The Dynamics of Progress and Regress in Rossetti’s “Eden Bower”: Lilith as a Degenerative Force?

Abstract

The Victorian period was characterized by scientific discoveries in various fields, most notably Darwin’s theory of evolution, which had an enduring influence and triggered various responses from the social and natural scientists of the period. This interdisciplinary dialogue on the topic paved the way for the emergence of the evolutionary discourse in which the terms “progression”, “regression”, and “degeneration” occupied a central place. Likewise, Dante Gabriel Rossetti problematized the dichotomy between progress and regress in his ballad “Eden Bower,” which revisits the biblical narrative of the Fall. This study argues that Dante Gabriel Rossetti actually comments on the Victorian discussions on the alternative routes of evolution through his treatment of Lilith as a metamorphosing protagonist. It explores how Rossetti represents Lilith’s mobility on the ladder of evolution to reveal the Victorian anxiety concerning the degenerative nature of women and present the reader his understanding of history. Delving into Rossetti’s juxtaposition of the metaphysical and the scientific accounts of the history of human kind, the essay responds to the existing scholarship on the poem that tends to interpret Rossetti’s treatment of Lilith in terms of moral conceptions and the stereotypical figure of the Victorian femme fatale.