Literature in English, British Isles Commons^™

Wordsworth And Milton: The Prelude And Paradise Lost, Colin Mccormack

English Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The James Brothers And The Tragic Beauty Of Individualism, Corey Plante

English Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Examining Early And Recent Criticism Of The Waste Land: A Reassessment, Tyler E. Anderson

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

My thesis will closely examine recent trends in criticism of "The Waste Land," namely the ideological rebuttal against the New Critics proposed by recent historicists such as Lawrence Rainey. I will show that Rainey has unfairly characterized the so-called New Critics as supporting a reading of the poem that only sees it for a work of order and unity while in fact they acknowledged many organizational inconsistencies within the text. A central tenet of my thesis will be that ideological characterizations of earlier critics should never substitute actual close readings of the texts themselves. My findings will lead to broader …

Wordsworth's Decline: Self-Editing And Editing The Self, Kenneth E. Morrison

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In critical discourse surrounding the poetry of William Wordsworth, it has become generally acceptable to describe the course of the poet’s career by means of a theory of “decline.” In its most common form, this theory argues that Wordsworth’s best poetry was written during one “Great Decade” (1798-1807)—an isolated epoch of prolificacy and genius. His subsequent works, it is argued, neither surpass nor equal his initial efforts; the course of his career after 1808 may be best described in terms of declivity, ebb, and decline.

Due to its ideological complicity with the very texts it engages, and due to its …

"I Unsex'd My Dress": Lord Byron's Seduction Of Gender In "The Corsair", "Lara", And "Don Juan", Alexis Spiceland Lee

Dissertations

The goal of this project is to posit a theory of how Byron’s texts, specifically through the development of his hero, construct gender and sexuality as styles of seduction that resist easy classification by binary systems. I propose that Byron’s works characterize gender through ironic performances of seduction that, because they reveal that binary structures lack a stable core, dissolve systemic differentiation and thus fatally complicate any attempt to force the individual into rigid categories of gender or sexual identity. Byron’s works deploy seduction as a tactic of ironic representation of both gender and sexual practice that is necessarily multiplicitous …

The Enduring Austen Heroine: Self-Awareness And Moral Maturity In Jane Austen's Emma And In Modern Austen Fan-Fiction, Brittany A. Meng

Masters Theses

Jane Austen's novels continue to be popular in the twenty-first century because her heroines are both delightful and instructive; they can be viewed as role models of personal growth due to their honest self-examination and commitment to high moral standards. Chapter one establishes the patterns of personal growth that uniquely characterizes Austen's heroines in each of her six novels. Chapter two tests these conclusions by carefully examining the character of Emma Woodhouse. Though Emma is a unique heroine due to her wealth and social privileges, she follows the principles of personal growth possessed by Austen's other heroines. Chapter three further …

Rosalind: Playing Both Sides Of Love And Gender In As You Like It, Emily Hampton

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

Political Satire And British-American Relations In Five Decades Of Doctor Who, Marc Dipaolo

Faculty Books & Book Chapters

“Political Satire and British-American Relations in Five Decades of Doctor Who.”

Originally published in the Journal of Popular Culture. Vol. 43, Issue 5. 964 – 987. October 2010

To see more or purchase works by Marc DiPaolo, visit his Amazon page here: https://www.amazon.com/Marc-DiPaolo/e/B004LV7W6Y%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Bravery, Honor, And Loyalty As Morals In Beowulf, Eleanor Cory '12

2010 Fall Semester

Since it originated in oral tradition, the epic Beowulf has no known author. It does, however, serve as a representation of the Anglo-Saxon culture it originates from. As a work of art, it also serves its purpose of moral instruction, today serving as a demonstration of what values were important to the Anglo-Saxon people. Especially seen through the characters of Beowulf and Wiglaf, the poem Beowulf illustrates three important morals of its time: bravery, honor, and loyalty.

Art: A Handbook For Morality, Wendy Bindeman '12

2010 Fall Semester

Morals begin with parental instructions and pure bribery, such as promising playtime if children follow instructions and putting them in time-out if they act out inappropriately. However, over time, this outwardly enforced moral code must become internalized for a person to truly be ethical. Internalization happens when a person develops a sense of boundaries and behavior to live by without prompting. This process of creating standards draws on one’s experiences and knowledge of how the world views and responds to certain actions. The moral lessons present in art, which everyone is exposed to beginning at a very young age, help …

The Ireland Of James Anthony Froude: A Nineteenth Century Drama, Janet Murphy

Theses

Using primary material in a manner unprecedented at the time, James Anthony Froude was an English historian of the Victorian era whose histories encompassed Ireland. Among his works relating to Ireland was a ten-book study of the eighteenth century that extended from the penal era to the Union of 1800. While such scholars as W. E. H. Lecky objectified their histories by accumulating data, Froude supplemented his with anecdote, maintaining that the perfect history was told in the words and deeds of those who acted it out.

