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Title: Beethoven: his nine symphonies and their influence on the development of the orchestra.
Creator: Padua, Daniel., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Music
Abstract/Description: Beethoven is widely considered to be one of the most influential composers of all time. His compositions denote a crucial turning point in the history of western music, and his influence can be discussed in numerous ways - musically, technically, theoretically and even philosophically. This treatise discusses one of the primary aspects of Beethoven's influence on later generations: the way that his symphonies contributed to the expansion of the genre and, consequently, to the development of...
Show moreBeethoven is widely considered to be one of the most influential composers of all time. His compositions denote a crucial turning point in the history of western music, and his influence can be discussed in numerous ways - musically, technically, theoretically and even philosophically. This treatise discusses one of the primary aspects of Beethoven's influence on later generations: the way that his symphonies contributed to the expansion of the genre and, consequently, to the development of the orchestra. Included is a detailed analysis of his nine symphonies, an overview of his personal life, and an exploration of the historical, social, and political time in which he lived. This thesis collects and examines relevant documents in order to inquire about and better understand the changes and innovations that transformed the standard orchestra of the eighteenth century, opening the doors to the symphonic music of the Romantic Era.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2978945
Subject Headings: Influence, Criticism and interpretation, Performance practice (Music), History, Music, Philosophy and aesthetics, Instrumentation and orchestration, History, Arrangement (Music), History
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The celebration of uncertainty through gothic moments in Emily Brontèe's Wuthering Heights.
Creator: Copeland, Kimberly., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description: While critics have argued that the Gothic moments in Emily Brontèe's Wuthering Heights merely illuminate the psyches of her characters, I show that these moments allow Brontèe to reveal a unique tension and overflow of emotion that arises between her two main protagonists. Blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, these displays --scenes of ghostly hauntings, bloody violence, and excessive emotion--create a desirable uncertainty about the limits of life and love in this novel. This...
Show moreWhile critics have argued that the Gothic moments in Emily Brontèe's Wuthering Heights merely illuminate the psyches of her characters, I show that these moments allow Brontèe to reveal a unique tension and overflow of emotion that arises between her two main protagonists. Blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, these displays --scenes of ghostly hauntings, bloody violence, and excessive emotion--create a desirable uncertainty about the limits of life and love in this novel. This uncertainty constitutes an escape from and an alternative to the conventional romantic relationship prescribed by social and narrative standards in which two people fall in love, get married, have children and die. In my thesis, I argue that the revelation of this desired uncertainty is made possible by Brontèe's use of Gothic devices and could not have been as successfully achieved by any other literary mode.
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Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/209987
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Symbolism in literature, Gothic revival (Literature), English fiction, History and criticism
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The ecstatic Whitman: the body and sufistic influences in Leaves of Grass.
Creator: Frabrizio, Ryan., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: This thesis examines Walt Whitman's use of the body in his poetry as a location for spiritual experience, and how his use of the body bears strong connection to its use by medieval Persian Sufi poets. The first chapter focuses upon Sufi poetry's role as a shared point of interest between Whitman and his onetime mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson. Their differing philosophies regarding the cultivation of the soul caused them to absorb Sufi ideas into their own bodies of work in separate ways, and...
Show moreThis thesis examines Walt Whitman's use of the body in his poetry as a location for spiritual experience, and how his use of the body bears strong connection to its use by medieval Persian Sufi poets. The first chapter focuses upon Sufi poetry's role as a shared point of interest between Whitman and his onetime mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson. Their differing philosophies regarding the cultivation of the soul caused them to absorb Sufi ideas into their own bodies of work in separate ways, and contributed to the split that eventually occurred between them. The second chapter focuses upon connections between Whitman's poetry and that of Jalaluddin Rumi, one of the greatest Sufi poets yet an oftoverlooked figure in Whitman scholarship. The final chapter examines multiple ways in which Whitman expresses the divine nature of the body in several poems from Leaves of Grass, and how those expressions reflect Sufi influences.
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Date Issued: 2012
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3342049
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Aesthetics, Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, American poetry, Persian influences, Sufism in literature, Beauty, Personal, in literature
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Hanging in the balance: the lure of Nietzsche's Apollonian and Dionysiac impulses in Kate Chopin's The Awakening.
