Christina Rossetti wrote “In an Artist’s Studio” in 1856 during the Victorian Era where faith was questioned, and peace and prosperity was one of the many goals aimed in that Era. Gabriel Rossetti, the painter and brother of Christina Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal, the artist’s model plays a role in this poem. Christina Rossetti argues that Gabriel Rossetti is objectifying female models for his artwork, and therefore, Christina Rossetti speaks against her brother by portraying the contradiction in this poem. She uses loyal, uplifting, and church-related phrases in order to suggest the corruption in this act, and creates a contradicting lovely scenery that Siddal is painted in, which suggests the dehumanization of her and women as a whole. …show more content…
As a model, Siddal is forced to be in different positions - “A saint, an angel” in order to fulfill ‘his dream.’ Throughout history, women were labeled in different phrases such as unimportant and expendable, but in this situation, Siddal is labeled as “a saint” which relates to a church, suggesting that she is pure and innocent. Adding on, Siddal is also labeled as “a[n] angel” signifying that she is peace and beauty, a painting that symbolizes innocence. Although it may seem positive, being labeled as “an angel” or “a saint” means that the women do not have the power to voice her own opinion and is perfect- therefore suggests that women are weaker than men. In the first eight lines, words such as “opal” and “ruby” which suggests love and warmth, and uses the phrase “the mirror gave back all her loveliness” in order to suggest that her reflection is beautiful. By using these loyal and uplifting phrases, Christina Rossetti criticizes that the woman are viewed as objects and are less significant than men. In the last four lines, the rhyming seems to be off than before - “light,” “dim,” “bright,” and “dream.” Since this poem follows the Petrarchan Sonnet structure, it generally rhymes every other line at the last four lines. Here, “light” and “bright” seems certain than “dim” and “dream,” therefore maybe suggesting that there is dissatisfaction in his “dream.” The word choice Christina Rossetti uses in the Petrarchan sonnet influences the mood and ultimately juxtaposes the contradiction of women viewed as an