Introduction mong the multitude of characters who people Dickens novels, it has often been remarked, there are few mature adult women who are portrayed in any convincing way as sexual beings, although critics such as Michael Slater, and, more recently, David Holbrook, Rita Lubitz, and Patricia Ingham have all explored Dickens presentation of women in his novels. Yet little attention has been given to such marginal but significant characters as Rosa Dartle in David Copperfield, Miss Wade in Little Dorrit, and Lady Dedlocks French maid, Hortense, in Bleak House. I shall argue that such women all challenge the moral schemes and values, the resolutions, and sometimes, the linguistic norms and conventions of the novels. They are rarely, if ever, seen sympathetically by the novels narrators, or by their other characters, or, presumably, by Dickens himself. But they force their way into the novels nonetheless, and, like other marginal characters in Dickens fiction, they articulate criticisms of the some of the most basic tenets of his philosophy, like the value and validity of Christian charity, the necessity of knowing and keeping to one's place in the social hierarchy, and the ultimate defensibility of the sexual double standard.

These criticisms may be seen to be undermined to a certain extent by the nature of the women and men who utter them, but they are made nonetheless, and to examine the characters who make them is, in a certain sense, to read Dickens against himself. Rosa, Miss Wade, and Hortense are all described, like many of Dickens characters, through their outward appearance which acts as a transparent sign or set of signs of their internal nature. As Ingham notes, in the pseudo-sciences of physiognomy (and, it might be added, phrenology ), Dickens, like other nineteenth-century novelists, found a ready-made code of signification (1992: 24, 26). As befits women who all in some way or other challenge social norms and conventions in Dickens novels, and indeed, in nineteenth-century novels generally5, all are dark, proud, passionate, unhappy, and repressed, although all of them overcome the usual repression of their feelings at certain points in the novels, in various ways and in varying degrees.

Hortense, Lady Dedlocks French maid, rebels by murdering Tulkinghorn, Sir Leicester Dedlocks lawyer, and a bastion of the British legal system at the end of Bleak House; Rosa and Miss Wade express their repressed anger and desire only through verbal violence, although in certain scenes, for example when Rosa tells David the story of what has happened to Emily and when she confronts Emily towards the end of the novel, that verbal violence is extreme. In all three cases, the women's anger is provoked at least partly by feelings of a perceived inferiority of class and gender (and race, in Hortenses case), and in two cases out of three, with Rosa and Miss Wade, it is also partly a product of jealousy. In their cases, their anger against the men who play with their feelings and then abandon them is displaced and transformed into jealousy of the women who have supplanted them (who are then either abandoned or mistreated in their turn), and into anger against the other women who embody the social hierarchy which condemns them as inferior.

In the case of Hortense, jealousy of a younger woman is part of the pattern, but her animosity is more explicitly and logically directed at the man who has exploited her and dominated her. Since I shall not have time here today to examine all three cases in detail, I will focus on Rosa and, to a lesser extent on Miss Wade, although I shall discuss the significance of Hortenses murder of Tulkinghorn briefly before concluding. Rosa Dartle (David Copperfield) osa Dartle is the female companion to Mrs. Steerforth, James Steerforths mother in David Copperfield. We first meet Rosa when David visits the Steerforth home on his way to visit Mr. Peggotty and his family in Yarmouth. It is through David's innocent and idealistic yet also casually callous and sexist hermeneutic categories that she is first seen and placed for us. Fascinated by her, but not sure why, David describes her in some detail, with a mixture of attraction and repulsion and with an insistence upon one particular physical feature, a scar.6 From the start, there is a contradiction both in how David sees Rosa and in his response to what he sees.

She is of a slight short figure, dark, and not agreeable to look at, but with some appearance of good looks, the final phrase being repeated later in the same passage. Having mentioned her black hair and eager black eyes, he focuses on the one unusual aspect of her face, the scar, which he describes in detail: It was an old scar - I should rather call it seam, for it was not discoloured and had healed years ago - which had once cut through her mouth, downward towards the chin, but was now barely visible across the table, except above and on her upper lip, the shape of which it had altered. He concludes that she was about thirty years of age, and that she wished to be married. She was a little dilapidated — like a house - with having been so long to let (350).

David's conclusion about Rosas desire to be married tells the reader more about his conventional view of women than it does about Rosa, and the comparison of her to a dilapidated house which has been too long to let is both immensely suggestive in its visual clarity and callous and sexist in the way it treats Rosa as a less-than-desirable object. David concludes his initial presentation of her by noting that Her thinness seemed to be the effect of some wasting fire within her, which found a vent in her gaunt eyes (350). The wasting fire is of course the fire of sexual passion, unnaturally consuming its own substance and forcing itself out through eyes which are all but destroyed by it.7 But it is the scar which most fascinates David, and it is the scar which in fact is an indication of the cause of Rosas wasting fire. An exchange between David and Steerforth explains things. When David comments on the scar, Steerforth is forced to admit: I did that. He explains: I was a young boy, and she exasperated me, and I threw a hammer at her.