Creator: Salamin, Jessica., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: This thesis represents a study of Kate Chopin's groundbreaking novel, The Awakening. Further, it applies Nietzsche's principles of Dionysiac and Apollonian impulses to the literary analysis of the novel. I argue that the protagonist of the novel, Edna Pontellier, embarks on a quest to determine how she may live an authentic life - that is, a life whereby she is true to herself above all others. Ultimately, her search for self is overwhelmed by the imbalance of the Apollonian and Dionysiac...
Show moreThis thesis represents a study of Kate Chopin's groundbreaking novel, The Awakening. Further, it applies Nietzsche's principles of Dionysiac and Apollonian impulses to the literary analysis of the novel. I argue that the protagonist of the novel, Edna Pontellier, embarks on a quest to determine how she may live an authentic life - that is, a life whereby she is true to herself above all others. Ultimately, her search for self is overwhelmed by the imbalance of the Apollonian and Dionysiac impulses against which she struggles. Because Edna cannot successfully mediate this struggle, she reaches the conclusion that she may only attain a truth to her self if she finds that truth in death.
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Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/216407
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Aesthetics, Self in literature, Women and literature, History
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: A humdrum aha!: John Clare's mundane sublime.
Creator: Pell, Dana Odwazny., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: Following the work of Sara Houghton-Walker and Edward Strickland, this thesis theorizes the "mundane sublime" as encountered in romanticist John Clare's poetry. Instead of being oriented upward, as with Longinus's elevatory sublime, Clare's mundane sublime brings the subject downward to earth. While the sublime of the Burkean tradition begins with terror, I claim that the mundane sublime emerges out of love for that which is commonplace. Still revelatory, it may be further characterized by an...
Show moreFollowing the work of Sara Houghton-Walker and Edward Strickland, this thesis theorizes the "mundane sublime" as encountered in romanticist John Clare's poetry. Instead of being oriented upward, as with Longinus's elevatory sublime, Clare's mundane sublime brings the subject downward to earth. While the sublime of the Burkean tradition begins with terror, I claim that the mundane sublime emerges out of love for that which is commonplace. Still revelatory, it may be further characterized by an engagement with ecosystems, eternity, divinity, and nature as a whole. Clare's style scaffolds images resulting in a profusion of detail that arrests the mind and allows it to reflect on its own position in nature. As Clare's mundane sublime takes up simple natural objects and posits an ecological interconnectedness, it implies a more environmentally responsible relationship to one's surroundings, making it increasingly relevant for green studies.
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Date Issued: 2012
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3355875
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Symbolism in nature, Poets, English, Criticism and interpretation, Sublime, The, Criticism and interpretation, Sublime, The, in literature, Criticism and interpretation
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Inviting but frustrating over-simplification: (re)reading Tess of the d'Urbervilles.
Creator: Smith, Kathryn M., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description: Many critics and readers assume that Tess of the d'Urbervilles is simply the tragedy of a ruined country maiden and that the sexually-driven scenes are the most important aspects of the novel. In my thesis, however, I argue that Thomas Hardy created a novel centered on his complex heroine, Tess, not on simplistic notions of sexual ruination and sensational plot developments. In other words, Tess is an autonomous, detailed character who cannot be relegated to the usual stereotypes of Virgin,...
Show moreMany critics and readers assume that Tess of the d'Urbervilles is simply the tragedy of a ruined country maiden and that the sexually-driven scenes are the most important aspects of the novel. In my thesis, however, I argue that Thomas Hardy created a novel centered on his complex heroine, Tess, not on simplistic notions of sexual ruination and sensational plot developments. In other words, Tess is an autonomous, detailed character who cannot be relegated to the usual stereotypes of Virgin, Whore, Mother, etc. Through my reading, we gain a greater understanding of the novel as a whole, instead of as a fractured, deterministic, and plot-driven tragedy. I begin my argument by examining Hardy's subtitle, "A Pure Woman," asserting that our focus should be on the word "Woman" and Tess's subjectivity, not reductive concepts of "purity" or chastity. In Chapter Two, I examine two significant scenes that occur in Alec's carriage, showing how many critics' readings underestimate Tess as helpless, and arguing that she fights against her oppressor in covert ways. My third chapter continues this defense of Tess by critiquing the critical debate surrounding the sexual encounter in "The Chase". I posit that the entire debate is flawed and that Tess should be defined based upon her actions and not simply her sexuality. Lastly, in my conclusion I present a broader defense of Tess of the d'Urbervilles, in which I assert that the ambiguous plot scenes in Tess are conscious attempts by Hardy to subvert traditional assumptions about what is important in a novel. My goal in this thesis is to critique popular but simplistic interpretations of Tess of the d'Urbervilles which diminish Tess's role; instead, I emphasize the way her character, in the words of critic Kathleen Blake, "invites but frustrates oversimplification."
