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AFFIRMATION, VOWS AND RITUAL AS STRUCTURING DEVICES IN JOHN FORD'S PLAYS

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Date Issued:
1979
Summary:
The collapse of a viable world concept of order leaves John Ford's characters with a modern problem--how to behave without demonstrable and reliable principles upon which to base their actions. The individualists among them try to establish order by mere affirmation of opinion. Other personae cling to the sacred, conservative value of the vow or contract, and are either the agents or the victims of the gulf between their avowed principles and the pragmatic demands of a "corrupt" world. Many characters also attempt to find reassurance in the predictable patterns of ritual behavior, only to discover the inefficacy of such ritual to protect them from or console them for a personal loss of meaning in their world. Ford's characters become "existential" figures, even though the models they adopt are often relics of the past (vows, rituals) which they must simply affirm, by their performances, bereft of the metaphysical support they might once have had.
Title: AFFIRMATION, VOWS AND RITUAL AS STRUCTURING DEVICES IN JOHN FORD'S PLAYS.
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Name(s): GRIER, WILLIAM ROGER.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Collins, Robert A., Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1979
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 42 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: The collapse of a viable world concept of order leaves John Ford's characters with a modern problem--how to behave without demonstrable and reliable principles upon which to base their actions. The individualists among them try to establish order by mere affirmation of opinion. Other personae cling to the sacred, conservative value of the vow or contract, and are either the agents or the victims of the gulf between their avowed principles and the pragmatic demands of a "corrupt" world. Many characters also attempt to find reassurance in the predictable patterns of ritual behavior, only to discover the inefficacy of such ritual to protect them from or console them for a personal loss of meaning in their world. Ford's characters become "existential" figures, even though the models they adopt are often relics of the past (vows, rituals) which they must simply affirm, by their performances, bereft of the metaphysical support they might once have had.
Identifier: 13980 (digitool), FADT13980 (IID), fau:10802 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1979.
Subject(s): Ford, John,--1586-approximately 1640--Criticism and interpretation.
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/13980
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.