and ww.
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friendship. Former colleagues at Sheffield Hallam University gave impor- m
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tant early encouragement, in particular Judy Simons and Chris Hopkins al fr
and Lisa Hopkins. For collegiality and fun, thanks are due to Jo George, eri
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Andrew M. Roberts, Jane Stabler and Keith B. Williams. ht m
To my aunt, Anne Fleming, and my parents, thank you for generous yrig
support of every kind through the long haul of this book. And final op
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thanks to Charlie, although his miaows have too often distracted me
from my desk.
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10.1057/9780230286009 - The Afterlife of Christina Rossetti, Alison Chapman