Global ETD Search

1	Seduced and dying: the sympathetic trope of the fallen woman in early and mid-Victorian Britain, c. 1820-1870 Deacon, Deborah 30 August 2018 (has links) In early and mid-Victorian Britain, men and women from all classes demonstrated a strong fascination with, and sympathy for, seduced and dying women. Though such women were unchaste or “fallen” women, they did not excite the same anxiety and condemnation as did other sexually transgressive women like prostitutes and adulteresses. This thesis demonstrates that the sympathetic trope of the seduced and dying woman in British culture from 1820 to 1870 was a combination of (and an interplay between) fiction and reality. Through a study of melodrama – a largely working-class genre – and “expert” literature – a predominantly middle-class genre, comprised of medical, social, religious and prescriptive writings – this thesis shows how the seduced and dying woman inspired sympathy both across and along class lines. Finally, an analysis of nineteenth-century newspaper accounts of “Seduction and Suicide” illustrates that, while this popular trope inspired sympathy for a certain kind of fallen woman – the feminine, passive and (most importantly) suffering and dying victim of seduction – it also distorted the reality of sexual fall, reinforced patriarchal understandings, and created an exclusive and unattainable standard of sympathy which normalized suicide for fallen women. / Graduate / 2019-08-24 fallen women suicide seduction sympathy
2	A study of the presentation of women in the novels of Barbara Pym Blair, Cairn Fiona 11 1900 (has links) In this dissertation I attempt an evaluation of Barbara Pym as a feminist writer. I study the central protagonists in Pym's twelve novels in the context of British society in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. I have drawn on feminist critical paradigms in my reading of Pym's novels in order to highlight my insights into her women characters. Chapter One examines Pym 's use of comedy and subversion in relation to her main protagonists. Chapter Two explores the 'Excellent Woman' figure in Pym's fiction and the issue of spinsterhood. Chapter Three scrutinises Pym's use of satire and tragedy in relation to her heroines. Chapter Four investigates the emergence of the 'fallen' and 'formidable' women figures in Pym's novels, and analyses the ageing spinster figure. My conclusion is that Barbara Pym is a humanist feminist of some importance, who succeeds in illuminating her heroines' struggles against patriarchy in the context of a changing British society. / English Studies / M.A. (English) Presentation of women Pym's novel's Women characters Pym's heroines Excellent women Pym's spinsters Formidable and fallen women 823.914 Pym, Barbara -- Characters -- Women Women in literature
3	The Fallen Woman and the British Empire in Victorian Literature and Culture Stockstill, Ellen 11 May 2015 (has links) This dissertation focuses on the triangulated relationship among female sexuality, patriarchy, and empire and examines literary and historical texts to understand how Britons increasingly identified as imperialists over the course of the nineteenth century. This project, the first book-length study of its kind, features analyses of canonical works like Mansfield Park, David Copperfield, and Adam Bede as well as analyses of paintings, etchings, conference proceedings, newspaper advertisements, colonial reports, political tracts, and medical records from Britain and its colonies. I challenge critical conceptions of the fallen woman as a trope of domestic fiction whose position as outcast illustrates the stigmatization of female sex during the nineteenth century, and I argue that the depiction and punishment of fallen women in multiple genres reveal an interest in protecting and maintaining an imperial system that claims moral superiority over the people it colonizes. My critical stance is both feminist and postcolonial, and my work complicates readings of fallen women in Victorian literature while also adding significantly to scholarship on gender and empire begun by Anne McClintock and Philippa Levine. I claim that during the nineteenth century, the fallen woman comes to represent that which will threaten patriarchal and imperial power, and her regulation reveals an intent to purify the British conscience and strengthen the nation’s sense of itself as a moral and exceptional leader in the world. My investigation into fallenness and empire through a wide range of texts underscores the centrality of imperialism to British society and to the lives of Britons living far removed from colonial sites like India or East Africa. Victorian Literature British Imperialism Imperial Literature Fallen Women Female Sexuality Gender Studies Jane Austen Charles Dickens George Eliot Sarah Grand William Booth Rudyard Kipling
