Jane Austen sprinkles deaths throughout her novels as plot devices and character indicators, but she does not tackle death directly. Yet death pervades her novels, in a subtle yet brutal way, in the lives of her female characters. Austen reveals that death was the definition and the destiny of women; it was the driving force behind the social and economic constructs that ruled the eighteenth-century woman's life, manifested in language, literature, religion, art, and even in a woman's doubts about herself. In Northanger Abbey Catherine Morland discovers that women, like female characters in gothic texts, are written and rewritten by the men whose language dominates them. Catherine herself becomes an example of real gothic when she is silenced and her spirit murdered by Henry Tilney. Marianne Dashwood barely escapes the powerful male constructs of language and literature in Sense and Sensibility. Marianne finds that the literal, maternal, wordless language of women counts for nothing in the social world, where patriarchal,figurative language rules, and in her attempt to channel her literal language into the social language of sensibility, she is placed in a position of more deadly nothingness, cast by society as a scorned woman and expected to die. Fanny Price in Mansfield Park is sacrificed as Eve, but in her death-like existence and in her rise to success she echoes Christ, who is ultimately a maternal figure that encapsulates the knowledge of the goddess, the knowledge that from death will come life. Emma Woodhouse in Emma discovers that her perfection, sanctioned by artistic standards, is really a means by which society eases its fears about death by projecting death onto women as a beautiful ideal. In Persuasion, Anne Elliotfindsthat women endure death while men struggle against it, and this endurance requires more courage than most men possess or understand. Austen's novels expose the undercurrent of death in women's lives, yet hidden in her heroines is the maternal power of women—the power to bear children, to bear language and culture, to bear both life and death.

Both Thoreau and Rawlings call attention to humanity's need to expand its perceptions and interpretations of what it means to be a part of a community in Walden and Cross Creek, respectively. Building on the established idea of what it means to be incorporated into a human community, each author also implores his or her readers to extend the perceived boundaries of what comprises a "community" to include the natural world. Ultimately, both texts point to the need for the establishment of what Aldo Leopold calls a land ethic, which requires the re-drawing of communal boundaries to include the land with man as a citizen rather than a conqueror of Nature. Thoreau and Rawlings demonstrate how an individual can start to expand his or her conception of community to move closer to Leopold's ideal by recounting the different experiences they have with human society and nature while living at Walden Pond and in Cross Creek, Florida. However, each author uses different approaches. Thoreau concentrates primarily on reflecting upon improving his individual self in order to eventually improve his Concord community. Rawlings, on the other hand, makes a greater effort to reflect upon her interactions with the people of Cross Creek in addition to her interactions with Nature in order to strengthen her bonds with these things. Such a difference causes Rawlings to be read as presenting a re-vision of Thoreau's ideas about the relationship between humankind, one's community, and Nature. While the kinds of experiences Thoreau and Rawlings encounter might be different, in the end it is their emphasis on the importance of an individual's relationship to the community-one that includes both humans and Nature-that resonates with readers. / by Julianne Curran. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Duzentos anos após seu falecimento, as obras de Jane Austen ainda ecoam nas pessoas. Elas têm sido adaptadas das formas mais variadas, nas mais diferente mídias. Os Diários de Lizzie Bennet é um projeto transmidiático que transpõe o romance Orgulho e Preconceito (1813) para uma vídeo-série veiculada no YouTube de 2012 a 2013 de forma serializada. Esta pesquisa analisa de que forma temas que influenciam a vida das mulheres, como casamento, classe social e dinheiro, foram transpostos do período regencial inglês para a Califórnia-EUA do século vinte-um. Esta análise considera que ambas as obras são compostas por duas camadas de significado: a primeira é constituída pela comédia romântica que dialoga com a cultura popular; a segunda é mais profunda, através da qual a crítica social é revelada. No que tange ao referencial teórico, a relação entre a noção de subjetividade na virada do século dezenove e a expansão da vida privada na esfera pública no século