English Language and Literature Commons^™

Ironic Invocations Of The Saints In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Clyburn Duder

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Major Themes In The Works Of Ernest Dowson, Alison Charles Phillips

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

The Knit Of Identity In Some Fiction By Elizabeth Bowen, Vi Christensen Mullin

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

The Uses Of Processions In Shakespeare's Plays, William F. Sodini

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

Defoe's Theory Of Evil, Jeanette Martin Bass

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

A Critical Study Of The Dramas Of Four Major Romantic Poets, Earl Murphy Jr.

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Since little critical attention has been given to the dramas of this period, it would seem that further examination of them would be of value. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to investigate the dramas of the major Romantic poets in order to provide a new critical perspective on their plays specifically and Romantic drama generally. From this it is hoped useful conclusions can be drawn. The study will be limited to the plays of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Wordsworth, and George Gordon, Lord Byron. John Keats has been omitted from this group because his only …

Domestic Imagery In Tennyson's In Memoriam, Ruth Clark

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The vehicle Tennyson uses to explore the thematic ambiguities of love/indifference; faith/doubt; hope/despair; and life/death is domestic imagery, specifically images which involve the home or house and those images of personal relationships which move the poet from despair to a tentative faith.

The initial chapter of this work will present a general view of Tennyson and In Memoriam by which the subsequent study of the elegy's domestic imagery may be brought into focus. In addition to a discussion of the occasion of the poem, pertinent critical material will be evaluated in terms of value to this discussion of imagery. After …

Mother Of Mankind: Milton's Treatment Of Eve In Paradise Lost, Mary Swanks

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Although many critics have dealt with their general impressions of the character of Eve or have traced specific passages concerning her to the Bible or to rabbinical tradition, no one critic has made a detailed study of the way in which Milton portrays Eve from prelapsarian innocence through the fall to her ultimate reconciliation with Adam and with God. This study is concerned with Milton's complete portrait of Eve and with the way in which he uses the themes of women's inferiority, of the hierarchy of nature, and of the virtue of reason over passion to explain the fall of …

Critical Issues In The Religious Content Of The Poetry Of Gerard Manley Hopkins: Problems & Resolutions, Jo Anne Gabbard

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is to investigate a limited number of the most influential and interesting studies dealing in depth with the question of Hopkins' religion and its resultant influence on his poetic talent, and to attempt to resolve some of the points of dispute. some of the studies investigated argue that Hopkins was hindered in his poetic endeavors by his religion, while others attempt to prove that his religion enhanced his poetry. The present study is not intended as an evaluation of individual works; its purpose is rather to present the pertinent and relevant ideas projected in each …

Imagery In Meredith's Modern Love, Beverly Belden

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

George Meredith's Modern Love deals with a formula for achieving happiness in life by a man whose marriage has failed. His marital breakup serves as a catalyst for the husband's internal journey which, through intense self questionings, leads him to a fuller understanding of himself and his purpose within the harmony of nature. Definite overt action and external events are secondary in the sonnet sequence. Indeed, the major portion of the work is conveyed by images which reveal the husband's developing psychological states. As Lionel Stevenson says of Modern Love in the standard biography of Meredith,

. . . the …

A Graphemic Analysis Of An Old English Text: The Parker Manuscript, The Laws Of Alfred & Ine, Mary Reiss

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study may be considered an exercise in graphemic analysis. It proceeds from the point of view that writing is an independent manifestation of language. As such, the writing system of a language may be subject to a descriptive analysis based upon methods similar to those used in the analysis of spoken language systems. The purpose of such a description is to determine the distinctive and non -distinctive elements of the system.

Chapter V of this study is a graphemic analysis of one section of the Parker Manuscript. This analysis is based upon the principles discussed in Chapter II …

Shakespeare's Treatment Of Kingship In The Lancastrian Tetralogy, June Stemen Allman

Master's Theses

The English history play reached its highest peak of development between 1595 and 1599, for it was during these years that Shakespeare wrote the set of four plays covering the historical period from Richard II to Henry V. Each of the plays is a single entity, but in their entirety, they constitute a unified tetralogy concerning the rise of the house of Lancaster. Through the illegal seizure of the crown by Bolingbroke from Richard II to the glorious reign of Henry V, Shakespeare, as an intensely political writer, examines the facets of kingship and its inherent power and authority.

The Conflict Of Purposes In Bernard Shaw's "Mrs. Warren's Profession", Marlie Parker Wasserman

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

A Study Of Staff-Inmate Social Distance Seen As A Function Of Contiguity In Two Correctional Settings, John Rhodes Mccune

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Church In The Dramas Of T. S. Eliot, Rebecca Ellen Dunn

All Master's Theses

From the desolation of a sterile Waste Land populated by straw men, Eliot's dramas increasingly portray a world of great meaning and hope. His early dramas portray a hostile and insensible world which must be fought and completely rejected by religious persons who are called to martyrdom and sainthood. Eliot's acceptance of the material world and comfort with its society brings a steady transformation of his spiritual vision when at the end of his dramas the world is one of common people who strive to find meaning and "make the best of a bad job," illumined by a vision of …

