Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

"'Ic Paet Secgan Maeg, Hwaet Ic Yrmpa Gebad'": Christian Scribes' Condemnation Of Blood Feud And Its Effect On Women In Anglo-Saxon Society, Tara Seate-Beck

Theses & Honors Papers

In preserving The Wife 's Lament, Wulf and Eadwacer, and Beowulf's battle scene with Grendel's mother, Christian poets and scribes preserved much more than just the literature of Anglo-Saxon England. They recorded the feminine voice, a rare perspective emerging from a society founded principally on the fundamentals of warfare and male dominance. The women's songs stand as testaments to the strife and discord women suffered as a consequence of their husbands' participation in blood feud. Their stories are not merely recounted as third person narratives, as much of the other extant texts from the period are; in the elegies, these …

The Byronic Heroine, Jessica M. Laffoon

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis examines the well-used character persona in Western literature, the Byronic hero which can be prominently seen in both George Gordon and Lord Byron’s poetry, as well as the juxtaposition to this hero, the Byronic heroine. Both hero and heroine are characterized by being sensitive, passionate, strong, and having self-destructing tendencies. These romantic heroes can be seen throughout many works of literature.

Guenevere's Conflict: Pagan Love Or Christian Ethics, Jacquelyn Sweeney Johnson

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis examines the character of Guenevere in the broader, historical story of King Arthur. Analyzing newer, pagan, and feminist interpretations of her character as opposed to her original characterization in the Christian tale, it discusses the changes made in reinterpretation, especially as it relates to her relationship with Sir Lancelot.

Selling The "Professional" Housewife: Editorial Strategy In Ladies Home Journal 1905 And 1955, Amanda Ellington

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis compares the editorial strategies of the women's magazine Ladies' Home Journal in 1905 and 1955. Throughout the twentieth century, the. Journal rapidly became one of the first mass circulation magazines offering a newly affluent middle class low subscription prices supported by the advertisement of consumer products. It both reflected and sought to shape its readers' values, interests, and attitudes.

Throughout its history, beginning with its founding in 1879, the Journal advocated a conservative view womanhood, maintaining that women should feel fulfilled through their relationships with others, their domestic responsibilities, and their duties of childcare. As the culture changed, …

Faulkner's Mothers: The Relationship Of Fact To Fiction In The Sound And The Fury And As I Lay Dying, Spring P. Zuidema

Theses & Honors Papers

The author explores the relationship between actual events and circumstances in Faulkner’s own life and the fiction hat he wrote in his novels. William Faulkner was able to write his best work because he expected nothing from it. He was previously rejected by publishers, but furthermore rejected by his own family and two love interests. His mother was the only constant in his life. However she lacked love and caring and was domineering. These feelings of inferiority in Faulkner reflect in the children he wrote about and the traits of his mother reflect in the mothers in his novels as …

Hemingway's Modern Woman: An Analysis Of Selected Novels, Bonnie Gay Robertson

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis looks at the female characters of several of Ernest Hemingway’s novels and how they relate to a world changed by war. It analyzes their capacity to find identities for themselves and take on male characteristics and independence for themselves.

Mary Elizabeth Braddon: Reconstructing Beauty From Portent Of Innocence To Potential Threat In Aurora Floyd And Lady Audley's Secret, Susan Bryant Cook

Theses & Honors Papers

This explores the “sensation novels”, Lady Audley’s Secret and Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Braddon during the Victorian Era. These “sensation novels” ushered in characters that were not who they seemed to be which evoked mystery in the story. Braddon also centered on the idea of not relying on a woman’s appearance but rather seeing the woman as she truly is.

Perspectives On History: New Orleans's Women In William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! And Anne Rice's The Feast Of All Saints, Stacey Morgan Ford

Theses & Honors Papers

The thesis examines the perspectives on history in New Orleans ' women in William Faulkner 's Absalom, Absalom and Anne Rice's The Feast of All Saints. This thesis looks at historical sources, the most detailed and unbiased of which have been written within the last twenty-five years. The information is then applied to the works of Faulkner and Rice. The thesis concludes that both of the writes provide portrayals which serve their own purposes. Faulkner’s image of the world is vivid, but, it is still only an image, a picture. Faulkner’s purposes serve only as the symbol of slavery at …

Gender Within Genre: Perspectives On The Southern Hunting Tradition, J. Andrew Cocke

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Strength Within--Love: The Story Within The Story, Wanda T. Talbott

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

From Belle To Whore: Southern Stereotypes In John Pendleton Kennedy's Swallow Barn And William Faulkner's The Sound And The Fury, Sandra Compton Simmons

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Women And Family In The Fiction Of Barbara Kingsolver, Laura Ann Gussett

Theses & Honors Papers

Realizing the situations facing the American family and the changes it underwent, Kingsolver chooses to use her works as a means to explain how nontraditional families can succeed in American society. Kingsolver describes the evolution of Taylor Greer from a woman trapped in a hopeless situation into one with opportunities for success. Taylor discovers who she is but additionally learns through her relationships and from nature’s cycles that her interdependence with others permits the simultaneous growth of her identity and family. Her new found acquisition of an abused child, her new-found motherhood, and her decision to establish close ties with …

Miles Franklin: The American Fulfillment Of My Brilliant Career, Mary-Robyn Adams

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis looks at the life and works of Stella Miles Franklin, analyzing a few of her loosely autobiographical protagonists and how they take control of their lives in spite of their tough circumstances

Women Pioneer Diaries, 1820-1920: A Selected Annotated Bibliography, Sonia Alvarez Wilson

Theses & Honors Papers

The works of twenty women whom participated in the westward expansion at some time between 1820 and 1920 are represented. The women have participated by immigration, emigration, homesteading, or simply living a trans-Mississippi community during the aforementioned time period. The work as a whole provides a variety of examples of the lifestyle and challenges of the period, which may highlight the uniqueness of each woman, while at the same time showing some common experience. Diaries have been selected to represent as many states as possible, in as many time periods as possible within the one hundred year time span, in …

Women As Victims Of Society In Anna Karenina And The Awakening, Sanjukta Mukherjee

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Chaucer's Criseyde: Portrait Of Woman, Nancy Joan Faulkner

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.