Jenny Essay Questions

How would you characterize the speaker of the poem's stance towards prostitution? Is it sympathetic towards the reasons why one might turn towards prostitution (both as the prostitute and as the client) or is the speaker adamantly against it? And furthermore, is the speaker a hypocrite?

(Argument 1: The speaker is not a hypocrite):

When first looking at "Jenny," it might be hard to decipher whether or not the speaker of the poem supports or decries prostitution. The speaker of the poem is adamantly against prostitution. He shows his values to the reader through his morals, his emotions, and his actions. In the end, this shows us that the speaker is not a hypocrite, because he pays Jenny without completing an immoral act with her, thus proving that prostitution is not necessary within their society.

(Argument 2: The speaker is a hypocrite):

Rossetti's speaker in "Jenny" might seem like a moral personage on the surface, but he really is a hypocrite who enjoys the benefits of prostitution while criticizing it at the same time. Before the events of the poem, the speaker requested Jenny's presence because he wanted to go dancing: "Until I vowed that since my brain / And eyes of dancing seemed so fain, / My feet should have some dancing too:— / And thus it was I met with you" (30-3). Additionally, the speaker pays Jenny as he gets up to leave her room, suggested that Jenny rendered services to him even though they were not sexual. While the speaker pretends to abhor prostitution in "Jenny," he actually benefits from it, and uses Jenny much in the same way that any of her other clients would.

Trace the motif of flowers throughout "Jenny." What do flowers symbolize? Is this symbolic meaning static or does it shift over the course of the poem? How does Rossetti affirm or subvert our traditional associations with flowers in poetry?

In general, flowers symbolize love, passion, and sensuality in poetry. In "Jenny," however, flowers such as the rose or the lily symbolize virginity and purity. Rossetti subverts our traditional expectations of what flowers mean to make a statement about the evils of prostitution in "Jenny." The flower holds ironic weight as Jenny, who is a prostitute, uses sensuality and passion which crushes the flower of her purity. Just like Jenny, who dresses in rich clothing but who cannot escape the social ridicule that follows her profession, flowers in this poem do not flourish in a sensual environment and instead are crushed, "like a rose shut in a book" (250).