In Eliza Haywood's fiction, as in eighteenth-century Britain, social restrictions repress the sexual desires of upper class women and men. Therefore, the secret desires of this social class often rely on a different group: domestic servants. Sometimes acting as confidants and other times as active players in the scheming, these servants are privy to the inner secrets of the households in which they live. In Haywood's Love in Excess (1719), Lasselia (1723), Fantomina (1725), and The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless (1751), the servant class plays significant roles in the narratives. Since the role of the servant is the central issue in my interpretation of Haywood's works, the historical background of the relationship between master and servant in the eighteenth-century is significant to my investigation. Conduct books, a popular genre of the times, were written to offer practical instruction to domestic servants. Haywood's A Present for A Servant Maid; or the Sure Means of gaining Love and Esteem (1743), offers a view of Haywood's own attitude toward the servant class. In addition to her career as a writer of amorous intrigue, Haywood worked as both actress and playwright, and, because of her experience, elements of the stage can be seen in her works. I explore the influence of the theatre in Haywood's fiction and connect it to the prominent role of servants in her work. Though Haywood demonstrates that the servants' loyalty can be bought for the highest price, they are not ruled by the same sexual passion as are their employers. This area is of particular interest to my study. I explore whether the motive of financial gain is greater than sexual desire, or whether it is an awareness that aristocrats are not truly available to the servant class that accounts for the differences in erotic responses. Additionally, I explore how servants affect Haywood's narrative by acting as agents of change and argue that the social restrictions placed on the upper class and the awareness of the sexual freedoms the servant class bring master and servant closer together.

The thesis states that the confidant in the tragedies of Jean Baptist Racine evolves from the traditional servant figure to a sophisticated intimate of the principal character. The confidant's identity becomes synonymous with that of the principal character: he appears as his alter ego. The sources used are six of Racine's secular tragedies, in addition to critical works and essays of his writings. The tragedies included in this study are La Thebaide, whose secondary characters serve as a comparison to the more developed confidants as found in Andromaque, B /r/nice, Mithridate, Britannicus, and Phedre. Racine presents a variety of tragic characters whose multifaceted personality emerges through the intervention of their confidant. Representing one side of the protagonist's character, or his "other self, " the confidant becomes Racine's dramatic tool to portray the internal struggle in all its aspects. Racine's preoccupation with moral issues and his desire to instruct his audience pervade his writings. It is thus possible to trace the development of the confidant from his part as self-effacing messenger to his role as alter ego to the principal figure where he dramatically demonstrates the tragic, inner division of man.

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Existential  loneliness  is  a  specific kind  of  loneliness,  associated  with decreased emotional  well-being.Existential loneliness differs from physical aloneness and is connected to negative feelings and  moods;  in  contrast,alonenesscan  be  experienced  as  something  positive  and  emotionallycharging.The institutionalized elderly care is an integral,part of the Swedish Welfare state. The Swedish population is getting older, factors likedemographic changesand migration flowinfluence on  the  traditional  welfare  system. Societal  culturesand  lifestyleare  underestimated  health determinants affect subjective(emotional)well-beingof the citizens. Sweden demonstrateshigh rates of single households,and a traditional societal structure encourages social isolation. A sense of belonging, the importance of the presence of attachmentfigures,and supportiverelationshipsincrease the individual’spossibility to a positive aging processwith a transition from a materialistic to a cosmic coherencedue to the Theory of Gerotranscendence. The sense of belonging increasesfeelings  of  being  attachedand the presence  of  attachment  figuresenhance  understanding  of protection and security in times of need;both of those concepts boost emotional well-being. Being attached and  belonged  keep  functioning  throughout  life  as aninstinct  of  human  beingsandno one  is  completely  free  from  being  relianton  others. Constructive social,  individual,and institutional supporthaspositive effects on the overall individual and societal health.Individuals’ life circumstancesand experiences define thekind of social, individualand institutional supportdesiredand needed.