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Date Issued: 2007
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/11601
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Social change in literature, Literature and society
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Power politics: gender and power in Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret and Wilkie Collins's No Name.
Creator: Smith, Rebecca Ann., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: While literary critics acknowledge Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret and Wilkie Collins's No Name as sensation novels that were considered popular literature during the 1860s, many critics often fail to recognize the social and political implications embedded within these texts. In No Name, for instance, Collins's use of a heroine that is disinherited and deemed illegitimate by the law emphasizes the overpowering force of patriarchy. In response to patriarchal law, therefore, the...
Show moreWhile literary critics acknowledge Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret and Wilkie Collins's No Name as sensation novels that were considered popular literature during the 1860s, many critics often fail to recognize the social and political implications embedded within these texts. In No Name, for instance, Collins's use of a heroine that is disinherited and deemed illegitimate by the law emphasizes the overpowering force of patriarchy. In response to patriarchal law, therefore, the heroines of Lady Audley's Secret and No Name attempt to improve their social positions in a society that is economically dependent upon men. Braddon's Lady Audley and Collins's Magdalen Vanstone are fictional representations of women who internalize the inequality of patriarchy and strive to contest male domination. By centering their novels on heroines who endeavor to defy Victorian social norms, Braddon and Collins highlight the problem of the female in a male-dominated society.
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Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/210519
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, English fiction, Criticism and interpretation, Literature and society, Sex role in literature, Patriarchy in literature
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The prairie and the pampas: a comparison of settlement policy and environmental influences on epic literature in the United States and Argentina.
Creator: Budinger, David., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: This thesis will examine the governmental settlement policies in two similar topographical areas, the North American prairie and the South American pampas. Specifically, three novels by Willa Cather, will be included: My Antonia, O Pioneers!, and A Lost Lady. They will be discussed in relation to the development of Nebraska as afforded by the Homestead Act of 1862 and compared to the very different land settlement policies of Argentina as conveyed through the Argentinian national epic poem El...
Show moreThis thesis will examine the governmental settlement policies in two similar topographical areas, the North American prairie and the South American pampas. Specifically, three novels by Willa Cather, will be included: My Antonia, O Pioneers!, and A Lost Lady. They will be discussed in relation to the development of Nebraska as afforded by the Homestead Act of 1862 and compared to the very different land settlement policies of Argentina as conveyed through the Argentinian national epic poem El Gaucho Martin Fierro by Josâe Hernâandez. Particular attention will be made to the influence of the land and its creatures as a shaping influence on the characters created by the authors. There will be additional examination of the effect these works had on historical development within their respective countries, which will involve social and political analysis to place the literature within the historical perspectives of both countries.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3332177
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Epic poetry, Argentine literature, Criticism and interpretation, Environmentalism, Environmentalism
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The use of the bastard identity: from Victorian subverters to superheroes in the twenty-first century and beyond.
Creator: Dessler, Ryan., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
Abstract/Description: This project explores the use if illegitimacy within Western discourse over the last three centuries. Illegitimacy was used in Victorian literature as a literary device to drive plot but evolved into a touchstone for Western discourse to explore the bounds of what is considered respectable society. Over time, as illegitimacy has become more mainstream, I contend illegitimate identities have been utilized to serve as a mirror for Western hegemony. In the first chapter, I explore the origins of...
Show moreThis project explores the use if illegitimacy within Western discourse over the last three centuries. Illegitimacy was used in Victorian literature as a literary device to drive plot but evolved into a touchstone for Western discourse to explore the bounds of what is considered respectable society. Over time, as illegitimacy has become more mainstream, I contend illegitimate identities have been utilized to serve as a mirror for Western hegemony. In the first chapter, I explore the origins of illegitimacy being used as a literary device in novels by Victorian authors Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. In the second chapter, I examine the role illegitimacy plays in the origin stories of canonical comic book superheroes Batman and Superman. Lastly, in the third chapter, I scrutinize the role illegitimacy plays in defining the human condition within science fiction as human culture continues to advance technologically towards a post human world.
