What is the significance of descriptive writing in Rossetti’s poetry?

The nature of Rossetti’s writing is exorbitantly multifaceted and regardless of structural convention and supposed intent behind content her poetry is often a lot more meaningful than realised. Rossetti utilised descriptive writing for a myriad of purposes and did so very effectively.
One way in which descriptive writing is significant in Rossetti’s poetry is as a means of manufacturing realism even in cases where the places and people depicted are entirely fictional as well as noticeably fantastical. A major example of this is in the poem ‘Goblin Market’, the description of areas like the brook side rushes, restless brook and mossy glen add an air of realism to an otherwise mythical setting. The descriptions of these aspects of nature bring a sense of reality to a setting in which the only humans mentioned are females and where the antagonists and only presumably male figures are the goblins. Another example in which description facilitates realism is in the poem ‘Jessie Cameron’. The descriptions of her character and actions allow the reader to better understand and relate to the titular character, referring to Jessie Cameron as heedless with her tongue and apt at causing pain is elaborative in relation to actual quotations on her part and instead of using suggestive examples on multiple occasions to produce a vague idea of Jessie the descriptions of her personality allow the reader to understand her outside of the context of the events in the poem this is fairly peculiar in poetry but is testament to how effectively Rossetti used description.
Descriptive writing is also an essential means of conveying the messages Rossetti intended, to the uninitiated Rossetti’s poetry can be understood simply as being narrative however through inference and understanding of context her poetry is revealed to be a lot more meaningful. The poem ‘Cousin Kate’ scrutinises and challenges the rampant misogyny present in the Victorian era during which time Rossetti penned her works. Rather than presenting the male figure as the protagonist who comes and sweeps the poor maiden off her feet it chronicles the events of whirlwind courtship in less of a romanticised light. The unnamed main character is chosen by a lord to be his plaything this in itself is quite condescending description, furthermore the choice of the character to use the word when describing herself conveys a sense of regret whilst not foregoing the point that she is almost accepting of the inferiority inflicted on her by society. In addition to this the description of the man allowing her to sit with him on high suggests that by forcing women to basically accept a subservient placement in society Victorian men were almost apotheosised and given a status similar to that of deity (with the knowledge that Rossetti was not only considered in modern terms to be an early feminist but also a devout Christian) equating men with divinity is not a celebration of men but rather a subtle criticism. Furthermore the protagonists revelation that she is an unclean thing contrasted with the man choosing to marry her cousin the good Kate a name which actually means pure implies that not only has the man toyed with her emotions but has also stolen away her purity and will do the same to Kate who is seemingly representative of innocence manifest in human form. These factors coupled with contextual information reveal the poem to be a discourse on the evil nature of Victorian men.