A promising young angel I must have been! Steerforth then adds his own explanation of Rosa: She has borne the mark ever since, as you see . . . and she'll bear it to her grave, if she ever rests in one - though I can hardly believe she will ever rest anywhere. She was the motherless child of a sort of cousin of my father's. He died one day. My mother, who was then a widow, brought her here to be company to her. She has a couple of thousand pounds of her own, and saves the interest of it every year, to add to the principal. Theres the history of Miss Rosa Dartle for you. David responds to this with the extraordinarily stupid remark, And I have no doubt she loves you like a brother, which draws from Steerforth the sardonic reply Humph! ...some brothers are not loved over much; and some love - (353).

The exchange is remarkable for Steerforths characterisation of Rosa as a kind of vampire, whom he doubts will ever rest in a grave, or, indeed, anywhere, and also for his awareness that Rosas love for him is certainly neither brotherly nor innocent. Seduced and subjected to the violence of Steerforth as a girl, Rosa bears and will bear for ever the traces of the conflicting passions she felt for him as a girl and still feels for him as a woman, while Steerforth knows exactly what is at stake, even if David does not.8 It is in Rosas language that these conflicting feelings are most notably, if not most directly, expressed. David notes that It appeared to me that she never said anything she wanted to say, outright; but hinted it, and made a great deal more of it by this practice (350). The most interesting example of this indirectness occurs during the conversation about Peggotty and his family, when David proposes that Steerforth should accompany him on his visit to them.

Steerforth declares that such a journey would be worthwhile to see that sort of people together, and to make one of em. In connection with the phrase, that sort of people, David says: Miss Dartle, whose sparkling eyes had been watchful of us, now broke in again. Oh, but, really? Do tell me. Are they, though? she said. Are they what? And are who what? said Steerforth. That sort of people. - Are they really animals and clods, and beings of another order? I want to know so much. Why, there's a pretty wide separation between them and us, said Steerforth, with indifference. They are not to be expected to be as sensitive as we are. Their delicacy is not to be shocked, or hurt easily.

They are wonderfully virtuous, I dare say - some people contend for that at least; and I am sure I don't want to contradict them - but they have not very fine natures, and they may be thankful that, like their coarse rough skins, they are not easily wounded. Really! said Miss Dartle. Well, I don't know, now, when I have been better pleased than to hear that. It's so consoling! It's such a delight to know that, when they suffer, they don't feel! Sometimes I have been quite uneasy for that sort of people; but now I shall just dismiss the idea of them, altogether. Live and learn. I had my doubts, I confess, but now they're cleared up. I didn't know, and now I do know, and that shows the advantage of asking - don't it? (352, emphasis in the original) Steerforths words reveal his unreconstructed sense of class superiority, which is later to lead to his seduction of Emily, and all that ensues.

Rosas challenge to the hierarchy of class and feeling to which Steerforth appeals should not be interpreted primarily as an intervention on behalf of the people being discussed,9 but as an indirect reminder to Steerforth of her own dependent position as the (relatively) poor relation in the family and as a negative and equally indirect questioning of what he says. By reducing Steerforths arguments to complete absurdity when she says It's so consoling! It's such a delight to know that, when they suffer, they don't feel!, Rosa both obliquely questions their validity and reminds him of the pain he has inflicted on her. The indirectness of her language in this scene shows that, while she is marked for ever by the conflicting feelings of desire and anger which she feels for Steerforth, she is unable to express those feelings directly, since they would be unacceptable not only to Steerforth himself but, more importantly, to his mother; that is, she cannot offer any overt challenge either to his authority as the man in the house or to the authority of his mother as the older, richer woman. Constrained by her privileged yet also restricted position as companion to Mrs.

Steerforth, Rosa, as Steerforth says [wears] herself away by constant sharpening until she is all edge (352), since propriety demands that she repress both her desire for Steerforth and her discontent with her subordinate position. Later in the novel, confronting Emily in London, Rosa is not restrained by any such considerations and, in David's hearing, is allowed to rebuke and revile Emily at length. This can be seen as the first part of the punishment which is later to see Emily exiled to Australia . Rosas words represent a particularly uncharitable and cruel version of the traditional double standard of sexual behaviour, and while both David and his creator deplore the cruelty, they do not disclaim the double standard; indeed, they reinforce it. Steerforth is ennobled in death, Emily exiled to Australia.

