M.A. (English) / Victorian studies is a field much-studied and, during the century that has passed since the end of Queen Victoria‘s reign, literary criticism on the subject has been extensive. In the main, however, criticism has tended to focus on the protagonists of Victorian novels, whether to argue that their journeys are immoral, or represent a warning against immorality, or to examine their behaviour and so arrive at conclusions regarding identity. Through a close reading of Oscar Wilde‘s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), Robert Louis Stevenson‘s The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), and Bram Stoker‘s Dracula (1897), and by focussing on the reactions and responses of Victorian society (as the texts represent it) to the novel‘s transgressive characters rather than on those characters themselves (as has been the trend) this dissertation moves away from readings of duality and moral judgment and towards a greater understanding of the intricacies of late-Victorian society itself. In addition, and through this process, this dissertation interrogates the bifurcated and contradictory nature of the Victorian moral structure and destabilizes the binary oppositions of character judgment that were so fundamental in its creation. Furthermore, through a discussion of the historical context of the text‘s chosen for this study, this dissertation challenges the formulation and authenticity of Victorian morality by considering the manner in which power informed the behaviour and decisions of middle-class Victorians at the turn of the century. To this end, I will consider how the philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche, especially those pertaining to power and morality, are invaluable in problematizing the binary system of categorization that so dominated the late-Victorian cultural space. Finally, I argue that the texts I have elected to study represent a climate of unrest and dissatisfaction with the Victorian moral climate at the fin de siècle (or turn of the century) and that they are instrumental in our understanding of that moral climate and the subsequent changes to it.

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L'objet de cette thèse est de mettre en lumière les interrogations éthiques, métaphysiques et esthétiques qui accompagnent la production des œuvres de maturité de !'écrivain autrichien Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Après avoir rappelé ses hésitations initiales entre des conceptions du monde et de l'existence distinctes, ce travail envisage les deux versions de la Femme sans ombre. Cette œuvre offre une première expression de son esthétique de maturité dont elle éclaire aussi les fondements métaphysiques. L'expérience de la Première Guerre mondiale, analysée dans le troisième chapitre, conduit Hofmannsthal à élargir le champ de ses réflexions. Son œuvre dramatique devient l'illustration des principes éthiques devant régler les échanges entre les membres d'une même société ainsi qu'entre les peuples d'Europe. Le Grand Théâtre du monde à Salzbourg, dont l'examen occupe le quatrième chapitre, pose les linéaments d'une éthique sociale inspirée des principes de la doctrine sociale de l’Église. La tragédie La Tour, qui est analysée dans le cinquième chapitre, esquisse quant à elle une éthique de l'action politique. Son but est de contribuer au maintien de la paix en Europe tout en aidant les peuples à s'élever à un degré supérieur d'humanité. / This thesis aims at highlighting the ethical, metaphysical and aesthetic questions that arise in the mature works of the Austrian author Hugo von Hofmannsthal. After having dealt with Hofmannsthal's original dilemma between opposing conceptions of the world and of his own existence, this work considers the two versions of The Woman without a Shadow. This opus is the first expression at maturity of his aesthetic whose underlying metaphysical foundation it enlightens.The experience of First World War, subject of our third chapter, compelled Hofmannsthal to widen the scope of his thoughts. His later plays illustrate which ethical conducts should rule individuals in a given society as well as between the peoples in Europe. The Salzburg Great World Theaterwhich is the focus of our fourth chapter, sets the pattern of his social ethics inspired by the principles of the social doctrine of the Church. As for The Tower, a tragedy which we will deeply analyse in our fifth chapter, it sketches his ethics for political action. The purpose of this play is indeed to advocate peace in Europe while helping nations to achieve higher standard of Humanity.

This study traces the current status of Spanish ethics as seen through the optics of historical memory. Starting from the Spanish Civil War in 1936, the thesis relates contemporary themes to their proposed origin throughout three additional distinctive eras of the 20th and 21st century in Spain: 1982-1996 (Socialist Spain), 1997-2010 (Post-modern Spain), and 2011-present (current Spain). Spanish narratives ranging from Los Abel by Matute, La magnitud de la tragedia by Monzó, "Fidelidad" of Ha dejado de llover by Barba and Las fosas de Franco by Silva are contextualized through their ethical architecture, in accordance with their socio-political context, and relationship to past historical traumas. This work proposes that the themes of anticlericalism, the pursuit of social equality, anti bureaucracy, and political distrust are trends culminating from Kohlberg's third level of morality. The thesis aims to be an exposition and legitimization of different ethical schemas that might otherwise be polarized as wrong and inferior by others.