Victorian women poets

Through a selection of 14 influential essays, Tess Cosslett charts the rediscovery of an appreciation for Victorian women poets by feminist critics in the 1970s.

She also exlplores the subsequent application of modern theoretical approaches to the understanding and promotion of non-canonical and marginalized poets, such as Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Christina Rossetti.

These three Victorian poets provide the focus of this critical text which seeks to clarify the major themes, problems and preoccupations that attend the critical writing on this period.

This is supported by discussions of less prominent poets of this period.A major theme throughout is feminism and poetry, and the different advantages of psychoanalytic and Historicist approaches to Victorian women's poetry.

The study includes an introduction explaining the critical history and issues and sets the context for the essays.