Sexual transgression in Maude Clare and An Apple Gathering:
LOAS:
1- Framed as a fall from grace through use of religious and natural
symbolism
2- Female displacement of both Maude Clare and lady in AG as a
result- compared to Gertrude, both spiritually and physically isolated
3- Male lack of accountability for sexual transgressions
In both ‘Maude Clare’ and ‘An Apple Gathering’, Rossetti frames sexual
transgressions using natural symbolism to present their decaying effect.
In ‘An Apple Gathering’, this transgression is the speaker’s premature
engagement in female sexuality. The speaker's act of "pluck[ing] pink
blossoms from mine apple-tree" represents her sexual crime- the
possessive “mine” is suggestive of a personal ownership of chastity, a
value deeply embedded in Victorian ideals of female purity. The eroticism
implied in “plucked”, therefore, corrupts this purity, linking the act to the
loss of virginity. Rossetti presents this as a needless sexual transgression
through her use of time- the immediacy of 'plucked', as well as the
enjambment throughout this opening stanza, portrays the
thoughtlessness of the speaker in engaging in such sexuality and defying
the natural order of waiting for “due season”. The image of the “apple
tree” itself is symbolically significant in acting as a Biblical allusion to the
tree of the Garden of Eden, such that it symbolises temptation and
forbidden desire. As such, the speaker mirrors Eve in her sin of sexual
transgression, as she is aligned with the archetypal female figure of moral
failure, leading to her punishment. Rossetti presents this punishment
through the decay of the natural imagery of “pink blossoms”. The soft,
feminine image of “pink” conveys fertility, which is subverted by the
harsh, barren reality of "I found no apples there" come the end of the
stanza. The deviation from iambic pentameter to trimeter in this final line
structurally reflects the abrupt nature of such downfall following giving in
to the temptation of such sexual transgressions, serving as Rossetti’s
warning of the harsh consequences women faced for engaging in sexual
behaviour outside the prescribed moral order characterising Victorian
England, in which female sexuality was strictly policed.
This symbolic use of natural decay is echoed in ‘Maude Clare’, as the
titular speaker reminisces how she and Thomas “waded ankle-deep/For
lilies in the beck.’ The childish action of “wad[ing] ankle deep” is
presented as youthful and frivolous, conveying the notion of innocence.
However, Rossetti subverts this as the pair “plucked” the lilies “from the
budding bough.” The dynamic verb “plucked” echoes the diction of ‘An
Apple Gathering’, presenting this as a willing sexual transgression by
LOAS:
1- Framed as a fall from grace through use of religious and natural
symbolism
2- Female displacement of both Maude Clare and lady in AG as a
result- compared to Gertrude, both spiritually and physically isolated
3- Male lack of accountability for sexual transgressions
In both ‘Maude Clare’ and ‘An Apple Gathering’, Rossetti frames sexual
transgressions using natural symbolism to present their decaying effect.
In ‘An Apple Gathering’, this transgression is the speaker’s premature
engagement in female sexuality. The speaker's act of "pluck[ing] pink
blossoms from mine apple-tree" represents her sexual crime- the
possessive “mine” is suggestive of a personal ownership of chastity, a
value deeply embedded in Victorian ideals of female purity. The eroticism
implied in “plucked”, therefore, corrupts this purity, linking the act to the
loss of virginity. Rossetti presents this as a needless sexual transgression
through her use of time- the immediacy of 'plucked', as well as the
enjambment throughout this opening stanza, portrays the
thoughtlessness of the speaker in engaging in such sexuality and defying
the natural order of waiting for “due season”. The image of the “apple
tree” itself is symbolically significant in acting as a Biblical allusion to the
tree of the Garden of Eden, such that it symbolises temptation and
forbidden desire. As such, the speaker mirrors Eve in her sin of sexual
transgression, as she is aligned with the archetypal female figure of moral
failure, leading to her punishment. Rossetti presents this punishment
through the decay of the natural imagery of “pink blossoms”. The soft,
feminine image of “pink” conveys fertility, which is subverted by the
harsh, barren reality of "I found no apples there" come the end of the
stanza. The deviation from iambic pentameter to trimeter in this final line
structurally reflects the abrupt nature of such downfall following giving in
to the temptation of such sexual transgressions, serving as Rossetti’s
warning of the harsh consequences women faced for engaging in sexual
behaviour outside the prescribed moral order characterising Victorian
England, in which female sexuality was strictly policed.
This symbolic use of natural decay is echoed in ‘Maude Clare’, as the
titular speaker reminisces how she and Thomas “waded ankle-deep/For
lilies in the beck.’ The childish action of “wad[ing] ankle deep” is
presented as youthful and frivolous, conveying the notion of innocence.
However, Rossetti subverts this as the pair “plucked” the lilies “from the
budding bough.” The dynamic verb “plucked” echoes the diction of ‘An
Apple Gathering’, presenting this as a willing sexual transgression by