vinte-um, conforme Jon Dovey (2000), é base para compreender como a estrutura de ambas as narrativas contribui na produção de significado. As discussões sobre feminismo e pós-feminismo na cultura popular de Angela McRobbie (2009) e Imelda Whelean (2010) tornam possível a observação da construção dos temas. Em Orgulho e Preconceito, as instituições sociais estabelecidas não são amplamente questionadas. Em vez disso, a composição da subjetividade dos personagens, especialmente das mulheres, revela a crítica a elementos sociais da época. Os Diários de Lizzie Bennet, a seu turno, desafiam as representações da mulher provenientes da cultura popular pós-feminista. A análise da adaptação revela que as mulheres ainda estão restritas a determinados papéis sociais assim como aquelas situadas no romance. Ainda há a necessidade de se encontrar equilíbrio. / Two hundred years after her demise, Jane Austen’s works still resonate with people. They have been adapted in numerous ways through different media. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is a transmedia project, which transposes the novel Pride and Prejudice (1813) to a videoblog series aired on YouTube from 2012 to 2013 in a serialised mode. This investigation analyses the ways issues concerning the lives of women, such as marriage, money and social class, were adapted from Regency England to twenty-first century California-USA. The analysis understands both works as consisting of two layers of meaning: a romantic comedy layer which converses with popular culture, and a deeper one through which social criticism is revealed. In theoretical terms, the relationship between the notion of subjectivity in the turn of nineteenth century and the spread of private life into the public sphere in the twenty-first century, as proposed by Jon Dovey (2000), informs the analysis of the structural elements of both narratives which contribute to the production of meaning. The discussions on feminism and post-feminism in popular culture by Angela McRobbie (2009) and Imelda Whelehan (2010) make it possible to observe the construction of the themes. In Pride and Prejudice, the established social institutions are not overtly questioned. Instead, it is the composition of the characters’ subjectivities, especially those of women, which reveals criticism on the social context of the time. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, for its part, challenges the established representations of women as informed by postfeminist popular culture. In the end, it seems to propose that women are, in fact, still restrained by social roles, just as the ones in the novel are. There is yet a need to find balance.

This dissertation demonstrates how the rise of historical criticism in Germany transformed practices of reading, writing, and public address in the related fields of classicism and biblical criticism in a transnational context. In the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, writers on both sides of the Atlantic rendered these practices foundational to the goals of self-formation, cultural and spiritual renewal, and educational reform. In this process, Germaine de Staël's De l'Allemagne (1814) played a key role in disseminating new historically informed modes of teaching, preaching, translating, and reconstructing secular and religious texts among Transcendentalists. I show that her cultural study epitomizes crucial characteristics and functions of the historically informed textual practices that Johann Gottfried Herder's works articulated paradigmatically in Germany and which we find refracted in reviews, addresses, essays, and translations by many Antebellum American scholars, especially Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Although the wilderness preservation movement has emerged as a political force relatively recently, man's desire for retreat and renewal in untamed wilderness environments has a rich history in North America. Using contemporary guidetooks, diaries and journals, this study examines the early nineteenth century "Fashionable Tour" from New York City to Niagara Falls and combines description of the most important "natural wonders" en route with an analysis of their cultural meaning and value. There are two major themes. (1) Although pompous religiousness of language suggests conventional religiosity, pilgrims were overwhelmed with feelings of reverence, awe and wonder when face to face with natural wonders. (2) The extravagance of the New World's natural wonders influenced American and European images of the American experiment. Romanticism and Scottish Common Sense Realism are the intellectual and aesthetic background for this study. After some preliminary observations and definitions, I review the widespread importance of these two movements in early America and their points of contact with American sensibilities. Significant