"I Want To Melt Into Her Body": Sexual Empowerment And A Feminist Recentering Of The Female Characters In Dracula By Bram Stoker, Carmilla By J. Sheridan Lefanu, And Villette By Charlotte Bronte,
2021
Winthrop University
"I Want To Melt Into Her Body": Sexual Empowerment And A Feminist Recentering Of The Female Characters In Dracula By Bram Stoker, Carmilla By J. Sheridan Lefanu, And Villette By Charlotte Bronte, Carson Leigh Pender
Graduate Theses
Simone de Beauvoir argues in The Second Sex, “The normal sexual act [of intercourse] effectively makes woman dependent on the male and the species. It is he–as for most animals– who has the aggressive role and she who submits to his embrace. . . coitus cannot take place without male consent, and male satisfaction is its natural end result” (385). Essentially, de Beauvoir argues that the act of sex cannot exist without the presence of man, but particularly for heterosexual women, the act of sex is dependent on the presence of, responsibility of, and response of men. However, despite the …
From Governess To Wife: How Women On The Fringe Of Society Upset And Restore Victorian Homes,
2021
Utah State University
From Governess To Wife: How Women On The Fringe Of Society Upset And Restore Victorian Homes, Elsa C. Torgersen
All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023
In middle-class Victorian homes, wives were responsible for the care of the home, the raising of children, and the maintenance and upward mobility of her family’s social standing. She was the heart of the home and her purity and commitment to the home would not only affect her family, but also society. Yet the women who were qualified according to societal standards were a small group, carefully chosen to maintain the standards of society. In the novels Bleak House and Jane Eyre, the authors push back against strict societal expectations. They ask the audience to consider if women should …
Thomas Middleton And The Plural Politics Of Jacobean Drama,
2021
Medicine Hat College
Thomas Middleton And The Plural Politics Of Jacobean Drama, Mark Kaethler
Late Tudor and Stuart Drama
Thomas Middleton and the Plural Politics of Jacobean Drama represents the first sustained study of Middleton's dramatic works as responses to James I's governance. Through examining Middleton’s poiesis in relation to the political theology of Jacobean London, Kaethler explores early forms of free speech, namely parrhēsia, and rhetorical devices, such as irony and allegory, to elucidate the ways in which Middleton’s plural art exposes the limitations of the monarch’s sovereign image. By drawing upon earlier forms of dramatic intervention, James’s writings, and popular literature that blossomed during the Jacobean period, including news pamphlets, the book surveys a selection of …
Remaking Divinity In Aldous Huxley’S Brave New World 2021,
2021
SUNY College Cortland
Remaking Divinity In Aldous Huxley’S Brave New World 2021, Sebastian Vignone
Master's Theses
Humanity is an experience. Shaped through both individual and collective encounters, we understand the self and the world around us as an amalgamation of interactions over the course of our lives. Arguably, one of the most common experiential archetypes is religion, and more specifically the relationship one has with a divine being as it has been framed by a religious institution. While the United States does not have an official religion, there is a host of people who refer to the U.S. as a “Christian nation,” and it is therefore irresponsible to elide the panoply of inequities that run through …
The Sea Calls: A Selkie's Liminal Existence,
2021
Utah State University
The Sea Calls: A Selkie's Liminal Existence, Frances Avery
All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023
Traditionally, the selkies (or seal people) of Scottish-Irish lore exist between spaces: the land and the sea, human and animal, childbearing and childless. Their existence at sea is voluntary but their existence on land is forced. Once the selkie has left behind its sealskin and both the literal and metaphorical sealskin has been stolen, the selkie becomes subject to human will. The lenses of body, reclamation, violation, and abuse prove that the reason why selkies have faded from popularity is because the lessons are too mature for a young audience. A feminist and queer reading and interpretation of this traditional …
Þorn: A Novel Excerpt Exploring Giantesses, Their Relation To Women's Bodily Expectations, And Patriarchal Control In The Literature Of Early Modern Britain And Contemporary America.,
2021
University of Louisville
Þorn: A Novel Excerpt Exploring Giantesses, Their Relation To Women's Bodily Expectations, And Patriarchal Control In The Literature Of Early Modern Britain And Contemporary America., Brady P Alexander
College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses
This thesis will analyze examples of women of size in the literature of the British Isles throughout history, focusing predominantly upon the Early Modern Period, and will create a fiction piece in response to such attitudes. I argue that one of the most clear ways to dissect contemporary cultural attitudes about powerful women and women who occupy more space than men is to examine giantesses and other examples of women of size within this period of literature. From this, a novel excerpt will be written from the perspective of a time-traveling woman of size who engages with these texts and …
“I’Ll Make A Captain Among Ye, And Do Somewhat To Be Talk Of Forever After”: Female Civic Agency In Sir Thomas More’S Staged Insurrection,
2021
University of Southern Mississippi
“I’Ll Make A Captain Among Ye, And Do Somewhat To Be Talk Of Forever After”: Female Civic Agency In Sir Thomas More’S Staged Insurrection, Heather Miller
Master's Theses
Sir Thomas More is an English chronicle play that has received far less critical attention than generically similar histories written by Shakespeare. Doll Williamson, the play’s strongest female character, assumes a leadership position in initiating, as well as ultimately quelling, the Evil May Day riots, which provide the play’s initial dramatic impetus. Despite the critical tendency to overlook or diminish the seriousness of her dramatic role in the play, including in the staged insurrection scene, I argue in this thesis that we should take the concerns that Doll articulates and embodies seriously from a feminist perspective. Furthermore, I place Doll’s …
