Universidade Castelo Branco / A presente dissertação objetiva a comparação proposta no Prelúdio do romance Middlemarch por sua autora George Eliot entre a protagonista da obra, Dorothea Brooke, e a figura histórica Teresa dÁvila. A partir de tal estudo, busca-se compreender de que modo a situação específica da mulher na Era Vitoriana é articulada no romance de modo a espelhar a crise ontológica e epistemológica do próprio ser humano diante das transformações consolidadas com o Iluminismo e as revoluções liberais do século XVIII que culminariam na morte de Deus. Dorothea mostra-se uma cristã tão fervorosa quanto a Teresa quinhentista, mas faltam-lhe certezas e a resolução para concretizar as reformas sociais que defende, pois ela encarna o mito de feminilidade oitocentista batizado de Anjo do Lar ideal de sujeição feminina à ordem falocêntrica cujas funções são a proteção e difusão da moralidade burguesa e a substituição de elementos cristãos no universo do sagrado a uma sociedade cada vez mais materialista e insegura de valores absolutos. As aflições de Dorothea representam as aflições da mulher vitoriana, mas o momento crítico desta mulher reflete, em Middlemarch, uma crise muito maior do Ocidente, que teve início com a Era da Razão / The present dissertations purpose is the comparison proposed by George Eliot in the Prelude of the novel Middlemarch between its protagonist, Dorothea Brooke, and the historical character Teresa of Avila. Such study endeavors to understand in which way the specific situation of the Victorian woman is articulated within the novel as to mirror the ontological and epistemological crisis of the human being itself during the transformations consolidated by the Enlightenment and the liberal revolutions of the eighteenth century which culminated in the death of God. Dorothea is as ardent a Christian as the fifteenth century Teresa, but she lacks the certainties and the resolution to concretize the social reforms she defends, because she incarnates the nineteenth century myth of womanhood known as the Angel in the House an ideal of feminine subjection to the phalocentric order whose functions are the protection and diffusion of the bourgeois morality and the replacement of Christian elements within the imaginary universe of the sacred to a society progressively more materialistic and insecure of absolute values. The afflictions of Dorothea represent the afflictions of the Victorian woman, but the critical moment of this woman reflects, in Middlemarch, a much greater crisis in the Western thought, which began with the Age of Reason

This thesis deals with the topic of the female characters in selected novels of Charles Dickens. The theoretical part is focused on describing the characteristic features of the women in the Victorian period. The practical part analyses the most important female characters according to the author's personal choice, shows similarities and differences among them and compares them with the society at that time.

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Abstract: Modern readers frequently perceive female characters in Victorian novels as insipid and inane, blaming the static portrayals on the angel in the house stereotype attributed to Coventry Patmore's poem of the same name. The stereotype does not accurately reflect the actual Victorian woman's life, however. Examining how the stereotype evolved and how the middle-class Mid-Victorian woman really lived provides insight into literary devices authors employed either to reinforce the angel ideal or to reconcile the ideal with the real. Wilkie Collins's portrayal of Marian Halcombe in The Woman in White features a dynamic female who has both androgynous characteristics and angel-in-the-house qualities, exemplifying one more paradox in a society riddled with contradictions.

This study explores the construction of the Gothic female body in three films by the director Tim Burton, specifically Batman Returns (1992), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) and Dark Shadows (2012). Through a deployment of Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection, the intention is to indicate the degree to which Burton crafts his leading female characters as abject Others and embodiments of Barbara Creed’s ‘monstrous-feminine’. In this Gothic portrayal, the director consistently draws on the essentialised stereotypes of Woman as either ‘virgin’ or ‘whore’ as he shapes his Gothic heroines and femmes fatales. While a gendered duality is established, this is destabilised to an extent, as Burton permits his female characters varying degrees of agency as they acquire monstrous traits. This construction of Woman as monster, this study will show, is founded on a certain fear of femaleness, so reinstating the ideology of Woman as Other. / English Studies / M.A. (English Studies)

Nineteenth-century literature often reflects the evolving social dynamics and aspirations of the era and in works with female protagonists and/or by women authors, themes of women’s struggles are often prevalent, albeit sometimes more covertly. This essay examines the themes of empowerment, disempowerment and agency in Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) and Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s Lady Audley’s Secret (1862). Through the exploration of their respective protagonists, Helen Graham and Lucy Audley, these works illuminate the multifaceted dimensions of agency, from subtle acts of defiance to bold assertions of independence. To illuminate the discussion, the two novels are read and discussed alongside a variety of nineteenth-, twentieth- and twenty-first-century critical works.  The thesis is divided into three parts, with the first part focussing on the social context in which real-life and fictional Victorian women lived. The second and third parts discuss disempowerment and empowerment, respectively, and discuss and highlight how social norms and inequalities for women in nineteenth-century Britain impacted the female characters in these novels. It also shows how they navigate these constraints to assert their agency or succumb to societal pressures.

This thesis examines the beginning of Victoria, British Columbia’s, women’s movement, stretching its ‘start’ date to the late 1850s while arguing that, to some extent, the local movement criss-crossed racial, ethnic, religious, and gender boundaries. It also highlights how the people involved with the women’s movement in Victoria challenged traditional beliefs, like separate sphere ideology, about women’s position in society and contributed to the introduction of new more egalitarian views of women in a process that continues to the present day. Chapter One challenges current understandings of First Wave Feminism, stretching its limitations regarding time and persons involved with social reform and women’s rights goals, while showing that the issue of ‘suffrage’ alone did not make a ‘women’s movement’. Chapter 2 focuses on how the local ‘women’s movement’ coalesced and expanded in the late 1890s to embrace various social reform causes and demands for women’s rights and recognition, it reflected a unique spirit that emanated from Victorian traditionalism, skewed gender ratios, and a frontier mentality. Chapter 3 argues that an examination of Victoria’s movement, like any other ‘women’s movement’, must take into consideration the ethnic and racialized ‘other’, in this thesis the Indigenous, African Canadian, and Chinese. The Conclusion discusses areas for future research, deeper research questions, and raises the question about whether the women’s movement in Victoria was successful. / Graduate / 0334 / 0733 / 0631 / mlihmels@shaw.ca