Literature in English, British Isles Commons^™

Pamela: Or, Virtue Reworded: The Texts, Paratexts, And Revisions That Redefine Samuel Richardson's Pamela, Jarrod Hurlbert

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation is a study of the revisions Samuel Richardson made to his first novel, Pamela, and its sequel, Pamela in Her Exalted Condition, published within his lifetime. Richardson, who was his own printer, revised Pamela eight times over twenty years, the sequel three times, and the majority of the variants have hitherto suffered from critical neglect. Because it is well known that Richardson responded to friendly and antagonistic "collaborators" by making emendations, I also examine the extant documents that played a role in Pamela's development, including Richardson's correspondence and contemporary criticisms of the novel. Pamela Reworded, then, is an …

Gendering The Scottish Ballad: The Case Of Anne Bannerman’S Tales Of Superstition And Chivalry, Diane Hoeveler

English Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Sir Philip Sidney's Astrophel And Stella, Benjamin S. Cywinski

Master's Theses (1922-2009) Access restricted to Marquette Campus

The general purpose of this thesis is to determine the literary value of Sir Philip Sidney's Astrophel and Stella. First of all, an analysis of the sonnet cycle as such is undertaken to evaluate these lyrics with respect to the unity and logical development of theme. Secondly, a close study of the content material is proposed with the aim of reflecting the poet's ability to personalize and adapt conventionalized modes of expression and of portraying his excellence as a poet-courtier and literary craftsman. Thirdly, two research problems are projected--one, relating to the identity of the lady of the sonnets, the …

A Technical Analysis Of Edmund Burke's Sentence As Studied In His Early, Middle, And Late Work, Irene Louise Edwards

Master's Theses (1922-2009) Access restricted to Marquette Campus

No abstract provided.

Dickens' Social Criticism With An Exemplification Of It In Three Of His Novels, Loraine Kreuz

Bachelors’ Theses

The humanitarian novel, with which Dickens' name is preeminently associated, is the most available record of the deep and far-reaching philanthropic movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The Attitude Toward Nature In Eighteenth Century English Poetry, Julien Pontier

Bachelors’ Theses

Philosophy tells us that many arguments and seeming differences of opinion may be avoided if the parties involved would simply define the terms of the question under discussion. It will, perhaps, be well then to follow this advice in the treatment of our subject which is Nature as it is found in eighteenth century English poetry. Just what terms then must be defined or made clear? Nature as it is expressed in poetry must be defined, but along with it must also be defined, if possible, the two rather ambiguous terms classicism and romanticism. What relationship, it may be asked, …

The Neo-Classic Elements In Cowley's Works, Leonard C. Scweitzer

Bachelors’ Theses

The purpose of this work is to bring to the reader's knowledge one of the greatest Seventeenth Century poets. An intense treatment would, however, necessitate the writing of volumes for, although Abraham Cowley is now considered by modern critics an unreadable poets, his works are numerous and contain many valuable ideals. To his contemporaries Cowley ranked supreme. John Milton's wife is said to have reported that her husband's favorite English poets were Spenser, Shakespeare, and Cowley. While Dryden declared to one of his associates, "His authority is almost sacred to me."

The Poetry Of Robert Southwell, Therese Lentfoehr

Bachelors’ Theses

Thus did Grace speak on that harp of God, which was the soul of Robert Southwell, and so ineffable was the music awakened therefrom that its exquisite echo has come down to us through the gloom of three centuries. His life was at once that of a poet, a priest, and a martyr, of the age of Elisabeth, that haughty and dread wielder of the English sceptre. Of his life and writings, sad to tell, only too little has been known, and in the recordings of literature he has been either "overlooked, or else buried in a homely foot-note."

The Dramatic Criticism Of John Dryden, Allen A. Gahl

Bachelors’ Theses

The purpose of this work is to acquaint the reader with the ideas . presented by John Dryden in his dramatic criticism. In the pursuit of the material for this thesis. the writer has carefully perused and investigated the dramatic criticism of John Dryden. Following this study of said literary products, this material was assembled in such a way as to set forth clearly the value of John Dryden as a dramatic critic. Hence, since the subject matter of said thesis ie merely "dramatic criticism", dramas and prefaces which do not particularly show Dryden's criticism as well as poems, essays …

