Rossetti – Babylon the Great
Initial Responses Development of ideas and interpretations
(red)
Meaning / Ideas / Themes constructed and explored Meaning / Ideas / Themes constructed and
by the poet explored by the poet
- femme fatale- powerful woman → Babylon is the - the seductive beauty that comes with
antithesis of the Angel of the House- active and familiarity and the face if evik hidden
immodest behind it
- gothic tropes= language luxuriates in taboo topics- - as she seeks for prey and longs for ‘blood’-
almost enjoys writing about sex/prostitution - akin more to the vampiric Lucy Westenra
writing about it is subversive in itself than the typical femme fatale of earlier
Gothic
- ‘arts grown old’- idea of witchcraft and danger
- significant that the sexually dangerous
- ‘plagues hid out of view’- speaking of prostitution- ‘whore’ is a woman- gender associated
STD’s and syphilis througohut Christian history as the root of
- idea of the male gaze with the repetition of ‘gaze Sin- Genesis
not upon her’- temptation, bewitching - dire prophetic warning against sin
- women are perceived as dangerous through the
male gaze
Use of form Use of form
- allegorical poem - end stop at the end of the octave- marks
the volta- resolution to argument
- stress on first syllable- gives a powerful imperative
warning tone - metrical rhythm follows traditional iambic
pentameter- measured, solemn tread
- petrarchan sonnet- traditional love poem,
argument is eventually resolved → idea of the
corruption of love, Babylon the Great is the
antithesis to love
- sestet- only one sentence- as if she is drawing the
reader in, tempting them (‘lest thou be as she’-
conflates the reader with Babylon- the poem is a
warning) → SUSPENDED CLAUSE
- rhyme scheme- ABBAABBA (OCTAVE) CDDCE
(SESTET)
Use of structural devices (include key terms) Use of structural devices
- ‘Foul is she and ill-favoured, set askew’- rhythmic - opening line- Rossetti uses anastrophe-
emphasis- syntax emphasis on foulness (pejorative inversts word order to place key adjective
Initial Responses Development of ideas and interpretations
(red)
Meaning / Ideas / Themes constructed and explored Meaning / Ideas / Themes constructed and
by the poet explored by the poet
- femme fatale- powerful woman → Babylon is the - the seductive beauty that comes with
antithesis of the Angel of the House- active and familiarity and the face if evik hidden
immodest behind it
- gothic tropes= language luxuriates in taboo topics- - as she seeks for prey and longs for ‘blood’-
almost enjoys writing about sex/prostitution - akin more to the vampiric Lucy Westenra
writing about it is subversive in itself than the typical femme fatale of earlier
Gothic
- ‘arts grown old’- idea of witchcraft and danger
- significant that the sexually dangerous
- ‘plagues hid out of view’- speaking of prostitution- ‘whore’ is a woman- gender associated
STD’s and syphilis througohut Christian history as the root of
- idea of the male gaze with the repetition of ‘gaze Sin- Genesis
not upon her’- temptation, bewitching - dire prophetic warning against sin
- women are perceived as dangerous through the
male gaze
Use of form Use of form
- allegorical poem - end stop at the end of the octave- marks
the volta- resolution to argument
- stress on first syllable- gives a powerful imperative
warning tone - metrical rhythm follows traditional iambic
pentameter- measured, solemn tread
- petrarchan sonnet- traditional love poem,
argument is eventually resolved → idea of the
corruption of love, Babylon the Great is the
antithesis to love
- sestet- only one sentence- as if she is drawing the
reader in, tempting them (‘lest thou be as she’-
conflates the reader with Babylon- the poem is a
warning) → SUSPENDED CLAUSE
- rhyme scheme- ABBAABBA (OCTAVE) CDDCE
(SESTET)
Use of structural devices (include key terms) Use of structural devices
- ‘Foul is she and ill-favoured, set askew’- rhythmic - opening line- Rossetti uses anastrophe-
emphasis- syntax emphasis on foulness (pejorative inversts word order to place key adjective