Miss Wade (Little Dorrit) iss Wade in Little Dorrit is another case of suppressed female resentment and anger, although the emotions are caused more by the treatment which she receives because of her illegitimacy and the position of social insecurity and inferiority which derives from it than by any sexual entanglement or feelings. Whereas Rosas anger has a primarily sexual cause, Miss Wades comes from a sense of hurt pride. Like Rosa, Miss Wade is dark, proud, and angry (Dickens 1991: 19-20). Even more effectively than Rosa, however, she marginalises herself; whereas Rosa is affiliated through a somewhat distant family link to Steerforth and his mother, Miss Wade has no known relations of any kind, and, as she reveals in the document which she gives to Arthur Clennam, she has purposely cut herself off from the company of those who have loved and tried to help her, since she believed that their kindness to her was motivated by a perverse pride and pleasure in their own sense of social superiority, rather than uncomplicated goodness.

Dickens entitles this document The History of a Self-Tormentor, in order to make the narrative perspective on Miss Wade clear, and the narrative descriptions of both her and Tattycoram, the orphan girl she shelters for a time, emphasise the self-destructive nature of both the woman and the younger girl. They are described as two natures . . . constantly tearing the other to pieces (553), an image which has already occurred in relation to Tattycoram who threatens on several occasions to tear [herself] to pieces before consenting to stay with her employers and benefactors, the Meagles (277). Unlike Rosa, Miss Wade is allowed to express herself in her own (written) words, but the text she produces is both placed and undermined by the narrator and the title he gives it, which serves to undercut the criticisms it and its author make.

Yet there is a sense in which Tattycoram (and perhaps Miss Wade too) are right to protest against the way they are treated; the former is taken from the Foundling Hospital to be a maid to the Meagles daughter, Pet, and despite all the Meagles good intentions, she is both an object of charity and an employee. There is no question of equality; benevolence cannot (and the novel implies should not) include equality: the object of charity is still an object, and an object of an inferior class, at that. In Miss Wades case it is harder to judge the issue, since all we have is her, grossly biased, narrative of her experiences, rather than any dramatisation which might allow diverging views. It is clear, however, even from her account, that she is the governess who rebels against the only means by which she could find a way out of her situation of social inferiority, marriage to a socially acceptable man, and consequent emigration to India. Of course her rebellion is self-destructive: she meets Henry Gowan, who understands her as Steerforth understands Rosa, and who seduces and abandons her.

Dickens shows himself ready to contemplate a woman who will not follow the accepted and expected channels of action, but, not surprisingly, can find no positive role for her. That this should be so should scarcely surprise us. George Eliot, writing ten years later, can find no other solution than to drown Maggie Tulliver at the end of The Mill on the Floss when Maggie refuses to accept the only way to make her behaviour conventionally acceptable, that is to marry Stephen Guest, while Charlotte Brontes solution in Jane Eyre is to have the once-rebellious governess marry her social superior, Rochester, after he has been suitably chastised.10 Hortense (Bleak House) inally, there is Hortense. Like Rosa and Miss Wade, she is dark, proud, and angry (Dickens 1985: 209, 372-3).

She is initially described as having a feline mouth and as being a very neat She-Wolf imperfectly tamed (209), and subsequently she is often defined by other animal imagery: to Tulkinghorn she is a vixen (643), while the narrator describes her as that feline personage (642), with a tigerish expansion about the mouth (646, 794) and, on one occasion, as panting, tigress-like, when she hears how Mrs. Bucket has deceived her.11 Her discontent is manifested in various scenes and in a variety of ways earlier in the novel (209, 311-2), and she is explicitly associated with a potential for violence at several points in the book (209, 312), but it is of course her murder of Tulkinghorn, Sir Leicester Dedlocks lawyer and the representative of the status quo which expresses her rebellion most concretely.

Moreover, in addition to challenging the status quo through the murder, she also explicitly criticises the hypocrisies and suppressions on which the status quo relies. At the very moment when Bucket, the detective, is about to lead her away to prison, she challenges him to tell her that he can reassert the rightness and stability of the old order of things after the murder has forced out the truth that Lady Dedlock had a lover and an illegitimate child before she married Sir Leicester, and that her noble husband has been deceived and betrayed. Can you restore [Tulkinghorn] back to life? Can you make a honourable lady of Her?, Or a haughty gentleman of Him? she asks (799, emphasis in the original). Neither Bucket, nor the narrator, nor presumably Dickens, has an answer to any of these questions. All Bucket can do is to say, rather helplessly, Come, come, why this is worse Parlaying than the other (799), before he leads her away.

