Digital Commons Network^™

The Voice Unbound : Mary Shelley's Vision Of Romanticism, Courtenay Noelle Smith

Master's Theses

Mary Shelley was propelled into fame while still a teenager because of her powerful and "gothic" novel Frankenstein. This novel and several facts about the author's personal life have kept her in the public eye since her death. Though Frankenstein has long been a subject of scholarship, Mary Shelley has been little studied directly in relation to the great literary movement, Romanticism, in which she participated Romantic literature is pervaded by numerous political and aesthetic tensions, in particular the paradox of the ideals of genius and fellowship. In many of the Romantic works readers and scholars will find that the …

Shakespeare And Astrology, William Bruce Smith

Master's Theses

The popular ity of astrology in Elizabethan England is ref lected by the large number of references to it in the works of William Shakespeare. The majority of astrological references in the Shakespearean canon are "commonplaces" and do not add signif icantly to our understanding of his work, although they are of interest in studying exactly how much astrological knowledge he possessed. There are astrological references in the plays, however, that are of significance in the study of character in Shakespeare. In certain plays (Romeo and Juliet, The Winter' s Tale) a judgement concerning various individuals ' inner nobility may …

An American Myth : James Dickey's "The Zodiac", Arthur Gordon Van Ness

Master's Theses

In the brief explanatory preface of "The Zodiac" Dickey says: "Its twelve sections are the story of a drunken and perhaps dying Dutch poet who returns to his home in Amsterdam after years of travel and tries desperately to relate himself, by means of stars, to the universe." The question immediately arises as to how a Dutch poet, and particularly one living in the Old World city of Amsterdam, relates to an American myth. What, in other words, does a Dutchman returning to his home in Holland nave to do with the New World?

Meredith's Women In Time : Diana Merion And Clara Middleton, Dana Sims Brewer

Master's Theses

In The Egoist and Diana of the Crossways, George Meredith joins the ranks of Mary Wollstonecraft and John Stuart Mill in a slowly evolving cultural crusade to gain self respect, dignity, and independence for Victorian women.

The Post-Postmodern Aesthetics Of John Fowles, Claiborne Johnson Cordle

Master's Theses

Because a thesis is by definition a proposi­ tion to be argued, I feel some obigation to make strong assertion--either John Fowles is a post­ modernist writer, or John Fowles is not a postmodernist writer. What is immediately "problematic" about such an either/or proposition is that each side can be argued convincingly by a careful process of selection of examples to support the prospective cases (and omission of those which refute them). I cannot easily dismiss the wisdom of Northrop Frye's statement that, "They think of ideas as weapons; they seek the irrefutable argument, which keeps eluding them because all …

A Kierkegaardian Reading Of Three Novels By Faulkner, Francine Marilyn Hall

Master's Theses

William Faulkner and S¢ren Kierkegaard, although separated in time by almost a century, possess a common concern: both are deeply interested in the numerous ways in which individuals live out their lives in either hope or despair. Exploring the avenues which might alleviate this despair and providing a basis for hope are tasks both authors have accepted as theirs.

This paper relates three novels by Faulkner to the stages of existence set forth by Kierkegaard in much of his philosophical writing. I intend to show that Faulk­ ner's characters serve as illustrations of different ways in which an individual may …

The Dynamics Of Self-Definition : An Approach To The Torquemada Tetrology, Vanessa Valldejuli Allen

Master's Theses

Benito Pérez Galdós has been classified generally as a traditional writer of the nineteenth century. Recent reevaluation ry critics such as Sánchez-Barbudo, Angel de los Ríos and Ricardo Gullón maintains that Galdós' concerns remove him from the frame- work of the nineteenth century traditional Spanish novel and rank him as a precursor of modern thought. This thesis will analyze the Torquemada tetrology which is an expression of these concerns and as such links Galdós to the novel of the twentieth century.

Self-Knowledge : A True Tragedy?, Mary Louise O. Cariens

Master's Theses

This paper is intended to associate several characters who exhibit various degrees of self-knowledge in the following tragedies: La Thébaide Ou Les Frères Ennemis , Alexandre Le Grand, Andromaque, Britannicus, and Bérénice. These plays were written at various stages of Racine 's literary career, and there is in them a reflection of his life and the mood of his creative endeavors.

