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A Comparative Analysis Of National Identity Construction And Rhetorization In William Shakespeare's King Henry V And Aphra Behn' Oroonoko; Or, The Royal Slave, David Forner Apr 2020

A Comparative Analysis Of National Identity Construction And Rhetorization In William Shakespeare's King Henry V And Aphra Behn' Oroonoko; Or, The Royal Slave, David Forner

Honors Theses

Positioned at the climax of both William Shakespeare’s King Henry V (1600) and Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko; or, The Royal Slave (1688) are dynamic calls for battle. While King Henry rallies his forces against the French, Oroonoko—an enslaved African prince—ignites a slave revolt against English colonial masters. This comparative analysis of the speeches’ rhetoric identifies three sets of similar appeals: to martial masculinity, honor as a moral code, and collective political identities. From Behn’s application of Shakespeare’s canonical rhetoric derives commentary on each rhetor’s ability to construct and rhetorize his national identity. Importantly, analysis reveals the impact of racialized difference on …


A Language Without Words: Music As An Agent Of Identity In Brian Friel's Dancing At Lughnasa, Catherine Tetz Jan 2012

A Language Without Words: Music As An Agent Of Identity In Brian Friel's Dancing At Lughnasa, Catherine Tetz

Honors Theses

Music has consistently played a major role in the work of Irish playwright Brian Friel and provides a steady backdrop for Dancing at Lughnasa (1990), a memory play about a family in Northern Ireland struggling to stay together in the August of 1936. This paper examines the function of music within the context of the play to see how it heightens the themes of identity, otherness, and memory. It also examines the history and various genres of selected works from the play to further investigate how Friel's selection of particular songs reflects the emotional states and ideologies of the characters.


Spenser's Palmer: The Perversion Of Right Reason In The Fairies Queene, Book Ii, Carolyn Davis Jan 2012

Spenser's Palmer: The Perversion Of Right Reason In The Fairies Queene, Book Ii, Carolyn Davis

Honors Theses

In book II of his epic romance The faerie queene (1590), Edmund Spenser narrates the journey of Guyon, the knight of Temperance, and his faithful Pamer, generally viewed as the external embodiment of Guyon's Reason. In a close reading of Palmer's behavior, from his appearance at Gloriana's court to his final destruction of the Bower, his flaws may be addressed and properly diagnosed as more than the obvious workings of righteous anger. Additionally, a faceted analysis of the Palmer allows for better distinction between the ideas that Spenser's humanistic influences and his Protestant leanings bring to his metaphorical table.