Digital Commons Network^™

Disenchantment: The Formation, Distortion, And Transformation Of Identity In Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, Lydia K. Christoph

Masters Theses

Charles Dickens' Great Expectations (1861) stands apart from his other works as a powerful expression of his later social and theological views. Rife with rich characterizations, fairy-tale elements, grotesque and bizarre plot twists, Victorian social issues, and a beautifully thoughtful and imaginative commentary on the universal human themes of loss, guilt, abuse, identity, money, social status, and love, this novel remains an outstanding example of truly great art, both popular and classic. This story of identity formation in a nineteenth-century English context demonstrates how Dickens' life and writings, influenced by spurious and inconsistent theological beliefs, express the idea that sin …

Expunging Father Time: The Search For Temporal Transcendence In The Novels Of Aldous Huxley And Tom Robbins, Stephanie Abigail Taylor

Masters Theses

This study explores the connection between the time concepts of Aldous Huxley and Tom Robbins. For both authors, time imprisons man on two fronts, or in two cages, if you will. The smaller of these cages is society's concept of time, clock time, which constrains the activities of man, forcing him to submit to his fate as a mere drone operating on the assembly line of life. In this prison, man cannot take the proper time to commune with nature, to look inward at himself and his life, or to focus on the real meaning and goal of life--escape from …

Hesitation: An Analysis Of Candide, Jared T. Mink

Masters Theses

Candide calls into question its merit as literature or philosophy because it draws its reader into eisegesis. The act of interpreting Candide is never a cool judgment. The enigmatic ending forces the reader to see that acts of judgment are appetitive: Desires shape judgment; judgment plies desire. Candide's behavior reveals eighteenth century interest in "the body," which was the scientist's chief tool in entering "the void" to explore the integrity of new knowledge. We see this body interest in Locke's Essay and, through a concept of "hesitation," we can see that Voltaire absorbed Lock's view of the interconnection between judgment …

Hauntings In The Church: Counterfeit Christianity Through The Fin De Siècle Gothic Novel, Melissa Ann West

Masters Theses

The lengthy Victorian period, extending from 1832 until 1901, was a time of cultural turmoil. New scientific discoveries were being made daily, and Christianity was forced to deal with issues of Darwinism, occultism, and growing disbelief in God. By the start of the fin de siècle, God was an impartial deity sitting on His almighty throne, and man was nothing more than a highly evolved animal. The church, both Catholic and Anglican, did not exist to lead man toward salvation, but existed because of a dated adherence to cultural tradition.

No one genre captured the religious upheavals of the age …

"Life Wants Padding": Food, Eating, And Bodies In George Eliot's Novels, Tess Rebecca Stockslager

Masters Theses

This thesis uses six of the novels of George Eliot (those that take place entirely in rural England), works from the field of psychology, the concepts of realism and sympathy, and a metaphor of liquidity from Thomas Carlyle to explore several ways that body fat shapes identity and mediates relationships with others. Boundaries are the guiding concept: the chapters move from a demonstration of how boundaries between the self and others are created (padding), through a discussion of how sympathy can enable those boundaries to be broken (stuffing), to two case studies of characters whose boundaries of selfhood are in …

The Library, The Labyrinth, And "Things Invisible": A Comparative Study Of Jonathan Swift's A Tale Of A Tub And Jorge Luis Borges' Ficciones, Amber Lockard

Masters Theses

One of the most difficult and yet perhaps most revealing means of investigating the proclivities and flaws of the contemporary age is to compare the literatures of this time with the literatures of a past time. The benefits of such a comparison can first highlight the ways in which talented authors from different ages employ similar methods in skillful ways; but moreover, the assessment can help to place postmodern literature, culture, and individuals within a proper and perceivable historical context. To do so is to recognize the advances, discoveries, promises, limitations, and flaws in the present manner of thinking and …