Also included is an analysis intended to assimilate certain factors which can be used to gauge the presence or lack of self­ knowledge gained only through awareness and a great deal of struggle.

Meaning And Method : A Comparative Study Of Edmund Husserl And Ezra Pound, Jesse N. Mayo Jr

Master's Theses

In his essay entitled "Phenomenology of Heading" Georges Poulet explains how a "reading" is possible"

The universe of fiction is infinitely more elastic than the world of objective reality. It lends itself to any use; it yields with little resistance to the importunities of the mind. Moreover - and of all the benefits I find this the most appealing - this interior universe constituted by language does not seem radically opposed to the me who thinks it.... In short, since everything has become part of my mind, thanks to the intervention of language, the opposition between the subject and its …

The Females Within The Design/Debris Motif In Three Novels By John Hawkes, Evelyn Carol Sweet

Master's Theses

John Hawkes, according to Tony Tanner, is perhaps the most "disturbing" contemporary American writer. Many people would agree with this commentary on Hawkes, a man whose work has moved from the surreal in The Cannibal (1949) toward the more realistic, a movement predicted by Albert Guerard in his introduction to The Cannibal. As this movement away from the surreal has occurred, then why does Tanner find Hawkes' "disturbing" in a review of his most recent novel, Travesty? Perhaps because this movement was not from the surreal to the realistic as we generally use the term, but rather a movement from …

Antithesis And Reconciliation In W. B. Yeats' "Under Ben Bulben", Cary Albert Mcbean

Master's Theses

An investigation of the life and writings of William Butler Yeats reveals a man extremely sensitive to antithesis in human experience. This sensitivity, it is seen, greatly influenced the course of his life, inciting him to seek harmony or reconciliation of the perceived antithesis. As one would expect, Yeats' writings reflect this life struggle. Much of his prose is colored by expressions such as "contraries," "antinomies," or "consciousness is conflict," while the poetry often deals with the course between "extremities" or "eternities." A study of his works is, to an extent, necessarily a study of opposition and reconciliation.

A Certain Solid Ground : The Mary-Martha Motif In The Fiction Of Katherine Anne Porter, Rosemary Mulvaney Dietrick

Master's Theses

She had spent years of strategic warfare trying to beat those people out of her life; then more years trying to ignore them; to forget them; to hate them; and in the end she loved them as she knew well she was meant in simple nature to do, and acknowledged it; it brought her no peace, and yet it put a certain solid ground under her feet.

The preceding passage from Katherine Anne Porter 's Ship of Fools reveals the rebellious thoughts of a young American artist named Jenny, an almost autobiographical heroine, who inveighs against the pragmatic women in …

A Revival Of The Gothic Tale In French Twentieth Century Literature : Claude Seignolle, Eric Deudon

Master's Theses

It is perhaps the very diversity of his gifts and interests that has prevented Claude Seignolle so far from reaching the wide public that his work deserves. The scholars know him and rightly value his unique contributions to folklore; the novelist know well that his novels are a distinct contribution to literature, written as they are with the pure and forceful eye of the poet. Finally, those who are interested in the devil keep their eyes open for every new tale by this strange diabolist ... These little tales of mystery and horror have a quality which is entirely their …

Memories And Dreams : A Freudian Look At Proust, Barbara Alexander Baroody

Master's Theses

Proust, born some fifteen years after Freud; was equally fascinated with the potential for the unconscious mind. He was obsessed by the desire to overcome the destructive force of Time and assure tor himself a place in eternity. He wanted to project himself into the future by creating a work of art, for he believed that Art, alone surpassed Time. His work of art would be a novel, but rather than simply recounting past experiences, he sought to actually bring them to life again by evoking in the reader the same sensations he experienced. Dreams and those memories which rise …

Goe, And Finde A Mistris : The Concepts Of Woman In The Poetry Of John Donne: The Elegies, The Anniversaires, The Songs And Sonets, Leanne Wade Beorn