His methodology was not determinately structured: he laboured with vast quantities of primary …

Shakespeare Adapting Chaucer: “Myn Auctour Shal I Folwen, If I Konne”, Scott A. Hollifield

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Geoffrey Chaucer's distinctively English spins on such genres as dream vision, fabliau and Breton lai, as well as his liberal citation of authorities in Troilus and Criseyde, offered early modern English poets the license to mingle sources and authorities within their work, rather than bend their writing to fit the format. Few authors took such productive advantage of Chaucerian permissiveness as William Shakespeare, whose narrative poems defer to Chaucer's distinctively English authority with a regularity comparable to his uses of Homer, Ovid, Virgil and Plutarch. This free-associative approach to auctoritee, the whetstone of the poet-playwright's dramatic imagination, suggests that …

Monstrous!: Actors, Audiences, Inmates, And The Politics Of Reading Shakespeare, Matt Kozusko

English and Creative Writing Faculty Publications

This essay considers the use of Shakespeare as marker of authenticity and as a therapeutic space for performers and audiences across a number of genres, from professional actors in training literature to prison inmates in radio and film documentaries. It argues that in the wake of recent academic trends—the critique of "Shakespeare" as an author figure; the privileging of the text as a source of multiple, potentially conflicting readings—Shakespeare's function as cultural capital has shifted sites, from "Shakespeare" to the playtexts themselves.

Review Essay: Anna Jackson, Karen Coats, And Roderick Mcgillis, Eds., The Gothic In Children’S Literature (2008) And Jarlath Killeen, The History Of The Gothic (2009), Patrick C. Fleming

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Happy Employee Is A Productive Employee, Erin Dini Davis

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Meddlesome Markets And Epistolary Escapes: Mediating Discourses In Gissing's New Grub Street, Robert Fanzo

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Hole In The Head: A Play, Accompanied By A Conspectus Of Knowledge, Both Repressed And Researched, That Directly Influenced The Playwright In Her Development Of A New Work, Margaret Hunter Cook

Honors Scholar Theses

"Hole in the Head" is a play about a woman who wakes up. Maude wakes up in the first act, and in every subsequent scene she undergoes some form of physical or emotional awakening as characters walk in and out of her front door."Hole in the Head" is accompanied by an introduction that attempts to understand the interplay between creativity and academia through an analysis of theatre, feminist and queer theory, and science.

Shakespeare's Richard Ii And Henry V And Political Rebellions In The Reign Of Queen Elizabeth I, Sarah J. Scannell

Honors Scholar Theses

The purpose of this thesis will be to examine how two acts of rebellion against Queen Elizabeth I influenced Shakespeare's writing of Richard II and Henry V, as well as the performance and publication of these plays. The treasonous plots and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots in the 1580s, as well as the failed Essex Rebellion of 1601, resulted in a sensitivity towards any writings that seemed to support a coup d'état. Shakespeare, being a well-informed and fairly well-connected playwright, wrote passages in the afore mentioned plays that clearly reflect the political turmoil of the times. Thus, his plays …

Ophelia's Mistreatment And Ignored Monastic Opportunities, Danielle Tovsen

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Thesis: I will argue that Ophelia could have saved her own life if she had left home and fled to a nunnery; the treatment she received from Laertes and Polonius was worse than Hamlet's treatment of her throughout the play and especially in Act 3 .1. Through thorough research, the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, is explored. This thesis specifically focuses on the character of Ophelia and Ophelia's relationships with Hamlet, Laertes, and Polonius. Through the examination of Ophelia, with a literature review of Ophelia's reputation amongst scholars, the argument is made that Hamlet's treatment of Ophelia is one of …

`Finding Gold In A Gully': Nineteenth-Century Australia In Constructions Of British Domesticity From Sensation Fiction To Realism, Lisa Vandenbossche

All Theses

This thesis investigates nineteenth-century Australia as a frequently disregarded site of colonial discourse where men and women were able to create wealth but unable to transform economic gains into social currency upon return to England and irrevocably weakened English patriarchal authority when they attempted to do so. Unlike many of the other British colonies such as India and Africa, due to its demographics the Australian colonies by and large remained absent from nineteenth-century racial violence, thus allowing greater possibilities for economic advancement and social rehabilitation of disenfranchised English populations. By combining travel narratives with the sensation fiction of Mary Elizabeth …

Two Kings: An Account Of The Preparation And Performance Of The Role Of Edgar In William Shakespeare's King Lear, Ryan Kathman

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

This work is my graduate thesis documenting the creative process behind my performance of the role of Edgar in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s 2009 production of King Lear by William Shakespeare. It is comprised of five sections including an introduction, pre-rehearsal research, rehearsal and performance journal, post-production responses and conclusion. The introduction outlines my impressions of Edgar and King Lear prior to researching or rehearsing the role. In my research section, I attempt to better understand Shakespeare, his play and the role of Edgar by studying the playwright’s life and the history of the character and play, while also making …

Terrorizing The ‗Fortress Of London‘? German Bombings, Public Pressure, And The Creation Of The British Home Defense System In World War I, Brandon Platt