Women Characters In Dickens' Early Novels, Virginia Anna Mogensen

Bachelors’ Theses

In this thesis on Women Characters in Dickens' Early Novels, I have endeavored to deal with the importance of the women as characters. This necessitates a consideration of their sources in real life, their number and description, influence upon the novel’s outcome, social class, characteristics, and relationship with the men characters. The source of Dickens’ characters is a chapter in itself. The other points mentioned above are dealt with in chapters entitled: Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, Barnaby Rudge, and David Copperfield. These are the most important of Dickens’ early novels. They are treated consecutively, and the women …

T.O. Davus And J.C. Mangan In Their Relation To The Forty Eight Movement, Ann Brigid Costello

Bachelors’ Theses

The relation of Davis and Mangan as men of letters to the "48" Movement in Irish Literature is a subject of some importance because for the first time in the history of Anglo-Irish literature we find a movement stressing what was national rather than what was political . Anglo-Irish literature previous to this period of which we are writing (1840-48) belongs to the history of English literature rather than that of Irish literature...

Criticism Of The English Novel In The Eighteenth Century, Natalie Blyn

Bachelors’ Theses

The difficulty which presents itself to anyone writing a work such as this is the determination of the standard of criticism that can be applied to the novels of the eighteenth century. It is for this reason that it is necessary to make a rather intensive study of the biographers of the novelists of that period and the men who devoted a great amount of time and labor to this task. Merely to read the novels is not sufficient. For, although one can obtain a fairly accurate determination of the author's purpose and and ideas, one can never be very …

Shakespere's Histories As A Dramatic Pageant Of The Middle Ages, Janice M. Wolf

Bachelors’ Theses

"When Shakespeare, Jonson, Fletcher, ruled the stage, They took so bold a freedom with the age, That there was scarce a knave or fool in town Of any note but had his picture down." But William Shakespeare has gone farther than this and has woven into his Histories a beautiful story. A story, or rather a colorful pageant that carries us back several centuries to the time when William Shakespeare lived and Queen Elizabeth ruled England. Between lines he gives us a beautiful picture of merry England and her people. He reveals the customs, beliefs, and ideas of his age …

A Study Of Shakespere's Dramatic Technique Through His Comedies, Dorothy Tolford

Bachelors’ Theses

The dramatic technique of any author, if it is to be studied for its growth and development and increase of skill, is best and most clearly seen when his works are put in chronological order and then compared one with the other. In each play or novel, the acquisition of some new dexterity or aptitude, which makes it an Improvement over the preceding work, is evident. It is not enough to look simply for the general effect of the play; the growth of technique is seen only in a thorough study of the mechanics of the play.

Social And Political Ideas Of The Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, John H. Boman

Bachelors’ Theses

An attempt has been made to weave a web containing the ideas, both social and political, of Percy Bysshe Shelley. web will glisten in the sun, and a web made of the social and political ideas of Shelley will always glisten, because Shelley will never die.

We will attempt to understand the sources of his radical tendencies, and then in turn study his social and political ideas. Some have called Shelley insane, and some have called him a prudent thinker. How true these are we will see as we weave the story of his social and political ideas.

The Universality Of Shakespeare, Cecilia Fessler Nuss

Bachelors’ Theses

In this essay it is my purpose to examine and analyze the life and works of Shakespeare to find whether or not he is Universal. Of course, it will be impossible in a work of this kind to consider all the author's works, but I shall look for particular passages, scenes, and characters, and from these to observe whether the alleged statement, that Shakespeare's powers are all-reaching and all-pervading, is actually true.

Impressionism In Nineteenth Century English Criticism, Margaret Mary Goggins

Bachelors’ Theses

Impressionism in Nineteenth Century English Criticism with a Study of the Works of William Hazlitt, Walter Pater, and Algernon Charles Swinburne.

