Words such as 'sun' and 'contented' help give the opening of 'Cousin Kate' a feeling of happiness and peace. According to the introduction she works as a cottage maiden and is happy with her life. This opening helps us know what life is like for the main character before she meets the Lord. 'Not mindful I was fair' shows that she is carefree. It tells us that she wasn't aware that she could be in the slightest bit attractive to anyone, especially a Lord.
At the end of the poem, the atmosphere is one of pride and gloat. The narrator is boasting to Kate about her son and almost teasing Kate with him as it appears Kate can not have children. In stanza 5 the maiden then talks about if the situation had been reversed, that she would not have fallen for the Lord and 'spat into his face'. She may just be saying this because she wants to make herself feel better by blaming it on someone else. She says that she would not have accepted his proposal for marriage and would not have rejected him. The language used
in the stanza is very aggresive. The words 'spit into his face' gives a sharp and clear image of revenge and hatred towards the lord. The language is also very repetitive. She keeps saying 'if'. This could mean that she may feel that if she had not have fell for him none of this would have happened, which in reality is true. This stanza is the main section that tells about what happened and what could have been done to avoid all of the incidents. She feels that is she had not been so gullible and easy, it would have all been avoided. She is trying to make herself feel better by thinking what could've happened rather than what did happen.
In the poem there are one or two similes that create a mood. In stanza 2 the simile 'he wore me like a silken knot' means that he used the cottage maiden then cast her away. He made her feel special and loved when infact all this was counterfeit love. Also in stanza 2 the line, 'He changed me like a glove', shows that he changed the cottage maiden for Kate as if they were gloves and he were simply switching to a different, more cleaner pair, with no thought for their feelings. It tells us that whenever it pleases him he could just disown her and move onto another innocent woman. She feels let down on her behalf. Repetition is also used in the poem. It is sometimes used as sarcasm, like the repetition of, '.....good and pure' in the fourth stanza. Rossetti tells us that the maiden 'has a gift'. The term 'gift' implies that she likes the fact she has a baby. It makes it sound precious to her, as she says 'cling closer, closer yet'. She repeats the word 'closer' to emphasize how much she loves her child, despite being unplanned, the baby is wanted.
There is only one male in this poem and he is the Lord. He comes across to the reader as a liar and a cheat - 'if he had fooled not me but you'. In only the second stanza of Rossetti's poem we realised that the woman is ashamed of being 'lured' by the Lords life. 'He lured to me to his palace home'. There's two words in that line that immediately catches the eye. The word 'lured' tells us that he dragged her in like an animal luring its prey, waiting to attack its victim. 'Palace home' immediately tells us that he's a man of richness and wealth, if the title 'Lord' doesn't already give it away. She also writes 'woe's me for joy thereof'. This basically tells us that he wanted her for one thing, sex, and nothing else. It also tells us of the woman's misery. She is upset and ashamed that she didn't notice earlier his true colours and that he wasn't a very pleasant man - from joy bitterness came as a result. Secondly, just two lines later, writes Rossetti, 'his plaything and his love'. This implies that he was just using her as his little toy, just for pleasure. He had no real feelings for her whatsoever. This is not a statement of a woman who is proud of what she has done. This is a clear indication that she is ashamed, but the biggest hint is yet to come. 'So now I moan, an unclean thing. Who might've been a dove'. She is looking back and thinking how things could have been so different. She wails and sobs at the thought of the direction that her life may have gone, if she hadn't got involved with the Lord. Now, no matter what she does, she is 'unclean' as she has had sex before marriage. 'Who might've been a dove'. This the woman thinking about what it might have been. The poet uses a dove because they are considered to be something special that stands out from the crowd. It is also, more commonly, a symbol of peace and tranquility. It represents a free and peaceful life that she doesn't have anymore. Finally, Rossetti writes, 'if he had fooled not me but you.' The crucial word in this stanza is 'fooled'. The woman is not pleased with what she has
done, she has been tricked into everything by the Lord. It is far from being romantic and it is, again, not the words of a woman who is proud of her actions. This also tells us alot about the character of the Lord. It implies he is an human being with no feelings towards others, intent only on doing what is best for himself. He is not worried about the feelings of the woman, as long as he has his enjoyment. The theme of this stanza is based on rejection and how the lord treats other women. He 'plays' the woman. He feels that because he is a lord he can do what he wants when he wants. The structure of this stanza is very repetitive. She keeps asking the question 'why'. This tells us that she now realises what has happened and wants to know why he chose her and not another woman.
