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- Title
- Gender and the abject in the symbolic landscapes of Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Olive Schreiner's The Story of an African Farm.
- Creator
- McAdams, Janine., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
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The literature of the fin de siáecle challenged established societal norms through its use of avant-garde literary forms and controversial subject matter. This study will examine the use of landscape metaphors in two major works of fin de siáecle literature, Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Olive Schreiner's The Story of an African Farm, in order to reveal how these texts critique and re-vision the social dualities of gender. A wide range of literary...
Show moreThe literature of the fin de siáecle challenged established societal norms through its use of avant-garde literary forms and controversial subject matter. This study will examine the use of landscape metaphors in two major works of fin de siáecle literature, Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Olive Schreiner's The Story of an African Farm, in order to reveal how these texts critique and re-vision the social dualities of gender. A wide range of literary theories-including, feminist theory, semiotics, and ecocriticism-are used to interpret these authors' influential narratives. This thesis will also apply Julia Kristeva's theory of the abjects-representing the permeability of the physical and social bodies-to critically examine the literal and metaphorical landscapes of Stevenson's city and Schreiner's farm. Thus, these visionary texts embody an organic and feminist understanding of the self as a permeable social construct that exists free of borders.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2683128
- Subject Headings
- Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Symbolism in literature, Sex role in literature, Semantics (Philosophy), Avant-garde (Aesthetics)
- 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
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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.
Show less - 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
- A dark, uncertain fate: homophobia, graphic novels, and queer identity.
- Creator
- Buso, Michael., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
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This thesis focuses primarily on homophobia and how it plays a role in the construction of queer identities, specifically in graphic novels and comic books. The primary texts being analyzed are Alan Moore's Lost Girls, Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and Michael Chabon's prose novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Throughout these and many other comics, queer identities reflect homophobic stereotypes rather than resisting them. However, this thesis argues that,...
Show moreThis thesis focuses primarily on homophobia and how it plays a role in the construction of queer identities, specifically in graphic novels and comic books. The primary texts being analyzed are Alan Moore's Lost Girls, Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and Michael Chabon's prose novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Throughout these and many other comics, queer identities reflect homophobic stereotypes rather than resisting them. However, this thesis argues that, despite the homophobic tendencies of these texts, the very nature of comics (their visual aspects, panel structures, and blank gutters) allows for an alternative space for positive queer identities.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2100584
- Subject Headings
- Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Sex in literature, Homophobia, Gender identity, Comic books, strips, etc, History and criticism
- Format
- Document (PDF)