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This dissertation examines the rhetoric employed by Wollstonecraft, Cugoano, and Godwin who devise a top-down/bottom-up dialectic of social-justice writing which can be read as grassroots advocacy. The authors write with two constant goals in mind: from the top down, they decry systemic forms of injustice; and from the bottom up, they make the experiences of victims visible. Scholarship on A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery, and Things as They are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams, has often focused on assessing the degree to which each text concerns itself with democratic equal rights. By contrast, this project explicates how the writers collectively define social injustice for the late eighteenth century. The writers simultaneously voice their indignation against those moral and socio-economic wrongs; deconstruct assumptions of natural inferiority and social disrespect; demand extensive change to social foundations; assert the humanity of women, workers, and slaves; and empathize with other oppressed populations across their traditionally conceived genres of vindication, slave narrative, and novel. Ultimately, my work incorporates a lexicon of political philosophy, political theory, and grassroots advocacy into literary studies to show how Wollstonecraft, Cugoano, and Godwin not only recognize corresponding patterns of oppression but also utilize strikingly similar literary devices and rhetorical strategies by which to combat injustice. All three authors share the same fundamental aim— to transform the dismal existence of the oppressed groups they represent.

Esta tese procura analisar a obra do ensaísta e crítico inglês William Hazlitt (1778-1830) a partir de um conjunto de imagens que vinculam as diferentes etapas envolvidas durante o ato de confecção do ensaio crítico e literário aos acidentes topográficos e à textura do solo, expressos no arquétipo recorrente do autor, ao résdo- chão. Pela análise interna de texto e do exercício de leitura, perseguimos as passagens em que Hazlitt reflete sobre seu próprio metiê. A defesa do ensaio como forma de arte coloca-lhe a exigência de um altíssimo grau de elaboração que o aproxima, por analogia, à crítica inventiva e a outras formas de arte. Nesse sentido, o estudo desses elementos formais foi indispensável à pesquisa também nos foi de grande valia o exame de alguns aspectos históricos e culturais, como o chamado Romantismo Inglês. Nos interessou, sobretudo, aquilo que definimos como atitudes mentais próprias do ensaísta, experimentadas e vividas por Hazlitt com intensidade, a saber: o retratista, o amigo e o adversário. Desse modo, cada um dos três capítulos desta tese pretende cobrir uma dessas atitudes. No primeiro capítulo, sobre o retratista e o estágio inicial de confecção do ensaio (a inspiração), acompanhamos o autor em suas peregrinações juvenis na leitura cerrada de algumas passagens de dois ensaios em que ele narra a sua experiência de conversão ao mundo das artes, My First Acquaintance with Poets e On the Pleasure of Painting, e no modo como os retratos literários que escreveu de Jean-Jacques Rousseau e de Edmund Burke, seus legítimos precursores, apontaram a ele os caminhos para uma crítica inventiva. No segundo capítulo, sobre a atitude do amigo e a leitura, encontramos Hazlitt ora na solidão de seu quarto, mastigando os pensamentos, ora em companhia de pessoas próximas. Intimidade e convivência são os ingredientes chaves para essa etapa do trabalho. Para Hazlitt, a escrita de ensaio envolve um convite cordial ao leitor, com o qual o ensaísta espera dividir amigavelmente a sua tarefa. No terceiro capítulo, sobre a escrita, investigamos o papel do ensaísta como agente das transformações sociais, própria à atitude do adversário. O ensaio se apresenta como espaço privilegiado onde se travam lutas com ideias e se disputa uma causa; o ensaísta, por sua vez, se apresenta como o homem das ruas (man-about-town), cujas andanças pela metrópole londrina e convivência com os homens, sobretudo aqueles pertencentes às classes baixas, permitiu-lhe combinar à elegância do ensaísta os momentos combativos e ousados de prosa. / This thesis analyzes the works of the English essayist and critic William Hazlitt (1778-1830) from a body of images that binds the different stages involved in the craft of the critical and literary essay to topographical accidents and the texture of the soil, as expressed in the author recurrent archetype on the plain-ground. My point of departure was the internal analysis of texts and close reading of certain passages where Hazlitt reflects on his own metier. The claims he makes in that essay is an art form required from him a high standard of formal elaboration that analogically approaches the literary essay and inventive criticism to other art forms. Thus, a careful examination of these formal elements was indispensable for this study. Moreover, some historical and cultural aspects that encompass Hazlitt and his time, the so called British Romanticism, were also part of my analysis, inasmuch as the author brings them to bear in his writings, and according to what I have conceptualized as mental attitudes proper to the essayist. In my understanding, three are the essayists attitudes as intensely experienced by Hazlitt, namely, the portraitist, the friend, and the adversary. Therefore, each of the three chapters in this dissertation aims at unveiling one of these mental attitudes. In the first chapter, on the portraitist attitude and the first stage in the making of the essay (the insight), I have followed Hazlitt during his youthful pilgrimages from an analysis of a few emblems pertaining in My First Acquaintance with Poets and On The Pleasure of Painting, where he narrates his moment of conversion to a world of art. Furthermore, I have linked these essays to the literary portraits Hazlitt traced of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Edmund Burke, his genuine precursors, in order to understanding the paths along which he was initiated into inventive criticism. In the second chapter, on the friend mental attitude, we find Hazlitt by the fireside, either in the solitude of a room of his own, chewing his thoughts, or in the company of close friends. Intimacy and conviviality are the key ingredients to this stage in the craft of the essay (reading). According to Hazlitt, the writing of essays requires a cordial invitation to readers, with whom the essayist hopes to share his task in a friendly way. In the third chapter, on writing itself, I have inquired into the role of the essayist as an agent of social changes, a mental attitude suitable to the adversary. The essay presents itself as a privileged place where the writer struggles with the world and disputes a cause; and the essayist as the man-about-town, whose rambles in the streets of the metropolis and conviviality with the people, particularly those belonging to lower classes, enabled Hazlitt to combine the sustained and controlled rhythms of the polite culture of the essayist with strenuously argumentative, emphatic speeches.

