For centuries, nature in literature has been used as a means to reflect both our society and humanity. Both Toni Morrison's Beloved and Christina Rossetti's selected poems use nature as both a tool of oppression and support, challenging the inequalities and ideals of their times. However, in their contexts – Morrison writing in the 1980s reflecting on the slave trade of the 1860s, and Rossetti writing within the patriarchy of Victorian society – nature is presented in different lights. While Beloved portrays nature as something spiritual, a connection to the African-American community, nature in Goblin Market can be seen as having erotic overtones, depicting the close bond of sisterhood. Regardless, both texts regularly present nature as a symbol of new life and/or death. These lyrics can also be linked to the use of nature in Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott, with its reference to death and the fallen woman. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Nature in both texts is often presented as a tool to present oppression. In Beloved's stream-of-consciousness monologue, the girl on the slave ship says, "I'm falling like rain." This declarative simile uses the pathetic fallacy of “rain” as an allusion to the girl crying because of the cruel treatment of slaves in the slave trade. Morrison may have been influenced here by the autobiography of former slave Frederick Douglass, in which he wrote of his experience "I often found myself in tears." The word "fall" also shows her oppression and the force inflicted on her, the word also connotes a lack of control she will have had as a slave (nature used as a tool to reflect this). An alternative view could present the word as a suggestion to the “fallen woman”, as in this monologue it is described that the girl has been sexually abused and as a result her “innocence” would be considered – “touch me there”. This may be referenced to Eve's fall in Genesis. After Eve "lost her innocence" by eating the forbidden fruit instead, God states, "cursed are you, above all cattle and wild animals!" The images of water are symbolized also in Morrison's use of the stream of consciousness format, where the fluid nature of the text with the absence of punctuation alludes to the fluidity of water. In her, Morrison can be seen drawing on the 'feminine criture' style ', challenging the white man's mainstream narrative. It could be argued that she is portraying her pride as both an African-American and a woman; both parties were heavily discriminated against in 1980s America. Later in the novel, when Sethe, Denver, and Beloved go ice skating, Morrison writes, “on the treacherous ice, no one saw them fall.” Here, water and seasonal imagery of the word "ice" are used as a metaphor to symbolize the freezing of the plot within the structure of the novel. Since water is the symbol of amniotic fluid and therefore of the mother/child bond in Beloved (like the image of Sethe giving birth: "there was no way to stop the water coming out of a broken womb") it could also symbolizing the breakdown of relationships between the three characters, the water is now frozen. Nature such as water is therefore a tool of oppression that highlights the destruction of this bond and therefore Sethe's happiness. The word "traitor" connotes nature as unreliable, while the word "falling" connotes pain inflicted oncharacters from nature. The declarative “no one saw them fall” suggests the family's isolation, “no one” connotes loneliness. Morrison may have alluded to the isolation of slaves in the ointment trade. One possible influence may have been Incidents in the Life of a Slave by Harriet Ann Jacobs, in which she wrote, "I felt so desolate and alone." Likewise the word "fall" could symbolize the breakdown of family relationships, the oppressive tool of nature. This thesis is supported by author Liz Sands, who states that “'no one saw them fall' refers to the ruin the family is about to experience.” It is true that this point in the novel is only the beginning of the family's decline, and the way nature is transformed into a tool for inflicting pain could be seen as a harbinger of true disintegration. In Rossetti's She Sat and Sang Always - a sonnet describing the speaker's relationship with nature: Nature is also presented as an instrument of oppression through the image of water. In the phrase “my tears were swallowed by the sea,” the oppressive personification of the 'swallowed' sea presents the speaker's pain hidden by nature. This violent image of the sea and the pathetic fallacy suggested by a storm reflect this oppression, as does the ominous hiss of "swallowed by the sea." Alternatively, from a feminist perspective, Rossetti could be seen as criticizing the treatment of women's inequalities in nineteenth-century society, nature therefore symbolizing violence and mistreatment by male supremacists. Presenting the speaker as nominally weak, along with the use of trochaic rhyme often found in the traditional sonnet form, could be seen as mocking the master narrative and male critics within the Victorian patriarchy. Women writers like Rossetti were often criticized by writers like Edward Fitzgerald, who said, "[female writers] only do what men do so much better." Rossetti's rebellion against such ideologies and criticisms was radical for a woman of her time, and as a result she is often considered a "proto-feminist". In Rossetti's Goblin Market - a poem describing the close bond between two sisters - nature is also presented. as a tool of oppression through the image of trees. In the phrase “her tree of life fell from the root,” Laura is presented as one with nature through her body and health symbolized by a tree. The connotations of "droop'd" create images of ill health and death, at the hands of the goblins who fed her the poisonous fruit. This is also highlighted by the assonance of 'droop'd from the root, the 'oo' sound is connotative of pain and struggle. The tree of life could also be seen as a symbol of the mystical and spirituality. It could be argued that Rossetti's background as a devout Catholic may have had a personal influence in this, trees being an important symbol of belief in the religion. In Genesis, for example, the tree of life in the Garden of Eden is known as “the tree of knowledge, of good and evil.” Such spirituality fits Rossetti's use of "fairytale form" in Goblin Market. From a feminist point of view, this poem could once again be a criticism of the mistreatment of women in Victorian society. Contrary to this same perspective in She Sat and Sang Always, however, nature in the form of the "tree of life" would instead be seen as a feminine symbol, and therefore a tool for presenting oppression through victimhood at the hands of 'man (in this context represented as monstrous "goblins". The fairy-tale form in this scenariowould have been used to disguise Rossetti's criticism of patriarchy the controversial opinion of a woman of her time