iconological moments in the lives of three leading Americans -- John Bartram, Samuel Mitchill and Timothy Dwight -- who donned their tourist habits to visit the Catskill Mountains, illustrate both the diversity of these influences and the beginnings of the Fashionable Tour. Analysis of the tour itself begins with chapter three. From their steamboat, tourists divided the Hudson River Valley into five "reaches" symbolizing grandeur (the Palisades), repose (Tappan Sea), sublimity (the Highlands), picturesqueness (the Hillsides) and beauty (the Catskills). In the first four reaches (chapter 3), the sublime Highlands dominate the landscape. But the "view from the top'' and Kaaterskill Falls at Pine Orchard in the Catskills were the most significant natural wonders in the Hudson Valley. Chapter five introduces Part II: West to Niagara Falls. The overwhelming effect of ongoing European settlement on the wilderness -- on flora, fauna and native Americans -- differentiates the unpredictable trip west from the predictable trip north. At Albany, tourists left their luxurious steamboats and transferred to stagecoaches and/or canalboats. Cohoes Falls, Little Falls and especially Trenton Falls, N. P. Willis' "Rural Resort," highlight the journey from Albany to Utica and suggest greater wonders to come. Images of the wilderness west of Utica comprise chapter seven. "Soft" pastoral landscapes, as in the Finger Lakes Region, did not arouse the intense response that major wonders such as the "view from the top" and Trenton Falls did. Niagara Falls was the climax and conclusion of the pilgrimage. The "greatest natural wonder" known and accessible to early nineteenth century tourists, Niagara elicited a torrent of enthusiasm and verbiage. After a detailed examination of tourist expectations and anticipations, descriptions and dreams, I focus specifically on the religious sentimentality which laced images of Niagara Falls. Pilgrims, responding with awe and protestations of "indescribableness," found evidence to support their popular religiosity. The trip from New York to Niagara was not just a relaxed holiday, but a highly focussed pilgrimage for persons seeking mystery and majesty in the sublime and the beautiful. Niagara, and to a lesser extent the other natural wonders; along the Hudson and across New York State, became religious shrines in early nineteenth century America.

The nineteenth century in Germany posed a repressive environment for-women as they were defined as inferior to men and forced into the subservient roles of housewives and mothers. This thesis examines the portrayal of femininity in three contemporary writers of the period, Louise Aston, Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer and Louise von Francois. The first chapter endeavors to situate the writers in their social environment. It examines the mechanics that supported the patriarchal system, such as socializing women through education and categorizing them as inferior to justify and support their traditional roles. Chapters two, three, and four respectively deal with each author, presenting an introduction to their particular conditions and a brief summary of their lives. Following this, the individual tests are analyzed for their portrayal of femininity. These writers' visions of femininity differ greatly. Aston, whose career spanned the revolution of 1848, openly promotes liberal-humanist ideas and advocates the emancipation of women. Her heroines bear male an female traits and rise to positions of power and leadership. Birch-Pfeiffer's women are strong and independent. She frequently reverses the traditional gender roles. However, she upholds the moral code of her time, including the idea of the woman as exemplar of chastity and virtue . Francois idealizes the traditional role of women. However, she elevates that role by extolling motherhood and marital fidelity as supreme virtues. Despite these differences, there are similarities. All three writers offer an alternative picture of femininity despite this adherence, to a greater or lesser degree, to the traditional values of their time. In addition, they all criticize the patriarchal structures of society, revealing their discontent more or less openly. Finally, their portrayal of femininity was in each case based on their particular circumstances of the individual writers lives. Aston exploited the revolutionary times to present a strong claim for female emancipation; Birch- Pfeiffer, in need o f money, adapted strongly to the taste of her audience, finding in turn, interested recipients for her ideas; and Francois, a very private and proud person, chose to upgrade the women's role within the tradition, in attempt to avoid public attention. Within their circumstances, each one of the authors presented the best possible version of femininity as an alternative to traditional values.