Esta tese procura analisar a obra do ensaísta e crítico inglês William Hazlitt (1778-1830) a partir de um conjunto de imagens que vinculam as diferentes etapas envolvidas durante o ato de confecção do ensaio crítico e literário aos acidentes topográficos e à textura do solo, expressos no arquétipo recorrente do autor, ao résdo- chão. Pela análise interna de texto e do exercício de leitura, perseguimos as passagens em que Hazlitt reflete sobre seu próprio metiê. A defesa do ensaio como forma de arte coloca-lhe a exigência de um altíssimo grau de elaboração que o aproxima, por analogia, à crítica inventiva e a outras formas de arte. Nesse sentido, o estudo desses elementos formais foi indispensável à pesquisa também nos foi de grande valia o exame de alguns aspectos históricos e culturais, como o chamado Romantismo Inglês. Nos interessou, sobretudo, aquilo que definimos como atitudes mentais próprias do ensaísta, experimentadas e vividas por Hazlitt com intensidade, a saber: o retratista, o amigo e o adversário. Desse modo, cada um dos três capítulos desta tese pretende cobrir uma dessas atitudes. No primeiro capítulo, sobre o retratista e o estágio inicial de confecção do ensaio (a inspiração), acompanhamos o autor em suas peregrinações juvenis na leitura cerrada de algumas passagens de dois ensaios em que ele narra a sua experiência de conversão ao mundo das artes, My First Acquaintance with Poets e On the Pleasure of Painting, e no modo como os retratos literários que escreveu de Jean-Jacques Rousseau e de Edmund Burke, seus legítimos precursores, apontaram a ele os caminhos para uma crítica inventiva. No segundo capítulo, sobre a atitude do amigo e a leitura, encontramos Hazlitt ora na solidão de seu quarto, mastigando os pensamentos, ora em companhia de pessoas próximas. Intimidade e convivência são os ingredientes chaves para essa etapa do trabalho. Para Hazlitt, a escrita de ensaio envolve um convite cordial ao leitor, com o qual o ensaísta espera dividir amigavelmente a sua tarefa. No terceiro capítulo, sobre a escrita, investigamos o papel do ensaísta como agente das transformações sociais, própria à atitude do adversário. O ensaio se apresenta como espaço privilegiado onde se travam lutas com ideias e se disputa uma causa; o ensaísta, por sua vez, se apresenta como o homem das ruas (man-about-town), cujas andanças pela metrópole londrina e convivência com os homens, sobretudo aqueles pertencentes às classes baixas, permitiu-lhe combinar à elegância do ensaísta os momentos combativos e ousados de prosa. / This thesis analyzes the works of the English essayist and critic William Hazlitt (1778-1830) from a body of images that binds the different stages involved in the craft of the critical and literary essay to topographical accidents and the texture of the soil, as expressed in the author recurrent archetype on the plain-ground. My point of departure was the internal analysis of texts and close reading of certain passages where Hazlitt reflects on his own metier. The claims he makes in that essay is an art form required from him a high standard of formal elaboration that analogically approaches the literary essay and inventive criticism to other art forms. Thus, a careful examination of these formal elements was indispensable for this study. Moreover, some historical and cultural aspects that encompass Hazlitt and his time, the so called British Romanticism, were also part of my analysis, inasmuch as the author brings them to bear in his writings, and according to what I have conceptualized as mental attitudes proper to the essayist. In my understanding, three are the essayists attitudes as intensely experienced by Hazlitt, namely, the portraitist, the friend, and the adversary. Therefore, each of the three chapters in this dissertation aims at unveiling one of these mental attitudes. In the first chapter, on the portraitist attitude and the first stage in the making of the essay (the insight), I have followed Hazlitt during his youthful pilgrimages from an analysis of a few emblems pertaining in My First Acquaintance with Poets and On The Pleasure of Painting, where he narrates his moment of conversion to a world of art. Furthermore, I have linked these essays to the literary portraits Hazlitt traced of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Edmund Burke, his genuine precursors, in order to understanding the paths along which he was initiated into inventive criticism. In the second chapter, on the friend mental attitude, we find Hazlitt by the fireside, either in the solitude of a room of his own, chewing his thoughts, or in the company of close friends. Intimacy and conviviality are the key ingredients to this stage in the craft of the essay (reading). According to Hazlitt, the writing of essays requires a cordial invitation to readers, with whom the essayist hopes to share his task in a friendly way. In the third chapter, on writing itself, I have inquired into the role of the essayist as an agent of social changes, a mental attitude suitable to the adversary. The essay presents itself as a privileged place where the writer struggles with the world and disputes a cause; and the essayist as the man-about-town, whose rambles in the streets of the metropolis and conviviality with the people, particularly those belonging to lower classes, enabled Hazlitt to combine the sustained and controlled rhythms of the polite culture of the essayist with strenuously argumentative, emphatic speeches.

