Disrupting Victorian Ideals: Body, Transgression and Femininity in the Works of Christina Rossetti and Lewis Carroll

This dissertation explores the interaction between Victorian values and the representation of the female body, focusing on the topics of childhood, femininity and appetites. By analysing Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market" (1862) and "Speaking Likenesses" (1874), as well as Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1865), I will show how these fascinating works reflect and challenge the strict cultural norms of the time. Beginning with an overview of the Victorian Age, this thesis will further investigate the representation of the female body emphasizing the contrast between traditional ideals and rebellious behaviour in the context of Victorian consumer culture. The marketplace, which influences female agency through its temptations, represents an area of danger, expectation and patriarchal interest. The works of Rossetti and Carroll reveal the recurrent motif of the female body as a centre of both control and resistance. In fact, a closer reading of them allows for a deeper understanding of the dynamics of gender and identity during the reign of Queen Victoria.