As obras de Jane Austen são extremamente populares tanto entre leitores comuns e estudiosos de literatura desde a época em que foram publicados, no início do século XIX até os dias de hoje. Tamanha popularidade foi responsável por inúmeras obras de arte, especialmente na literatura e no cinema, que foram ou implicitamente ou explicitamente influenciados pela obra de Austen. Um de seus romances mais adaptados é Orgulho e Preconceito, talvez seu romance mais lido, estudado e adaptado. Um dos motivos para tal apreciação é provavelmente resultado dos valores morais que Jane Austen expõe em seus romances. Estes valores, mesmo duzentos anos mais tarde, permanecem importantes e de grande valor, especialmente na era pós-moderna, quando o excesso de liberdade e alternativas parecem deixar a humanidade mais desprovida de um suporte seguro na vida. Esta é a razão que permite um fã de Austen encontrar na religião um possível diálogo, onde, em um mundo cheio de incertezas, certos códigos morais são as certezas a que alguém pode se segurar. Em 2003, Andrew Black dirigiu o filme Pride and Prejudice: a latter-day comedy1, uma transposição moderna do romance de Austen, no qual os personagens vão à igreja e estudam em uma universidade religiosa. Meu trabalho busca estabelecer uma relação entre o livro de Jane Austen, o filme de Andrew Black e as questões sobre moralidade e religião, e como o romance e o filme estabelecem uma conexão não apenas em seus elementos de ficção como personagens e enredo, mas principalmente no que diz respeito a uma das possíveis mensagens finais em ambas obras. / The works of Jane Austen are extremely popular both among average readers and literature scholars from the time they were published, in the early 19th century until today. Such popularity has been responsible for innumerous works of art, especially in literature and cinema, that were either implicitly or explicitly influenced by Austen’s work. One of her most adapted novels is the 1812 novel Pride and Prejudice, which is perhaps her most read, studied and adapted novel. One of the reasons for such appraisal has probably to do with the moral values Jane Austen exposes in her novels. Those values, even two hundred years later, remain important and of great worth, especially in the postmodern era, when the excess of freedom and alternatives seems to make humanity more deprived of a secure ground in life. This is the reason that allows an Austen fan to find in religion a possible dialogue, where, in a world full of uncertainties, some moral codes are the certainties one can hold onto. In 2003, Andrew Black directed a movie entitled Pride and Prejudice: a latter-day comedy, a transposition of Austen’s novel to a modern setting, where the characters are themselves churchgoers and students at a religious university. My work is aimed at establishing a connection between Jane Austen’s novel, Andrew Black’s movie and the issue of morality and religion, and how the novel and movie establish a connection not only in terms of fictional elements such as characters and plot, but mainly in regards to one of the possible final messages in both works.

O presente trabalho explora a interdisciplinaridade ao analisar as heroínas de Jane Eyre de Charlotte Brontë e Pride and Prejudice de Jane Austen, bem como suas respectivas recriações em adaptações para o cinema e para a televisão. Evidenciando as retomadas dos romances para as mídias cinematográfica e televisiva, a pesquisa perpassou o olhar por filmes e seriados de 1934 a 2011, porém o estudo faz um recorte e analisa dois filmes e duas minisséries, entre outras, que recriam as personagens principais, tendo em vista a proximidade temporal das produções e o gosto pessoal da investigadora desta pesquisa. As protagonistas Jane Eyre e Elizabeth Bennet constituem-se em figuras femininas e literárias marcantes que continuam a viver no imaginário tanto do público leitor quanto do espectador, bem como são fontes de estudos da academia e de fruição em geral, reunindo interessados e admiradores sem restrições. Desta forma, o foco repousa nos romances, na minissérie Jane Eyre, de 2006, da diretora Susanna White; no filme homônimo, de 2011, do diretor Cary Fukunaga; na minissérie Pride and Prejudice, de 1995, de Simon Lang; e no filme de 2005, sob a direção de Joe Wright. Esta investigação lança um olhar, em um primeiro momento, ao interesse dirigido à busca dos textos das autoras como material para adaptações, focando as protagonistas como o cerne de tais retomadas. Além disso, neste trabalho investigativo, se realiza uma leitura crítica particular dos romances, dos filmes e dos seriados. Não se buscam tanto os pontos de contato e de afastamento entre as heroínas e suas respectivas recriações ou entre as mídias envolvidas quanto se procuram os elementos denotadores dos efeitos na leitora e na espectadora personificadas na autora da pesquisa em relação às construções das personagens principais, bem como no que concerne às suas recriações em imagens na cultura ocidental do século XX e XXI. Na tentativa de iluminar com maior profundidade a permanência das heroínas por meio das narrativas tanto literárias quanto fílmicas e televisivas ao longo do tempo, o