Hortense may have been found out and arrested, but she has forced out into the open the dirty secrets which Bucket, Tulkinghorn and Sir Leicester would have much preferred to keep silent. Perhaps Dickens can imagine such a crime since Hortense is French, and therefore different or Other not only in terms of gender but also in terms of race.12 As a French woman, she is, as it were, double beyond the pale. Conclusion hat can one conclude from these three marginal women? That they are anomalies, not to be given too much attention in any final evaluation of Dickens work? That they are manifestations of Dickens own anxieties and fears about women's sexuality as Holbrook suggests (1993: 10, 20, 21, 23, 166, 170)? Neither, I think. I prefer to read them as signs of those immense female energies which cannot be accommodated in the conventional forms of the family and the community in Dickens world, but which seem to force their way out of his head and into the novels nonetheless.

As they do so, these characters criticise the model of bourgeois benevolence which Dickens cherished, and the class hierarchy which, ultimately, he endorsed; they also show the crudity and injustice of the sexual double standard of which he also approved in ways which his narrators deplore and yet which they seem powerless to oppose. Through them, Dickens is his own best critic. Bronte, Charlotte (1996 [1847]) Jane Eyre. London: Penguin. Dickens, Charles. (1984 [1850]) David Copperfield. Harmondsworth: Penguin. --------------------. (1985 [1853]) Bleak House. London: Penguin. --------------------. (1985 [1854] Hard Times. Harmondsworth: Penguin. --------------------. (1991 [1857]) Little Dorrit. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. --------------------. (1986 [1861] Great Expectations. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Eliot, George. (1986 [1860]) The Mill on the Floss. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Gilbert, Sandra M.

and Susan Gubar. (1979) The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Holbrook, David. (1993) Charles Dickens and the Image of Woman. New York and London: New York University Press. Ingham, Patricia. (1992) Dickens, Women and Language. New York and London: Harvester Wheatsheaf. Kennedy, Valerie. (1982) Evil and Anarchy in Great Expectations: A Note on Orlick. Langues et Littratures, II, 63-9. Lubitz, Rita. (1996) Marital Power in Dickens Fiction. New York: Peter Lang. Nead, Lynda. (1988) Myths of Sexuality: Representations of Women in Victorian Britain. Oxford: Blackwell. Shires, Linda. (1996) Literary careers, death, and the body politics of David Copperfield. Dickens Refigured: Bodies, Desires and Other Histories. Ed. John Schad.

Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, pp. 117-35 . Rosa Dartle: My favourite Charles Dickens character - Telegraph Charles Dickens Rosa Dartle: My favourite Charles Dickens character Rosa Dartle, from David Copperfield, is a fine example of a female character and is the third in the Telegraph pick of the best Charles Dickens characters. Image 1 of 3 Rosa Dartle (left, striking out at Little Em'ly) from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, in an illustration by Fred Barnard. Photo: Victorian Web Penguin released David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, in a new 'Pocket Classic' edition. By Rupert Christiansen , Opera Critic 7:00AM GMT 03 Feb 2012 My Favourite Charles Dickens character: Rosa Dartle from David Copperfield (1849) One persistent cliché of Charles Dickens criticism is that he didn’t understand women, least of all their sexual psychology. It's an accusation to which I always retort: what about the magnificent Rosa Dartle?

She appears in David Copperfield as the orphaned cousin of Steerforth’s father and companion to his mother, standing in marked contrast to the novel’s milquetoast heroines Dora, Agnes and Little Em'ly. Aged about thirty and a spinster, she is described as looking "a little dilapidated", with a strikingly dark and slender figure and a livid scar on her lip (a feature which Dickens makes much of). An intense and unrequited passion for Steerforth has left her bitter, resentful and savagely sarcastic. Vain as he is, Steerforth still enjoys playfully flirting with her and Dickens masterfully portrays her continuing vulnerability to his insincere attentions, exploring the way that thwarted love can curdle into self-hatred. Her violent attack on Little Em’ly in Chapter 50 is brilliantly handled and oddly moving - her emotions seem so much more intense and authentic than Em’ly’s pieties that the reader can’t help but sympathise with her. Her ultimate fate is a cruelly ironic one - she is left trapped with Steerforth’s mother, the person most responsible for the degeneration of his moral character.

Related Articles David Copperfield Miss Rosa Dartle Quotes David Copperfield Miss Rosa Dartle Quotes Miss Rosa Dartle > Emily Quote 1 Your home! Do you imagine that I bestow a thought on it, or suppose you could do any harm to that low place, which money would not pay for, and handsomely? Your home! You were a part of the trade of your home, and were bought and sold like any other vendible thing your people dealt in. (50.47) This speech is delivered by Miss Rosa Dartle to Emily just before Emily is rescued by Mr. Peggotty. Here, she lies to Emily's face by telling Emily that she is, basically, a prostitute, that when Emily lived with Mr. Peggotty, she was for sale in the same way that Mr. Peggotty's fish were for sale. However, we have seen that Mr. Peggotty refuses Mrs. Steerforth's offer of money to buy him off once Emily runs away with Steerforth. Miss Dartle falls into the nasty trap of assuming that all poor people must consider everything available to be "bought and sold," including their own children. But as Mrs.

