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William Golding's Free Fall as an existentialist novel
William Golding's Free Fall illustrates its pivotal character Sammy's self-quest symbolically as the search for self of twentieth century man. By means of Sammy, Golding wants to create an awareness in people who want to understand the world they are living in and what makes them human beings, by bringing such questions to the fore: What has happened to humanity? What has brought them to that point? Is it a fall? If it is a fall, then is it free or not? What is the role of man or God in it? Is he guilty? Is he good or evil or both of them? Is he free in his choices? If he is free, then to what extent is he free? All of these questions which create the modern man of the twentieth century, who searches his subjective meaning and the role of his free will on his choices, in a godless universe after the World Wars are the critical point of Free Fall and of this study. The aim of this thesis is to shed light on the predicament of the modern man by analyzing William Golding's Free Fall as an existentialist novel to show to what extent the novel character is free in his choices. Keywords: William Golding, Free Fall, Existentialism, predicament, free will, responsibility, absurd.
The changing political views of William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a social thinker and a man thoroughly engaged in political debates throughout his life, contrary to the generally held perception that he became isolated and disillusioned. In fact, Wordsworth continued to discuss politics and remained informed about issues relating to social change. This study shows that these political discussions of his are also reflected in his late poems, and it will be argued that some of his less-regarded late poems merit more attention than they usually receive. His political ideas both in his poems and prose were well known to the people of his day and contributed to the new Victorian world view. The poems which will be considered include early works such as An Evening Walk, Salisbury Plain, The Female Vagrant, The Last of The Flock and Michael, in addition to the late poems such as Ode to Duty, and The Excursion, which is often seen as a public rejection of his earlier views.
Daniel Defoe'nun Robinson Crusoe eserinde sömürgecilik, kölelik ve din
Bu tez, 18. yüzyılda yaşanan sömürgecilik hareketleri çerçevesinde Daniel Defoe' nun Robinson Crusoe isimli eserini ele almaktadır. Defoe'nun ıssız bir adada mahsur kalan bir karakterin yaşadıkları üzerine betimlediği kurgu, yazarın toplumda gerçekleşen olayları nasıl gördüğüne ilişkin bir bakış açısı olarak okunabilir. Bu çalışma, Robinson Crusoe ve Cuma karakterlerini, İngiltere'nin izlediği kapitalist ve sömürgeci politikların bir yansıması olarak analiz edecektir. Romanda, Defoe, iki karakterin sosyal davranışları, efendi-köle ilişkileri ve söyledikleri sözlerle portrelerini çizmektedir. Bu tez, sömürgecilik, kölelik ve din gibi üç ana tema üzerinden Robinson Crusoe'yu inceleyecektir. Bu bağlamda hikayenin ilgili bölümlerinden örnekler verilerek bu terimlerin her biri üzerinde yorumlar yapılacaktır. Sömürgelicik sistemi bağlamında, kaptan Crusoe iktidarı temsil eden bir karakter olarak tasvir edilirken, Cuma tamamen İngiliz iktidarının kontrolü altında olan güçsüz bir karakter olarak karşımıza çıkar. Kapitalist ekonominin önemi, Robinson' un yaşadığı evi inşa etmesi, adadaki hayvanları evcilleştirmesi ve araziyi tarıma uygun hale getirmesi gibi olaylarda açık olarak görülebilir. Öte yandan, Cuma'nın yapması gereken şey Crusoe'nun kendisine verdiği emirleri harfiyen uygulamak ve sürekli çalışmaktır. Defoe'nun eserine bu açıdan bakıldığında, Cuma sadece sömürge haline getirilmiş olanı değil, aynı zamanda İngiliz işçi sınıfını temsil eder. Crusoe ise sanayileşmiş orta sınıfı temsil etmektedir. Bu çalışmada ortaya konan temel düşünce, Robinson Crusoe romanını, kölelik ve din gibi iki önemli boyutuyla öne çıkan kapitalizm ve sömürgeciliğin ana ilkelerinin uygulandığı bir eser olarak görmenin mümkün olduğudur.
The role of women in the society during the early Nineteenth century and the opposition of Jane Austen to the role of women in Mansfield Park
Jane Austen is a writer focusing on the social problems of her era. She lived in the late-eighteenth century and the early-nineteenth century. There were some social points which she strongly opposed in her period. In her novel Mansfield Park, Jane Austen mainly opposed the social roles of women in the early-nineteenth century. In this century, it was not easy for women to take part in social life. Education and business life were terms far away for women. A woman who wanted to take a good education had to face with many struggles. However, Jane Austen mainly focused on this fact in her novel,using her character Fanny Price in order to show how women could be successful in social life. The aim of the present study is to demonstrate that Jane Austen uses Fanny in Mansfield Park in order to teach her society how women can become an active person in the society. Through examining Mansfield Park from this perspective, it is seen that Jane Austen made great effort to show that women could have a good education and have a good place in the society. Throughout Mansfield Park, Jane Austen shows her readers the human relationships especially within middle and upper-classes in the society. By creating Fanny in her novel, she wants to show women's strength and abilities and while doing it, Jane Austen uses a realist point of view in Mansfield Park .
Issues of gender and family in Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse
This study involves a discussion of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse with a view to highlighting the importance of art for women to achieve autonomy and identity. Most critics believe that the novel reflects Virginia Woolf's own life and her experiment as a female artist living in Victorian society. According to Woolf, whether married or single, women can find a way to use their creativity and realize their potential either in art, like Lily, or in domestic life, like Mrs. Ramsay. Viewed from this perspective, art can be regarded as an effective means by which women can understand and cope with the challenges of life. However, one can hardly lose sight of the fact that, given the gender biases against women in a society dominated by male values, not many women have the power or opportunity to use their creativity to achieve identity. Within this context, the novel reflects the artistic achievements of a creative female painter Lily Briscoe, who, as a guest, witnesses the clash between Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay. Though she seems to be a submissive wife who has accepted her condition in the family, Mrs. Ramsay is able to exhibit her creativity in the way she arranges domestic affairs. While she is realistic enough to know that she has got responsibilities toward her husband and children, she does not fail to show her creativity in domestic life, which enables her to achieve self worth. Keywords: Women, Gender Discrimination, Art, Identity, Negative Effects of Men on Women, Family & Marriage.