presente exame se debruça sobre a relação entre leitor e romance, bem como entre espectador, filme e seriado. A abordagem focaliza, desta forma, na esteira do pensamento de Iser, que se baseou nos postulados de Ingarden; a questão dos espaços vazios. A projeção do preenchimento dos vazios do texto dialoga, diretamente, com a mídia fílmica, visto que o espectador, entendido como ser ativo, necessita, também, contrabalançar possíveis lacunas. Num segundo momento, o estudo se dirige propriamente à caracterização e à apreensão do que compõe Jane Eyre e Elizabeth Bennet, tanto as personagens dos romances quanto as recriações nos filmes e nas minisséries componentes do corpus desta pesquisa. Ao almejar a compreensão das nuances que formam as personalidades das heroínas, o que é determinante em suas ações, a análise contempla elementos que representam papéis marcantes para se conhecer as particularidades componentes das protagonistas. Em terceiro lugar, o enfoque passa a ser o contexto, em suas variadas acepções, tais como social, comportamental e, mesmo, geográfico, a serviço do entendimento de quem são essas heroínas, tendo em vista que o espaço que as envolve é crucial na revelação do que as torna ímpares. Contando com excertos e fragmentos retirados das seis narrativas, examina-se as facetas de comportamento que as autoras imprimem em seus textos para se possam distinguir os recursos que os diretores utilizam, juntamente com suas equipes, nas recriações, na cultura ocidental, das protagonistas dentro de cenários que as marcam em cada uma das narrativas. Assim, busca-se a essência do que as tornam referenciais para leitores e espectadores. / The present study explores interdisciplinarity by analyzing the heroines of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, as well as their respective recreations in cinema and television adaptations. Evincing the transit of novels to cinema and television media, the study looked at films and series from 1934 to 2011, focusing, however, on two films and two miniseries, among others, that recreate the main characters, in view of the temporal proximity of the productions and the personal taste of the researcher of this study. The protagonists Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Bennet are remarkable literary female figures who continue to live in the minds of both the reader and the spectator, and are sources for academic studies and general enjoyment. Thus, the focus lies on the novels; on the 2006 miniseries Jane Eyre, directed by Susanna White; on the 2011 film with the same title, directed by Cary Fukunaga; on the 1995 miniseries Pride and Prejudice, by Simon Lang; and on the 2005 film, directed by Joe Wright. Firstly, this study focuses on the interest for the works of the authors as materials for adaptations, focusing on the protagonists as the center of such adaptations. Furthermore, a particular critical reading of the novels, the films and the series is carried out, seeking not so much the contact and distance points between the heroines and their respective recreations, or between the media involved, but seeking the elements that show the effects on the reader and spectator, personified here in the author of this research, concerning the constructions of the main characters, as well as with regard to their recreations in images to the western culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In an attempt to shed light on the permanence of the heroines through both literary and filmic narratives over time, the research looks at the relationship between reader and novel, as well as between spectator and film and series. The approach focuses, therefore, in the light of Iser’s thought, which was based on the postulates of Ingarden, on the issue of blank spaces. The projection of filling in the empty spaces of the text are directly convergent to reading/interpreting filmic media, since the viewer, seen as an active being, also needs to counterbalance possible gaps. Secondly, the study addresses the characterization and the understanding of what comprises Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Bennet in the novels and in the films and miniseries adaptations which are part of the corpus of this research. By trying to understand the nuances that form and individualize the personalities of the heroines, which is decisive in their actions, the analysis includes elements that represent roles that are significant to know the particularities of the protagonists. Thirdly, the focus shifts to the context in its many traits, such as social, behavioral, and even geographical, in order to understand who these heroines are, considering that the space that surrounds them is crucial in the revelation of what makes them unique. Relying on excerpts and fragments taken from the six narratives, the facets of behavior that the authors impress in their texts are examined to distinguish the resources that the directors and their teams use in the recreations, for the contemporary western culture, of the protagonists in the scenarios that mark them in each of the narratives. Thus, the aim is the search for the essence of what makes them an updated reference for readers and spectators.