Master's Theses

This study of the concepts of woman in the poems, combined with an analysis of the poems' internal structure and content in relation to the literary background, seems to me to be a most profitable approach to the whole of Donne's love poetry. By focusing on the concepts of woman I shall provide a common basis for comparison, since woman figures in all of the poems but one. By summarizing the characteristics of the major literary traditions about love operative in Donne's time, I shall provide information which is essential to understanding the diversity of attitudes in the poems. And …

The Destructive Messiah : A Study Of Henrik Ibsen's Search For Truth As Portrayed By Rebel Heroes In Brand, An Enemy Of The People, And The Wild Duck, Susan Taylor Soyars

Master's Theses

Having read Henrik Ibsen's major plays, I became interested in his treatment of truth. Brand, Doctor Stockman, and Gregers Werle all represented varied degrees of the truth, each embodying Ibsen's own ideas. It is specifically Gregers Werle' s treatment of the truth that resulted in the conclusions found in this paper.

As Ibsen explored his personal convictions about the truth, a new type of rebel hero began to emerge, a destructive savior. Through this messiah, a Christ-like figure, Ibsen allows the truth to be exploited, which brings about complete destruction to communities,families, and friends.

Biographical material has been deleted. By …

The Search For Liberty In The Theatre Of Alfonso Sastre, Dorothy Thornton Hunter

Master's Theses

Alfonso Sastre, born in 1926, was a child during the Spanish Civil War. His temperament and personality were shaped by a Spain in the state of transition. He has seen coups d'états, dictatorship, a republic and monarchy. With each change of government Spain was searching for a way to unite her divided self, a self which had been divided since the Moors invaded Spain in the eighth century. Sastre has reflected Spain's search for liberty and has produced what he calls a "Theatre of Social Agitation, "the fundamental theme of which is revolution. With this type of theatre Sastre proposes …

Patterns Of The Negative Epic Quest And Three Modern Novels By Andre Gide, Louis-Ferdinand Celine, And Malcolm Lowry, John Robert Greer

Master's Theses

Many critics have approached the subject of modern epic, but like E. M. W. Tillyard, they dismiss "eccentric" literature from consideration on the claim that the execution of epic requires "balance" and "objectivity." It seems unfortunate to dismiss works that--while remaining essentially negativistic and subjective in their impact-uniquely capture the spirit of their milieu and refract in a singular way a "choric" effect (to borrow Tillyard's term); that is, "the unconscious metaphysic of a group." To accommodate the inverted comparison between epic and certain individuated works by modern authors, I here attempt to define a form I call the "negative …

Martial's And Juvenal's Attitudes Toward Women, Lawrence Phillips Davis

Master's Theses

The thesis offers a comparison between the views of Martial and Juvenal toward women based on selected Epigrams of the former and Satire VI of the latter. Such a comparison allows the reader to place in perspective the attitudes of both authors in regard to the fairer sex and reveals at least a portion of the psychological inclination of both writers.

Characters As Functions Of Landscape In Seven Poems By Lawrence Durrell, Richard King Leroy

Master's Theses

No single theory explaining the creative process has won the assent of writers and critics. Most scholars agree that the process has sub-conscious origins and that it concludes only when the last revisions reveal the entire finished composition. However, the act of creation is de- pendent upon numerous aesthetic factors, and artists have given credit to various stimuli which have produced their special inspiration.

An Interpretation Of Ecstasy As Found In The Poetry Of Emily Dickinson, Thomas B. Mccary

Master's Theses

Emily Dickinson was indeed used to grief, as the record of her life clearly indicates. She was disappointed in love and and disappointed in her efforts to achieve literary fame. Yet there was moments of happiness and even ecstasy in Emily Dickinson's life. The purpose of this thesis is to examine those moments of ecstatic elevation--the "Soul's Superior instants" as Emily called them--in order to achieve a better insight into the mind of the poet and the nature of often curious verse.

