In an Artist's Studio - Christina Rossetti

In this poem, Christina Rossetti writes about the way men treat women in and through art. Men tend to objectfy women in art, whether it is writings, paintings, etc. Men use women as there muse, and in this poem, the male artist have one woman who acts as his muse.

This woman is just an object. She is fulfilling his dreams and desires, "A saint, an angel -- every canvas means The same one meaning, neither more nor less. He feeds upon her face by day and night". There is nothing benefitting her from this. She is just used as an object in his paintings, receiving nothing in return but suffering. She is nothing more than the object of the painting who fulfills his dream, "Not wan with waiting, not with sorrow dim; Not as she is, but was when hope shone bright; Not as she is, but as she fills his dream". She is a blank canvas that he uses to paint out his dreams and desires.

He uses her to feed his artistic skills and ideas, using her as a focus in all of his paintings. Many men do this in art. The use women as their muse, and only their muse, not realizing that the women sometimes suffer as a result.