English Language and Literature Commons^™

Honoré De Balzac’S Portrayal Of The Feminine Condition In The Wild Ass’S Skin, Père Goriot, And The Lily Of The Valley, Brooke V. Musmeci

Honors Theses

In 19th century France, women appeared to be second class citizens. They were often limited in their abilities to have independence and secure their own wealth. This perception of women perhaps justifies why, as Honoré de Balzac’s novels illustrated the realities of French society, he attempted to characterize women’s struggles to obtain control and power in their lives. In his novels The Wild Ass’s Skin (1831), The Lily of the Valley (1835), and Le Père Goriot (1835), Balzac sought to prove how women could improve their lot.

Firstly, in studying how women had been relegated to second-class citizens under their …

Unlikely Heroes In Despair: Existentialist Narrators In The Novels Of Albert Camus, Jean Paul Sartre, And Don Delillo, Courtney Mullis

Honors Theses

Existentialism is a field of philosophy concerned with questions about existence, death, God, and consciousness. It is "a doctrine that concentrates on the existence of the individual, who, being free and responsible, is held to be what he makes himself by the self-development of his essence through acts of the will" (OED Online). Writing by existentialist philosophers "often belongs more to literature than to philosophy" (Bigelow 173). Existentialist characters in literature are autonomous agents who tend to lack religious faith, constantly ask existentialist questions, and struggle with their own existence and relationship to the world around them. Additionally, existentialist characters …

The Imagined Southern Setting Of Cormac Mccarthy's The Road, John Emory Hooks

Honors Theses

The Road by Cormac McCarthy hardly seems like a work of southern literature at a first glance. The novel is post-apocalyptic. A man and his son, neither of whom are ever named, trek south as they struggle to survive in a world darkened by ash-filled skies. The setting surrounding them is not recognizable as the southern US anymore. The cities are burnt and everything is covered with ash. If we rely on the geography portrayed by a work of literature to identify that literature as southern or not, then The Road cannot be classified as southern based solely on the …

The Magic Of Books: A History Of Medieval Magic And Literature, Ana Maria Lavado

Honors Theses

Narrative binds people together with a common language and experience. It provides a singular manner for communication and interaction. Without this interaction, there would be no society or culture to speak of; with no way to articulate and control sounds, humans would be forced to communicate through the use of motions and gestures, deprived of the beauty and magic of language. Words can somehow capture pain, joy, beauty, awe, sadness, excitement, emotion and the very thrill that comes from being alive in a way that nothing else can. Language can inspire and influence as much as it can inflict pain …

Who Is Still Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf?, Laura Decrane

Honors Theses

One of the most well known villains of all time is the Big Bad Wolf. Usually a male entity, he has been present in child and adult literature for centuries and continues to unsettle readers in the twenty-first century. The Big Bad Wolf is consistently portrayed in a negative light because he originated in a time when wolves were feared, making him the perfect example to terrify village children. Over time, as a result of social and cultural changes, writers have transformed the wolf so that he is no longer the terror that plagued the nineteenth century. Instead, the Big …