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William Shakespeare and Herman Melville

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Date Issued:
2012
Summary:
This thesis considers the role of two rhetoricians, Petruchio from William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and Captain Ahab from Herman Melville's Moby-DIck, and analyzes their use of verbal performances. BOth Petruchio and Captain Ahab use pathologically manipulative rhetoric to manipulate others emotionally. Through this manipulation, they attempt to gain control, power, and authority. While both Petrucio and Ahab appear to succeed in manipulating others, they actually fail. Petruchio attempts to manipulate Katherine, but fails to attain mental submission from her, and Captain Ahab attempts to manipulate the crew to pursue hunting the whale, but as the narrative progresses, the crew becomes too disillusioned with the hunt to be persuaded by Ahab's rhetoric. In conclusion, both Petruchio and Captain Ahab are unable to sustain rhetorical control, and they both fall into demagoguery, therby suggesting that while they are alike as rhetoricians, they both fail similarly as rhetoricians.
Title: William Shakespeare and Herman Melville: emotional manipulation through verbal performance.
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Name(s): Murphy, Nicole E.
Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Thesis
Issuance: multipart monograph
Date Issued: 2012
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Physical Form: electronic
electronic resource
Extent: v, 83 p. ; 29 cm.
Language(s): English
Summary: This thesis considers the role of two rhetoricians, Petruchio from William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and Captain Ahab from Herman Melville's Moby-DIck, and analyzes their use of verbal performances. BOth Petruchio and Captain Ahab use pathologically manipulative rhetoric to manipulate others emotionally. Through this manipulation, they attempt to gain control, power, and authority. While both Petrucio and Ahab appear to succeed in manipulating others, they actually fail. Petruchio attempts to manipulate Katherine, but fails to attain mental submission from her, and Captain Ahab attempts to manipulate the crew to pursue hunting the whale, but as the narrative progresses, the crew becomes too disillusioned with the hunt to be persuaded by Ahab's rhetoric. In conclusion, both Petruchio and Captain Ahab are unable to sustain rhetorical control, and they both fall into demagoguery, therby suggesting that while they are alike as rhetoricians, they both fail similarly as rhetoricians.
Identifier: 819325416 (oclc), 3359309 (digitool), FADT3359309 (IID), fau:1437 (fedora)
Note(s): by Nicole E. Murphy.
Thesis (B.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, Honors College, 2012.
Includes bibliography.
Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2012. Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subject(s): Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
Melville, Herman, 1819-1891
Rhetoric
Oral communication
Held by: FBoU FAUER
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3359309
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.
Host Institution: FAU

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