Rossetti – Passing and Glassing
Initial Responses Development of ideas and interpretations
(red)
Meaning / Ideas / Themes constructed and explored by Meaning / Ideas / Themes constructed and
the poet explored by the poet
- loss of fertility, fading beauty, memento mori, vanity, - passage of time from a woman's pov
self-importance, women’s worth in society
- ‘looking glass’ as a metaphor for fading
- exploration of the typical victorian attitude towards looks
women- the importance of appearances and youth
within a superficial society - ageing means wisdom- the mirror
reflects not beauty nor loss, but
- avoids a critical or feminist perspective- more factual something of greater value
and inevitable
- each woman recognises the briefness of her youth
and aware of its futility→ loss of their beauty and
innocent fragility as they age
- ambiguity- lack of clarity in the title, neologism
‘glassing’ → lack of explicit meaning
- verbs ‘passing’ and ‘glassing’- the inevitability of
human mortality
- exploration of the notion of death and mortality-
interesting given Victorian conventions of mourning
and fascination with death
- women to remain stoic w agee rather than lamenting
their youth
- women's beauty symbolises her worth and fertility
- the human condition- mortality
- NOT a feminist/ critical pov
- ‘All things that pass/ Are woman’s looking glass’-
nature mirrors womens fading beauty (fading
flowers= prophetic vision of her own beauty)-->
MEMENTO MORI- reminder of the importance of faith
for Rossetti as death= inevitable
Use of form Use of form
-
Initial Responses Development of ideas and interpretations
(red)
Meaning / Ideas / Themes constructed and explored by Meaning / Ideas / Themes constructed and
the poet explored by the poet
- loss of fertility, fading beauty, memento mori, vanity, - passage of time from a woman's pov
self-importance, women’s worth in society
- ‘looking glass’ as a metaphor for fading
- exploration of the typical victorian attitude towards looks
women- the importance of appearances and youth
within a superficial society - ageing means wisdom- the mirror
reflects not beauty nor loss, but
- avoids a critical or feminist perspective- more factual something of greater value
and inevitable
- each woman recognises the briefness of her youth
and aware of its futility→ loss of their beauty and
innocent fragility as they age
- ambiguity- lack of clarity in the title, neologism
‘glassing’ → lack of explicit meaning
- verbs ‘passing’ and ‘glassing’- the inevitability of
human mortality
- exploration of the notion of death and mortality-
interesting given Victorian conventions of mourning
and fascination with death
- women to remain stoic w agee rather than lamenting
their youth
- women's beauty symbolises her worth and fertility
- the human condition- mortality
- NOT a feminist/ critical pov
- ‘All things that pass/ Are woman’s looking glass’-
nature mirrors womens fading beauty (fading
flowers= prophetic vision of her own beauty)-->
MEMENTO MORI- reminder of the importance of faith
for Rossetti as death= inevitable
Use of form Use of form
-
