Context - Some ladies dress in muslin full and white

• Victorian society placed heavy emphasis on appearance, propriety, and class distinction - Women, especially, were judged by how they dressed and behaved - Rossetti critiques this superficiality, mocking how older women cling to youth through fashion and how men also absurdly perform status through dress - This connects to how the poem satirises both male and female vanity and artificiality
• Though often known for her religious and devotional poetry, Rossetti was also sharply observant and sometimes bitingly critical of societal norms - As someone who never married and led a modest lifestyle, she may have viewed performative social appearances with distaste or detachment - The poem reflects a moralistic undercurrent, ridiculing not just fashion but the hollowness of social pretence
• Rossetti was associated with the Pre-Raphaelites, a group known for their interest in beauty, truth, and often medieval or symbolic themes - However, Rossetti’s own work frequently diverged, especially in poems like this where she adopts a far more modern, realist, and ironic voice - This poem showcases a different Rossetti - one that's playful, sarcastic, and boldly critical of her society
• Rossetti likely wrote the poem as a social satire, mocking the absurdity and vanity of how people (especially women) obsess over fashion and appearance to fit in with societal ideals - She challenges aging women clinging to youth, and men posturing with flamboyant style, suggesting moral and intellectual shallowness behind these performances - It may also express Rossetti’s personal disdain for superficiality in a society that often judged women by looks rather than intellect or morality
• The poem 'Some ladies dress in muslin full and white' was written in the mid-to-late 19th century, during the Victorian era - Though the exact date isn’t confirmed, it reflects Victorian fashion, etiquette, and social satire, which places it likely in the 1850's to the 1870's - during Rossetti’s most productive years
• Written in the Victorian era, Rossetti’s sonnet 'Some ladies dress in muslin full and white' satirises the era’s obsession with appearance and social status, critiquing both male and female vanity with biting wit and subtle moral judgment
• In 'Some Ladies Dress in Muslin Full and White', the Extended Metaphor beginning with women adorned in muslin presents society as an acrimonious masquerade of performance and pretence - Rossetti’s use of sartorial imagery becomes a sardonic commentary on the artificial roles imposed by Victorian gender and class structures, where identity is not intrinsic but draped in expectation - This theatrical construct reveals individuals as grotesque caricatures, their exaggerated appearances reflecting the hollowness of their societal function - The metaphor functions as a caustic critique of superficial decorum, exposing the moral vacuity masked by genteel aesthetics