Critics who have noted the importance of Stoic constancy in Shakespeare 's Roman plays have failed to recognise the full complexity of the idea. It has two forms, both derived from the Stoic principle of homologia (consistency), and centred on the ideal of being always the same: Seneca's constantia sapientis, the rocklike or godlike virtue of the Stoic sage who is unmoved and unchanged by external circumstances; and Cicero's decorum (De officiis I), virtue as the consistent playing of an appropriate part. Seneca is more concerned with heroic self-sufficiency, Cicero with social virtue, but both forms of the ideal contain a tension between concern for inner truth and external appearances. In the late sixteenth century Stoic constancy becomes a subject of fierce debate as it is revived by the Neostoics, who stress the opposition of constancy and "opinion." Shakespeare's view of this debate may derive particularly from Montaigne, who moves from a Neostoic position to a sceptical critique of constancy as unattainable by inconstant man, and as less desirable than self-knowledge and flexibility. Reading North's Plutarch with these themes in mind, Shakespeare sees in the lives of Brutus, Antony, and Coriolanus an Aristotelian pattern of ideal, defective, and excessive constancy - a pattern which he modifies, in the light of his understanding of Seneca, Cicero, and Montaigne, in the three Roman plays. He explores the tension which exists between the Senecan and Ciceronian forms of constancy, and indeed within each of them: a tension between heroic Stoic virtue ("untir'd spirits") and public role-playing ("forrral constancy"). Julius Caesar shows Roman constancy as essentially "formal," resting on pretence and self-deception; in Rome, ironically, constancy depends on "opinion." Coriolanus, by taking constancy to an extreme, demonstrates the self-destructive contradictions within it. Antony and Cleopatra, by contrast, embrace a Montaigne-like ideal of "infinite variety" and inconsistent decorum; Antony fails, but Cleopatra achieves in death a paradoxical fusion of constancy and mutability.

The early eighties saw Italy become a landing bay for thousands of immigrants who abandoned their homes in search of a better life. Almost immediately, Italian academics highlighted the importance of this new phenomenon but tended to emphasize the superficial aspects that all immigrants in Italy had in common, aspects linked to the way of life of the newly arrived immigrants which in essence was very different from the Italian way of life. Soon however, the need for the migrants to be heard grew and La Letteratura della Migrazione was born. This world-wide literary phenomenon manifested itself at a much later date in Italy, compared to other European countries, largely due to the fact that a cultural tradition imposed by colonialism did not exist. Paradoxically, it is this very lack of colonial history that has given Italian migrant writers the freedom to express themselves in a style of literature that is original and primarily spontaneous and in many ways different to other Italian writers. It is against this background that Kossi Komla-Ebri writes in Italian, the language he embraces by choice. Although this dissertation focuses initially on the first African migrant writers, it is primarily a detailed study of the characters in Komla-Ebri’s novel Neyla (2002) and in his collection of short stories All’incrocio dei sentieri (2003). In the broader sense, it explores those themes in his narrative common to migrant literature in general, such as the journey, alienation, otherness, loss of identity and the return home. While it is true that these themes represent universal archetypes present in literature since Homer, the study looks predominantly at how Komla-Ebri’s thematic exposition differs from other works in the same general categories. The study shows how in exploring and expounding the constant divide between two continents and two cultures, Komla-Ebri succeeds with great compassion and humanity not only to bridge the gap between diverse identities, but also to break away from the African/migrant writer category. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

The purpose of this study was to examine the moral imagination of Kurt Vonnegut and attempt to determine its philosophical basis. This topic was previously only mentioned briefly in the course of other studies, and no one had ever attempted to examine the scope of Vonnegut’s moral vision. This moral vision was examined within the categories of government, technology, violence, economics, and religion. It was concluded that Vonnegut’s vision is based upon the philosophy of humanism: Man is sacred and must be preserved. To this end, Vonnegut advocates a more democratic and selfless form of government, the deemphasis of technology, a more moral scientific responsibility, global pacifism, a socialist economic system, a new religion based on humanism which emphasizes love for all people, and, finally, a return to large extended families. Although Vonnegut acknowledges that this moral vision is unlikely to be instituted on a large enough scale to really change anything due to complexity of an absurd, mechanized, and dehumanized society, he believes it is the moral responsibility of every individual to attempt it. He concludes that the future of mankind depends upon a return to humanistic values.