The Function Of The Comedians In Shakespeare's Plays, Louise Elizabeth Tennessen

Bachelors’ Theses

There is an old adage, "It takes a wise man to make a fool", which is familiar to most of us, but the full significance of the proverb will be comprehended only after reviewing several plays in which the fools carry prominent parts. Tracing the history of the court fool back to the early and middle ages, it has been found that it was customary tor a monarch, prince or a powerful noble to have in his retinue a fool or jester, whose office it was to entertain his master and courtiers. He enjoyed privileges and liberties denied the higher …

The Influence Of Seneca On The Elizabethan Tragedy, James Aloysius Bielefeld

Bachelors’ Theses

In the world of letters it was the fortune of Seneca like that of Banquo to beget a posterity greater than himself. Seneca is really more philosopher than dramatist, and his "Tenne Tragedies" are mainly unac­table closet-dramas. It seems unlikely that they were ever produced at Rome beyond being declamed before some select reading circle gathered by personal invitation. How the Elizabethans turned to Seneca rather than to Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, the giants of the Periclean age, is a problem we may take up later, but that Elizabethan tragedy is deeply indebted to Seneca will be made clear by …

Shakespeare's Delineation Of Criminal Characters, Herbert Lloyd Hinstorff

Bachelors’ Theses

We like what we are not, or we are not what we think we are. In no subject is this truism more evident than in the literature of a people. Literature reflects the taste of the time rather than the time itself, and of­ ten the two are widely different. Literature is, of course, not life, neither history nor material for history, but a scroll whereon are traced and charactered the unfettered thoughts of writer and reader, - a life within a life, fancy somewhat at odds with fact. fut by critics and historians this is often forgotten - "To …

The Song In Elizabethan Drama With Particular Reference To Its Function In Shakespeare, John Joseph Plamondon

Master's Essays (1922 - )

We have approached our study of the song in Elizabethan Drama with the intention of accounting for the abundance of vocal music in the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, and of explaining the use of song as a dramatic device. It has been considered necessary to a proper understanding of the place of song in the Romantic Drama to give a rather broad treatment of the subject, including a brief history of the song in the English theatre, the psychology of its origin, and the cause of its decline. Methods of presenting songs have been discussed to strengthen our …

The Mysteries Of A London Convent [Transcript], William H. Hillyard

Gothic Archive Chapbooks

Published in The London Miscellany and written by William Heard Hillyard (1811-1870), this 22 chapter story must have been considered a guaranteed blockbuster with the newspaper’s intended reading audience.

The Mysteries of a London Convent relies most immediately on the sensational categories that we saw delineated in The Mysteries of the Inquisition, as well as another and earlier penny dreadful production with an almost identical plot, Smiff’s The New Mysteries of London (1858), written in imitation of Reynolds’s blockbuster The Mysteries of London (1844-48).

The Affecting History Of The Duchess Of C**** Who Was Confined Nine Years In A Horrid Dungeon, Under Ground, Where Light Never Entered, A Straw Bed Being Her Only Resting Place, And Bread And Water Her Only Support, Conveyed By Means Of A Turning-Box, By Her Inhuman Husband; Whom She Saw But Once During Her Long Imprisonment, Though Suffering By Hunger, Thirst, And Cold, The Most Severe Hardships, But Fortunately She Was At Last Discovered, And Released From The Dungeon, By Her Parents. [Transcript], Stéphanie Félicité Genlis

Gothic Archive Chapbooks

The narrative is given in the first person by the Duchess of C**** herself. She relates the circumstances of her easy, wealthy upbringing and tells of how she fell in with a dangerous friend, the Marchioness de Venuzi. While staying with her friend, she becomes enamored of the exiled Count de Belmire, but is instead forced into a marriage with his villainous uncle, the Duke of C****, by her parents. When the Duke discovers incriminating letters from the Duchess of C**** to Belmire at the Venuzi residence, he locks the Duchess of C**** in a castle dungeon and takes their …

Priory Of St. Clair; Or Spectre Of The Murdered Nun. A Gothic Tale [Transcript], Sarah Scudgell Wilkinson

Gothic Archive Chapbooks

The Archbishop of Rouen had the ability to pardon a condemned criminal once a year. One such pardon was that of Lewis Chabot, Count de Valvé.

Intrigued by an overheard conversation, Lewis goes to the Priory of St. Clair where he witnessed Julietta reluctantly making her nun's vows. He is unable to forget her, so bribes the under gardener, Alexis, to carry letters proclaiming his passion and desire to free her from the nunnery. Julietta refuses him.

Lewis then procures a potent liquor that will, when drunk, simulate death. Julietta drinks it unknowingly and Alexis and Lewis carry away the …

The Mysterious Murder; Or, The Usurper Of Naples: An Original Romance. To Which Is Prefixed, The Nocturnal Assassin; Or, Spanish Jealousy., Isaac Crookenden

Gothic Archive Chapbooks

Estaphana, daughter Lusigni, and Belfoni fall in love. When Estaphana tells her father, however, Lusigni is notably averse to the match. Instead, Lusigni arranges for Estaphana to marry the Duke de Savelli. When Estaphana objects the Duke kidnaps her and takes her to a castle tended by an old servant, Jacquilina and her husband. In the meantime, Lusigni catches Belfoni outside his home imprisons him in a secret dungeon.

