From Improvvisatrice to Beatrice : Gabriele Rossetti's influence on his daughter, Christina

Abstract

As a young woman, Christina Rossetti became fully absorbed in the religious ideals which dominated her life. The development of her character was, however, also shaped by poetic models, as well as by her father Gabriele Rossetti. This paper argues that while the young Christina was influenced by the popular image of the female improvvisatrice, and encouraged in this role by the example set by her father, she rejected this model early on, at roughly the time of her teenage breakdown. Turning away from this image, she instead embraced a very different female figure from poetry, one which was more compatible with her strong religious beliefs. This figure was that of Dante’s Beatrice and, to a lesser extent, of Petrarch’s Laura.