The Philosophy of Life Reflected in The Poetry of Emily Jane Bronte and Christina Georgina Rossetti

The writer of this thesis became interested in the poetry of Christina Georgina Rossetti through the study of \The Blessed Damozel,” a poem by her brother Dante Gabriel. After receiving some helpful suggestions from her adviser, the writer decided to make a rather thorough and careful study of Miss Rossetti's poems. In the meantime, the adviser, Dr. Myrta E. McGinnis, head of the English Department, selected Dr. Clarice Short as director and guide for the study. Dr. Clarice Short suggested that the writer make an additional study of the poetry of Emily Jane Bronte to ascertain likenesses and unlikenesses in the two poets, thereby making it a comparative study. After utilizing every available source in Forsyth Library to gain knowledge about the two poets and after a rapid reading of the poems of these two women, the writer decided upon making a comparative study of the religion or philosophy of life of Emily Jane Bronte and Christina Georgina Rossetti through the medium of their literary works. In pursuing this study, the author read practically all the poems of Emily Jane Bronte and Christina Georgina Rossetti. During a rapid reading of the poems, she selected for a more detailed and thorough study those poems of each poet which seemed to be pertinent to and illustrative of the proposed problem. As far as the writer could learn, there are not many graduate students who have written theses on these two poets. In consulting the lists of theses available in Forsyth Library, the author found that Miss Wilhelmina Rose Schreiner wrote a thesis in 1937 entitled : \The Criticism of Emily Bronte, 11 and Miss Mary Louise McCluskey on \Christina G. Rossetti: The Development of her Character and its Effect on her Poetry\ in 1941. Both of these studies were made at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1931, Miss Eleanor Walter Thomas wrote a doctoral dissertation: \Christina Rossetti\ at Columbia University.