Context - At Home

• In 'At Home', Rossetti subtly critiques the Victorian obsession with death and mourning rituals by portraying a spirit forgotten by the living - Though the era emphasized extended mourning and remembrance, the poem suggests that emotional detachment and forgetfulness were more common than society admitted, especially when death removed a person from the rhythms of daily life
• 'At Home' reflects Pre-Raphaelite concerns with the contrast between sensual life and spiritual isolation - The poem emphasizes the divide between the vibrant, physical world and the ghost’s ethereal detachment - This mirrors the Pre-Raphaelite interest in moments of emotional or existential intensity and the exploration of beauty tainted by loss
• Rossetti’s religious background strongly informs 'At Home', where the speaker's ghostly return may be interpreted through the lens of Christian theology - The poem captures the liminal space between life and spiritual peace, possibly suggesting purgatory or divine judgment - It illustrates a soul lingering due to emotional ties, highlighting Rossetti’s belief in the soul’s journey beyond death
• 'At Home' can also be seen through a gendered lens, reflective of Rossetti’s Victorian context - The silent, ghostly speaker - possibly a woman - experiences emotional exclusion and invisibility, resonating with the limited societal roles and emotional marginalization women often faced - This reading aligns with Rossetti’s recurring exploration of female erasure and emotional displacement
• 'At Home' by Christina Rossetti uses the extended metaphor of a ghostly return to evoke the liminal state between life and death, presence and absence - The speaker exists in a threshold space, neither fully departed nor meaningfully remembered, highlighting the emotional estrangement that death brings - This liminality intensifies the sense of invisibility and abandonment, as the living remain rooted in the pleasures of the present while the dead linger on the margins - Through this metaphor, Rossetti exposes the fragile and often illusory permanence of human connection