An examination of ecstasy requires a study of Emily's religious background her psychological make-up. It also behooves the …

"Mercy Seasons Justice", Robert Freeman Davidson

Master's Theses

This is a study of the development of the mind of William Shakespeare as it relates to justice which tries to show how certain of Shakespeare's beliefs and theories, those shared by most of his con­ temporaries, were altered in the course of that development. The plays chosen for this treatment of the mind of Shakespeare -- the historically related cycle of Richard II, Henry IV (I and II), Henry V, Henry VI (I, II, and III), and Richard III -- show the ideas in question in greater abundance than any other of Shakespeare's plays. The historical grouping consists …

The Speech Of The Andean Mestizo In The Novels Of Ciro Alegria, Catherine Thorburn Neale

Master's Theses

This inquiry is made and presented from the point of view of a language teacher. After a student has acquired the basic skills of reading, writing, and speaking the foreign language, a most practical medium with which to continue his language study is literature. As well as gaining an understanding of people through literary study, he also may see the language in use as a tool for communication and become aware of some possibilities of it as an artistic medium. This study is concerned with the works of the Peruvian writer Ciro Alegria, who includes in his novels many examples …

The Orderly Chaos Of Camilo José́ Cela, Christian William Hearon

Master's Theses

Camilo José Cela, a philosopher and a consummate artist, has produced a series of works which individually and as a group, are a careful combination of idea and form. One work cannot adequately be understood unless it is also seen in context with Cela's other works. Each of the novels, short stories, essays and travel books, is united to the others by Cela' s overall existential philosophical outlook, and each rests on and at the same time illuminates the others.

Myths And Legends In The Stories Of Eudora Welty, Robert Keith Brower

Master's Theses

Wright Morris suggests that in The Territory Ahead that the American writer's imagination has been crippled by the nostalgia that drives it to a preoccupation with the mythic past. Like any other generalization, there are several glaring exceptions to this statement, and one of the most obvious of these exceptions ca be found in the case of Eudora Welty. Miss Welty has continually exhibited a great knowledge of mythology and American folklore, and has utilized this knowledge extensively in her stories. However, it is safe to say that rather than being crippled, Miss Welty's imagination has been greatly enhanced and …

The Protagonists Of John Updike, Charles Monroe Cock

Master's Theses

My purpose in this paper is to show that the protagonists of Updike can be categorized into groups and that these protagonists are as real for me as they are for Updike. It is because of these protagonists that the works of Updike will live for many years to come.

Sherwood Anderson : An Experiment In Journalism, Carol Senell Ware

Master's Theses

James Schevill in his Sherwood Anderson His Life and Work describes Anderson's plunge into journalism as "an episode unique in American newspaper history, the first time a mature writer of important stature had been completely responsible for the contents of two country papers." Although it ha s bee n generally acknowledged that Anderson's journalistic experiments are unique and make a significant contribution to the history of American journalism, these areas have never been analyzed in any detail by students of his work. This thesis will explore in depth the nature of Anderson's journalistic experiments and evaluate his achievement in the …

The Comic Vision Of Samuel Beckett, James Ambrose Walsh

Master's Theses

The twin poles of eating and excreting which he mentions point up Beckett's preoccupation with the physical over the spiritual, an interest which stands as a clue to tho understanding of his comic vision, the one element which remains constant and at the heart of his writing throughout bis career. At the center of this interest is a theory of comedy best investigated through his relationship to Henri Bergson, the French philosopher and author of Laughter, a theory of the comic. Though there is no concrete evidence of any direct influence on Beckett from Bergson, the incredible similarities in their …

Images Of Creation And Destruction In The Early Poetry Of Dylan Thomas, Willard Liston Rudd

Master's Theses

The intent of this thesis is to examine the two major categories into which Dylan Thomas' images seem to fall: images associated with creation and images associated with destruction.

Alejo Carpentier : CivilizacióN Y Barbarie, MaríA Luisa P. ValdéS

Master's Theses

El proposito de este trabajo sera demostrar la interpretacion y la importancia que Alejo Carpentier da a los terminos 'Civilizacion" y "Barabarie". El pensamiento del autor, en la mayor parte de sus obras gira alrededor de estos dos conceptos que provocan, precisamente, el conflicto en que se ven envueltos los protagonistas, que no saben o no pueden leegar a una solucion valida.

Se ha de insistir principalmente en el tema de la barbarie, por ser esta la preoccupacion mayor del autor, visible en la mayoria de sus obras. El aspecto negativo tiene, en la mente de Carpentier, una importancia mucho …