In the poem the cottage maiden is worried about public assessment of her before she became pregnant rather than after. The first indication that we had of her concern is the line, 'to lead a shameless shameful life.' Its shows that she's embarrased living with the man before marriage. This wouldn't be very unusual in today's society, so this somewhat dates the poem and allows the reader to assess the date in which the poem was set. At this time however, she is not particularly bothered about what people are saying behind her back. She is enjoying life with the Lord and that is the priority at this stage. We do not yet have any real feelings towards her character as she is living out a normal life with the Lord. Once the Lord has finished with her, it is written, 'the neighbours call you good and pure, call me an outcast thing'. In the eyes of the neighbours she is the one in the wrong while the cousin has done nothing at all improper. The term 'outcast thing' suggests that she is not even worthy of a name in the opinion of the surrounding public. This makes us feel incredible sympathy for her and her situation, as we know her backround and the events that are going on.
The main character in 'Cousin Kate' falls pregnant. However, she sees her baby as a blessing, '...Ive a gift...'. Despite this, since having sex outside of marriage was unacceptable to society when this poem was written, the narrator describes her son as, '....my shame, my pride', so even though she is ashamed of having sex outside of marriage and her son is proof that she did, she loves him and is proud of him. It seems that the Lord does not want to admit that the child is his, or does not know that he has a child, because at the end of the poem it says, 'your father would give lands for one, to wear his coronet'. This quotation tells us that the lord cannot have children, therfore does not have an heir to his throne. The lord is willing to give whatever needed to obtain a child, a son, and heir to his throne. The maiden talks about how Kate will fret that he cannot have children.
'For all your clothes and wedding ring'. This tells us that for all the material items she has expensive clothes, rings and jewellery but she will never have the one thing that she really wants, a baby. The language of this stanza is based on bitter revenge. The maiden feels that she has beaten Kate and won the battle. This goes to show that all the material things in life mean nothing when a woman cannot have children. The structure of the poem acts as a climax. It tells about how even though the maiden was cheated and used she still has the one thing that matters more than anything.
Stanza 3 goes on to explain how the Lord chose Kate and left the cottage maiden. 'He lifted you from mean estate/to sit with him on high.' This means that the
Lord elevated Kate's position from poor to higher up. The cottage maiden and Kate were initially both peasants but now Kate had left the life of simplicity to join the life of arrogance leaving the cottage maiden, her cousin, behind so now the cottage maiden feels that it should be her sitting up there not her cousin.
'Even so I sit and howl in dust,/you sit in gold and sing'. This quotation explains that when the cottage worker is upset and crying in the barn amongst the dust, Kate is sitting in the lord's place and singing happily with him, praising her life and her times with the Lord. The word 'howl' makes you think of an animal. She was the animal - the meanest of the mean, in complete contrast to her cousin - an innocent dove who takes love and happiness wherever she goes. As we know Kate does not know about the affair with the cottage maiden, so therefore respects the Lord. She then goes on to talk about her upbringing. 'Now which of us had tenderer heart, you had the stronger wing'. This quotation explains that they were both normal women with loving and caring hearts but cousin Kate had the stronger and more loving upbringing, leaving the cottage maiden to 'fend for herself' and brings herself up in the ways she feels right. The stronger wing meaning that she had the upper hand on the maiden and that is probably why the lord wanted to marry her and not the maiden. 'Stronger wing' might also refer back to the dove. The 'wing' acts as a barrier made of purity so it might mean that the cottage maiden was weak and had a weak wing therefore it fell to impurity at an early stage - she let her barriers down. Whereas Kate had a 'stronger wing' of purity and so managing to remain a virgin for a longer period of time therefore kept her barriers up and didn't give in to impurity like the cottage maiden. The structure of this stanza is very comparitive. The maiden constantly compares herself to Kate in this stanza. This meant that the thoughts running through her mind are trying to find out as to why Kate was chosen and not the maiden. She may, in her mind be trying to get revenge on Kate.
