Current Search: Self in literature (x) » Electronic Thesis or Dissertation (x)
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Title
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The painful state of pleasure in Charlotte Brontèe's Jane Eyre.
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Creator
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Cannon, Michelle., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
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Abstract/Description
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The heroine of Charlotte Brontèe's Jane Eyre is torn between her physical desire to remain close to Mr. Rochester and her psychological need for distance from him. Jane's need for distance tends to dominate her desire for closeness, and this internal conflict is reproduced externally in her relationship with Rochester, with Rochester's desire for physical proximity conflicting with Jane's desire for distance. These internal and external power struggles create a healthy sense of tension...
Show moreThe heroine of Charlotte Brontèe's Jane Eyre is torn between her physical desire to remain close to Mr. Rochester and her psychological need for distance from him. Jane's need for distance tends to dominate her desire for closeness, and this internal conflict is reproduced externally in her relationship with Rochester, with Rochester's desire for physical proximity conflicting with Jane's desire for distance. These internal and external power struggles create a healthy sense of tension necessary both to Jane, and to her relationship with Rochester because it prevents either of them from being fully satisfied, and ensures that both remain in a perpetual state of self-inflicted suffering. The suffering these characters impose on themselves and each other is necessary for the preservation of desires, which would be destroyed by fulfillment. Through my reading of the novel we gain a greater understanding of how the pain of unfulfilled desires becomes synonymous with pleasure, and the beneficial role pain, tension and unfulfilled desires plays in the text.
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Date Issued
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2008
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/209985
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Subject Headings
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Criticism and interpretation, Self in literature, Criticism and interpretation, Desire in literature, Criticism and interpretation
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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Title
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A search for self in the postmodern novel: Don DeLillo's Americana, Mao II, and Falling Man.
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Creator
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Neudecker, Jaime Frances., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
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Abstract/Description
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In my thesis I look at three novels by Don DeLillo: Americana, Mao II, and Falling Man. These three novels, published in 1971, 1991, and 2007 respectively, represent the full range of DeLillo's body of work, and demonstrate a clear progression of the major themes in his writings. Each of these novels presents a protagonist who is on a journey of self-discovery, effectively seeking what many critics have identified as an outdated form of self--a Modernist notion of self. The problematic nature...
Show moreIn my thesis I look at three novels by Don DeLillo: Americana, Mao II, and Falling Man. These three novels, published in 1971, 1991, and 2007 respectively, represent the full range of DeLillo's body of work, and demonstrate a clear progression of the major themes in his writings. Each of these novels presents a protagonist who is on a journey of self-discovery, effectively seeking what many critics have identified as an outdated form of self--a Modernist notion of self. The problematic nature of identity in these novels is exacerbated by changes in representation and warfare, particularly the perceived loss of originality and the rise of terrorism. Thus, I not only trace the continuation of the search for self in these novels, but also DeLillo's inclusion of terrorism in the novel. The changes in warfare give rise to an anxiety that further complicates the search for self in America.
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Date Issued
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2008
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/77681
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Subject Headings
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Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Psychology in literature, Self-actualization (Psychology)
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Format
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Document (PDF)