The object of this thesis is to analyse the sources, expression and consequences of the nihilism which appears in the last decades of the nineteenth century in France, as this nihilism is mirrored in the literature of the time. Chapter I outlines the subject and defines the terms used. Chapters II and III discuss the philosophical evolution which lies behind this nihilism and examine the role of scientific developments - in particular the impact of the ideas of Darwin. The decline of belief in the various 'absolutes' of the earlier nineteenth century is stressed - amongst them the belief in 'Nature' and faith in ‘Science- - along with the metaphysical ‘void’ which ensued. Chapter – IV examines with the vague and ambiguous 'pessimism' of the literary and intellectual youth of France in the 1880's and 1890's and the part played by Schopenhauer in its dissemination - showing that the term 'pessimism' refers to, amongst other things, a view of the 'absurdity’·of existence and of the non-justification of all values, and that the vogue of Schopenhauer’s philosophy owes much to its apparent confirmation of many of the conclusions of contemporary science. Chapter V analyses the 'idealism' of many of the symbolists and its supposed sources in Schopenhauer. It shows how the former tends to become a nihilistic solipsism, and, the ambiguous role played by the 'anti-positivist reaction’and 'idealist revival' of these years. Chapter VI explores the political and social factors Which underlie and help to explain the vogue of this 'idealism' - the profound sense of alienation or separation from the values of the bourgeois world around them felt by many young writers and intellectuals towards the end of the nineteenth century. It examines the way in which this sense of alienation contributes to the nihilism of these years, and the various ways in which it finds expression. The following four cchapters analyse the elements of nihilism in the work of four writers – Jean Lahor, Jules Laforgue, Maurice Barrès and Alfred Jarry -, all of whom, despite their apparent diversity, reveal the influence of some or all of the factors discussed in the previous five chapters. All four are considered here not from a 'literary' point of view, but as intellectuals reacting to certain ideas and situations. The exact sources and nature of the nihilism of each is explored, and the attempts of Lahor, Laforgue and Barrès to struggle against and to overcome this nihilism - all with only partial success - are stressed, as is also Jarry's resolute acceptance of this nihilism and its systematisation in his . 'science of pataphysics. A penultimate chapter is devoted to an analysis of four works by other authors - Huysmans' A rebours, Villlers de l'Isle-Adam's Axël, Bourget's Le Disciple and Claudel’s Tête d'Or - all of which reveal various facets of the nihilism of these years. The concluding chapter outlines the pattern which has emerged from these detailed analyses, and stresses the significance of the nihilism studied as well as certain consequences of the reaction to it - amongst them the rise of a widespread anti-intellectualism and anti-rationalism, the growth of various forms of an 'As if' philosophy, and the attempt to create new 'myths' or 'fictions' which will again provide a source of meaning and values for human existence. Finally, it indicates briefly the relationship between the nihilism studied in this thesis and that of the twentieth century.

This thesis begins with an examination of the religious thought of Romain Rolland, showing how he derived an ethic of human solidarity that is fundamental to his later theorising about society and politics. The main sources of Rolland's ethic are indicated, and an attempt is made to set it in the context of modern French philosophy. Having established this base, the thesis goes on to examine chronologically the development of Holland's thought about politics, having as its central premise the notion that it is Rolland's search for a political system which would give full expression to his ideal of human solidarity that leads him towards various types of politics in turn. Several phases are distinguished in this evolution, starting with a period of vacillation between largely unformulated liberal beliefs and a violent, authoritarian style of politics, at the beginning of Rolland's adult life. We then take up his first involvement with socialism in the mid-1890's, his failure to elaborate a meaningful type of socialism in the context of his day, and his gravitation towards Darwinian and similar types of historical-political theorising; this phase culminates in the period of intense activity represented by Le Théâtre de la Révolution, coinciding with the Dreyfus case. Chapters V and VI deal with the period prior to 1914, dominated by Rolland's search for an 'internationalist' or European style of politics, and his analyses of national cultures and life-styles in Jean-Christophe: it is argued that this marks to some extent a regression from his previous socialistic preoccupations. Chapter VII shows Rolland's change of attitude during World War I, and his return to the conviction that social change was an absolute necessity in Europe. The next two chapters analyse Rolland's exploration of possible political bases for such a change, including such alternatives as Wilsonian internationalism, Gandhian non-violent protest and, eventually, Soviet Communism which, according to this thesis, Rolland accepted with slight reserve. The final chapter is retrospective, and aims to show how at key moments in Rolland's life, his artistic conception and execution was crucially shaped, if not determined by his political preoccupations. At all stages great attention is paid to the question of Rolland's intellectual sources and to putting his political thought firmly into the social and intellectual context of its day, rather than attempting to see it as an isolated phenomenon. To this end, numerous historical analyses and comparisons with contemporary figures are made.