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Date Issued: 2012
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3355567
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Literature and society, History, Literature and society, History, Comic books, strips, etc, Criticism and interpretation, Illegitimacy in literature, Sex role in literature, Sensationalism in literature
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The voice of nationalism in Moniuszko's opera.
Creator: Niewczas, Marlena., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Music
Abstract/Description: Stanislaw Moniuszko (1819-1872) is the father of the Polish national opera, and yet he is little known outside Poland. His two masterpieces, Halka and The Haunted Manor, are operatic works that contributed to the development of national music. Moniuszko composed during the middle of the nineteenth century when Poland was under control of the three Powers: Russia, Prussia, and Austria. A study of Polish history reveals the understanding of Moniuszko's position as an artist and the role of his...
Show moreStanislaw Moniuszko (1819-1872) is the father of the Polish national opera, and yet he is little known outside Poland. His two masterpieces, Halka and The Haunted Manor, are operatic works that contributed to the development of national music. Moniuszko composed during the middle of the nineteenth century when Poland was under control of the three Powers: Russia, Prussia, and Austria. A study of Polish history reveals the understanding of Moniuszko's position as an artist and the role of his operas. The national elements portrayed in his compositions include Polish dances, such as the polonaise, mazurka, and krakowiak, as well as folk tunes, and most importantly, the libretto with social and patriotic stances. This thesis intends to enlighten English speakers about the development of Polish national opera, its innovator, and his techniques.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1930489
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Nationalism in literature, Music, History and criticism, Nationalism, History, Politics and government
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: "The Voice of society": Dickens' surprising lesson in diplomacy spoken by the "innocent" table in Our Mutual Friend.
Creator: Hernandez, Patricia., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Abstract/Description: In Our Mutual Friend Dickens plays with the idea of people becoming things and things becoming people. One such person, who is initially introduced as a table, is Melvin Twemlow. This member of the aristocracy plays an almost comical, minor role within one sub-plot of the novel, but over the course of the novel progresses from a "feeble" character into a strong, morally authoritative voice. Dickens concludes his novel with a debate concerning who is, or should be, "the voice of society" and...
Show moreIn Our Mutual Friend Dickens plays with the idea of people becoming things and things becoming people. One such person, who is initially introduced as a table, is Melvin Twemlow. This member of the aristocracy plays an almost comical, minor role within one sub-plot of the novel, but over the course of the novel progresses from a "feeble" character into a strong, morally authoritative voice. Dickens concludes his novel with a debate concerning who is, or should be, "the voice of society" and the last word of the debate is given to the mysterious table-man character. Rather than allowing a central protagonist to champion his thoughts, Dickens surprises his readers by making an exemplary moral figure of a mild, minor character from among the ranks of the pompous aristocracy. Twemlow's speech makes a familiar Dickensian point about the need for social reform in a strange, politically incorrect way.
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Date Issued: 2007
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/40950
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, English fiction, Criticism and interpretation, Literature and society, History, Class consciousness in literature
Format: Document (PDF)

FAU Theses and Dissertations (8)	+ -
Honors Student Theses (3)	+ -

History (5)	+ -
Literature and society (4)	+ -
English fiction (3)	+ -
Aesthetics (2)	+ -
History and criticism (2)	+ -

Music (2)	+ -
Sex role in literature (2)	+ -
American poetry (1)	+ -
Argentine literature (1)	+ -
Arrangement (Music) (1)	+ -
Beauty, Personal, in literature (1)	+ -
Class consciousness in literature (1)	+ -
Comic books, strips, etc (1)	+ -
Environmentalism (1)	+ -
Epic poetry (1)	+ -
Gothic revival (Literature) (1)	+ -
Illegitimacy in literature (1)	+ -
Influence (1)	+ -
Instrumentation and orchestration (1)	+ -
Nationalism (1)	+ -
Nationalism in literature (1)	+ -
Patriarchy in literature (1)	+ -
Performance practice (Music) (1)	+ -
Persian influences (1)	+ -
Philosophy and aesthetics (1)	+ -
Poets, English (1)	+ -
Politics and government (1)	+ -
Self in literature (1)	+ -
Sensationalism in literature (1)	+ -

United States (3)	+ -
England (2)	+ -
Great Britain (2)	+ -
Argentina (1)	+ -
Poland (1)	+ -

1796-1918 (1)	+ -
20th century (1)	+ -

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