Steerforth learns, even poverty cannot interrupt the bonds of love for good men like Mr. Peggotty. SparkNotes: David Copperfield: Character List David Copperfield Plot Overview Analysis of Major Characters David Copperfield - The protagonist and narrator of the novel. David is innocent, trusting, and naïve even though he suffers abuse as a child. He is idealistic and impulsive and remains honest and loving. Though David’s troubled childhood renders him sympathetic, he is not perfect. He often exhibits chauvinistic attitudes toward the lower classes. In some instances, foolhardy decisions mar David’s good intentions. Read an in-depth analysis of David Copperfield. Agnes Wickfield - David’s true love and second wife, the daughter of Mr. Wickfield. The calm and gentle Agnes admires her father and David. She suffers patiently through David’s other romances, and although she loves David, she is not overcome by jealousy. Agnes always comforts David with kind words or advice when he needs support. James Steerforth - A condescending, self-centered villain. From his boyhood, Steerforth possesses a restless energy that he can neither satisfy nor divert. He charms both women and men for the feeling of power it gives him.

He also abuses David, although David is too enraptured with him and too grateful for his patronage to notice. Read an in-depth analysis of James Steerforth. Clara Peggotty - David’s nanny and caretaker. Peggotty is gentle and selfless, opening herself and her family to David whenever he is in need. She is faithful to David and his family all her life, never abandoning David, his mother, or Miss Betsey. In her kind motherliness, Peggotty contrasts with the cruel and unloving Miss Murdstone. Little Em’ly - Peggotty’s unfaithful niece, who is sweet but also coy and vain. Little Em’ly’s desire to be a lady causes her to disgrace herself by running away from her family. Uriah Heep - A two-faced, conniving villain who puts on a false show of humility and meekness to disguise his evil intentions. Uriah is motivated by his belief that the world owes him something for all the humiliations he suffered as a young man. Ultimately, Uriah’s veneer of humility proves as empty as his morals. Read an in-depth analysis of Uriah Heep. Miss Betsey Trotwood - David’s eccentric, kind-hearted aunt.

Although Miss Betsey’s intentions are mysterious at the beginning of the novel, her generosity toward David soon becomes clear, and she acts as David’s second mother. Dora Spenlow - David’s first wife and first real love. Dora is foolish and giddy, more interested in playing with her dog, Jip, than in keeping house with David. Because David cannot bear to displease Dora, he permits her to retain the pouty habits of a spoiled child. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins Micawber - An unlucky couple crippled by constantly precarious finances. Although Mr. Micawber never succeeds at supporting his own family, he is generous and industrious in serving others. Mrs. Micawber stands by her husband despite his flaws and regardless of the hardships they suffer. Tommy Traddles - Young David’s simple, goodhearted schoolmate. Traddles works hard but faces great obstacles because of his lack of money and connections. He eventually succeeds in making a name and a career for himself. Clara Copperfield - David’s mother. The kind, generous, and goodhearted Clara embodies maternal caring until her death, which occurs early in the novel.

David remembers his mother as an angel whose independent spirit was destroyed by Mr. Murdstone’s cruelty. Mr. Edward Murdstone and Miss Jane Murdstone - The cruel second husband of David’s mother, and Murdstone’s sister. The Murdstones are strict and brutal not only toward David, but to his mother as well. Together, they crush David’s mother’s spirit. Mrs. Steerforth and Rosa Dartle - Steerforth’s mother and her ward, the orphan child of her husband’s cousin. Mrs. Steerforth and Miss Dartle are cruel and bitter toward the world and also haughty and proud, as evidenced by their overwhelming fondness for Steerforth and their disdain of David. Mr. Peggotty, Ham, and Mrs. Gummidge - The simple relatives of David’s nurse, Clara Peggotty. Mr. Peggotty, Ham, and Mrs. Gummidge represent the virtues of simple people. Mr. Peggotty and Ham are sailors, Mrs. Gummidge a sailor’s widow. They are devoted and loving to each other and David. Doctor Strong and Annie Strong - A man and woman who exemplify the best of married life.