A thematic study of the Gothic elements in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray: Decadence, Horror and Violence
This study aims to highlight the three Gothic elements in The Picture of Dorian Gray: decadence, horror, and violence. As a typical example of Gothic fiction, the novel involves various features of the genre. The Picture of Dorian Gray includes the fundamental themes and motifs of traditional Gothic works, which seem to have had a deep influence on Oscar Wilde's vision. The most dominant theme in the novel is decadence, which can be found in most of the events and situations in the story. Oscar Wilde was deeply affected by the French movement Fin-de-siècle. This accounts for the pervasive atmosphere of decadence in the novel, as reflected in Dorian's fall into corruption, as well as in desolate places such as dark streets and the opium den. Additionally, the themes of horror and violence can be clearly seen in the novel. The theme of horror starts with the supernatural changes that occur in Dorian's portrait, goes on with the horror of being in desolate places, and ends up with crimes. There are two incidents in the novel that can be considered to be related to violence; namely, an act of murder (Dorian kills Basil) and an accidental death that occurs in the forest (James Vane is killed by a hunter). Besides, sometimes violence may turn inward. The theme of self-inflicted violence is exemplified first by Sybil's and later by Dorian's suicide. In addition to the three main features of the Gothic found in the novel–decadence, horror and violence- there are other Gothic elements such as supernatural, doubles, vanity, darkness and death. The supernatural aspect of Dorian's picture becomes evident as the handsome man in the picture magically changes into an old and horrible figure. With each sinful act Dorian commits, a supernatural change occurs in the picture and the man in the portrait grows uglier. In fact, the picture reflects the corruption of Dorian's soul and his sinful acts. At the end of the novel, Dorian commits suicide and the ugly man in the picture becomes transformed to a handsome young man. The poetic justice that takes place at the end of the story shows that the good and right always prevail against the evils and injustices of the world. Whoever falls into corruption and commits sinful acts will surely be defeated sooner or later. Another lesson one can take from the story is that nothing in this universe is permanent. Dorian wants to keep his youth permanently, so he indulges in all kinds of pleasure with a sheer indifference to the traditional Victorian values and norms, but ultimately he fails and faces his tragic end.
An existential approach to freedom of choice in John Fowles's the French Lieutenant's Woman
This thesis concerns itself with a comprehensive analysis of John Fowles's novel The French Lieutenant's Woman with a special focus on the philosophy of existentialism. The main argument of this study is that, as a typical example of postmodern fiction, The French Lieutenant's Woman explores the idea of existential freedom in a historical perspective. The study also reveals Fowles's conviction that existential freedom is a significant challenge that confronts the individual with the need to prove his existence. Fowles presents existential freedom throughout the narrative process and the conduct of the employed narrator and the characters. Fowles puts the readers in a position where they can exercise freedom of choice. The study proves that The French Lieutenant's Woman is a postmodern novel though, on the surface, it looks like a Victorian novel. This study explains the basic elements that make the novel a distinctively postmodern work. Furthermore, this thesis aims to show that The French Lieutenant's Woman reflects a worldview which challenges the traditional narrative techniques. The study also illustrates the way Fowles criticizes and breaks up the established methods of the traditional narrative style.
A Freudian approach to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad is one of the greatest novelists in English literature who wrote Heart of Darkness in 1899 as a frame story. Heart of Darkness is considered to be a significant modernist work influenced by the theories of scientists such as Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein. Conrad seems to have been strongly influenced by Sigmund Freud's Theories. Freud was the first theorist to work in the field of psychoanalysis. He focused on the concept of personality development, which is one of the most important contributions he made to the theory of psychoanalysis. Moreover, he introduced the theory of Inner Consciousness (Id, Ego, and Superego), Interpretations of Dreams, Theory of Drives (Life and Death Instincts), and other theories. So, this thesis aims to discuss the story of the transformation in Marlow's personality according to Freud's perspective on personality, in which the protagonist Charlie Marlow makes a journey from innocence to experience, ultimately discovering the dark side of human nature. Keywords: Heart of Darkness, Congo, Ego, Savage, ID, and Superego
Venedik Taciri eserindeki adalet ve merhamet
This thesis deals with the concepts of justice and mercy in The Merchant of Venice, especially in the characters of Shylock and Portia. The Jew, who seeks for revenge through using justice to achieve his desire, and Portia, who shows a lot of mercy to Shylock, till her turning point in the court, that led to change the destiny of many characters. There is a special part in the introduction which is dealing with Greek philosophy, mythology, and law about justice and mercy, in addition to a quick reading of The Tempest in order to see how much 'mercy' is valuable according to Shakespeare. Chapter I contains the religious concepts of justice and mercy. It is about comparing the doctrines of The Bible and The Torah with the behaviors and acts of the characters. The Chapter also contains a Shakespearean view of different perspectives concerning the Christians and Jews, in addition to the circumstances of Jewish life in Europe. Chapter IV contains the imagery of Justice and Mercy in The Merchant of Venice. KEY WORDS: Shylock, Justice, Judaism, Portia, Mercy, Christianity.
Middlemarch: The story about the reformation of female identity in the 19th century capitalist paradigm
George Eliot lived in the early Victorian age which witnessed a transformation in the social structure because of the Industrial Revolution. In Middlemarch, she analyzes the emergence of the capitalist paradigm, and the impact of the new system on individuals and institutions. To demonstrate the interaction among history, culture, industry, defined gender roles and the position of woman in the newly formed social strata, she creates a set of characters from all the layers of the society and weaves their stories in a web of relations. The stories of three women, Dorothea, Rosamond, and Mary from the main classes of the society (aristocracy, middle class, and working class), are rendered along with the expectations of the specific classes in society, with social and political changes, and with the institution of marriage and the moral values pertaining to each class. Eliot indicates that the classes, the products of the capitalist economy, shape the personality of the characters. In the male dominated socio-economic model, women are left outside the production mechanisms, and their efforts for self-development are hindered by the norms of patriarchal society. Appreciating the individual efforts of women who try to go beyond the limits, but seeing also that women suffer from the insufficiency of opportunities, Eliot attempts in her work to depict an ideal heroine. Hence, Middlemarch is the story revealing the evolution of the female identity in capitalist patriarchal order.
