In 'Some ladies dress in muslin full and white', the quote, "Some ladies dress in muslin full and white, Some gentlemen in cloth succinct and black", From a Proto-feminist lens, it exposes the gendered restrictions imposed on Victorian individuals through the symbolic metonymy of clothing - The voluminous, white muslin worn by women reflects societal expectations of female purity, passivity, and ornamental delicacy - qualities celebrated in patriarchal ideology yet deeply confining - In contrast, men’s “succinct and black” attire denotes control, seriousness, and intellectual authority, reinforcing a binary that grants power to masculinity while aestheticizing female submission - Rossetti’s sardonic tone and sharp juxtaposition subtly critique these unequal roles, revealing how visual presentation enforces structural imbalance under the guise of decorum