Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Veiled Victorian Vampires: What Literary Antagonists Reveal About Societal Fears Of 19th Century England, Jenna Harford

Honors Theses

In my thesis paper I look at three primary texts, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray to analyze their main antagonists through a vampiric lens. I explain how the characters of Bertha Mason, Miss Havisham, and Dorian Gray are all written with veiled vampiric traits that revolve around themes of sexuality, secrecy and seclusion, and unbridled physical and emotional violence. Although none of these texts is obviously a “vampire novel”, the authors lean into vampire tropes including eerie physical description, doubled relationships, and other vampire lore that can be best …

Merchants Of Blood And Gunpowder: The English Arms Trade In West Africa, Jaime K. Schneider

Honors Theses

The period between 1500 and 1650 saw the development of a transoceanic trade network, multiple European colonial empires in the Americas, and rapid developments in firearms technology. Combined, these factors laid the groundwork for two interrelated phenomena, the transatlantic slave trade, and the emergence of a global trade in arms. Examining the documents of the Royal African Company and assembling a broad selection of secondary sources, this paper seeks to contribute to the ongoing debate over the role of slavery in the development of modern capitalism. This paper argues that the transatlantic slave trade was vital for the development of …

Cartel Practices And Policies In The World War Ii Era, Caleb Yoken

Honors Theses

The goal of this thesis is to examine cartels in the World War II era: how and why they operated, why they existed, and any assistance they may or may not have received from their respective governments. This thesis, in particular, will focus on three countries, the United States, Germany, and Britain. Cartels are typically defined through the lens of monopolized business activity that can deal with anything from petroleum and steel to pharmaceuticals, and take actions to restrict output and raise prices to eliminate their competition. The research finds that cartels that operated in Europe during this era were …

Beyond The Pond: My Semester Abroad, Converted Into Creative Nonfiction, Elaine Ingalls

Honors Theses

Creative nonfiction is a genre that consists of dramatized, true stories. They are portrayed through literary elements commonly used by poets and fiction writers. These elements include dialogue, a replication of scenes, character development, and detailed descriptions of setting and interior thought. Creative nonfiction allows the writer to find meaning beyond his/her experiences and reflect on universal and personal issues.

When I set out to write, I intended on writing one longer story that brought each individual experience together. As a final product, my thesis stands as a collection of different trips and events that all contributed to my time …

Moving The Plague: The Movement Of People And The Spread Of Bubonic Plague In Fourteenth Century Through Eighteenth Century Europe, Gillian R. Fowler

Honors Theses

Research regarding the Yersinia Pestis (bubonic plague) in later medieval and early modern Europe has focused mainly on rat fleas and their role in transmitting the bacteria. This research focuses on people and their day to day movements and how that relates to the spread of bubonic plague across the following three areas of Europe, England, France and northern Italy during the time period between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries. The changing belief system regarding the cause of these outbreaks emerges within these medieval Europeans which helps to facilitate the growing response to plague outbreaks and the affirmative actions taken …

Breaking The Back: The Continuous Battle Over The Bank Of England 1694-1715, Brendan Callanan

Honors Theses

England during the seventeenth century experienced unprecedented political and economic transformation. The rise and fall of the British monarchy, the subsequent political ascendance of Parliament and centralization of the state, sustained economic and commercial growth, and incessant wars abroad during the latter years of the century, contributed to a volatile political climate during the final years of the 1600s that contrasted greatly with the landscape earlier in the century. Specifically, said developments especially affected England’s landed aristocracy. Their cherished ideology of order suffered significant setbacks as both the expanded reach of the state and the new economic ideology that stressed …

Mary Tudor And The Politics Of Gender, Melissa E. Procton

Honors Theses

Gender played a distinct role in Mary Tudor’s accession and reign as England’s first sole female monarch from 1553-1558. In order to understand how a female heir was molded for queenship and ultimately went forth to lead a nation, this study examines the following aspects of Mary Tudor’s life: her early education, Tudor political culture, affinity connections formed during her brother Edward VI’s reign, political training for queenship, and the fundamental issue of gender verses religion for Protestants during her reign. This thesis aims to examine how gender shaped Mary Tudor’s political training and ultimate role as England’s monarch. Along …

Changing Magic : Evolving Conception Of Witchcraft In Essex County, Elizabeth Kiel Boone

Honors Theses

In 1579, a court in Essex, England arraigned thirteen-year-old Thomas Lever for acting as an assistant to William Randall, a conjurer suspected of leading a group of male witches. The court claimed young Thomas “mixed potions and was familiar with all [of Randall’s] workings.”1 Yet for Raphael Holinshed, the commentator on the trial, the case was unique only in the age of the defendant. Holinshed gives a stark example of a common view of the witch trials by noting “That her Majesty is sore oppressed by these witches and devil- mongers is now common knowledge, but that a child should …

Defender Of The Faith? : Anti-Heresy Policy And The Consolidation Of Ecclesiastical Authority Under Henry Viii On The Eve Of The English Reformation, Daniel James Rudary