Locked in the Duke’s castle, Estaphana is visited by the Duke who attempts to rape her. Fortunately, Jacqulina bursts in and reveals that Estaphana is the Duke’s daughter, proven by a …

Fatal Jealousy; Or, Blood Will Have Blood! Containing The History Of Count Almagro And Duke Alphonso; Their Combat In The Dreadful Tournament And The Death Of The Beautiful Bellarmine, Through The Artifice Of Sophronia, Her Rival, Unknown

Gothic Archive Chapbooks

Fatal Jealousy opens during a Spanish campaign against the Moors. Count Almagro, a Spanish knight, is spared during combat by an old African prince, Razallah. Almagro later returns the favor by pledging to protect a dying Razallah’s daughter, Almora. The two are married, despite objections to the bride being an infidel, and Almora turns out to be the daughter of a Spanish couple imprisoned by a licentious Moor. Upon their return to Spain, Almagro and Almora retire to the country. Their only daughter, Sofronia, is betrothed to Alphonso, Duke of Tenedos. While in Madrid for a tournament, Alphonso falls in …

The Nun, Or Memoirs Of Angelique; A Tale [Transcript], Unknown

Gothic Archive Chapbooks

The Nun, or Memoirs of Angelique; A Tale begins as the written memoirs of Angelique. A young noblewoman, Angelique loves her cousin Ferdinand. However, when Angelique’s family’s fortune seems to have been lost at sea, Angelique’s father rashly vows that his daughter will become a nun should his ships safely return. When the ships return, Angelique is sent to a convent, where she takes her vows. Soon thereafter, Ferdinand sneaks into the convent dressed as a novitiate, and he quickly persuades Angelique to elope with him. After a midnight wedding, Angelique and Ferdinand escape the convent through a secret passageway. …

Inkle And Yarico; Or, Love In A Cave. An Interesting Tale., Sarah Scudgell Wilkinson

Gothic Archive Chapbooks

Narcissa Curry and Thomas Inkle are informed in the beginning of the story that they are engaged to be married. In England, Thomas is happy to hear of his impending marriage, while Narcissa mourns in Barbadoes because of her love of Captain Campley. Enroute to Barbadoes, Thomas’ ship crashes in the Americas and all the passengers are killed by Indians except him and his servant, Trudge. They are rescued by the beautiful Indians Yarico and Woski. Thomas and Yarico fall in love and decide to return to England together. Two events are triggered by Thomas’s arrival in Barbados enroute to …

The White Pilgrim; Or, Castle Of Olival: An Interesting And Affecting Tale, Founded On Singular Facts. Translated From That Highly-Popular French Novel, Le Pelerin Blanc, Sarah Scudgell Wilkinson

Gothic Archive Chapbooks

While Count Horatio Castelli is away from home, he receives a letter informing him that his wife, Amabel, has gone missing. Castelli and his friend, Count Vassali, return to Castelli’s hamlet, Olival, only to find out from Aambel’s servant, Theresa, that Amabel had been in a secret correspondence and that she seems to have left voluntarily. Castelli and his three children go to live on Vassali’s villa for two years before returning to Olival. Shortly after returning to Olival, Castelli receives a letter to meet Vassali in London and goes. Vassali brings Castelli to see Theresa, the old servant of …

The Vindictive Monk Or The Fatal Ring [Transcript], Isaac Crookenden

Gothic Archive Chapbooks

Calini discovers he is a foundling, abandoned as an infant with a ring left among his. The story continues with Calini as an adult, returning from the home of his beloved, Alexa. Calini is suddenly taken hostage and locked in a dungeon by Sceloni, a monk. It is later discovered that Calni’s kidnapping is a plot by Signor Holbruzi to steal Alexa. The plot was to kill Calini, but Sceloni chooses to secretly imprison Calini instead. Holbruzi pursues Alexa. He is unsuccessful, as Alexa remains devoted to Calini. Frustrated in his attempts, Holbruzi demands that Sceloni kidnap Alexa and bring …