Paradise lost: The story of the chaotic interaction among god, satan and man
In Paradise Lost, John Milton succeeds in creating semi-religious and semi-scientific viewpoints about the Biblical fall of man. With his own contribution to the interpretation of the fall, he depicts the paradoxical nature of the universe where the two powers --God and Satan-- collide, making man torn between the two. Through personifying God and Satan, and through concretizing their abstract realms ?Heaven and Hell-- Milton reinterprets the ?sacred? phenomena in a concrete way. With an unusual beginning to the work where he depicts Satan as a ?hero,? revealing also the tragic and the non tragic sides of the arch enemy of God: Milton shows him as constituting one side of the opposites --good and evil-- and serving God?s motives. Torn between God and Satan, man?s position seems forlorn, at first. Yet, Milton interprets this ?unfortunate? state as fortunate, rather than depicting the fall as the victory of Satan?s intrigues. Thus, what Milton is after is to stress that ?original sin,? despite its painful results, is a chance for man to unite with God. Hence, Milton claims that God?s logic in creating a paradoxical power structure has worked for the good of man. Making Satan His own antagonist, and letting him tempt man, God has caused man?s fall, thereby increasing his wisdom and intellect, making him more than what he was. Finally, from Milton?s viewpoint, man will be transformed into a being deserving both Heaven and a status next to God.
Paul's dilemma between spirit and body in D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers
The aim of this thesis is to highlight the dilemma that Paul Morel lived in his adulthood between his spiritual desires and bodily desires, the effects of this dilemma on his social and sexual relations, the main factors behind this dilemma by focusing on his personality development stages. His childhood experiences will be discussed by exploring the problems that he has encountered in his personality development stages according to Freud's theory of personality development. It will also deal with the Oedipus complex that Paul has suffered from, which is the result of the problems that he has lived, while passing the stages of his childhood.
Racial and gender discrimination against the creole identity in jJean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea
Jane Rhys's novel Wide Sargasso Sea builds around the theme of identity as seen in the experience of the female protagonist Antoinette Cosway, who struggles as a female Creole to prove her identity in an environment that rejects her. In fact, she is faced with double discrimination on the basis of her race and gender. The first part of this thesis will address the writer Jean Rhys and her connection with Wide Sargasso Sea and her female protagonist Antoinette. The chapter will attempt to compare and contrast the characteristics and reactions of two female characters in two different novels -Antoinette from Wide Sargasso Sea and Jane from Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre - in the face of the hardships they have to deal with throughout their lives. The second chapter of the thesis will focus on the racial discrimination against the white Creole protagonist, Antoinette, whose multiple efforts to identify with the black community of the Caribbean ultimately prove to be futile, as she is faced with rejection every time she attempts to do so. The chapter will also discuss the rejection that Antoinette is subjected to by the white English community, and the painful experience that she goes through after her marriage to her husband , who can be viewed as a representative of the English community. The third chapter will deal with the racial discrimination against Antoinette as a female Creole caught in a patriarchal society. As a woman hopelessly trapped in a society dominated by male values, Antoinette has been renamed, displaced, and ostracized by her controlling husband. She desperately struggles to resist him as he tries in more than one way to strip her off her real identity. Given the gender issues handled in the novel, the experiences of the female protagonist will be discussed from a feminist point of view.
The theme of escape in James Joyce's Dubliners
This study focuses on the theme of escape in James Joyce's Dubliners. The thesis aims to explore why Joyce's characters feel discontented with their lives in the ten short stories in Dubliners selected for this thesis. Of the fifteen short stories included in Dubliners, ten are of special importance in that they illustrate the way Joyce deals with "the theme of escape" through the predicament of his troubled characters, while implicitly reflecting his own problems and conflicts. The ten short stories in Dubliners selected for this thesis are divided into three categories, each representing one of the main stages of human life. The thesis, then, in chapter one, studies three stories: "The Sisters", "An Encounter" and "Araby", in terms of the analyses Joyce's characters in "Juvenile". In chapter two, contains two stories: "Eveline" and "The Boarding House", in terms of the analyses the Adolscence characters. The chapter three, which deals with "Maturity", includes the analyses of five stories: "A Little Cloud", "Counterparts", "A Painful Case", "Clay" and "The Dead", to show that these stories reflect James Joyce's life in each story. The theme of escape, which binds together these ten stories, closely associated with the author's own experiences in his country Ireland and out Ireland too. Joyce spent most of his life outside his native country, in Trieste, Paris and Zurich. There were many factors that compelled him to leave Dublin and live the rest of his life abroad. Joyce left Ireland primarily for social, economic, religious and political reasons, and he lived in a state of self-imposed exile from 1904 until his death in 1941. Joyce's experiences find reflection in the plight of the characters in the stories selected for this study. For all their efforts to escape from Dublin or to break out of the restraints surrounding them, the characters in these stories are unable to change their fate for the better. Their Irish background as well as their failure to free themselves from the religious and social values and familial obligations prevents them from effecting any change or improvement in their lives. Having to do the same things and carry out the same routine every day, they feel bored and live as if they are paralyzed. In fact, these characters lack the courage necessary to make any notable change in their lives. Most of them dream of escaping from their monotonous lives, which they find unbearable. Some of these characters make an attempt to escape from their predicament, but they fail to do so. Ultimately, their attempt to break out of their confinement ends up with frustration as they bitterly find that they have no other choice but to turn back to their old way of life. The aim of this thesis is to shed light on a central theme in the works of James Joyce, and indicates an interesting connection between his life and his arts. Key Words: imagination, escape, predicament, disappointment, frustration, alienation
Representation of marriage as a social and economic institution in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen who is regarded as "the originator of the Regency (1811-1820) romance, was a subtle satirist and shrewd analyst of human behavior" (Kruger et al. 2013, p. 198) in time when many moral values, conventions and practices were so intolerable, particularly for women, that she preferred to publish her first novel anonymously. Pride and Prejudice is the mirror of the English society of Austen's time. The cornerstone for this novel which shapes its events and greatly affects the lives of the characters is marriage. Through marriage, the novel reflects not only the appearance but also the naked reality of the society, the social structure of which was based on male dominance that reflected severe injustices against women. By focusing on marriage not only as an individual form of relationship between two genders but also as a social and economic institution, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice provides invaluable opportunities to both comprehend and criticize English society of the period in terms of economic, social as well as gender-based relationships among individuals. In this thesis, marriage will comprehensively be dealt with to show how and why women in the English society in the late-eighteenth century and the early-nineteenth century were struggling for marriage, and what factors and circumstances affected marriage as an institution. Throughout Pride and Prejudice, Austen succeeds in showing the reader the human relations particularly within middle and upper-classes in the society. Austen employs marriage institution to focus on the nature of relationships among individuals from different social classes and this, in turn, leads to show the real nature of these individuals as well as their social circles. It pinpoints a lot of small details and flaws in the moral values and behaviours of the individuals and society, such as social hypocrisy and the power of money that shapes people's lives, as well as discrimination against and suffering of women. In addition, Austen uses an ironical language in many parts of the novel to support and strengthen her claims and to emphasize them more powerfully. Key words: marriage, class distinction, gender-based relations, economic and social structure, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.
Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge: The story of the timeless tragedy of man
As a writer of the late Victorian era, Thomas Hardy is the product of the crisis of faith in fin de siècle period. Having been influenced by Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species and Benjamin Jowett's Essays and Reviews, he came to lose his religious belief; he developed a new idea about existence and human will. Under the influence of the epoch-making work by Schopenhauer The World as Will and Idea, he combined the influence of Darwin and Jowett with that of Schopenhauer, and formed his gloomy view about the mundane world which, for Hardy, is under the control of cruel and metaphysical powers that always crush the characters who acquired consciousness and will-power. Throughout The Mayor of Casterbridge, Hardy applies his fatalistic and deterministic philosophy to the depiction of the protagonist in order to reveal that Henchard is a trapped individual in a morally indifferent world which is controlled by the chance forces that seek the destruction of the ones who violate the natural laws by way of acquiring consciousness. Hence, throughout the novel, Hardy shows the universality of human suffering and its timelessness: He indicates that catastrophe befalls only to the ones who, with their acquired consciousness, desire the "better" for themselves, and whose schemes are ultimately crushed on account of the conflict between what man desires, and what gods have in store for man. Keywords: will, consciousness, hap, chance, crass-casualty, timelessness,fatalism, determinism
The concepts of fate and nature in Hardy's the return of the native
Thomas Hardy is one of the writers who have a pessimistic outlook of human life; and accordingly, the concepts of "Fate" and "Nature" are to be considered within the frame of his pessimistic outlook. Hardy's thought was a revolt against the optimism of the 18th century and a refusal of the consolation of the Christian faith. Hardy's novels brought to England the pessimism of Schopenhauer. The nature of his personal experiences in life, together with his intellectual evaluation, assisted him well in his writing. Moreover, Fate plays a great role in the lives of Hardy's heroes and heroines as they struggle against their tragic destinies awaiting them. Hardy's characters do not have any control over their aims, as Fate emerges as a sole controlling force in their actions, which is given through "Coincidences" (chance events) moving from one incident to another reaching the final disaster in his novels. Nature is also an inimical force that has controlling power over Hardy's characters. This point links Nature with Fate, for Nature has a considerable role in leading the character's destiny. Hardy's 1878 novel The Return of the Native can be read as a tragedy since by presenting characters crushed by the powers of Fate and a malicious Nature, the novel can be considered as a remodelling of ancient Greek tragedies. The aim of this thesis is to study Thomas Hardy's novel The Return of the Native in terms of the concepts of Nature, Fate and Coincidence in order to understand how they play a significant role in the tragic view given in the novel. Keywords: The Return of the Native, Fate, Coincidence, Nature, Tragedy.
Socio-psychological reading of D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover
D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928) depicts the transformation of Lady Chatterley from an aristocratic lady to a classless position through her harmonious relationship with a lower class man. In fact, Lawrence usually focuses on class distinction in his novels and short stories. In Lady Chatterley's Lover, however, he concentrates more on the importance of sexuality as a key of the compatible relationship between Lady Chatterley and Oliver Mellors though they belong to different classes. He also depicts the impact of disturbed psychology, repressed sexuality, and gender inequality in forming the identities of the characters in the problematic social stratification of the early twentieth century. If evaluated from the Marxist perspective, it can be seen that the class conflict and the exploitation of the weak members by the capitalist (landowner) depict the materialistic superstructure of a society in which gender roles and individual identities are being reshaped. As a consequence of this transformation, Lady Chatterley gains her individuality and consciousness by blurring the conventional boundaries of the classes through having an affair with a lower class lover. And if analyzed from the psychological perspective, the corrupting influence of the capitalist civilization that has already distorted the understanding of sexuality leads Lady Chatterley to a neurotic life, from which she saves herself by turning back to nature, by understanding her natural impulses, and by following the rule for pro-creation. Therefore, after Lady Chatterley gains consciousness and maturity, the novel ends with the compatible love relationship between Lady Chatterley and Mellors. Lady Chatterley has overcome all the social barriers in her life, and has come to assert herself as a woman with her unique personality. Keywords: Class distinction, Marxism, Capitalism, Psychology,Neurosis, Sexual Phantasy
Exploitation and terrorism in Conrad's The Secret Agent
The Secret Agent is marked as one of Joseph Conrad's later political novels, which diverge from his distinctive stories of sea and life on ships. The novel, on one level, deals with the notions of anarchism, espionage, and terrorism; on the other level, it is about manipulation, exploitation and how humans become barbaric in the modern society. Besides, the novel depicts anarchist or revolutionary groups before some of the social uprisings that took place in the earlier twentieth century. The actions of the novel are set towards the end of the Victorian period. The novel reflects the social reality of London towards the end of the nineteenth century, when there were many real explosions which the press and the politicians considered as the anarchists' outrages. Through analyzing how these events are reflected in Conrad's The Secret Agent, this study aims to explore how more important than political conflicts for Conrad are the dehumanizing effects of involvement in violence on individuals and individual relationships. Keywords: Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent, Exploitation, Terrorism, Anarchists, Dehumanization, Isolation.