Ill health, accident and death are themes common to all of Jane Austen's novels. Some illnesses are physical, whereas some of her heroines experience excessive psychological, emotional and spiritual traumas. These references are too numerous to be either coincidental, glossed over or ignored. Austen expressed an interest in the mind/body relationship, believing that illness could be brought upon in certain personalities by the sufferer herself, and it seems that she might have held theories similar to those advocated by Mary Wollstonecraft in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and even have anticipated those on feminine hysteria, and the effects of unconscious motives on behaviour, which were advanced by Freud in works such as The Interpretation of Dreams. This study examines Austen's novels, and the origin and purpose of physical and psychological illness in these, and looks at how Austen uses illness, accident and death, and more particularly how their roles progressively change and develop. For Austen's handling of these common issues appears to vary and to develop in line with the order of composition of her novels. She places increasing emphasis on them, not just to further plot, but also to reflect character change and development. Many of the parents or guardians of Austen's heroines are inadequate. And so Austen's heroines are often deprived of commendable models, left to find their own way, alone and in need of emotional support, to confront their youthful excesses, to work their way through these and to find their own destiny despite their handicaps. Self-improvement is neither pleasant nor easy, especially where one is young, inexperienced and alone. And, where heroines exhibit unhealthy or excessive interests in anything that diverts them from their paths of virtue or usefulness, the correction may frequently be painful. Thus most of the novels are, to a greater or lesser degree, filled with references to both physical and psychological ill health. This thesis examines how Austen used these illnesses, accidents and deaths in the various novels, both in the development of plot, as well as in the development of the character of the heroine in each instance. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-03-24Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:54:41Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 dias_ep_me_fran.pdf: 2067726 bytes, checksum: d46009ed43d04f6dfb71c5b9de1dd377 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Através desta pesquisa, buscou-se realizar uma análise da concepção de democracia desenvolvida pelo intelectual argentino Esteban Echeverría, utilizando como fonte principal um manifesto político publicado em 1839 com o título de Código o Declaración de los Principios que Constituyen la Creencia Social de la República Argentina. Sua segunda edição, publicada em 1846, recebeu o nome pelo qual ficou mais conhecido, Dogma Socialista de la Asociación de Mayo ou simplesmente Dogma Socialista. Este manifesto traz os princípios políticos referentes ao pensamento democrático do autor e dos integrantes de seu grupo, a “geração de 1837”. As concepções deste autor foram analisadas em uma perspectiva de compreensão das estruturas de sociabilidade de suas idéias, ou seja, pretendeu-se contextualizá-las no processo de circulação de um ideário político comum ao referido grupo. Todos esses elementos estão relacionados ao contexto político, social e cultural do início do século XIX na América, mais especificamente na Argentina, em meio aos debates e lutas do período pós-independência. / Through this research, we attempted to perform an analysis of the intellectual conception of democracy developed by Argentine Esteban Echeverría, using as a main source political manifest published in 1839 under the title Código o Declaración de los Princípios que Constituyen la Creencia Social de la República Argentina. His second edition, published in 1846, received the name which he became best known, Dogma Socialista de la Associación de Mayo or just Dogma Socialista. This manifest has the political principles for the democratic thinking of the author and members of his group, the “generation of 1837”. The conceptions of his author have been analyzed from the perspective of understanding the structures of sociability from their ideas, or were intended to contextualize them in the progress of circulation of a common political ideal to the group. All these elements are related to political, social and cultural life of early nineteenth century in America, specifically Argentine, amid the debates and struggles of the post-independence period.