The following is a case study in contemporary cancel culture through three cases of it in the nineteenth century. Lord Byron, Lady Caroline Lamb, and Harriet Beecher Stowe serve as three prominent cases of cancel culture in their time period that are all closely linked to one another. Cancel culture changes the way that we study these figures and their writing in the modern day. This shows that although we believe that cancel culture is a new phenomenon with the rise of social media that is not the case. Cancel culture has been happening through time as a way for the public to enact social justice without getting the court involved. Cancel culture is a lesson in the public court of opinion. / Master of Arts / The following is a case study in contemporary cancel culture through three cases of it in the nineteenth century. Writers, Lord Byron, Lady Caroline Lamb, and Harriet Beecher Stowe serve as three prominent cases of cancel culture in their time period that are all closely linked to one another. Cancel culture changes the way that we study these figures and their writing in the modern day. It highlights how cancel culture is not as black and white as people initially believe while also showing an unbiased explanation of what transpires when a person is canceled. This shows that although we believe that cancel culture is a new phenomenon with the rise of social media that is not the case. Cancel culture has been happening through time as a way for the public to enact social justice without getting the court involved. Cancel culture is a lesson in the public court of opinion.

A Romantic Bildung: The Development of Coming-of-Age Novels in the Romantic Period (1782-1817) explore la naissance et le développement du roman de formation en Europe à l’époque romantique. Celle-ci est le témoin de nombreuses discussions sur les Droits de l’homme et de la montée du nationalisme en Europe. Au même moment, la littérature se transforme pour laisser plus de place à la subjectivité du personnage. Tout cela donne naissance à un nouveau genre littéraire : le Bildungsroman, ou roman de formation et d’éducation. Contrairement à la définition actuelle du genre, le Bildungsroman est transnational, c’est-à-dire qu’il ne provient pas exclusivement d’Allemagne, mais de partout en Europe. A Romantic Bildung se penche donc sur le sujet en analysant de façon thématique la trame narrative de Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress (1782), Emmeline, the Orphan of the Castle (1788), Mansfield Park (1814), Waverley; or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since (1814), Emma (1815), ainsi que d’Ormond, a Tale (1817) et sur leur appartenance au roman de l’époque romantique. En comparant les étapes d’éducation, d’indépendance, et de retour à la société des protagonistes, ces romans font ressortir les similitudes qui caractérisent le Bildungsroman. / A Romantic Bildung: The Development of Coming-of-Age Novels in the Romantic Period (1782-1817) explores the birth and development of the Bildungsroman during the Romantic period. The latter is characterized by the numerous discourses on the Rights of men as well as the rise of nationalism. At the same time, Romantic writers transform literature by increasing the protagonist’s subjectivity and in turns, create a new genre of narrative: the Bildungsroman, in which the protagonist’s development and growth is the main focus. Contrary to current definition of the genre, the Bildungsroman—or coming-of-age novel—is a transnational product: it is obviously found in Germany, but also in France, England, Ireland, and Scotland, to name a few, during the Romantic period. Through a thematic analysis of Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress (1782), Emmeline, the Orphan of the Castle (1788), Mansfield Park (1814), Waverley; or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since (1814), Emma (1815), and Ormond, A Tale (1815), A Romantic Bildung traces the narrative structure of the genre and it locates its essence in the Romantic novel. By comparing the narrative’s steps of education, independence, and return to society, the characteristics of the genre are revealed.