Honors Theses

In March 1521, Catholic Europe was on the brink of rupture. It had been more than three years since Martin Luther had posted his Ninety-Five Theses in the university town of Wittenburg, and what had been a mere invitation to a public disputation concerning the power and efficacy of ind ulgences had gone on to embroil Christian Europe in an unprecedented doctrinal conflict. The political and religious significance of Luther's revolt was certainly not lost on Rome, which had by this point responded to Luther's December 1520 bonfire fueled by copies of Leo X's excommunication bull and books of canon …

Religion And Renunciation In Wordsworth: The Progression Of Natural Individualism To Christian Stoicism, Geoffrey L. Meldahl

Honors Theses

William Wordsworth was twenty-three when the French National Convention condemned the deposed Louis XVI to death, and France, under Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety, dissolved into abject violence. The disappointing results of the Revolution and the subsequent events in European politics began to work a change in Wordsworth’s personal political and ethical views that would greatly affect not only his own poetry but the entire Romantic Movement. Even still, his eventual apostasy from the radical republicanism of his youth affects the way in which people read Wordsworth’s work, igniting both sympathy and resentment. The Ode to Duty is …

London Coffee Houses : The First Hundred Years, Heather Lynn Mcqueen

Honors Theses

This paper examines how early London coffee houses catered to the intellectual, political, religious and business communities in London, as well as put forward some information regarding what it was about coffee houses that made them "new meeting places" for Londoners. Coffee houses offered places for political debate and progressively modem forms of such debate, "penny university" lessons on all matter of science and the arts, simplicity and sobriety in which independent religious groups could meet, as well as the early development of a private office space.

Stained Glass In England From 1330-1460, Jennifer Stanger

Honors Theses

Stained glass is more precisely named painted glass, because of the enameling process. However, because stained glass is the popular term, it is used throughout the paper.

Please note that I have retained the original spellings in the quotes of both primary and secondary sources.

Crime And The Common Law In England, 1580-1640, Cara Swinden

Honors Theses

In this paper, I have endeavored to illustrate many of the forms of crime committed during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. I have also attempted to show the role of local people in the law. The workings of the common law of England have been simplified to outline the investigations, the trials, and the punishments received by felons and trespassers. Much of my research came from original manuscripts. Therefore, I have retained the original spellings, word order, and phrases, neither correcting nor modernizing the words, word order, or phrases, of the quotations and excerpts from those original manuscripts.

The Star Chamber In Its Last Years, Christine Martine

Honors Theses

In the course of English history many legal courts have been established and abolished. There were two types of legal courts: common law and prerogative. Commonlaw courts had their basis in fmndamental laws and custom while pre- rogative courts were established by the king's prerogative for different reasons. Most of the prerogative courts were developed during the medieval or early modern period and were abolished during the Stuart reign. One such prerogative court was the Court of the Star Chamber. It can trace its beginnings to the medieval period and was abolished during the reign of Charles I. The Court …

Archaeological Features Of The Iron Age In Southern Britain, Karen V. Wallace

Honors Theses

An OBU Honors Special Studies Grant, matched by a donation from a private source, enabled me to spend five weeks during the summer of 1981 studying British archaeology, particularly that of the Iron Age, at Christ College, Cambridge. After one week of extensive lectures at the college and one week of touring major archaeological sites of the area, five other American students and I spent tow and one-half weeks at the Claydon Pike excavation near Fairford, Gloucestershire. During our stay at the dig the excavation director, Dr. David Miles, and the assistant director, Simon Palmer, both of Oxford University and …

The Levellers' View Of History, Margaret Trowe

Honors Theses

The name "Levellers" applies to a political organization which functioned as a potent force in the politics of England in the late 1640s. During this period a fierce struggle for power was being fought, partly on an ideological level. The fighting of the first civil war had ended in 1646; the army of Parliament had defeated the royalist forces and had captured the King. In the wake of military victory, the various factions among the victors began to vie for power. In 1645 and 1646 tracts supporting the establishment of a representative democracy, the guarantee of civil and religious freedoms, …

Classical Studies In Tudor Grammar Schools, Shelby Murray

Honors Theses

This paper is an attempt to study Tudor grammar schools and the part that classics played in the education that was offered. The personalities of schoolmasters and pupils are not considered, nor are all the authors who were studied mentioned, for that would be nearly impossible. I have discussed here only those authors and textbooks which were representative of the ones studied.

The Establishment Of The Baptists In England In The Early Part Of The Seventeenth Century, Eugenia Henderson

Honors Theses

In 1558 with the accession of a Protestant Queen on the throne, England had the appearance of religious freedom. Around 1559 Dutch and Flemish dissenters emigrated to England bringing with them Baptist beliefs. Elizabeth's religious policy, however, was not one of toleration. Not being a religious zealot, she desired a workable religious situation. As a result the Elizabethan Settlement was a compromise and came to mean no religious liberty but no inquisition. In 1559 Elizabeth became Supreme Governor of the Anglican Church in the Act of Supremacy. The Act of Uniformity passed in the same year forced the people to …