This thesis is conceived as a general study of Flaubert's major works and as an assessment of recent critical approaches to them. Chapter 1 is an extensive evaluation of Sartre's L'Idiot de la famille, for which I claim the right to serious attention, before summarising its method and its argument that Flaubert's negative relationship to language becomes a positive one to style. This is set against Flaubert's own exposition, in both letters and works, of the problems of language and expression in the personal and artistic contexts. I show finally how other critics, in a very different perspective, have arrived at remarkably similar conclusions about Flaubert's concern for language as an opaque, material entity. Chapter 2 argues that Flaubert's aesthetic aims are equally served by the building of an illusion, i.e. that he does not undermine the idea of the novel as representation. The journey to the East is indicated as the turning point in the emergence of an aesthetic ideal combining stupidity, reverie and the aesthetic attitude to the world and to language. An examination of the formal organization of Flaubert's representations centres on the relationship between discourse and récit, with reassessment of such problems as impersonality, irony and point of view. A discussion of repetition leads to a consideration of the modernity of auto-representation. Within this formal perspective the last chapter argues against the common modern belief in Flaubert’s deconstruction of all stable meaning, reinstating the organizing function of character as a centre of value. Inarticulate and stupid characters, the traditional focus of Anglo-Saxon attacks on Flaubert’s lack of moral complexity, are shown to have privileged status in relation to vital aspects of Flaubert's aesthetic as established jn the first two chapters. A correct “moral” reading of the story will therefore have nothing do with an attitude to real life, but will depend upon awareness of the work's formal intentions.

in the follovina pages I have set out to discover what English critics of the nineteenth century thought of the works of Victor Hugo* It has not been my intention to study the extent to which the general public of the period were acquainted with his works either directly or through the medium of translations but to confine myself to an enquiry into the reactions of the more cultivated minds of the century to the writings of the great Frenchman. Indeed it would be futile to consider the influence of the works of Hugo on the English public generally, during the nineteenth century for they had none. The Poetical works were in many cases not made available to them until years after their original publications and even then only a small minority would be able to read them. There were some translations of the poems, e.g. Reynold's "Songs of Twilight" ("Les Chants du Crepuscule") but the translations were Inevitably but a poor shadow of the original. There were several adaptations of the plays but as I have shown in a previous thesis "Victor Hugo on the English Stage, most of them bore little resemblance except in plot to the original work., In rmany cases the public did not even know nor were they always told, that the piece was founded on a drama by Hugo. The novels, of course were much more widely read by the general public and numerous translations were made, but in most instances English versions were reduced to an exalting story the ethical and Sociological purpose of the work being forgotten The works of Hugo were however read and studied by a large number of eminent English critics of the nineteenth century, Numerous quotations will be found from the articles of such men as H. Southerns, G. Moir, G.H. Lewes, J.H. McCarthy, G. Colvin, A.C. Swinburne, E. Dowden, J. Morley, R.L. Stevenson, Roden Noel, F.W.H. Myers, Matthew Arnold, W.H. Pollock, G. Saintsbury, C. Vaughan, W.E. Henley, Mrs Oliphant, G.B. Smith, J. Cappon, P.T. Marzials, R. Buchanan, J. Forster and J.P. Nichol. These men among others made a definite attempt to evaluate the works of Hugo, and their opinions are worth studying as giving a clue to 'the attitude adopted by the more enlightened. literary minds of the century towards the work of Hugo This I have attempted to do, and in doing It Ihave incorporated into the text the exact words of the critics in the form of quotations in the belief that this is the best way of presenting a true and clear picture of English opinions of Hug's works during the period under survey. In the Preface to her book "English opinions of French Poets (1660,. 1750)" in which she sets out to do in a general way for the late seventeen and early eighteenth centuries what I have tried to do in a more particular way for the nineteenth. Miss R.H H Wollstein writes as follows: It is the judgment of this time that is the subject of our study and the Individual opinions that form it must be left to speak for themselves, I have therefore collected such opinions as are Important for our purpose*" This seems to me to be the most scientific method in dealing with the subject, and absolves the writer from any possible charge of tampering with the evidence. In order to make the narrative more continuous and to avoid breaks in the thread of the argument It ls sometimes tempting to state ones conclusions and to leave the reader to sift the evidence for himself. I have sedulously avoided doing this In the belief that in a work of this kind accuracy Is of the utmost importance* The method I have adopted in treating the subject Is to take each of the works of Hugo, poetry, drama, novels, miscellaneous prose works, and to study the reactions of the critics to each separate work drawing together in a final chapter the conclusions to which these separate studies have brought me. In presenting the material I have usually preferred to study each facet of the problem in turn stating one side of the case before proceeding to a consideration of the other. I have thus brought together all the unfavourable criticism of a work before presenting the favourable criticisms. In this way I believe a better picture can be drawn of the general reactions. to the works. In the case of the smaller works where the amount of evidence is restricted, I have sometimes used the chronological method as being the most satisfactory. As the present work purports to be a study of Hugo in the light of English criticism and opinion I have taken no account of the many French critics who during the nineteenth century, contributed articles on Hugo to English journals. One of tha first Critics to introduce Hugo to the English was Stendhal in the "London and "New Monthly' magazines. Other French critics whose names will not be found in the present survey are Gabriel Honods Jules Janin, D. Nisards, Camille Barrero, H. Ceard, Paul Bourget Their opinions are Interesting especially those of Stendhal who gave Hugo a very unfavourable start in England, but do not fall within the scope of the present works.

