The majority of love stories and romantic tales describe love in an optimistic light. Christina Rossetti, however, chooses to present her love poem, “Promises Like Pie-Crust” in a very different way. The views of the speaker of the poem are those of a cynic or a realist, and she treats romantic relationships very negatively. Her worldview is that unless she knows something is true and will be true for eternity, she will not put those boundaries in her life. The use of the pie metaphor in the title “Promises Like a Pie Crust” further strengthens his argument because it connects the concept of promise to an inherently fragile structure. She thinks that, like pie crusts, a promise seems doomed to failure. Finally, she insinuates that past relationships have helped shape the restrictive view she has of life and love. Rossetti's speaker is incapable of maintaining a romantic relationship because her worldview limits her actions to what she knows for certain to be the truth. The use of the pie metaphor introduces the speaker's belief that promises and relationships are built on a foundation that can easily crumble. apart and turn out to be false. The title “Promises like a pie crust” comes from the English proverb “Promises are like a pie crust, made to be broken” (Damrosch 1745). The title alludes not only to the general tone of negativity toward romantic relationships in the poem, but also to the speaker's worldview. She believes that you cannot make a verbal agreement or make a promise unless you know that those words will be true forever. She clearly believes that at the center of a relationship is a set of promises that lovers make to each other, and that it is a foundation that is doomed to shatter......... middle of paper.. .... another failed relationship, and prefers to settle for a simple friendship, without any risks or limits. Typical love stories support the lovers' rash actions and professions of undying love; however, the speaker takes a very real world view and criticizes the fragility of promises and it is this negative view that cripples her ability to enter into a romantic relationship. The speaker governs his actions based on what he believes to be true or false, and he only acts if he is sure of it. She finds comfort in the freedom of friendship rather than love. It may come from a broken heart or a series of failed efforts. Whatever the reason, it's clear that she treats love in a very different way than most people. Rossetti, however, presents love in a rational but negative way in which she longs for a simple and stable existence..