would have been seen as radical within the "tree of life"; images in the Garden of Eden, the fruit in the Goblin Market could be interpreted as the forbidden fruit. The Goblins (then depicted as Satan), use the tree of knowledge as a tool to oppress Laura, hence her "fall", just like Eve. he is punished for eating the forbidden fruit through expulsion from Eden - Genesis: "when you eat [of the tree] you will surely die." K. McGowran supports this argument by saying: “the image of the fruit [in Goblin Market] is biblical, recalling the temptations of the Garden of Eden”. The memory of the temptations is true; through Laura giving in to the temptation of the fruit, Rossetti could criticize the way women give in to the pressure of patriarchy's ideals Both Morrison's and Rossetti's use of nature as a tool to present oppression can be linked to that of Tennyson in The Lady. of Shalott – a poem that describes a woman's fall at the hands of love, especially through images of decay and of water and trees as Rossetti does with the tree imagery in Goblin Market with the "dropping tree of life" – as willow trees are also known for their drooping branches The connotations of the Willow Tree's alternative names also feature connections to Beloved. The willows often referred to as "weeping" allude to the weeping of the tree, due to the oppression that nature physically displays. This draws a parallel to that of the water imagery in Beloved and "I'm Falling Like Rain". Similarly, Morrison also uses color imagery of white and later seasonal imagery of winter when Sethe, Denver, and Beloved go "ice skating." While Tennyson uses nature as a tool to represent oppression by being a victim, Morrison symbolizes nature itself as an oppressor. On the contrary, in both texts nature is also presented as supportive and nurturing. In Beloved, Amy describes the scar on Sethe's back: "[it's] a Chokecherry tree... full of sap." This metaphor presents nature as protective of Sethe due to her abuse as a slave, and perhaps could be referring to the healing powers of "mother nature". Through nature, the juxtaposition of the word “chokecherry” shows both violence and peace: “choke” connotes pain and “cherry” has connotations of innocence. The repetition of the harsh "ch" sound could also allude to a painful past. Here, Morrison could use nature to present the beauty that can come from suffering and connect to the theme of hope in the novel. Just like in the Goblin Market, trees are often seen as spiritual in African cultures and can be seen as a link between God and man. As M. Bonnet says: “trees… play a crucial role in African religion”. This could imply that Sethe is close to and protected by God, as well as Morrison expressing how God embraces African-Americans. This may be a belief influenced by his religious upbringing. In an interview with the Guardian, E. Brockes writes, “at age 12…[Morrison] joined the Catholic church.” Alternatively, "full of sap" within the lexical representation of the scar as a tree could be read as a metaphor for Sethe's blood and liveliness, the superlative "full" paralleling the character's overflow of love and emotion beauty of nature evokes. Alternatively, this overflow could represent Sethe's intense emotions and love with a negative effect,alluding to the murder of her child and when Paul D. later describes her love as "too dense". This critical argument is supported in an interview with Toni Morrison, in which she said “Sethe has an excess of maternal feeling… such excesses are not good.” Nature could therefore be seen to present Sethe as dangerous. Later in the novel, when Paul D is guided to safety by a Cherokee woman, Morrison writes, "follow the flowers of the tree." This imperative gives nature in the form of trees a sense of power in helping Paul D, while at the same time creating an image of authority for the Cherokee, often seen as a symbol of spirituality and as a link between man and the world natural, suggesting that she has a control over nature. In a video interview with Jerry Wolfe, an elder of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, he said, “we have always looked down on the land because it provides everything.” Alternatively, the imperative and the word 'follow' could allude to the story of the Three Wise Men guided by nature, in the form of a star, towards salvation: "we saw the star [of Jesus] rise and we came to worship him". This in turn would connect the Cherokee directly to the role of God. Salvation in the context of Beloved would be Paul D's freedom from bondage, nature providing such freedom and support. This positive relationship between man and nature can still be supported by M. Bonnet, who states: "[trees] are even venerated by some tribes as God himself in his immanent aspect". Morrison could likely reflect his African heritage's beliefs about nature and religion existing as one, describing a similar culture of the Cherokee Indians in his novel, as well as the importance of both sides having been discriminated against in North America of the twentieth century. Supporting nature as a guide for Paul D is the use of "trees" as a symbol of knowledge, which again links back to Genesis and the Garden of Eden. The use of seasonal imagery and the word "flowers" also has connotations of new life and purity, following the life cycle of plants, once again highlighting the theme of hope for the future in the novel. In Rossetti's Goblin Market, nature is also presented as a support. and nourishment through images of fruit. When Lizzie attempts to save her sister Laura, she says, "suck my juices / Juice the goblin fruits for you." The imperative 'suck my juices' highlights a strong bond between the sisters, 'fruits' suggests that it is nature that allowed Lizzie to save Laura and thus brought them together. At first glance, the image of "fruit" presents nature as a nourishing and healing power, the word often has connotations of nourishment and luxury. Alternatively, "suck my juices" can be seen to have underlying erotic themes, perhaps alluding to lesbianism. This is accentuated by the previous phrase: "hug me, kiss me, suck my juices", and it could be argued that it takes the form of a sexual metaphor with the emphasized words "hug me", "kiss me" and "suck" in a trochaic phrase. module. The use of asyndetic triplication here could be seen as bringing a similar passion into the text. According to 19th century ideology, homosexuality between two women would be connotative of the Victorian concept of the “fallen woman”. As such, Rossetti may have been influenced by the artwork of her Pre-Raphaelite brother, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and more specifically his paintings of fallen women. Her piece Sibylla Palmifera features Fanny Cornforth, a former prostitute before modeling for Rossetti. This, combined with her red hair and dangerous clothing, presents her as the "fallen woman", as does the non-traditional nature of her forward gaze,.