English Language and Literature Commons^™

The Occult Tradition, Blake, & The Kabbalah: A Preliminary Study, Laura Miller

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study represents an attempt to explore the occult tradition, in particular the Kabbalah, in an effort to establish a relationship between this tradition and the prophetic poems of William Blake. The Kabbalah is examined to reveal similarities between the kabbalistic Adam Kadmon and Blake's sleeping giant Albion. In addition, a comparison is made of the sexual dichotomies in both sources. Once Blake is viewed as a part of the occult tradition and the kabbalistic similarities are explored, an important aspect of Blake's poetry is clarified, by considering the essential design of kabbalistic thought as it stands in close relation …

Choice And Success: The Evolution Of A Modern Hero, Laurence W. Ranstead

Dissertations and Theses

The phenomenon of modern fantasy is the result of a tradition that originated with romance. It is a tradition that has experienced continual redefinement and utilization over the years. This is evidenced by the rediscovery of certain characteristics of the Medieval Romance and the development of others by the Romantics, William Blake, William Wordsworth, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. These characteristics are identifiable in the works of such later writers as Charles Dickens, William Morris, H.G. Wells, G.B. Shaw, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein. The concern of these succeeding authors is the same as that of the Romantics, i.e., the nature …

Unifying Principles In The English Renaissance Sonnet Sequence, Deborah Fairfield Heatwole

English Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis, the structural and thematic development of the English sonnet sequence during the years of its greatest vogue is examined in detail. The sonnet itself, as the basic unit of the structure of a sequence, is analyzed, and the various characteristics of the sequences themselves are investigated. The sequences of Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, Samuel Daniel, and Michael Drayton are discussed in separate chapters.

The basic contention of this thesis is that, while many sonnet "cycles" are mere collections of discrete sonnets, the major sonnet writers of this period constructed sequences that are highly organized along stylistic, …

Samuel Becket's Use Of "Silence", Russell V. Watkins

English Theses & Dissertations

Silence is an important aspect of modern literature. No other living writer has made more adept use of silence in his fictional works than has Samuel Beckett. In this thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the M.A. degree in English, I provide an in-depth study of Beckett's use of silence both in his prose works and in his plays. Not only does this thesis provide an in-depth study of Beckett's use of silence, but it also provides a brief survey of how Beckets use of silence has gradually evolved in his fictional works, and comments on the significance of …

Lancelot: A Study Of The Development Of His Character From Celtic Origin To Chretien And Malory, Ike R. Stoneberger

Theses & Honors Papers

In this thesis I have researched the origin and development of the character of Lancelot . I have attempted to make intelligible analyses of contributions of his character to the development of Arthurian romance. In so doing , I have stressed the origin of his character according to the belief that Lancelot's antecedents lie in Celtic myth; I have outlined the role of Lancelot in certain medieval romances-- "Le Chevalier de la Charrette" by Chretien de Troyes and Le Morte D 'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory ; and , I have shown how the character of Lancelot illustrates and glorifies …

The Troubled Ecstasy Of Yeats's "Purgatory" And "At The Hawk's Well", Gregory Michael Sadlek

Masters Theses

A great amount of W. B. Yeats's writing attests to his fascination with the preternatural. Indeed, it seems that Yeats felt the sacred experience to be somehow central in the living of a full life. Further, in his essay "The Celtic Element in Literature," he proposed that all great literature arises out of the passion which flows from the sacred experience. Yeats thought that drama as well as poetry, then, must plumb this core of life. And in his essay "The Tragic Theatre" he declared that great tragedy deals with feelings and experiences which are universal and timeless and which …

The Acceptance And Rejection Of Courtly Love By The Lovers In Chaucer’S Troilus And Criseyde, Michael Jerome Baldwin

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

William Blake's Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience: From Innocence To Experience To Wise Innocence, Robert W. Winkleblack

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

An Exploration Of The Roots Of The Feminist Heroine In The Lives And Selected Works Of Robert Browning And Thomas Hardy, Pamela L. Smith