The purpose of this study was to examine a thesis stating that the fundamental concepts of Romanticism form the basic components of the Objectivist philosophy demonstrated in the works of Ayn Rand. The study reviewed some of the scholarship on the topic of Romanticism, notably that of Morse Peckham and Henry Remak. Analogies were drawn between European and American Romanticism; the nature of romanticism as a developmental morality in relation to principles established by Lawrence Kohlberg was discussed. This study adopted a definition of Romanticism as a state of mind which begins in the individual and involves an entire society in a moral development that renounces the static, embraces the dynamic, and holds humanity at its center.Next examined was the Objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand. A review of that ethic indicated that Objectivism also is a developmental ethic that holds humanism as its primary tenet. The characteristics of diversity, the creative imagination, growth and change, pride/self-worth/self-knowledge/love, leadership of the mind, and autonomy were found evident in both Objectivism and Romanticism, leading into a blending of the systems into an ethic of objective Romanticism. Such an ethic was examined in the context of Ayn Rand's works and found consistent in its appearance as an epistemology consequent to the progression of an individual or a community toward a level of self-actualization as defined by Abraham Maslow.A review of Rand's aesthetic ethic as presented in The Romantic Manifesto provided support for the romantic roots in Rand's writing. Rand's own premises for the evaluation of a romantic work were found evident in her own writings. It was therefore determined that Ayn Rand's works do indeed blend the components of Romanticism and Objectivism into a moral ethic that relies heavily upon the development of the individual state of mind toward a level of self-actualization in which the "I" becomes the axiom of human existence. / Department of English

The purpose of this thesis was to examine the mouth imagery (images of eating, tasting, swallowing, and devouring) in the poetry of Sylvia Plath in terms of its meaning of Plath's art. An examination of Plath's Collected Poems reveals that both the prevalence and specific nature of the mouth imagery make it a significant part of her poetic vision. The mouth imagery differs from the other threatening imagery in Plath's poems because, unlike the threat of death presented by the moon or sea, the mouth imagery describes a threat humans cannot detach themselves from; they must contribute to the "gross eating game." Because existence depends upon consuming food, and new life builds upon decay, the threat represented by the mouth imagery is hoplesslessly recognized as necessary by its victims in Plath's poems. The mouth imagery expresses the paradox in the interdependence of life and death through metaphors which convey a sense of threat as well as necessity. / Department of English

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

Grace Paley's fiction has suffered from being labeled as (alternately) post-modernist and feminist. There is a critical assumption that post-modernist and feminist works are plotless because they are nontraditional. Plot has been defined in Aristotelian terms, and those terms have colored the thinking of critics who attempt to discuss non-Aristotelian plots. Ironically, even feminist critics who are keenly aware that language is empowerment use the traditional language of literary criticism to describe nontraditional plots.As a result, post-modernist and feminist narrative modes are seen as fragmentary. This judgment often as not is simply a reaction to the Aristotelian emphasis on the unity of plot. Literary "unity" is not, however, an antonym for "fragmentation." To assume that nontraditional works such as Paley's are fragmented is to ignore the stories. The opposite of literary unity is not fragmentation, but amalgamation.Similar critical assumptions are that Paley's work is plotless and carries no implicit meaning. Careful readings of the stories in question lay both of these assumptions to rest. The point here is to make reading and understanding the stories the first priority. To use the stories as merely a chance to apply theory is to do both theory and the stories a disservice. / Department of English

This thesis has been a study of the conceit as employed in the Songs and Sonnets of John Donne. It has suggested that the difficulty encountered in attempted classification of Donne's love-poetry may be partially resolved by a recognition of various voices or personae in the poems, several of which may be present within an individual poem. It has demonstrated the way in which Donne's employment of the conceit enabled him to express this variety of voices or personae simultaneously as they exchange positions of dominance and submissiveness within a poem.The thesis has illustrated its study of the conceit through the explication of four specific poems: "The Ecstasy," "A Valediction: forbidding mourning," "The Canonization," and "Love's Alchemy."

