How does Rossetti use character and other poetic techniques to comment on Victorian society in ‘Maude Clare’ and ‘No, Thank you, John’?

In the two poems ‘Maude Clare’ and ‘No, thank you, John’ its Rossetti addressing the conflict that many woman faced within the Victorian era. In ‘Maud Clare’ her conflict is status and power. Maude Clare’s lover, Lord Thomas, is forced to marry another woman because of her title as opposed to Maude Clare who is of a lower class. In ‘No, thank you, John’ the speaker faces a conflict of expectations; she’s expected to be married off at a young age and to be appreciative of any marriage proposal.

Firstly, in the two poems the speakers use the female voice to depict empowerment. In ‘No, thank, John’ the speaker who is the female voice tells John , who we presume proposed to her, that she's interested. She uses end stopped to depict empowerment when she says ‘Use your common sense.’ The use of this poetic technique makes the end of the stanza more powerful and the lack of sentiment towards John shows that she has control over him which shows her empowerment.

secondly‘Maude Clare’ the order of the characters speaking represents the amount of power and influence that each character has, this is important because the first character to speaker is the mother. The mother seems to be the one who encourages Lord Thomas and Nell’s marriage despite it being very clear to her that Lord Thomas is very unhappy with Nell. The mother represents the rules in society and the fact that Rossetti used a mother to portray society rather than a father illustrates that if women were to become empowered, just like the mother was empowered by money and status, then woman can become equal to men.

In addition, the poem ‘Maude Clare’ Rossetti uses Narration to make a comment on societies careless effect on individual lives. ‘His bride was like a village maid, Maude Clare was like a queen.’ The comparisons made through similes helps the reader to visual the attributes of the two different women. The imagery created shows the reader that Maude Clare should be the most desirable choice for Lord Thomas however because of her lack of wealth and title she's inferior to Nell.

 In the poem 'No, thank you, John' Rossetti's lack of narration makes the poem seem more personal and private, displaying female empowerment. The poem isn't telling a story but is a singular person expressing their frustrations. Rossetti uses this to comment on how society dislikes outspoken women as society persistently force the idea on young women that men are superior and because for that, we should therefore be filled with gratitude when a man shows any interest, showing how flawed society was.

Furthermore, in the poem ''No, thank you, John' the speaker uses the words 'I have no heart?-perhaps I have not;' the use of the question and end stopped questions makes it seem as thought the speaker is mocking the juvenile reaction of John who so clearly lashed out at the idea of being rejected and so mentioned how the speaker has no heart. The speaker genuinely rejects a loveless marriage as an authentic choice for men and women and John struggles with this. Much like 'No, Thank you, John', in the poem 'Maude Clare' Although Lord Thomas rejects the loveless marriage as an authentic choice for a man, it seems that his objections seem futile because in upper and middle class families it was very rare for men and women to have the choice to reject marriages especially because marriage was a form of gaining more wealth power and to produce an heir rather than being a symbol of love and affection.

Ultimately, poems revolve around the idea of power and superiority. Firstly, both poems position the male voice in an inferior position. In 'No thank you John' the female speaker rejects the John and doesn't allow for him to comment further, this not only puts John in an inferior position, Rossetti uses the speaker to show the superiority women hold despite society claiming the complete opposite. Secondly, in 'Maude Clare', the only male character doesn't get a chance to speak and all the decisions are made for him. Lord Thomas is used by Rossetti to represent the young men in society. Nell and Maude Clare represent the women from both sides of the social class spectrum and the mother represents the rules in society. Despite Maude Clare not having a lot of power, she is still superior to Lord Thomas and is able to comment in the poem.