Digging for the roots in Seamus Heaney's poetry
This thesis explores the impact of the Irish culture on Seamus Heaney's poetry. It is stimulated by two important questions which are firstly why the Irish culture is significant for the poet and secondly why he uses the English language rather than the Gaelic one. It is underlined in this study that the English language is skillfully employed as a means to transmit his message of his original Irish culture. For this reason, Heaney is considered more Irish than British, which is a very important point I am going to develop upon to bring a better understanding of Heaney's employment of Irish symbols, themes and metaphors in English. Actually he uses powerful poetic devices of his art to allude to the brutal oppressive methods of strong nations upon weak ones, attributable to the dominion of English culture over Irish culture. This dominion results in the recession of the Irish culture in general and the Gaelic language in particular. In his poetry, he is trying to reconcile his Irish identity with the English language and find a place in the English language for his identity resisting the identity of the oppressor. As a result, Heaney strives to reestablish the balance in Irish culture in its broadest sense by the deliberate choice of his mother tongue, the English language. He utilizes specifically the English language to deal with Irish problematic issues through political, social and religious critique, which enables him to undermine the negative assumptions of the colonists. However, he eschews involving himself in political debates. The historical approach is used to support the claims of this study. The first chapter depicts the Irish culture and the discrimination against the Irish people. The second chapter refers to the bog people as compared to the violated people of Heaney's ancestors especially in Ulster. The third chapter exposes the English and Viking dominance over the Irish lands and farms. Yet, the English dominance is portrayed with special emphasis because Ulster (Northern Ireland) became officially part of Britain. Aligning past, which includes history and memory, with the present is relentlessly one of the most notable strategies pertaining to his writing. KEY WORDS: Seamus Heaney, Ireland, Colonialism, Mythology.
The transformation of theory and discourse in gender issue: The endless quest for sexual identity from Virginia Woolf's a room of one's own to Jeanette Winterson's written on the body: Two extremes of opinion
Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own and Jeanette Winteson'sWritten on the Body are two masterpieces in feminist movement of which the former initiated the First Feminist Phase and the latter put an end to the current gender problem. Both being influential figures of their times, Virginia Woolf advises equal treatment for both sexes, that is only for male and female, while Jeanette Winterson proposes the deconstruction of all genders. The transformation in the theory of gender problem gained speed with the notions introduced by prominent gender theorists like Helene Cixous, Luce Irigaray, Elaine Showalter and Judith Butler. Referring to those theorists and their ideologies, this study aims to mirror the evolution that has taken place during all feminist phases and in what ways the discourses and theories evolved. For that purpose, both A Room of One's Own and Written on the Body have been analysed in depth to articulate the previous and current debates about the gender dilemma. In this vein, it can be articulated that the momentum of feminist movements has shifted from social rights and equality to more individual themes like reconstructing identity and gender. Key Words: Feminism, Gender Identity, Virginia Woolf, Jeanette Winterson, Genderlessness, Un-gendered Narrator
The theme of lack of communication and alienation in the Caretaker by Harold Pinter and The Zoo Story by Edward Allbee
The Theme of Lack of Communication and Alienation in The Caretaker by Harold Pinter and The Zoo Story by Edward Allbee
Adam Bede: The story of character formation
ABSTRACT: George Eliot lived in a period marked by rapid changes and radical ideas. She had the opportunity to witness change and question the dogmas of her time during her transformation from a village girl to an educated woman, and through getting acquainted with the influential intellectuals of the nineteenth century. In time, she formed her own philosophy against the rigidly defined codes of Victorianism, and she came believe in the prominence of reality in life and art. Hence, reality became the perfect media for her to depict the true picture of individual in society. For Eliot, the individual is a problematic, self-deceptive being: he/she is inclined to form a fictitious image of himself/herself and fake social relations which result in self-deception and insincerity, and which distort the natural flow of life. The solution for this problem, Eliot thinks, is to encounter reality through a tragic experience which teaches and brings maturity to the individual and to life itself. In Adam Bede, George Eliot depicts four flawed, escapist characters: Adam, Dinah, Hetty, and Arthur are, in their own ways, self-deceptive, ego-centred figures. Having already formed second personality traits, they are neither true to themselves nor to the society do they live in. In the end these personality traits cause the emergence of tragedy and suffering after which their lives turn to normal. However, wisdom comes too late: it comes after experiencing reality. self-deception, family, parentification, individual, society, maturity.
Female sexuality in three Jacobean witchcraft plays: Sophonisba, the Witch and the Witch of Edmonton
This study aims to explain the clear link between witchcraft and female sexuality with a special focus on the dramatic representation of the witch figure in three Jacobean witchcraft plays: John Marston's The Wonder of Women or The Tragedy of Sophonisba, Thomas Middleton's The Witch, and the collaborated work of William Rowley, Thomas Dekker and John Ford, entitled The Witch of Edmonton. Concerning the perception about woman as the weaker sex among the educated elite in the early modern period, these plays mirror the misogynistic attitude towards marginalized females as the devil's partners. The witch figure is presented as a sexually perverted female that transgresses the boundaries put by the male authorities. Perceived as a threat to male power and authority, the witch's uncontrollable nature and unruly sexual activities are reflected as the sources of her maleficium, which means to do harm by practising dark magic. With her dark magic and unruly behaviours, the witch acts against nature and God and so she becomes a heretic that overthrows the male authority. From this point of view, this thesis evaluates the witch figure that uses witchcraft as an expression of her insatiable sexuality, which threatens the male power in the mentioned plays. Erictho in Sophonisba, as a terrifying classical witch, represents the horror of female lust. She emasculates male power with her carnal lust and so weakens male authority in connection with her magical abilities. In The Witch, Hecate and her sister witches point the danger of sexually satisfied women and the perversion of sexual standards. They are sexually experienced and independent women; they also emasculate male power through their spells and charms. The last play, The Witch of Edmonton dramatizes the horror of the female body that is distorted and demonized through the body of Mother Sawyer. Her body is the cause of some mischiefs in the community and this unnatural body of the old witch is treated like an infection that contaminates malice as well as a sexual disorder in the Edmonton community. Key Words: witchcraft, female sexuality, a witch, Jacobean drama
Autobiographical framing of fiction in Kazuo Ishiguro's the remains of the day and Never Let Me Go
This thesis explores the fictional autobiographical frames in two novels by Kazuo Ishiguro: The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go. Both of these novels are framed as autobiographical accounts of their narrators; the first is a diary and the second is a memoir. While trying to understand how this quality informs character development in these novels, I trace how the narrative is situated within the referentiality-fictionality spectrum, as suggested by the critical discourse on autobiographical writing. As this variation between the "referential" and "fictional" in relation to the fictional universes of the novels is shaped around both the type of the autobiographical text and the plots of the novels, my analyses include criticism regarding the plot elements, the style of narration, and the form through which they are presented. I find that while in the Remains of the Day, Stevens's autobiographical endeavour opens him up to formerly unexplored affective possibilities and lead him to fictionalize a future, in Never Let Me Go, Kathy's narrative becomes more referential to her reality as explored in the novel, when compared to fictions she grew up creating with her group of friends.