Doctor Strong and Annie are faithful and selfless, each concerned more about the other than about himself or herself. Their deep love for each other enables them to survive Uriah’s attempts to disrupt their bliss. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens: Summary Chapter 20 Literature Network » Charles Dickens » David Copperfield » Summary Chapter 20 Summary Chapter 20 The next morning, as David awakes, the hotel chambermaid asks David if he would like to shave, embarrassing David as he is still too young to be in need of a shave. By and by, David joins Steerforth for breakfast. Steerforth, who is, as always, David’s object of admiration, asks David about his circumstances. David explains that, on his great-aunt’s suggestion, he is on a month long holiday. Subsequently, since David has no pressing engagements, Steerforth invites David to stay with him at his—Steerforth’s—house in Highgate for a couple of days. David accepts the invitation. At dusk, they arrive at Highgate, having spent the greater part of the day sightseeing London with Steerforth acting as tour guide. At Highgate, they are greeted by Steerforth’s mother Mrs. Steerforth.

Mrs. Steerforth is extremely proud of her son James, and David doesn’t doubt that, if allowed to, she would make the topic of the conversation a perpetual encomium of her son. Also present at the house is a thin, large eyed, young woman named Miss Rosa Dartle. An orphaned relative of the Steerforth’s, Miss Dartle had been adopted by Mrs. Steerforth. She has a permanent scar on her upper lip, and David learns that Steerforth had been cause of it when he had thrown a hammer at her when they were children. David notices that Miss Dartle has a habit of insinuating as opposed to getting to the point when speaking. During dinner, David mentions his plan to visit Mr. Peggotty and is inspired to invite Steerforth to join him. Steerforth gladly accepts the invitation. At tea, Miss Dartle insinuates at the meaning of David’s nickname (Daisy) which Steerforth calls him by. She wonders if Daisy is an allusion to David’s relative youth and innocence. David embarrassingly acknowledges that that is so.

As David turns in for the night, he can’t get Miss Dartle’s annoying insinuating mannerisms out of his head. Rosa - Baby Girl Name Meaning and Origin | Oh Baby! Names Rosa Achiever Etymology & Historical Origin - Rosa Rosa is basically the Latinate form of Rose and used by several different cultures including English-speakers, Spanish, Portuguese, Italians, Scandinavians, etc. A rose is most closely associated with the fragrant flower that bears its name. Originally, Rose was borrowed from the Germanic “hrod” meaning “fame”. It was introduced to England by the Norman French in the Middle Ages, but it is also connected to the Latin “rosa” (also said to be borrowed from the Germanic language). The rose is arguably the most “famous” of all flowers and its meanings and symbolisms run deep – mainly associated with love and Valentine’s Day. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, was often depicted adorned with roses. Roses were said to have sprouted from her slain lover’s (Adonis) pool of blood, and also on the site of Christ’s death (again, expressing immortal love and sacrifice in the name of love).

Its beauty is betrayed by its prickly thorns – thus symbolizing balance. The rose has been such a powerfully symbolic object that even its various colors have come to mean different things: Red (immortal love); White (pure love); Pink (new love); and Yellow (friendship). Above all else, the rose is emblematic of LOVE. There are several variations that have sprouted from the beautiful rose bush: Rosa, Rosie, Rosette, Roselle, Roselyn, Rosemary and Roseanne to name only a few. The name was revived in the 19th century among English speakers when naming baby girls after flowers and trees became the height of fashion. Rosa is the fancier two-syllable Latinate variation of Rose and used quite commonly throughout Europe and English-speaking nations. Rosa is also the word for “pink” in Spanish and “dew” in Bulgarian. Popularity of the Name Rosa Rosa has held a permanent position on the American female naming charts since 1880 (this is the first year the U.S. government began tracking name trends). In fact, Rosa has almost always very closely shadowed the female name Rose in terms of popularity (although Rose has generally been the more common choice).

The only time Rosa surpassed Rose in popularity was between the 1970s and 1990s. Rose is now back on top, but Rosa isn’t faring too bad either. Both names have already seen their heyday which was primarily during the late 1800s and early 1900s. While Rose is showing a bit of a revival right now, Rosa is still declining in usage. Hispanic-Americans and Spanish-speakers are really the driving force behind Rosa’s usage right now. American parents seem to be opting for the more flowery and Latinate versions of names (Julia vs. Julie for example) but for some reason Rose vs. Rosa is an exception to the current trend. The minimalistic, one-syllable Rose is currently the winning pick. We wonder when the cute Rosie will return to the charts. The Rose/Rosa female names are undeniably gorgeous like their namesake flower. It’s also a great choice for African-Americans who want to celebrate the iconic Civil Rights Movement heroine Rosa Parks. Popularity of the Girl Name Rosa You need Adobe Flash Player 6 (or above) to view the charts. It is a free and lightweight installation from Adobe.com.