This thesis examines representations of the ‘métisse’ in nineteenth-century metropolitan French literature to determine the figure’s function and significance in the texts that display her and the larger society that imagines her. By ‘métisse’, I refer specifically to a woman of ‘black’ and ‘white’ ‘racial’ mixture whose identity, in the context of the texts that figure her, both legitimates and deconstructs distinct and discrete ‘racial’ identity. As such, she is a useful figure through which to investigate and unpack conceptions of ‘race’. I will suggest that her innate performative ability – a product of her deceptively white exterior – demonstrates the discursive nature of identity that can be seen as constructed and parodied rather than as a simple ontological category. I use the term ‘tenebrous’ to describe the ‘métisse’ because it conjoins the two constitutive aspects of her signification – her ambiguity and her colour. Her fundamentally ambiguous identity is crucial to her figuration as an erotic and dangerous femme fatale. Unknowable and protean, she attracts and simultaneously disconcerts or terrifies her prey. Concurrently, the term ‘tenebrous’ highlights the explicit colouring of her body by all of the authors who imagine her so as to mark her as identifiably different, and to explain her essential bestial, primitive, and dangerous sexuality. This thesis locates the ‘métisse’ at the crossroads of discourses of race, class, gender, and sexuality. In an era when fears of personal and social degeneracy and decline were capturing the collective imagination, the ‘métisse’, as a figure of frightening alterity and deceptive similitude, embodies deviancy. Primarily portrayed as a natural courtesan due to her essential yet hidden ‘black’ blood, the ‘métisse’ attracts ‘white’ men with her seductive body, but her malign sexuality corrupts, dilutes, or kills them. Associated with the working-class, the prostitute, the criminal, and the savage, the ‘métisse’ fits into a larger discourse that seeks to postulate the normative identity of ‘white’, bourgeois masculinity. Her ability to dilute the ‘purity’ of her ‘white’ male victim articulates a general contemporary fear of pathological sexuality and, through it, invisible degeneration. Using the comparative framework of ‘case studies’, I will examine Eugène Sue’s Les Mystères de Paris, Émile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin, Arthur Gobineau’s Essai sur l’inégalité des races humaines, Pierre Loti’s Le Roman d’un spahi, a selection of poems from Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal, as well as the critical and biographical studies centring around the figure of Jeanne Duval, Baudelaire’s long-time and muchmaligned ‘métisse’ partner. The wide variety of texts and the diverse list of authors will demonstrate the surprising currency of this literary figure in the collective imagination of nineteenth-century metropolitan France, as well as twentieth-century literary criticism. By focussing upon well-known and significant French authors, I will reexamine the cultural heritage to which these writers contributed with specific attention to the investigation of cultural assumptions, desires, and fears pivoting around the theme of mixed-race.