The general idea of imprisonment in Bernard Malamud's ficiton manifests itself in his artists, who may be understood as "prisoners" dramatizing the artistic process as Malamud views it.Malamud's artists' struggle to balance art and life is expressed through the idea of imprisonment. When overemphasizing art, the artist is isolated, "imprisoned" in his or her work. Although this imprisonment is necessary temporarily, the artist must meet worldly responsibilities to find the freedom to create art, though artistic success is not guaranteed.Malamud's artists are always somehow imprisoned. In "The Girl of My Dreams" (1953), the writer Mitka rejects an uncooperative world, whereas the writer Olga transcends poverty and accepts the world. In "Man in the Drawer" (1968), the writer Levitansky is trapped in a totalitarian state. In "Rembrandt's Hat" (1973), the failed sculptor Rubin perseveres in art. And in "The Model" (1983), Elihu, mistaking himself for an artist, dehumanizes his model, Ms. Perry.In Pictures, Qj Fidelman (1969), Fidelman is imprisoned in artistic perfectionism. I n the Tenants (1971), writers Harry Lesser and Willie Spearmint are imprisoned in their obsessions. And in Dubin's Lives (1979), dubin is trapped in a false self-image.Malamud's artists are of two types: (1) the successful whose continued fulfillment is in question and (2) the so-far unsuccessful. Subtypes in the first group are the liberated (Dubin), the potentially liberated (Mitka, Levitansky), and the perpetually imprisoned (Lesser). Subtypes in the second group are the liberated (Fidelman, Ms. Perry) and the perpetually imprisoned (Rubin, Willie, Elihu).The exception is the successful a liberated Olga. Appearing in an early (1953) story, Olga embodies an answer to the problems of the artist; twenty-six years later, in Dubin's Lives (1979), Malamud's answer is the same: Maintain balance between art and life; keep the demands of art subordinate to those of life.The idea of the artist as prisoner in Malamud's fiction implies the difficulty of artistic endeavor. Malamud's artists, like his other characters, face suffering. Their art is a potentially imprisoning complication, not an escape from life's problems. Ultimately, the artist must face the world and its demands.

Chapter I. Emma Lou Diemer, currently Professor of Composition at the University of California at Santa Barbara, is an excellent representative of the mainstream of twentieth- century American music. Born in 1927 in Kansas City, Missouri, she began composing at an early age, motivated by her improvisations at the piano. She received a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music from Yale and a Doctor of Philosophy from Eastman, all in composition.Diemer's career has encompassed teaching in the public schools and at the university level, working as a church organist, and performing publically on all of her keyboard instruments. Her compositional output reflects this diversity. In 1959, she was the only woman in the first group of young composers to be awarded Ford Foundation Grants, for which she was assigned to the secondary schools of Arlington, Virginia. During this time, the simpler works for the bands and choirs resulted in requests from publishers and commissions from many sources, for choral works in particular. These have since become her largest category of compositions. However, she has also written some twenty-six chamber and solo works for piano. This body of music, which reflects both her many influences and her unique style, constitutes an outstanding contributionto her art.Chapter II. Her earliest works reflected her stated models, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, and Gershwin, in their programmatic titles, energetic rhythms, and full keyboard sound. In them one can see her affection for low sustained resonant tones and for Prokofiev-like brilliant high register sounds. She frequently used chord structures in thirds, but employed a deliberately atonal harmonic framework.Chapter III. At Yale, she fell under the neoclassic influence of Hindemith. Her forms tightened and her harmonic language centered on tonics and key schemes resembling traditional modes. Features seen in the early works became pervasive: motivic melodic construction, ametric and syncopated rhythms in a strongly metric context, ostinatos in all registers, imitative textures, structured fugues, and a Bartokian control of harmony by intervals, particularly the fourth and fifth.Chapter IV. With the solo piano works, she melded the neoclassic structured language with her earlier romantic style. Ideas once again flowed directly from improvisations, while she also wrote her first large twelve-tone work.Chapter V. In the 1970's, she combined the sonorities of the electronic world with intrinsically pianistic techniques, including the new sounds of the avant-garde. Rhythm returned as pulsing beats, contrasted with free and aleatoric sections. Neoclassic motivic development generated dramatic forms.Chapter VI. Diemer integrates many techniques, new and old, into a highly successful and personal style, one which places ultimate value on expression and communication. Retaining a strong tie to the past, she is a cautious explorer, rarely breaking new ground, but eventually encompassing even the most advanced trends into wonderfully effective works.