Please click here to install the same. Cultural References to the Baby Name - Rosa Literary Characters of the Baby Name Rosa Rosa Coldfield (Absalom, Absalom!) Rosa Coldfield is a character in William Faulkner’s 1936 novel, Absalom, Absalom, who initially narrates the story of Thomas Sutpen, which mirrors the lifespan of Southern plantation culture against a Gothic background. Here are intrigue, miscegenation, madness mayhem and hints of incest. Rosa is the sister of Ellen Coldfield, who marries Sutpen and bears him a son and a daughter. When Rosa’s sister dies, and Sutpen’s son has gone into self-imposed exile after killing his half brother, who has Negro blood and who wants to marry his sister (see, we told you), Sutpen proposes to Rosa. One little catch – he wants Rosa to bear him a son before he marries her, so that he may be sure of a male heir. Rosa, wisely, takes this as an insult (ya think?) and leaves him. Needless to say, this turns her into something of a bitter minded woman, and she obsesses over the issue for years to come.

It is she who brings the young Quentin Compsen out to the family home to tell him their story and try to fathom their secrets. This she does, but with dire results to herself, and she dies soon after, yet another victim of that particular Gothic cult of the South. Rosa Dartle (David Copperfield) Miss Rosa Dartle is a minor but significant character in Charles Dickens’ masterpiece, David Copperfield, first published in novel form in 1850. Rosa gets the short end of Dickens’ stick – she is portrayed as a bitter, withered spinster who harbors a secret love for David Copperfield’s schoolmate, James Steerforth, whose family had taken her in as a companion. She is also described by David as dark and skinny, and he puts particular emphasis on the disfiguring scar on her lip and chin – well, guess who put the scar there – the ill-tempered, spoiled Steerforth. Yet she loves him still – such are the ways of the heart – and continues to love him all the while he is carelessly seducing the innocent Emily, and all the while he pays Rosa no more attention than he would a piece of furniture in the house.

For our part, we find her refreshingly sarcastic, quick of wit and tongue, even if her love object is beyond our understanding. It is no wonder that her sense of inferiority and jealousy lead her to violent fits of verbal abuse – better that than craven acquiescence to her lot. At any rate, James Steerforth meets his righteous end, and on poor Rosa’s behalf, we cheer. Popular Songs on Rosa La Rosa De Los Vientos - a song by Mago De Oz Little Rosa - a song by Letters To Cleo Little Rosa - a song by Red Sovine Rosa De La Paz - a song by Amaral Rosa on the Factory Floor - a song by Jethro Tull Rosa Parks - a song by Outkast [explicit] Rosa Rio - a song by Jim Reeves Roza - a song by Dimitris Mitropanos Children's Books on the Baby Name Rosa Hurray for Rosa! (Sheila White Samton) - Rosa, a spunky Hispanic girl, is full of surprises! Based on what experts know about how children learn to read, Brand New Readers are short, funny stories with words and pictures that help children reading for the very first time succeed—and have fun!

Brand New Readers are for children who are just cracking the reading code. Readers ages four to seven can master Brand New Readers immediately—even the first time through. Funny and appealing stories, irresistibly packaged, and just right for first-time readers. Recommended for ages 4-7. I Am Reading: Princess Rosa's Winter (Judy Hindley) - Princess Rosa hates the winter. It makes her castle dark and cold, and she can't ride her pony in the snow. But one day a mysterious jester comes to the castle and brightens up the winter gloom with music, dancing, and celebration. Recommended for ages 5-8. I Wish I Had Glasses Like Rosa (Deborah Hembrook and Kathryn Helig) - How far will girls go to be like their best friend? Rosa and Abby grow to appreciate their own uniqueness. Recommended for ages 8-11. If A Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks (Faith Ringgold) - If a bus could talk, it would tell the story of a young African-American girl named Rosa who had to walk miles to her one-room schoolhouse in Alabama while white children rode to their school in a bus.

It would tell how the adult Rosa rode to and from work on a segregated city bus and couldn't sit in the same row as a white person. It would tell of the fateful day when Rosa refused to give up her seat to a white man and how that act of courage inspired others around the world to stand up for freedom. In this book a bus does talk, and on her way to school a girl named Marcie learns why Rosa Parks is the mother of the Civil Rights movement. At the end of Marcie's magical ride, she meets Rosa Parks herself at a birthday party with several distinguished guests. Wait until she tells her class about this! Recommended for ages 5-8. Los zapaticos de Rosa (Jose Marti) - Relato excepcional del gran escritor cubano José Martí. Una de las grandes piezas literarias de la América hispana. La historia aborda la solidaridad, el acto de compartir y el amor a los semejantes. Es el volumen No 4 de la magnífica colección Tesoros Literarios para Niños y Jóvenes. Recommended for ages 7-10.

