| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this thesis is to study how and why scholars have connected Rochester to his poetry. Historical, biographical and psychological approaches have dominated Rochester studies, and I aim to explore how scholars have found Rochester in his poetry and why these approaches have been so dominating and still dominate the field. I have looked into the positive sides of these approaches and I have unravelled the challenges. There are reasons to support, or at least understand, historical, biographical and psychological readings of Rochester s poetry. A number of themes and attitudes are frequently repeated in his poems, and these are often repeated in letters and in the conversations with Gilbert Burnet as well. There are also statements from contemporaries worthy of attention, though they were hardly ever objective. Moreover, one cannot overlook the fact that several poems are easily transferable to events in Rochester s life. However, there are also reasons to be suspicious of making too close connections between the Rochester and the poetry. Though several poems are transferable to events in his life, it is important to be aware that Rochester s biography is full of gaps and myths. In addition, one must take into account his fondness of masquerading and personas, the challenges of attribution, difficulties caused by traditions, imitation and allusions, the contradictions between and within his poems and the question of the intention and motivation behind the writing of the poems. | eng |