Occult Symbolism In W. B. Yeats's The Herne's Egg, Sandra Ford Swift

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

The Critical Tenets Of Dr. Samuel Johnson As Represented In The Life Of Pope, M. Kathleen Parienti

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Disease, Age, And Physician Imagery In Richard Ii And Henry Iv, Parts I And Ii, Maureen Shannon Townsend

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Richard Lovelace A Study In Poetic Design, James Flynn

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is to evaluate, and hopefully, to elevate the literary "currency" of Richard Lovelace. To this end, various methods and approaches will be utilized in order to capture a comprehensive, yet coherent view of Lovelace and his poetry. Specifically, these methods and approaches will include: a survey of Lovelace's biography, including clarification of discrepancies among authorities concerning pertinent details of his life; a location of Lovelace in the primary social, philosophical, and poetical movements of the early seventeenth century; an identification of Lovelace as a Cavalier poet, differentiating him from other Cavaliers; an analysis of representative …

Medical Matters In Shakespeare's Plays, Linda Longstreth

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

An effort is made in this study to consider the important factors in the field of medicine that are repeatedly referred to in Shakespeare's plays: practitioners, diseases and infirmities, drugs and herbs, physiological processes of the body, and mental disturbances and psychological therapy. The purpose is to examine these extensive references to medical matters in the dramatist's comedies, tragedies, and histories and to show his profound knowledge in the field. Special emphasis is placed on the accuracy of his portrayals in depicting the true practice of medicine in the Elizabethan Age and his far-reaching vision in anticipating medical theories of …

To Hell For A Heavenly Cause: The Re-Emergence Of The Harrowing Of Hell Motif In Twentieth Century Literature, Margaret Shepherd

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

To define the scope of this study, therefore, Harrowing of Hell imagery will be thought of as those symbols peculiar to the pseudo-biblical story, with redemptive activity and triumph as distinguishing criteria. The hero is a Christ figure who has already achieved a degree of self-mastery. His descent into hell represents an act of redemption for others, with victory as the outcome. This delimitation, it will be seen, is not impossibly restrictive. A survey of contemporary literature indicates that Wasserman's use of the descent motif with redemptive implications is far from an isolated instance. Edward Albee in The Zoo Story …

John Skelton's Satire Of The Burial Rites Of The Roman Church In "Philip Sparrow", Jean M. Regone

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

Joseph Conrad's Feminine Mystique, Mary Yates

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

An examination of Conrad's life will provide one with insight into the revelation of his women characters. The following novels and short stories, investigated in this study, will reveal Conrad's portrayal of the woman, her characteristics and associated imagery, and her role in his works to unveil his all-encompassing philosophy of life: Almayer's Folly, The Arrow of Gold, Chance, Lord Jim, Nostromo, An Outcast of the Islands, The Rescue, The Rover, The Secret Agent, Under Western Eyes, Victory, "Amy Foster," "The Brute," "The End of the Tether," "Freya of the Seven Isle," "The Heart of Darkness," "The Idiots," "The …

A Short Critical Study Of W.B. Yeats' Poetry, Candace Buss

Student Scholarship

This critical study examines the poetic trajectory of W. B. Yeats, focusing on the tension and continuity between his early romanticism and the starker, more complex works of his later years. The author argues that Yeats' development was not a disowning of his past but a transformation achieved by exploring consistent symbols in evolving contexts. Central to this evolution is the image of the heart and the holy tree, which shifts from the trembling flowers of his youth to the foul rag-and-bone shop of his old age. The text explores how Yeats hammered his thoughts into unity, creating a body …

Concepts Of Suffering In King Lear, Emma Jean Westcot

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

Love Scenes In Benjamin Disraeli's Novels, Norman Steven Smith

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

Brighton Rock: Growth In Psychological Insight, Sister Catherine Madigan Dc

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis, presented at Xavier University in 1969, examines Graham Greene's novel "Brighton Rock" as a significant early step in Greene's development of psychologically complex characterization. Madigan argues that the novel represents the first sustained combination of three elements in Greene's fiction: the "thriller" plot structure, the "Catholic element" as a framework of belief opposing his characters' actions, and genuine psychological depth, distinguishing it from both his earlier thrillers and his lighter "entertainments."

The thesis compares "Brighton Rock" to Greene's short story "A Drive in the Country," which shares a similar plot but, due to its brevity and narrative point …

A Re-Evaluation Of Marlowe's Use Of The Classics In Hero And Leander, Naomi M. Patz

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

William Blake And Isaac Watts, Lois Ballard

English Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

The Theory Of Elective Affinities In The Dramatic Love Poems Of Robert Browning, Harry C. Tartt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis, submitted to Xavier University in partial fulfillment of requirements for a Master of Arts degree in 1969, examines Robert Browning's treatment of romantic love in his dramatic poems through the theoretical lens of elective affinities, which is a concept borrowed from chemistry and first applied to human relationships by Johann Wolfgang Goethe in his 1809 novel Wahlverwandtschaften (Elective Affinities). The study traces the origins of the chemical theory of elective affinities from seventeenth-century analytical chemists including Hermann Boerhaave and Torbern Bergmann through Goethe's literary application of the concept to four lovers whose passions operate as blind, irresistible forces …