Learning Not to Be First: The Life of Christina Rossetti

First published in Great Britain by The Windrush Press in 1991; the US edition was made available in 1992. An illuminating biography of one of the 19th century's most notable poets sister of the artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and both product and victim of the Victorian era's social and religious standards. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

An outstanding poet of the 19th century, Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) was the youngest of four children born to Italian parents who settled in England. In this carefully researched and well-crafted biography, Rossetti emerges as a Victorian woman whose rigid notions of propriety and commitment to the Anglican church prevented her from marrying either of the two men she loved. A sister of painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the leader of the pre-Raphaelite group of artists, a bit obvious/oh, I don't know; people might have liked being reminded that Millais and Hunt were part of the gang.gs , Christina was early on exposed to art and literature circles. Quoting liberally from her haunting lyric narratives, British author Jones ( A Glorious Fame ) shows us a woman who lived a constrained and lonely life of self-denial, expressing her anger and passion only in her poetry, which became increasingly devoted to religious themes. This comprehensive biography will interest general readers and scholars alike. Illustrations.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Pallid, unconvincing portrait of the doyenne of the Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood, the mid-Victorian art movement whose members--Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris, Holman Hunt--were as well known for their laudanum and license as for their innovative paintings. It seems to be true, as Jones (an English journalist) admits, that `` `finding' Christina as a person is not an easy task....'' Primary sources about the neurasthenic and sexually repressed Rossetti are in extremely short supply, and her earliest biographers seemed intent on canonization. Jones, however, generally accepts her subject's explanations for her actions at face value, neglecting the revelations that the application of modern psychology to Rossetti's behavioral patterns might have produced. Many readers will suspect deeper motivations for Rossetti's rejection of Charles Cayley as a suitor than the stated fact that Cayley did not belong to the Church of England. Jones also seems unaware of the sheer oddness of much of Rossetti's behavior: When, for instance, a contemporary points out that Rossetti was in the habit of picking up scraps of paper on the street ``in case they had the name of Jesus printed on them,'' the author allows the information to pass without comment. Jones seems most intent on reestablishing Rossetti's reputation as a major Victorian poet and as a kind of protofeminist; but except for the gothic ``Goblin Market,'' few of Rossetti's verses rise above clich‚d sentimentalism, and Jones's comparison of Rossetti's work to that of Emily Dickinson is truly far-fetched. The author is only slightly more successful in depicting her subject as a victim of male domination. If anything, Rossetti played the ``frail blossom'' for all it was worth, especially in relating to her long-suffering brother, William. Disappointingly short on both drama and insight. (Nineteen b&w illustrations.) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Thanks in part to feminist literary theory and the current interest in the work of women writers, Rossetti has been rescued from her role as the cloistered sister of the Pre-Raphaelites and again emerges as one of the major poets of her time. In this critical biography, Jones sorts myth from fact as she examines Rossetti's life and its impact on her poetry. Seen against the backdrop of Victorian sensibilities and her heavy family responsibilities, Rossetti's poetry takes on new meaning as she "struggles for a voice within a creed which consistently denied it to her." Jones's readable style and thorough, clear-eyed scholarship, which challenges assumptions by earlier biographers, make this book valuable to feminists and poetry lovers as well as to specialists in Victorian literature.
- Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.