This page will examine the work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and specifically his poem Jenny. Rossetti was an extremely influential English artist and poet of the Victorian Era. As a founder of the Pre Raphaelites movement, Rossetti aimed to break free from the idealistic and “rigid” structure of traditional Victorian art. The Pre-Raphaelite’s sought to portray naturalistic and hyper-realistic representations of their subjects and environments, demonstrating how sensuality, spirituality, and morality all play apart in the human experience. 

The dramatic monologue, Jenny, first began composition in 1848, but endured many years of revision before its final publication in 1870. The work was originally created as part of a manuscript volume completed in 1861, which was subsequently placed in the coffin of Rossetti's wife following her death in 1862. Rossetti later exhumed the work in 1869, leading to the poems feature in his first collection of verse entitled Poems. In this work, Rossetti disrupts the prevailing societal view of morality by both romanticizing and humanizing a prostitute. This work, along with other Pre-Raphaelite contributions, inspired generations of future poets to expand into new topics and push the boundaries of society.