This thesis illustrates how the nineteenth-century English poet Christina Rossetti combined sexual imagery with the theme of redemption in order to challenge the dominant representation of the ...Show moreThis thesis illustrates how the nineteenth-century English poet Christina Rossetti combined sexual imagery with the theme of redemption in order to challenge the dominant representation of the “fallen women” in Victorian culture. The art works of her fellow pre-Raphaelites representing “fallen women” are shown to be significant intertexts that helped Rossetti develop her contrasting depictions of fallen women. In all, this thesis sheds light on the relevance of Rossetti’s poetry to the nineteenth-century feminist movement, as it attempted to liberate women from the dominant patriarchal Victorian gender ideology.Show less