“An Oak In A Flower-Pot”: The Brontë Sisters’ Depictions Of Female Agency During The Victorian Era,
2021
The University of Southern Mississippi
“An Oak In A Flower-Pot”: The Brontë Sisters’ Depictions Of Female Agency During The Victorian Era, Jessica Dunn
Honors Theses
This thesis discusses the most popular novels written by the Brontë sisters – Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, Emily’s Wuthering Heights, and Anne’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – in the context of the overbearing patriarchal culture of the Victorian era, specifically through the characterization of feminine agency displayed in each novel. By engaging with the novels as a trinity, this thesis uniquely reveals the more nuanced aspects of the novels through the sisters’ respective depictions of female agency following the lives of their respective protagonists – Jane Eyre, Catherine Earnshaw, and Helen Graham. Additionally, this thesis seeks to engage in conversation …
"What Camelot Means": Women And Lgbtq+ Authors Paving The Way For A More Inclusive Arthuriana Through Young Adult Literature,
2021
Missouri State University
"What Camelot Means": Women And Lgbtq+ Authors Paving The Way For A More Inclusive Arthuriana Through Young Adult Literature, Jeddie Mae Bristow
Graduate Theses/Dissertations
Arthurian literature has long been regarded as the domain of “dead white men,” dominated by Thomas Malory and Lord Alfred Tennyson. However, since medieval times, women have also been producing Arthurian literature that not only treats the women characters of the story more equitably, but makes social commentary on how the marginalized of their societies are treated. More recently, women and LGBTQ+ authors (basically, authors who are not cisgender white men) have answered the call for more diverse Young Adult literature with an Arthuriana that has a place for all, both creating a more diverse and equitable Camelot and giving …
From Byronic To Gothic Blood Sucker: Subversion Toward A Non-Gendered Identity,
2021
East Tennessee State University
From Byronic To Gothic Blood Sucker: Subversion Toward A Non-Gendered Identity, Hannah Hoover
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Analyzing Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and linking trends of the Byronic hero that have merged into a variety of genres reveal that the hero is a mode of subversive gender expression, which has evolved within the Gothic through feminine desire. Delving into Bram Stoker’s Dracula will provide unique insight into the audience’s desires/expressions of gender. Finding the transition point from the monster vampire of Dracula to Stephanie Meyer’s desirous, sparkling boy-next-door in Twilight will track the trajectory of gender and sexual norms through time. From the foundational adaptation of the Byronic hero in Wuthering Heights to the repressed vampiric desire …
The Failure Of Chivalry, Courtesy, And Knighthood Post-Wwi As Represented In David Jones’S In Parenthesis,
2021
East Tennessee State University
The Failure Of Chivalry, Courtesy, And Knighthood Post-Wwi As Represented In David Jones’S In Parenthesis, Taylor L. Hubbard
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This thesis analyzes David Jones’s In Parenthesis to demonstrate the failed notion of chivalry, courtesy, and knighthood in modernity during and after the war. Jones’s semi-autobiographical prose poem recounting his experiences of WWI was published in 1937, nineteen years after the war ended. Jones applied the concepts of chivalry, courtesy, and knighthood to his experiences during WWI through In Parenthesis. Jones used these concepts, which originated in the classical period and the Middle Ages, to demonstrate how they have changed over time, especially given the events of WWI. The best way for Jones to demonstrate the impact of WWI …
In A Victorian Fog: Constructing Identities In Female Gothic Novels.,
2021
University of Louisville
In A Victorian Fog: Constructing Identities In Female Gothic Novels., Hayley Salo
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Drawing on feminist criticism and postcolonial theory, this study analyzes conversations about female identity within and around Victorian female gothic novels and how they contribute to the genre’s appeal to modern readers. In particular, it is a case study of how the discourse develops through Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1847), and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847). Each novel presents the challenges women face when their sense of self is based on the expectations of others, and Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre further explore the potential for women to create their own, unique identity while still remaining …
“It Could Have Happened To Any Of You”: Post-Wounded Women In Three Contemporary Feminist Dystopian Novels,
2021
East Tennessee State University
“It Could Have Happened To Any Of You”: Post-Wounded Women In Three Contemporary Feminist Dystopian Novels, Abby N. Lewis
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
My goal for this thesis is to investigate the concept of (mis)labeling female protagonists in contemporary British fiction as mentally ill—historically labeled as madness—when subjected to traumatic events. The female protagonists in two novels by Sophie Mackintosh, The Water Cure (2018) and Blue Ticket (2020), and Jenni Fagan’s 2012 novel The Panopticon, are raised in environments steeped in trauma and strict, hegemonic structures that actively work to control and mold their identities. In The Panopticon, this system is called “the experiment”; in The Water Cure, it is personified by the character King and those who follow him; …
Feminine Agency In Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice And Antony And Cleopatra,
2021
Northern Michigan University
Feminine Agency In Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice And Antony And Cleopatra, Grace Gronowski
Conspectus Borealis
No abstract provided.