Reading performativity, gender and the fragmentation of narrative voice in Mina Loy's texts and artworks
The work of Mina Loy, a unique and innovative modernist writer, artist, and feminist figure of the early twentieth century, poses various challenges for the reader, not only because of its unusual approach to the work of other modernists, the Futurists in particular, and its unique perspective on feminism, but also because of its multiple, shifting narrative voices and its idiosyncratic and fragmentary style. This study approaches Loy's textual and visual legacy from an interdisciplinary perspective, performatively engaging with its structural, semiotic and intertextual aspects to create and construct a narrative of the complex arguments it represents. The focus is on Loy's selected poetry and prose ("Lions' Jaws" [1919], "Feminist Manifesto" [1914], "Aphorisms on Futurism" [1914], and "Parturition" [1914]) as well as on some of her artworks, Househunting (1950), Christ on a Clothesline (1955-59) Ansikten [ca. 1910s] and Surreal Scene (1930); these are considered in terms of their intertextual relations to her other works as well as to works of her contemporaries that are thematically or visually analogous. The purpose is to rediscover and explore Loy's works in dialogue with contemporary authorial, feminist and modernist trajectories, and, against the critical tradition, to question and consider their biographical contexts (the assumptions made about Loy's personality and life experiences) not as reflections of psychological or historical realities, but as fictive elements of intertextuality. This study's implicit frames of reference therefore include conceptions of modern art (Marinetti, Bréton, de Chirico, Berger); aspects of gender theory, particularly performativity and maternity (Butler, Kristeva, Ettinger); and theoretical engagements with authorship (Barthes, Foucault), intertextuality (Riffaterre), structuralism and semiotics (Saussure, Peirce). Loy's texts shift not only between gender identities, but also between concepts of Futurism and Modernism; and these shifts and transformations are enacted stylistically through her use of fragmentation, interruptions of punctuation, and complex juxtapositions of words or images in the literary and artistic forms through which they are expressed: the poem, the aphorism, the manifesto, the assemblage, and the modernist and Surrealist painting. Loy's works thus engage with almost every avant-garde movement and genre of the early modernist era; and its mental and corporeal female representations are enacted not only thematically, but through theme, style and genre as well. Close semiotic analyses of the texts and artworks reveal their intertextual connections to each other and to other contemporary texts; through these connections, this study focuses on the construction of shifting voices of narrators hidden between signs, as well as on the ways these personas act and evolve throughout the texts. It explores how gender performativity and ambiguous structures of female identity run through these fictive narrative voices, and how ambiguous sexualities (from the androgynous to the feminine) shape Loy's narrators' mental and corporeal identities. These identities satirically fragment into different forms through argumentative personas, anagrammatical names, and an idiosyncratic iconography—on the one hand critiquing stereotypical female roles and manufactured consent, and on the other hand, questioning and displacing the male hegemony represented by Futurism by defining a new version of the "Futurist," and developing a broader, evolutionary feminist agenda for the corporeal, psychic, intellectual and artistic development of culture and society. In Loy's "Lions' Jaws," entanglements between visual and verbal images are investigated in their historical, structural, intertextual and performative aspects; the complex links between the narrators and their engagements with Futurism and feminism are traced through the fragmentary connections of the anagrammatical characters. "Feminist Manifesto" is considered in semiotic relation to two of Loy's artworks, Househunting and Christ on a Clothesline, with a focus on the visual and textual narrators' questioning and displacement of male hegemony and their critique of the contemporary feminist movement: the iconography of Househunting reveals how the visual narrator subverts the manufactured consent of stereotypical domestic roles through a representation of mental space, while Christ on a Clothesline represents the downfall of male hegemony by corporeally subverting the religious image. A chapter on Loy's fragmentary "Aphorisms on Futurism" rearticulates and semiotically links the aphorisms to reveal the dialogical nature of the narrative voice, in relation both to herself and with the implied readers: the "Aphorisms" argue for destroying and transcending retrospective aesthetic forms to construct new ones, and for attaining freedom of consciousness through shifting between Futurism and Modernism. The arguments brought out in these analyses are then developed through a detailed performative reading of Loy's poem, "Parturition," which is taken as representing three embodiments of labor: physical childbirth, artistic creation, and poetic production. In these representations, the narrators fragment into multiple identities—a Feminist-Futurist mother who resists the social domestication and classification of women, an artist who subverts the traditional aesthetic forms, and a creative poet who overthrows conventional language—and these identities undergo various transformations, eventually merging to construct new forms and achieve psychological and physical self-realization. The dissertation concludes with an exploration of semiotic threads and chains of signification in Loy's painting, Surreal Scene: the analysis performs a logic of linking and intertextuality between visual and textual narrators in the painting, and in the other works analyzed, as well as with other artworks of Loy's and of her contemporaries; this represents a first step towards developing an iconography of Loy's art. This study, through its performative interaction with the works in their structural, semiotic and intertextual aspects, provides an alternative to the currently widespread biographical-historical and psychological approaches to Loy, and opens a path for new, alternative constructions of "authorship" and meaning in modernism through the critical performance of reading. And through its focus on the evolutionary nature as well as the polyphonic structures of the narrators, it provides several starting-points for further intertextual studies on Loy's works as well as the works of other modernist and feminist artists and writers.
