‘Cousin Kate’ by Christina Rossetti Essay

This prissy poem is ab come out the cashier (a go woman), the ecclesiastic and Kate. It is a lay which tells the story from the narrators post about being shunned by conjunction after her experiences with the captain. The poems young-bearing(prenominal) loud loud verbaliser system re claim ins her contentment in her depleted surroundings until the local Lord of the manor took her to be his lover. He discarded her when she became large(predicate) and his affections turned to another village girl, Kate, whom he and then married. Although the vocalizers union condemned the speaker as a fallen woman, she reflects that her love for the skipper was more trustworthy than Kates.She is proud of the son she bore him and is authentic that the man is un thoroughly-chosen that he and Kate confront child little. Some readers think that she feels more betrayed by her first cousin than the ecclesiastic. This poem is a melodramatic monologue written in the prim era. Struct ure The poem is written in first person narrative. It has 6 stanzas of 8 product business sectors One stanza severally on the narrator, the Lord and Kate stanza 4 contrasts the position of the narrator and Kate stanza 5 criticises Kate and stanza 6 focuses on the narrators triumph at having a child. for each one stanza is the same length and each melodic phrase has a similar stave, giving it a ballad- resembling feel. It could also be broad expending the intensity level and perseverance of the narrator who has to face liveness in conflict with the expectations of Victorian society. blood that the aroma reassigns as the poem progresses regret, accusation, bitterness, triumph. The poetry scheme always connects the B (2nd line) of each couplet. E. g Stanza one AB/CB/DB/DB. Sometimes the first line of the couplet is hoarfrostd. The rhyme emphasises the last world to tutelage meaning.The regular rhyme could also rede that narrator has not only been dominate by the L ord (because men and in particular men of a high social standing) but is also con hunky-dory with Victorian social conventions (she is now a fallen woman in conflict with the values of her society). Sometimes the first line is rhymed as in Stanza 3 AB/AB/CB/AB. In this parapraxis the phrases Kate, gate and estate ar stressed in order to convey the way Kate has been elevated from her position in society.However in stanza 5 this rhyme of avowedly and you contrasts the narrators strength of feeling with Kates. cousin Kate is written with an iambic rhythm. Generally, one line of the poem has terce feet, and the undermentioned has four. The poem, t presentfore, generally follows the follo cowcatcher flesh da dum da dum da dum da dum da dum da dum da dum iambic rhythms often follow the natural rhythm of speech, a little like a heartbeat. If we apply this to one of Rossettis lines, it reads as follows Because you were so good and pure.thusly the meaning of the words is captured in the line as specific words atomic number 18 stressed. The repetition of Why did a gravid overlord find me out, conveys the passion and bewilderment of the speaker at her change of circumstances, whilst the phrase good and pure has a hollow ring by its endorse occurrence. Thereafter, repeated phrases are altered to set off the contrasting situations of Kate and the speaker The community call Kate good and pure, but call the speaker an out number thing.Kate sits in gold, the speaker sits in diffuse. The image of dust connects to a sprightliness of poverty and also suggests how she has been soiled by society. Whereas gold suggests that her cousin has riches. Kates destine is to sit and sing, the speakers to sit and howl. This suggests the mental torturing that the narrator is experiencing at being devoted whereas to sing indicates that Kate is content. However, the speaker believes her love was true, while Kates love was writ in sand suggesting that her love is stronger than Kates.The echoed body structure in the final stanza that Kate has not got and is not like to get the gift of a child emphasises the speakers wiz of triumph. Language The speakers questions in the first stanza express her resentment and confuseness at the experiences she has had to endure Why did a great lord find me out Why did a great lord find me out? She suggests that before the arriver of the great lord, she was happy and at rest (line 3). She was not looking for a tender situation in life.It came unexpectedly. The idea that the lord filled her heart with care suggests that she had less to worry about previously. She is angry that he made her anxious instead of happy and took her away from her friends, her cottage distich (line 3). She questions her cousin Kate in stanza 4 suggesting that she loved the lord whereas her cousin did not marry for love. The speaker addresses her questions, laments and moans to Kate. She begins the third verse, O Lady Kate, my cousin K ate and the fifth, O cousin Kate.Throughout, she employs a tone of accusation, repeatedly using the word you as she compares Kate to herself. In the last four lines, the speaker draws her attention away from her bitterness at Kate and addresses her son. She calls him my shame, my pride (line 45). The oxymoron highlights the conflict that she experiences at gentle the Lord and her son but also knowing that she has defied moral convention. Through fighting(a) and passive verbs Rossetti emphasises the powerlessness of women in Victorian society by associating the lord with a series of actions which take the initiative.He found the speaker out / praised her / lured her / wore her / changed her / cast her by / fooled her. These are harsh actions, which become more alarming with regard to Kate. Like a stalker, the lord saw her / chose her / watched her / lifted her To sit with him / springiness her/ won her / bought her. Like a hunter, the lord found the speaker out, lured her, then c hose his next victim in Kate, whom he watched, then picked up (lifted) and bound. twain women are referred to as birds, with Kate seeming to be trussed and bound by her fine clothes and wedding ring. In Cousin Kate, the plunge image draws on these ideas of anticipate and fulfilment and is a symbol of sinlessness that stands in direct contrast to the foul state the speaker finds herself as she describes herself as an unclean thing (line 15). However, she acknowledges that the tenderness associated with the dove is no match for Kates stronger wing.Even though the speaker claims that she would  occupy spit and would not have interpreted the lord, the fact that this is in the future conditional tense indicates that the reality of the situation is in fact very different she volition always be powerless. Alliteration is used throughout the poem The soft artlessness of the speaker before her life changed is conveyed by the soft M of maiden, mates and mindful in stanza 1 When the speaker claims that she was led to the lords stick out to lead a shameless pitch-black life, the sibilance in this line reinforces the connective together of oxymorons that these words perform.It also reflects the muffled manner in which the speaker was ensnared by the lord, taken in, then later cast aside The speakers anger shines through the harsh consonants of Lady Kate, my cousin Kate In the final stanza, the speaker emphasises the constrictive bond she shares with her son when she asks that he flow closer, closer yet (line 46). The emphasis here highlights her fear and together with the repetition of the word closer, suggests that it is for her give comfort, as well as her sons, that they remain together. unvoiced images are used to convey the plight of the narrator. She claims that the lord considered her as a plaything (line 12) whom he could treat how he care without any regard for her feelings. Much like the silken knot (line 12) he wore close to his neck (a crav at or tie), he tough her as a fashion helper he could use and then cast away, rather than as an individual with her own needs. The speaker recognises that the lord changed me like a glove (line 13).He used her and moulded her into a shape that suited him and then, like a glove that no longer pleases, parcel out with her completely. A glove is an intimate and person-to-person object that fits itself around its user. By describing herself as a glove, the speaker acknowledges that she lost fix of her own needs and desires in an essay to please and suit the lord. Essay statute title Explain how Rossetti creates sympathy for the narrator in Cousin Kate. Use examples from the poem to musical accompaniment your answers.