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

A Study Of Re-Writing In The Poetry Of Arthur Hugh Clough, Patrick G. Scott

Faculty Publications

A 365-page study of how the Victorian poet Arthur Hugh Clough (1819-1861) created the distinctive self-conscious voice and multiple ironies of his poetry, with eight chapters providing (1), p. 1, an introduction arguing that the apparent problem of unfinishedness in much of his best poetry is closely linked to his creativity, followed by detailed accounts of his writing process in (2), p. 26, his early poetry at Rugby school; (3), p. 49, his shorter poetry written as a student and teacher in Oxford, including the poems collected in the volume Ambarvalia [1849]; (4), p. 101, his unfinished poem on the …

Samuel Butler’S Way Of All Flesh As A Sociological Novel, David Carter

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

To scholars of Victorian literature, Samuel Butler has always been a rebel who strikes out at society with wide-ranging criticism. After years of studying subjects as varied as music, art, biology, literature, and theology, Butler felt (like many Victorian writers) that he could make valuable social comments with his satires, travelogues, biological studies and one novel.

Critical studies of Butler have tended to treat in broad outline all facets of his life and work. This study, however, examines in depth Butler’s novel The Way of All Flesh, as the focal point of his critical analysis of Victorian society. It treats …

Keats' Use Of Drama In His Major Odes, Linda G. Stuckey

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam: The Way Of A Mystic, Carolyn E. Wagner

Theses & Honors Papers

The purport, therefore, of this thesis will be to discover some of the general characteristics of a mystical experience as accepted by various students of mysticism and to discern whether or not these characteristics are to be found in In Memoriam. Other poems by the Poet Laureate will be used to gain insight into the development of the author's attitude toward mysticism, as well as any influential ideas of such associates as Arthur Henry Hallam, or other contemporary writers, or historical movements. Throughout, there will be an attempt to refute, compromise, or concur with any critical conjectures made regarding Tennyson's …

Balance, Symmetry, And Order In As You Like It, Lois Stacy Creed

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Although many critics have commented on various aspects of balance, symmetry, and order in Shakespeare’s As You like It, others have given the impression that the play uses a carefree series of episodes to give the audience lighthearted entertainment. Few, if any have discussed the extent to which these elements are exemplified through the remarkable skill and craftsmanship of the playwright. The coordination of these elements shows that the work is not, as it frequently has been considered, a simple romance, but is rather a superlative exemplification of Shakespeare’s remarkable artistry. Through the use of various devices, Shakespeare constructs for …

Keats' Odes And The Dissolution Of Conflict Through The Poetic Imagination, Shirley Fleming Cox

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Aspects Of Animal Imagery In Characterization In Selected Poems Of Robert Browning, Lynda T. Farrell

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

"Did I Guess At That Paul Knew?" The Influence Of Pauline Theology On Robert Browning, Beverly H. Laine

Theses & Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

Illusion Vs. Reality In The Tragedy Of Hamlet, Glendora S. Plath

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Beckett's Manipulation Of Audience Response In Waiting For Godot, Robert Carl Themer

Masters Theses

This thesis examines one of the many paradoxes of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot--that although on the surface Beckett reduces his characters to the barest minimum in human terms, the spectator still finds himself, mysteriously, identifying with those pathetic stage creatures and their plights.

The dual purpose of this paper is to examine the methods Beckett used to foster this sense of spectator-character likeness and to assess its impact upon the spectator. It explores the contrast between the near-caricatures, Pozzo and Lucky, and the more complexly humanized Vladimir and Estragon. It discusses Beckett's universalization of character, time, place, and …

Romanticism And Evangelical Christianity In William Cowper's The Task, Carol V. Johnson

Masters Theses

In The Task, dated 1785, William Cowper clearly anticipates certain major themes in early nineteenth-century British Romantic poetry. In his individual presentation of the central Romantic themes of this "transitional" work, however, Cowper differs significantly from the major Romantic poets whose work his own most resembles. This is largely due to the strain of Evangelical Christianity that pervades the poem, as the result of his contact with the Evangelical Revival that swept England during the second half of the eighteenth century. The orthodox Christian doctrine and morality that underlie the Romantic themes in The Task, together with the …