The main character feels self-pity and betrayed and she has every right to feel this way. However she doesn't feel betrayed by the one she fell in love with. She feels betrayed by cousin Kate, as can be seen in the fifth stanza, where the character tells Kate that, 'if you stood where I stand, he'd not have won me with his love,' which shows that she thinks Kate betrayed her by accepting the Lord's love. The rest of the stanza shows what she thinks Kate should have done. The main character in 'Cousin Kate' is extremely self-pitying. The language used throughout the poem shows this. Words such as, 'moan' and 'howl' are used to describe what the character is doing, to moan and howl she must be extremely miserable. Rossetti uses imagery. The line, 'chose you and cast me by', is also very self-pitying as it shows the feels cast off and unwanted. She's very blunt about this. It's as if she's fooling herself into thinking that if she doesn't care about what happened then it wouldn't hurt her as much.
She tells us that she was 'hardened by sun and air'. It means that she is always working on the land and her hands have become hardened by all the work. It might also mean that she was literally hardened in an emotionally way where she was so used to wrok that she didn't need love and was 'contented' with just being with her friends that worked with her. 'Why did a great lord find me out' gives us the impression that she's doubtful as to why he picked her of all people. She can't understand why someone so high in status went for her, a simple cottage maiden.
She repeats this line again and so there's a repetition of 'why'. The repetition of 'why' sounds regretful. It's as if she wished he hadn't chosen her and is asking herself 'why did he pick me?'. She then goes on to say that the Lord 'filled her heart with care'. In this line she is talking metaphorically - after meeting the Lord her heart was emotionally filled with care.
In the very first line Rossetti writes, 'I was a cottage maiden.' The two words 'cottage' and 'maiden' are words that I feel adds years onto the woman right from the beginning. Her general speech adds to this. She tells the reader how she fell in love with the Lord and it was a meaningful relationship for an unstated period of time. The title 'Lord' makes him instantly sound older as you do not see or hear of many young Lords. The fact that is was a longer lasting relationship rather than a one-night stand suggest that they are adults. She is pleased with her gift of a child and nothing in the world could make her part with her baby son, and again this implies that she is of an older generation. You automatically expect the father to be roughly the same age as the mother, and I believe this is the case. All his wealth and riches highlights this, as I see no realistic way that a youngster could earn such a high amount of money. 'Your father would give lands for one, to wear his coronet.' If the Lord was youthful he wouldn't be worrying about heirs to his throne just yet so perhaps he is nearing the age that he won't be able to have another son and he is getting maybe a little desperate.
The feelings of the cottage maiden help us to understand her character. The way she's put across to the reader makes us feel sorry for her and it gives us a clear image of how she felt. At first the mood of the poem is normal. As the poem progresses the anger and bitterness from the cottage maiden is starting to show and you begin to fully understand how she felt. There's a feeling of resentment and pure hatred towards the Lord and Kate. The main character also changes throughtout the poem. At first she starts off calm but further on she's not able to contain this calmness anymore and has an outburst of hatred towards the Lord - something that she's been trying to cover. The last stanza of the poem becomes more of revenge than hatred. She feels she's had revenge over the Lord and Kate by having a child - something that they're not likely to get. She sounds very self-satisfied.
Christina Rossetti has written a very good portrayal of life in early times. It shows how society rejected woman who had unlawful sex in earlier times; women were judges and disowned by all people who knew them. Society has now changed. Women are no longer judged or even looked down on by anyone. It has become a way of life that in earlier times may have been considered as dirty and unlawful, people's attitudes have changes and it is no longer as big a deal as it was in the early 19th century.