Alternative communication methods as resistance in Margaret Atwood's the Handmaid's Tale
The purpose of this thesis is to understand the effects of alternative methods of communication on the power dynamics between the oppressor and the oppressed in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. Within this framework, it analyses the ways the narrator tries to maintain individuality against the regime's silencing methods, and it explores the underground organization's strategies for active resistance. Although in the Red Centers, the Handmaids are indoctrinated through the regime's "mythologies" which sets regulations on their reproductive capacity, body movements, and daily language, this study tries to show that the resistance against oppression is alive in "trivial discourses" such as rumours, gossip and body language which may have a role in social change. The underground organization also maintains active resistance through "networking" and "grapevine", which can be interpreted as a "silent" rebellion that extends beyond the borders of Gilead, and to the next generation. This study also touches upon the possibility of the overthrowing of the regime through discussions of the concept of "utopian hope". The muted group's alternative methods of communication and solidarity become useful for both individual and collective resistance and increase the hope for liberation from the darkness of the patriarchal and religiously dogmatic Gilead regime
Freudian uncanny and the double in the Picture of Dorian Gray
This study focuses on Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray in terms of psychoanalytic elements that contribute to a better understanding of the characters. The main focal point is the protagonist Dorian Gray whose traumatic childhood results in an identity crisis leading him to suffer from a fragmented self. Lord Henry and Basil Hallward are examined in terms of their relation with Dorian. These two characters are treated as foil characters to each other. In a psychoanalytic context, Lord Henry and Basil are interpreted in this study as part of Dorian's psyche: Lord Henry representing his id which plays on Dorian's urges and impulses, and Basil Hallward representing the superego that reminds Dorian of the moral codes in the society and urges him to refrain from his unkind conduct towards others. In addition, the study deals with the uncanny elements in the novel; namely the attic and the portrait. Both are explained as instruments by which Dorian experiences the uncanny in a Freudian sense. It will be claimed that Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray can be considered as an example of the uncanny experience of the individual who is stuck between his inner desires and the pressure of the social norms, struggling not only physically but also mentally to achieve a balance between the two.
Graham Swift's Waterland as historiographic metafiction
This thesis aims to analyze Graham Swift's Waterland as postmodernist historical novel in the light of Linda Hutcheon's concept of "historiographic metafiction". Principally, the concept of historiographic metafiction suggests that history is a construction and cannot present facts objectively. In the light of these ideas, the study argues that Graham Swift's Waterland undermines history as a grand narrative through the main character Tom Crick, who is a history teacher and the only narrator in the novel. As a self-reflexive narrator, in a self-referential text, Tom Crick primarily blurs the definitions of history, story, reality, progress and fairy-tale. Furthermore, his paradoxical accounts on the relevance of historical facts create confusion in the reader. His distortion of reality through his stories as a means of redemption does not prove to be helpful except for himself. Thus, it is questioned by the present study in what ways Tom Crick is an unreliable narrator and a true historian, and shown that historical facts are not represented objectively in Swift's postmodern historical fiction.
Forster'ın Hindistan'a Bir Geçit ve Orwell'ın Burma Günleri adlı romanlarında imparatorluğun öksüzleri
This thesis aims to scrutinize the psychological impacts of British imperialism on both the colonizer and the colonized by referring to the two major characters, Dr. Aziz and John Flory that are the colonial subjects in E. M. Forster's A Passage to India (1924) and George Orwell's Burmese Days (1934) respectively. Despite starting as the obedient subjects of their mother country, they become other(s) and end up as displaced figures in their society. In fact, they both go through a process of identity formation that is analogous with Lacan's stages of psychological development. By experiencing the imaginary, the symbolic and the real orders, they attempt to make sense of their true self and endeavor to gain free subjectivity under the restrictive laws of the British Empire. At this point, the study will also benefit from the invaluable insights of the postcolonial critics such as Said and Bhabha, since as a school of criticism, postcolonialism is very much concerned with the identity problem of the colonial subjects. The first chapter of the thesis is devoted to the colonized figure, Dr. Aziz and his story of psychological development. The second chapter, on the other hand, deals with the colonizer figure, John Flory who experiences a similar process of personality formation. Finally, the conclusion of the thesis will demonstrate that both works lampoon British imperialism and its expansionist policies through these characters and reveal the indispensable and destructive impacts of this economic project on individuals' process of becoming free subjects. Keywords: George Orwell, Burmese Days, E.M. Forster, A Passage to India, Colonialism, Lacan
Consumerism and reflections of violence in Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club and James Graham Ballard's millennium people and kingdom come
Today, consumerism as a new life-style, propels societies into consumption, eroding the conventional social morality of societies, and the cultural and natural destruction caused by this consumption tolls the death knell for humanity. Consumerism puts the consumption culture in to the centre of civilization and social life, as the main activity for pleasure, creating phony perceptions of happiness and freedom. However, those who do not have adequate free time and financial sources for consumption are isolated in this consumer culture. People who are deprived of consumption opportunities gravitate towards violence, crime, pornography and addictions as alternatives to consumption. These inequalities, which cause conflicts between the social strata that are classified according to their product choice, not only pave way to social disintegration, but also to the annihilation of civilisation. The hazards of consumerism, which have been criticised by many thinkers such as Baudrillard, Badiou, Bocock, Bauman and Zizek, has also inspired many literary works of prominent writers in the world. The aim of this study is to scrutinize consumerism and the reflection of violence in the novels Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and Millennium People and Kingdom Come by James Graham Ballard. Due to the striking parallelism between Fight Club and Millennium People in terms of characterization and plot, these novels have been analyzed comparatively.
