The Angel In The House Rosetti Analysis

The dynamic between men and women has been examined in literature since the age of Chaucer and has progressed as time passed. By the Victorian Age, women were seen as the submissive half of their husbands who stayed home to run the household while the husband went to work. Women were also placed upon a pedestal that a human is incapable of reaching. The Victorian view of women was highlighted in Christina Rossetti’s poem “In an Artist’s Studio”, and Coventry Patmore’s poem “The Angel in the House”. In the poem “In an Artist’s Studio”, Rosetti describes a woman through the eyes of a male artist. The poem describes her as, “a saint, an angel” (line 7) and states that the artist paints her “Not as she is, but as she fills his dream” (line 14).

This term was later used to describe the Victorian condescending view of women. Much like Rosetti’s poem, the poem first seemed to be a love poem, but was instead a poem proclaiming women’s role in marriage. The beginning of the poem talked how no words could “liken’d the excellence” (line 27) of his love and all he could say about her, “does her wrong” (line 36). He then continued to describe her as “Maid and Wife” (line 38) and their ideal marriage was “The nuptial contrasts are the poles/ On which the heavenly spheres revolve” (lines 63-64). Though these descriptions seem to be positive, closer inspection revealed the true meaning behind the words. His view of his wife resembled that of the artist in Rosetti’s poem. In both instances, they placed the woman above everything else and createed an image of a pure angel who could not be corrupted. His later description of his wife as “maid” highlighted the societal idea of women at the time. In the Victorian Age, women were seen as part of the household and unable to function in the work force. This view was especially applied to middle class women. Patmore then compared the ideal marriage to poles on opposite ends of the earth that’s magnetic pull keeps them together. This metaphor illustrated the view that women and men are distinctively different. Patmore argued that the differences between man and woman, such as dominance versus submissive, held the household together. In “The Angel in the House”, Patmore described his view of a perfect wife and, thus, the perfect marriage. If the wife was submissive, pure, and loving, Patmore believed that one would have the perfect marriage much like he