"You Taught Me Language:" Using Shakespeare To Teach English To Speakers Of Other Languages,
2021
Bowling Green State University
"You Taught Me Language:" Using Shakespeare To Teach English To Speakers Of Other Languages, Sarah Blake
Honors Projects
This thesis explores how to use Shakespeare effectively in English language education. By considering cultural backgrounds and different translations, ESOL educators can assess what areas students need more guidance in, and how Shakespearean texts can help scaffold those areas. These texts can be used to teach grammar and mechanics as well as literary devices. The most effective teaching methods are also explored: examples of appropriate visuals, classroom activities, and discussion topics are given.
The Ungovernable Novel: Towards A New Political Imaginary,
2021
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The Ungovernable Novel: Towards A New Political Imaginary, Joseph Turner
Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
The primary objective of my thesis is to provide an initial definition of what we could call the “ungovernable novel.” I borrow the concept of the “ungovernable” from the field of political theory, and I apply it to the theory of the novel by way of an engagement of Mikhail Bakhtin’s and Georg Lukács’ theories of the novel. Building on this theoretical foundation, I argue that our contemporary political imagination has reached a historical juncture: we must abandon the dystopian framework that we have inherited from the Cold War, and we must move in the direction of the ungovernable novel. …
Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: Girlhood In The Creation, Content, And Consumption Of Victorian Children’S Literature,
2021
Macalester College
Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: Girlhood In The Creation, Content, And Consumption Of Victorian Children’S Literature, Betsy Barthelemy
English Honors Projects
The Golden Age of (British) Children’s Literature was famous not only for the proliferation of fiction it hosted, but also for how much of that work featured young heroine protagonists. Starting with the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and examining two other fantasy works compared with three realistic children's novels from this half-century period, this project elucidates the differences between these genres and examines how authors used the characteristics of each to empower their heroines. It argues that these fictitious heroines influenced real-world readers to create progressive futures by providing examples of rebellious girl characters finding happy endings.
Frodo And Sam’S Relationship In The Light Of Aristotle’S Philia,
2021
University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra
Frodo And Sam’S Relationship In The Light Of Aristotle’S Philia, Martina Juričková
Journal of Tolkien Research
The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship of the two major characters of Tolkien’s novel The Lord of the Rings, Frodo and Sam. It tries to find out whether their relationship can be regarded as friendship and what kind of friendship it is. It analyses the relationship of Frodo and Sam and its development according to Aristotle’s teaching on friendship as this was the first and most complex analysis of friendship as a social and philosophical phenomenon. This work comes to the conclusion that Frodo and Sam’s relationship can be understood as an example of perfect, …
Faith, Hope, And Despair In Tolkien’S Works,
2021
University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra
Faith, Hope, And Despair In Tolkien’S Works, Martina Juričková
Journal of Tolkien Research
This paper explores how Tolkien depicts the two of the hierarchically most important Christian virtues—the theological virtues—faith and hope, and the opposing vice to hope, despair, in his Middle-earth tales. Knowing that Tolkien was a devout Catholic who acknowledged implementing elements of his faith into his work, it can be assumed that in the depiction of virtues he was also inspired by their religious understanding. The aim of this paper is to determine to what extent is his depiction of the chosen virtues concordant with their Christian definitions and what purpose they serve plot-wise.
Tolkien's Calques Of Classicisms: Who Knew Elvish Latin, What Did The Rohirrim Read, And Why Was Bilbo Cheeky?,
2021
The Hill School, emeritus
Tolkien's Calques Of Classicisms: Who Knew Elvish Latin, What Did The Rohirrim Read, And Why Was Bilbo Cheeky?, John Wm. Houghton
Journal of Tolkien Research
In his legendarium, Tolkien presents four variants of what would be considered "classicism" in the Primary World: but the presence of all-but-immortal elves creates situations in which a classicizing devotion to ancient exemplars might not arise.