This study explores slave agency and slave abolitionism during amelioration in Jamaica. The amelioration period was chosen because it offered the slave opportunities to acquire their freedom and improve their condition. Therefore, slave agency and abolitionism occurred more frequently after the start of amelioration, which officially began in Jamaica in 1797 when the planters embarked on a programme designed to improve slavery and prolong its existence. Amelioration continued until the British Parliament voted to abolish slavery in 1833.

This thesis is a study of Beckett's later plays (those written in English as a first language) beginning with All That Fall. There are three main areas of investigation. Part One considers the importance of structure in Beckett's writing and the extreme precision with which his plays are patterned. The circular movement found in most of the plays is seen to reflect Beckett's constant theme of the human life cycle, in a precise fusion of content with form. Part Two, the bulk of the study, considers the evolution of the plays through their various drafts. The exploration of a large body of draft material affords some insight into Beckett's characteristic approach to his writing, his working method and the craftsmanship with which the plays are shaped, both structurally and linguistically. A tendency for ambiguity to develop and increase as the drafts progress is discovered in the plays. Part Three considers the plays in performance and discusses the various aspects of Beckett's dramatic technique in the writing, acting and direction of the plays. The innovatory quality of Beckett's dramatic ideas is observed in his work for the different media of stage, radio, cinema and television. The discussion thus seeks to increase our understanding of Beckett's plays in English by studying not only the structures ultimately arrived at, but the process of gestation also and finally by observing their efficacy in production.

No description available.

The Bodleian manuscript Digby 86 was written during the thirteenth century. It contains verse and prose texts,in Latin, French and English, on religious and secular subjects. It is one of the earliest common place books compiled in a secular setting. It contains unique copies of several French and English poems, and the earliest known copies of several more. More than half of the manuscript is written in French. There is a strong bias towards religious and didactic texts. Most of the known authors of the texts belonged to the secular clergy. The shorter Anglo-Norman poems in the manuscript are particularly interesting, and nine of them are edited here. Of the nine poems, four are devotional, and each of these has survived in at least four manuscripts; five- are secular, and none of these has survived incomplete form in any other manuscript. None of the nine poems is referred to in the standard work on Anglo-Norman literature, M.D.Leqqe's Anglo-Norman Literature and its Background, and although they are not all remarkable literary achievements, they are all interesting either for poetic merit, or for their literary affiliations, or for the metrical and linguistic forms displayed. The Bone preere a nostre Seinqnour Jhesu Grist (l) is a contemplative and penitential prayer to Christ. It is adapted from a Latin prayer attributed to St.Edmund of Abingdon, which has survived only in MS Bodley 57. The Latin prayer has not been edited, and is not listed in the standard reference works. The Chauncoun de noustre Seinqnour (II) is composed in an intricate metrical form, and this has been obscured in previous editions. The language is sophisticated, and the style blends elements of the secular love lyric with conventional formulas of devotion. Les Avés noustre Dame (III) consists of three parts, salutations of the Virgin, a prayer of the Five Joys, and a Litany of the Saints, and it has often been listed as three separate poems. But this goes against the manuscript tradition, and it should probably be regarded as one composite whole. It has survived in eight different versions, whereby two manuscripts contain two versions each, and one version is a continental 'normalized 1 text. One of the versions has not previously been identified, because in it the first eight stanzas are missing. [Continues in thesis]

The thesis is a study of the development of a poetic technique and its increasing importance in the evolution of Apollinaire's poetic styles. In describing the technique as "violence" the thesis offers a definition not only of the technique itself but also of the intentions of the poet both in the composition of the poems and in their final effects. By analysing and attempting a critical explication of Apollinaire's poetry in chronological order, the thesis thus shows not only the development of the technique but also that this technique constitutes the underlying unity of Apollinaire's poetry which has traditionally been analysed in terms of conflicting influences and intentions. While accepting the importance of the influence of symbolism on the early poetry and even the permanence of certain aspects of this influence, the thesis shows the degree of originality present throughout the evolution of both the early poems and the later poems. Since supposed influences of the plastic arts, and in particular the development of Cubism, have often been assumed or even shown - although never satisfactorily - to be at the origin of Apollinaire's movement away from symbolism and more traditional forms of poetic expression towards experimental and concrete forms of poetry, the thesis gives due weighting to the presence of the techniques of violence in the early poetry and consequently proves Apollinaire's poetic development to be consistent with himself. Due emphasis given to the continuity of Apollinaire's techniques as well as to the consistency of such expressions of intent as the poet made, the thesis concludes that the originality of Apollinaire's poetry lies mainly in his exploitation of the techniques of violence.