In an essay published one week after Christina Rossetti’s death, the poet and critic Arthur Symons described her as one of the great poets of the nineteenth century. Significantly, Symons paired his praise of Rossetti with a discussion of her gender and personality. Commenting on Rossetti’s “artistic self-restraint”, he explains: “It is through this mastery over her own nature, this economy of her own resources, that she takes rank among poets rather than among poetesses” (Saturday Review, 5 January 1895, 5). Symons’ remarks are indicative of the contribution Rossetti made to the literature of her era and of ways in which Rossetti’s gender shaped critical reactions to her work.

Born in 1830, in London, Christina was the

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First published 17 May 2004

Citation: Warne, Vanessa. "Christina Rossetti". The Literary Encyclopedia. 17 May 2004.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3852, accessed 9 February 2010.]