Rossetti's ballad, 'Cousin Kate', presents the narrator who has become a fallen woman through a pre-marital relationship with a Lord. Furthermore the narrator's cousin, Kate, then marries the Lord due to her refusal to have a pre-marital relationship with him. However the narrator has not lost everything as she has had a child with the lord and it seems to be unlikely that Kate will be able to provide this for him.
Rossetti’s choice of scenes and places is a key aspect of her narrative method as it helps to shape characters in the text. The two key settings in the text are the ‘cottage’ and the ‘palace’. Rossetti uses these two settings in juxtaposition within the first two stanzas of the poem; which emphasises the social difference between the narrator, ‘the cottage maiden’, and the ‘great Lord.’ Rossetti uses the word ‘cottage’ to inform the reader of the narrator’s working class background and that the narrator perhaps lives in poverty; whereas Rossetti presents the ‘Lord ’to live in the ‘palace’ surrounded by ‘gold.’ This is supported in stanza three when Rossetti uses the phrase ‘He lifted you from mean estate’, showing that when Kate left the ‘cottage’ with the Lord he raised her social status, this could explain the two women’s attraction for the ‘Great Lord.’

Within the setting of the ‘palace’ Rossetti uses an avian motif to depict the two women. Rossetti refers to Kate as being ‘bound’ in a bird cage though her marriage to the Lord: ‘you sit in gold and sing.’ Rossetti presents the ‘palace’ to be an aggressive, constraining force on both of the women’s lives as, Kate as she is ‘bound’ in the palace and the narrator as she has been ‘outcast’ due to her ‘shameful’ experience with the Lord in the ‘palace.’

Rossetti uses the unnamed, homodiagetic narrative voice to tell the story throughout the poem. The narrator is unnamed however the narrator’s persona is presented through the first person narrative. The fact Rossetti does not name the narrator emphasises her ‘outcast’ status of the narrator from the rest of society. The narrator no longer has a place in society and therefore no longer has a name in society.
Rossetti shapes the tone of the narrative throughout the poem to mirror the narrator’s feelings towards the events the she is recounting. The tone changes from regret: ‘why did a great lord find me out’, in the first stanza Rossetti presents the narrator’s regret for leaving with the Lord. Rossetti does this at the start of the narrative so that readers feel sympathy towards the narrator. The tone, after this, then changes to bitterness: ‘because you were so good and pure.’ Here Rossett is clearly stating the narrator’s anger towards Kate who was supposed to be loyal to the narrator and not the Lord. The tone then changes to anger: ‘I would’ve spit into his face.’ Here Rossetti is emphasising the Lord’s wrong-doing. The final, biggest, change of tone is in the final stanza to pride: ‘my pride, cling closer, closer yet.’ Rossetti emphasises the narrators final triumph over Kate as she has ‘little doubt [she] fret[s].’ Rossetti suggests that Kate is unlikely to conceive, meaning Kate could just as easily be ‘outcast’ as the narrator is currently.

Rossetti uses the pronoun ‘cousin’ in front of ‘Kate’ to remind the reader that Kate is of a family bond to the narrator. Through the use of this pronoun Rossetti emphasises that Kate so easily neglected her family for the prospect of the Lord’s wealth. In the third stanza Rossetti calls Kate ‘O Lady’ once again emphasising how Kate prioritized being a Lady over a cousin to the narrator.
Rossetti moves between the past, present and conditional tense to tell the story in ‘Cousin Kate.’ Rossetti’s change between the present tense and the analeptic narrative reflects how past events have shaped the narrator and how they are currently affecting the narrator in the present tense. For example the retrospective, analeptic narrative in the first stanza represents the radical contrast between the past, where Rossetti presents the narrator as being ‘content’ with her simple life, to the present where she is ‘outcast’ from society. Rossetti uses the change between the two tenses to highlight the naivety of the narrator: ‘not mindful I was fair’, whereas in the present tense she leads a ‘shameful life’ due to her past naivety and if she could’ve changed her actions she would have not ‘taken his hand.’ Rossetti’s change in tense clearly shows the development of the narrator’s persona.

Rossetti uses the conditional tense in further develop the persona of the narrator. Rossetti uses the conditional tense to present how the narrator would’ve acted in comparison to Kate; emphasising the difference between the two female characters in the text. Rossetti presents the narrator as being bitter as she states she would have not been ‘fooled’ as Kate has been, this presents the narrator to be hypocritical as she too was ‘fooled’ by the ‘Lord.’

Rossetti uses language and imagery to further the plot and characterisation in the text. Rossetti’s use of a simile in stanza five, ‘writ in sand’, is used to emphasise the lack of faith the narrator has for Kate’s relationship, stating it to be impermanent compared. Rossetti could be suggesting, through this use of language, that the narrator’s love for the Lord was in fact true, this would explain why she did not wait for marriage to explore a sexual relationship with him as Kate did.

Also Rossetti’s repetition of negative language, such as ‘not’, in stanza five presents the anger the narrator has toward Kate but similarly suggest the narrator’s empowerment over Kate as she knows she would’ve acted in the correct way and ‘not have taken him hand.’
The active verbs used by Rossetti are completely degrading of the narrator highlighting the unjustness of the situation as to do with the Lord. Rossetti presents the Lord as predatory as he ‘lures’ the narrator to her palace. Through this Rossetti presents the image of the narrator being hunted by the Lord. Through Rossetti’s use of this bestial metaphor the narrator is lowered to an animalistic status. Furthermore Rossetti’s use of the active verbs the Lord is presented with the power in the relationship as he is acting upon the narrator. Through this use of language Rossetti presents male domination in the poem.

The sexual language in stanza two represents the narrator’s disposal nature, as she was ‘changed’ ‘like a glove.’ This simile also presents penetration as the nature is further objectified by the Lord. Rossetti also uses the negative language toward the narrator: ‘unclean thing’ which dehumanises the narrator through society’s rejection of her change in sexual status through the loss of her virginity outside of marriage.

Finally, Rossetti uses the oxymoron ‘a shameful shameless life’ to indicate the difference in opinion between the narrator and society. Through the juxtaposition of these terms Rossetti presents the narrator to be unashamed of a life society deems to be shameful. Rossetti presents the narrator self-assured tone, showing her lack of care about how society will judge her. Rossetti presents the poem to be more drawn toward her bitterness she feels towards Kate and the Lord; than her anger towards society.