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Aeronautical warfare played a greater role in the First World War than initially given credit, forcing the British government over time to develop a competent ‗Home Defence‘ system to ward off German bombings and satisfy the British public‘s pressure for protection. By juxtaposing early aerial history with the British public‘s perceptions and the government‘s response, this study reveals a vital transition in the nature and perceptions of warfare during the First World War, providing a socio-military perspective rarely seen in pure military or social histories. Debunking the misconception of the reliance of aerial warfare for just scouting and reconnaissance, this …

"Lord Of The Flies": The Educational Value Of Golding's Text, Erin M. Frank

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

This paper takes a careful look at the content of Lord of the Flies often questioned by censorship advocates. Next, an exploration of the import behind William Golding’s symbolic objects and characters reveals the specifics of the literary and human value of the novel. Finally, insight from case studies helps further demonstrate the appropriateness and effectiveness of the novel in high school English curriculums while also revealing student responses in regard to Golding’s work and the worldly issues informed by it.

Monarchs In Love And Other Stories, Matthew Swetnam

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Monarchs in Love and Other Stories is a collection of nine short stories. These stories are structurally and tonally heterogeneous, and it is this heterogeneity of form that emerges as the collection's central concern. Present are stories which borrow other forms' organizational conceits (the almanac entries of "Excerpts from the Dwarf-Monger's Handbook"), stories which arrange themselves around arbitrary organizational conceits (the order of the letters of the alphabet in "26 Characters"), and stories which employ radically traditional formal models ("Blind Boy and Mammoth.") Present are stories narrated in the first-person point-of-view ("For a Walk," "Harem Girls"), stories narrated in the …

Turning `The Angel Of The House' Out Of The House: Privacy In The Nineteenth Century Sensation Novel, Ashley Crider

All Theses

This thesis explores nineteenth-century transatlantic sensation fiction. My examination of George Lippard's The Quaker City: Or the Monks of Monk HallThe Quaker City: Or the Monks of Monk Hall (1845) and Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret investigates the construction of the Angel of the House in both the domestic and public spheres. I pay particular attention to `feminine' spaces such as the boudoir, and how the sensation novel represents physical space and commodity culture to comment on female sexual agency and how nineteenth century classes constructed womanhood. In addition to Braddon and Lippard, my thesis explores such American texts …

Satirizing Society: The Dangers Of Dressing The Part, Tia Hensley

Undergraduate Research Conference

The eighteenth century in England conjures up stately images of high society, gay balls, frequent entertainment, and a heavy emphasis upon social conduct and propriety. In reality, however, the people of that time lived much varied degrees of this lifestyle,dependant greatly upon the social standing into which they were born. Not surprisingly, those writing in the eighteenth century often dealt with issues regarding the social classes. One such writer was the eighteenth century female novelist, Frances Burney. As a woman writing in a time strongly characterized by its patriarchal nature, Burney also offers a uniquely feminine critique of her life …

Narrative Distance In The Works Of George Gordon, Lord Byron, And Jonathan Swift, Or "A Digression In Praise Of Digressions", Samantha M. Cash, E. Derek Taylor Ph.D.

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis reviews and discusses narrative distance in the works of George Gordon, Lord Byron, and Jonathan Swift or “A Digression in Praise of Digressions.” Byron takes on multiple roles in his poetry. Swift provided Byron a model for how to negotiate the boundaries of fictional self-fashioning and biographical revelation. Bryon’s technique of presenting a version of himself while simultaneously maintaining narrative distance is a distinct characteristics of Swift’s work. The thesis adapts to an important fact in that Byron, although writing in the age of Romanticism, significantly and unflinchingly sought distance between himself and Romantic figures.

Passing Through The Impasse: The Figure Of Aporia In The Works Of Coleridge, Tennyson, And Stevens, Matthew Vetter

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Caudill College of Humanities at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Matthew Vetter on April 16, 2010.

Fearing The "Turban'd Turk": Socio-Economic Access To Genre And The "Turks" Of Early Modern English Dramas And Broadside Ballads, Katie S. Sisneros

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis explores an important means for the non-noble and non-gentry population of England to read and interpret the figure of the Turk as textually represented: the broadside ballad. Cheap to print and produced on an expansive scale, broadside ballads had access to economic and geographic segments of England beyond the reach of the drama. Aimed at a far more general audience than theater-goers (especially during the Restoration period), broadside ballads provide an alternative literary interpretation of the Turk, one long-neglected in Anglo-Ottoman studies. Current scholarship’s almost-exclusive focus on drama has led to a progress narrative positing an evolution in …

Christ Being Hopkins And Hopkins Being Christ, Cory Ames

English

This paper compares and contrasts Gerard Manly Hopkins’ sonnet “As Kingfishers Catch Fire, Dragonflies Draw Flame” to the “terrible” sonnet “Carrion Comfort.” It asserts that since both sonnets explore opposite ends of a paradoxical relationship between man and Christ, which Hopkins often meditated over, both sonnets should work together as spiritual complements of one another, rather than proof of Hopkins’ spiritual derailment.