4	A study of the presentation of women in the novels of Barbara Pym Blair, Cairn Fiona 11 1900 (has links) In this dissertation I attempt an evaluation of Barbara Pym as a feminist writer. I study the central protagonists in Pym's twelve novels in the context of British society in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. I have drawn on feminist critical paradigms in my reading of Pym's novels in order to highlight my insights into her women characters. Chapter One examines Pym 's use of comedy and subversion in relation to her main protagonists. Chapter Two explores the 'Excellent Woman' figure in Pym's fiction and the issue of spinsterhood. Chapter Three scrutinises Pym's use of satire and tragedy in relation to her heroines. Chapter Four investigates the emergence of the 'fallen' and 'formidable' women figures in Pym's novels, and analyses the ageing spinster figure. My conclusion is that Barbara Pym is a humanist feminist of some importance, who succeeds in illuminating her heroines' struggles against patriarchy in the context of a changing British society. / English Studies / M.A. (English) Presentation of women Pym's novel's Women characters Pym's heroines Excellent women Pym's spinsters Formidable and fallen women 823.914 Pym, Barbara -- Characters -- Women Women in literature
5	Ženské postavy ve vybraných románech Charlese Dickense / Female Characters in Selected Novels of Charles Dickens Palášková, Martina January 2017 (has links) 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.
6	Female Empowerment, Disempowerment and Agency in Victorian Literature : A Character Study of Female Characters in Lady Audley’s Secret and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall against a Historical Background / Kvinnors egenmakt, maktlöshet och handlingskraft i engelsk artonhundratalslitteratur : En analys av kvinnliga karaktärer i Lady Audley’s Secret och The Tenant of Wildfell Hall mot en historisk bakgrund Stark, Anna Ulrika January 2024 (has links) 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. Angel in the house feminist criticism Victorian literature nineteenth century nineteenth-century literature Anne Brontë Mary Elizabeth Braddon fallen women The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Lady Audley’s Secret sensation fiction Specific Languages Studier av enskilda språk Specific Literatures Litteraturstudier
7	Stereotypizace náctiletých matek v britských reality show / Stereotypes of Teenage Mothers in UK Reality Shows Moore, Pavlína January 2019 (has links) This thesis captures and describes the stereotypes of teenage and underage mothers regularly represented in British and American reality shows, broadcasted in the United Kingdom. The task of this paper is to explore and define the most frequent stereotypes presented by these TV shows on randomly selected samples. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the phenomenon of teenage and underage mothers in the UK as a result of underclass demonisation, poverty shaming and social stigma in the context of British culture and society. The second part of this thesis applies the theoretical findings and analyses the common stereotypes represented and displayed in particular reality shows broadcasted in the UK using qualitative content analysis.
8	Wilde's Women : A feminist study of the female characters in Oscar Wilde’s comedies of manners: Lady Windermere’s Fan, A woman of No Importance and An Ideal Husband Weber, Minon January 2017 (has links) Towards the end of the 19th century, Wilde produced the three comedies that I will focus on in this essay. These plays, Lady Windermere’s Fan, A woman of No Importance and An Ideal Husband, are all comedies of manners: intelligent dramatic comedies satirising contemporary fashionable circles of society and its manners, as well as social expectations. This type of comedy is often represented by stereotypical characters, such as the fallen woman, the good woman and the young innocent maiden, all three of which I will investigate in this essay. oscar wilde wilde comedies of manners victorian England society Victorian Society patriarchy feminism A Woman of No Importance An Ideal Husband Lady Windermere's Fan Rita Felski Felski patriarchal society transgressing gender boundaries gender boundaries fallen woman fallen women good women good woman stereotypes theatre play plays comedies Oscar Wilde feminism Oscar Wilde plays Specific Literatures Litteraturstudier Specific Languages Studier av enskilda språk

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