Transformation from misanthropy to philanthropy in Charles Dickens's Hard Times and Great Expectations
Charles Dickens was one of the most prominent authors of Victorian England and his novels, short stories, essays, poems, and plays remain popular to this day. Although he wrote many other works throughout his literary career, Dickens is mostly known as a novelist. In his novels, Dickens describes many different aspects of Victorian society and he sometimes makes social criticisms in his works.This thesis studies two of Dickens?s novels, Hard Times and Great Expectations, which are generally believed to be different in terms of their themes and subjects. While Hard Times depicts the destructive power of the industrial revolution and its impact on the people, Great Expectations recounts the story of an orphan who develops morally through his mistakes as he climbs the social ladder and becomes a gentleman. This study demonstrates that the two novels show similarities in terms of the moral lessons that Dickens aims to give his readers. In both novels, Dickens depicts the oppression of the lower class by the upper class. He finds the solution to this oppression in the transformation of the evil characters from misanthropy to philanthropy. At the end of the both novels, villain characters feel regretful about their misdeeds and they start to feel empathy towards the lower class. This transformation of Dickens?s characters in both novels also carries a message to the reader. Dickens?s moral solution to social corruption also aims to educate his readers. Dickens?s villain characters and their transformation to philanthropy draw a clear distinction between goodness and villainy. In both novels, villainy fails and goodness wins over.
I am not What I am: Iago as a diabolical manipulator in Othello
This thesis is arranged as an argument to show Iago?s close connections with the devil or Satan. There is consideration of the play as a whole, Iago, and his role in the play. The discussion is set against a background of Elizabethan notions of evil, and the personality and methods of the devil. According to these, a human may enter into a pact with the devil, even to the extent of becoming identified with the devil, and presenting us with a ?devil incarnate?. The focus of this work, however, is on a detailed presentation of Iago?s character, which is evident as much ? or more ? in his words and imagery as in his actions. In a play about marital grief, there is discussion of our villain?s sexuality, and the fact that this may provide clues to Iago?s motivations. Ultimately, these motivations are left unclear. In conclusion, the connection of Iago with the devil goes a long way to explain the symbolic and dramatic power of Othello. Especially in view of Shakespeare?s proven interest in the spirit world, it is argued that the model dominating his creation of Iago was the devil.
Configuration of alternative spaces through performative and nomadic acts in Doris Lessing's short fiction
Doris Lessing is a protean author of the twentieth century due to her experimental writing style and a diversity of issues, ranging from race and ethnicity to class and gender. The richness in the material and form of her writing can also be traced in how she values spaces in her fiction set in Africa and England: wild nature, cultivated settler lands and homesteads in the African continent as well as a variety of closed, open and transitory spaces in the city, gain importance with respect to human intervention. Her two collections of African stories – This Was the Old Chief's Country and The Sun Between Their Feet; two collections of stories set in Europe and England – To Room Nineteen: Collected Stories and The Temptation of Jack Orkney: Collected Stories; and finally, one collection of stories and sketches London Observed lend themselves to an analysis based on the relationship between space and gender. Within the framework of recent theories of space by Henri Lefebvre and Edward Soja, which are related to Judith Butler's and Rosi Braidotti's theories on performativity and nomadism, this dissertation discusses to what extent both genders, particularly women, help to constitute an alternative mode of thinking about private/closed, public/open and transitory spaces, and transform them into lived/social ones based on experience, appropriation and movement. For this purpose, in each chapter the stories in each collection are classified in terms of space and one narrative from that collection is analysed in detail. The variety of spaces in the stories – from the smallest unit to the largest scale – chosen for textual analyses mark at not only the physical parameters of space where everyday activities take place as well as the thoughts regarding social codes and norms that shape human behaviours and social relations, but also the possibilities of configuring these spaces in new ways through the characters' performative and nomadic acts. In addition, this dissertation also discusses the gradual change in the concept of home from one story to another. "The De Wets Come to Kloof Grange" depicts the appropriation of the private house of a family as a home-country-like space and its transformation into a social space for all inhabitants such as the children, the adolescents and the adults in "Getting off the Altitude". The stories set in England demonstrate how the meaning of home changes from a semi-open space in "A Woman on a Roof" to temporary spaces in "An Old Woman and Her Cat". Finally, transitory spaces like a taxi and a city are discussed in "Storms" from London Observed. Through these discussions space is revealed to be a fluid entity changing with social intervention. Keywords: Doris Lessing, Thirdspace, Social Space, Nomad, Gender Performativity
J. M. Coetzee's Foe: Giving voice to silenced Susan and Friday
J.M. Coetzee offers in Foe a questioning of the colonialist and patriarchal realities and their effects on individuals, fighting back against these constructed realities as a postmodernist, postcolonial and feminist questioning. Coetzee's Foe is written largely as a reworking of Robinson Crusoe with its deliberate aim of rejecting the conventional narrative form of Defoe's novel. Robinson Crusoe is accepted to be the progenitor colonialist novel written in the eighteenth century silencing the Other.Coetzee's novel tries to decompose the monologic discourse which denies the existence of other voicesby rewriting Defoe's well-known text which Coetzee's novel is in direct dialogue with using a marginalized female narrator, Susan Barton as a mouthpiece.The aim of this thesis is to study J.M. Coetzee's Foe as a postmodernist novel which problematizes the concept of representation and which gives voice to the silenced other by re-telling the story from the mouth of his female narrator Susan Barton and tongueless Friday.
Simulacra and hyperreality in Neil Gaiman's American Gods
Neil Gaiman's American Gods tells the story of many mythological figures from diverse ancient mythologies, who try to survive in the twenty-first century America. However, these old gods are gradually replaced by the new gods of the American society such as Television, Technology Boy, and Media. This thesis aims to scrutinize Gaiman's novel through French theorist Jean Baudrillard's theory of simulacra. Baudrillard asserts that the reality in our contemporary world has been replaced not just by mere copies, but by simulacra that have created their own realities; thus, this is the new reality, which is the hyperreality. By analyzing the protagonist Shadow Moon, the simulacrum of Baldur in Norse mythology, the antagonist Mr. Wednesday, the failed simulacrum of Odin in Norse mythology and other minor characters, some of who have transformed into simulacra whereas others just remained as copies, I will try to depict the fact that unless one is simulacrum, s/he cannot survive in America. Neil Gaiman's novel illustrates this struggle for the old gods to adapt to American values and recreate their own narratives instead of reliving the histories of their original versions. As an expatriate himself, Gaiman is no stranger to this process as a European living in America. He projects his experience as an expatriate onto his novel while he tells the struggle of European gods to fit in America. In the discussion on new gods, the characteristics of American society, such as consumerism, technology and rejection of history, will be handled with respect to Baudrillard's theory. Key Words: Neil Gaiman, Baudrillard, Simulacrum, Hyperreality, Norse Mythology.