The Theme Of Othello, James Irving Krumrey

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Richard Iii & Elizabethan Kingship, Frances Perdue

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this study Richard III's character, motivations, and his path to the throne were examined as they affect the well-being of the country. Analyzed were the political, social, and moral philosophies of Elizabethan England and how they conflicted with Richard's Machiavellian tactics in achieving and holding the position of king. The necessity of purging Richard III from the throne was shown to be consistent with the Elizabethan concept of God's will for the good of the country. "Macbeth" and "Hamlet" revealed the idea that the health of the nation depends on the moral health of the king. In "Coriolanus," another …

Polonius, The Man Behind The Arras: A Study Of His Archetypal Significance, Elizabeth Oakes

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

On the archetypal level of Hamlet, Polonius embodies three roles--the wise old man, the fool, and the scapegoat-- in a schema composed also of embodiments of the archetypal hero-prince, the anima, the racial father, the shadow, the terrible mother, and the night sea journey. Polonius as an incarnation of the wise old man archetype has both a positive side, which is denoted in his relationship to Ophelia, and a negative side, which is shown in his relationship to Hamlet. From the wise old man, Polonius degenerates into the archetypal fool who, being on the periphery of the social order, constantly …

Molly Bloom: From Literal To Anagogical, Georgia Disman

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study attempts to present Molly Bloom, the major fem.ale character in Joyce's prose-satire, Ulysses, as an intentional fourfold corrective for the traditional interpretation of the female principle. Her speeches and actions are examined to reveal her positive significance as part of the Stephen-Molly-Bloom triad, and through her various manifestations of the female principle she comes to represent a major force in the world of Ulysses. Specifically, Molly's role as the new poetic muse and her ability to reinterpret both Christian and Eastern female religious figures are probed. Although Molly may be seen as a corrective on all …

Human Love And Divine Love: The Platonic Matrix In C.S. Lewis, Laura Case

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A comparison of the writings of Plato and C.S. Lewis reveals a common idea that human love is not sufficient for man. An examination of Plato’s Symposium and Lewis’s Till We Have Faces and The Four Loves, in particular, shows that both writers illustrate that man must ascend the ladder of love in order to meet the source of all love: Divine Love. Concerned with man’s innate needs and ethics, both Plato and Lewis argue that there is a universal principle of goodness known to all men of all cultures. Lewis argues, especially in The Abolition of Man, that man …

Fresh-Robed/ In Flesh: The Incarnation Theme In The Poetry Of C. S. Lewis, Margaret P. Anderson

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

The Use Of Analogy In The Learning Process In Piers The Plowman, Carol Eason Jones

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

Techniques Of Detective Fiction In The Novelistic Art Of Agatha Christie, Claudia Collins Burns

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A monograph presented to the faculty of the Department of English at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Claudia Collins Burns in January of 1975.

Isolation In The Dramas Of T.S. Eliot, Jean Conway

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

T.S. Eliot is a monumental figure in literature. He distinguished himself as a poet in his youth, as a critic in his middle age, and as a dramatist in his later years. Because of the vitality of Eliot’s early literary works, his dramas are frequently bypassed by critics when discussing the major themes that interested him as an artist. The purpose this study is to examine thoroughly Eliot’s position on isolation and alienation as revealed in his seven plays: Sweeney Agonistes (1926), The Rock (1934), Murder in the Cathedral (1935), The Family Reunion (1939), The Cocktail Party (1949), The Confidential …

The Composite Art Of Blake's "Laughing Song", William Robert Warner

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

During the past five years, the literary critics have discovered William Blake, helping readers to understand clearly the various stages of development and the final form of the poet's entire mythology. And recent criticism has also clarified and expressed more systematically than earlier criticism certain features of Blake's total thought. Nevertheless, much recent criticism has hindered rather than helped the serious student of Blake's poetry.] Most critics treat Blake's poems as if they were only literary, completely avoiding discussion of their visual components. Yet, Blake clearly envisioned and intended that his reader view the poetry as a new form consisting …