Mermaid Mysteries: Rosa and the Water Pony (Katy Kit) - The mermaid friends are excited about Mermaid Bay's annual carnival where the best performance wins a beautiful pearl necklace! Rosa uses magic to create a pony out of water, and she plans to perform amazing tricks on its back. But just before the carnival begins, the magical water pony is stolen. Who is trying to sabotage the friends' performance--and why? Recommended for ages 6-9. Rosa Loves to Read (Diane Z. Shore) - Rosa loves to read, but it's so-o-o noisy when she opens her book. How will she ever be able to concentrate? Rookie Ready to Learn titles help develop young children's language and early reading skills as they engage in topic-rich conversations. Recommended for ages 6-9. Rosa Parks: My Story (Rosa Parks) - Rosa Parks is best known for the day she refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus, sparking the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott. Yet there is much more to her story than this one act of defiance. In this straightforward, compelling autobiography, Rosa Parks talks candidly about the civil rights movement and her active role in it.

Her dedication is inspiring; her story is unforgettable. Publishers Weekly says: "The simplicity and candor of this courageous woman's voice makes these compelling events even more moving and dramatic." Recommended for ages 10-14. Rosa's Room (Barbara Bottner) - "Rosa had a new room in a new house. It seemed empty." Rosa and her mother have moved to a new house. Rosa knows what she needs to feel at home in her new room: on Monday, clothes in the closet; on Tuesday, her treasure box on her desk, on Wednesday, a poster on the wall. But still, somehow, her room seems empty. "More," her cat Concertina seems to say. Late at night in bed, she dreams about how to decorate her room. On Thursday, she borrows five new books from the library. On Sunday, as Rosa sits in her room drawing a picture, she looks out the window and sees a girl outside playing. Now Rosa knows what she needs to make her room special: a new friend to share everything with. Recommended for ages 4-8. Who Was Rosa Parks?

(Yona Zeldis McDonough) - In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. This seemingly small act triggered civil rights protests across America and earned Rosa Parks the title “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”. This biography has black and white illustrations throughout. Recommended for ages 8-11. Famous People Named Rosa Famous People Named Rosa - Rosa Parks (Civil Rights Movement icon) Children of Famous People Named Rosa Famous People Who Named Their Daughter Rosa - We cannot find any celebrities or famous people who have named their child Rosa. Rosa - Girl Baby Name - Historic Figures Rosa Parks (4 Feb 1913 – 24 Oct 2005) - Often referred to as the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”, Rosa Parks began her life on February 4, 1913 as Rosa Louise McCauley in Alabama. She was part African, part Native American Indian and part Scot-Irish. As an adult, Parks was involved with the NAACP and a dedicated civil rights activist. She changed the course of history on December 1, 1955 when she refused to relinquish her bus seat to a white passenger.

For this seemingly innocuous act, Rosa Parks was jailed and instantly became an iconic heroine and symbol of the Movement. As a result of her conviction, her fellow activists were inspired to conduct a one-day citywide boycott of buses in Birmingham, Alabama. The boycott was so effective that Civil Rights leaders decided to continue the strike for more than a year. In 1979, Rosa Parks was awarded the Spingarn Medal (the NAACP's highest award), and in 1996 President Clinton presented Parks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given by the U.S. executive branch. A remarkable woman indeed! Search Baby Names Uriah Heep: My favourite Charles Dickens character - Telegraph Charles Dickens Uriah Heep: My favourite Charles Dickens character Uriah Heep - from David Copperfield, is one of Charles Dickens's most malevolent creations and is the eighth in the Telegraph pick of the best Charles Dickens characters. Image 1 of 3 A portrait of Uriah Heep by Frederick Barnard (1846-1896), which was used to illustrate David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Photo: Alamy Penguin released David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, in a new 'Pocket Classic' edition.

By Mark Monahan , Dance Critic 7:00AM GMT 08 Feb 2012 Follow My Favourite Charles Dickens character: Uriah Heep from David Copperfield (1849) Sounding like some particularly pernicious kind of bladder infection, Uriah Heep is one of the best names – and villains – in the whole of Dickens. This obsequious, cadaverous clerk and money-lender, who fawns his way through David Copperfield and blackmails his way to success, has as little pigment in his body as he does decency. “[He] had hardly any eyebrows,” says the 15-year-old David, “and no eyelashes, and eyes of a red-brown, so unsheltered and unshaded, that I remember wondering how he went to sleep.” Besides, then, being an early example of the evil-albino figure so beloved by Hollywood, Uriah Heep is also said to have been inspired by either Hans Christian Anderson or one Thomas Powell, for whom a friend of Dickens’s worked. Either way, it’s a magnificently unenviable tribute. The full series of 'My favourite Charles Dickens character' is: Related Articles

Question: Miss Rosa Dartle is a character in which Charles Dickens novel?
Answer: David Copperfield