Harold Pinter is deeply intrigued by Franz Kafka&rsquo / s fiction. Both writers&rsquo / works are imbued with ambiguity or mystery, and the feelings of disintegration, evasiveness, and domination. The atmosphere of menace and terror permeate their works. Kafka&rsquo / s fiction is characterized by the existence of an invisible guilt, a prevailing sense of ambivalence and the impossibility to obtain knowledge from the omnipotent sources. The mainspring of menace in Pinter is usually the outside forces, which are latent and invisible. In Pinter&rsquo / s violent dramatic world, the individuals are subjected to an unreasonable treatment of torture, imprisonment and dehumanization. His recurrent theme of torture is in fact traceable to Kafka&rsquo / s themes of punishment and execution. The characters can find comfort neither in their physical surroundings nor in an understanding relationship with others, and finally they are driven into a state of disintegration of self-image. Man&rsquo / s predicament is reflected in a layered manner, embarking on his relationship with the outside world, and then moving towards his inner anguish about the self. This study focuses on the common aspects of the two literary figures in terms of the concept of menace. The sense of menace is reflected in certain human feelings like fear, insecurity and hopelessness. Menace may appear in a number of ways including physical, psychological and mental ways. However, the characters, in both Kafka&rsquo / s and Pinter&rsquo / s works, make use of some defense mechanisms to cope with menace. Evasiveness and inaction are efficient in situations where the dominant character exerts his power by means of the information obtained through questioning the victim. Pinter&rsquo / s characters also remain silent to protect themselves from the torture and violence exerted by the mechanism. The characters also question the system to gain insight to its true nature. Lastly, the individuals seek relief in self-delusion and denial of reality as the reality itself is essentially ruthless. All these coping strategies, however, prove fruitless in the end, and both Kafka&rsquo / s and Pinter&rsquo / s characters become a victim of unspecified menace.

Nietzschean epistemology involved many subversive elements and, thus, posed a challenge to the Christian epistemology and to other traditional frames of references which appeared after the Enlightenment. With his philosophy Nietzsche problematised many of the traditional givens like the master signifier (God), the other organising principles, and the traditional binary oppositions on which the Western metaphysics was based. He shattered the previous parameters of existence irraparably when he disconnected the individual from his/her illusions by laying bare a decentered universe devoid of any form of meaning, and the result was nihilism in the beginning. Interestingly enough, Nietzschean epistemology also offered ways to overcome this nihilistic stage in an individual&rsquo / s struggle for a meaningful existence. This thesis is based on the analysis of two plays by Tom Murphy, &ldquo / Bailegangaire&rdquo / and &ldquo / The Sanctuary Lamp&rdquo / , against the background of Nietzschean philosophy and attempts to discover the parallelisms between Murphy&rsquo / s characters and Nietzschean elements in their search for the essence of existence and their desire for a meaningful life. In the plays, self-realisation of an individual, that is, overcoming nihilism, is mainly achieved by means of art and one&rsquo / s individual strength, which is characterised by the ability to endure abyss, affirm life as it is, forget and forgive one&rsquo / s enemies, follow instincts, employ one&rsquo / s will to power, acquire the power and the position of God in one&rsquo / s personal zone, and combine destruction and creation. The playwright conveys an individual&rsquo / s loss of purpose and the inevitable chaos in the aftermath of the death of God and, also, the methods to surmount this nihilistic condition. The study comes to the conclusion that all the above Nietzschean elements build a solid background for Murphy&rsquo / s drama, where the dramatist draws a picture of systematicity of existence of an individual who struggles to attain meaning.

This dissertation aims to study three very important works in English children&rsquo / s fiction: C. S. Lewis&rsquo / s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Philip Pullman&rsquo / s The Subtle Knife, the second book of his trilogy His Dark Materials, and J. K. Rowling&rsquo / s Harry Potter and the Philosopher&rsquo / s Stone. The novels will be analyzed in terms of their approaches toward the conventions of fairy tale, fantasy and romance / to this end, the novels are to be evaluated in relation to their concept of chronotope, and the quest of good versus evil. While the secondary world or multiple worlds presented are going to be analyzed in terms of their perception of time and space along with the presentation of the supernatural elements, the characters will be evaluated in terms of the common classification good versus evil. The main argument of this study concentrates on the gradual estrangement from the crystal clear distinctions of the fairy tale genre to a more shadowy, pessimistic, and ambivalent vision of the fantastic in the children&rsquo / s literature.

This thesis analyzes the analogy between woman and nature and ecofeminist theory that emphasizes the parallelism between man&#039 / s exploitation of woman and nature. It aims to make an ecofeminist analysis of three novels: Surfacing by Margaret Atwood, The Cleft by Doris Lessing and The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson. First, this thesis introduces the history and main principles of ecofeminist theory. These novels by different women writers investigate the embodiment of these main principles in three novels despite the fact that the same aspects of the theory can sometimes be interpreted differently in these novels. In analyzing these three novels as applications and/or the criticisms of ecofeminist theory, it was found that two theories, social ecology and Cyborg Theory, are also necessary. The later novels use ideas from these related theories alongside ecofeminist ideas. In order to undertake this analysis in each novel, this thesis also studies the assignment of determined social roles to man and woman and the duality resulting from this inequality. Next, it investigates the colonization of both nature and woman&#039 / s body by man&amp / #8217 / s intervention, that leads to the alienation of woman from herself and society. Furthermore, this thesis shows the exploitation process of females and nature by males who consider both as objects.

The present thesis argues that the present era of post-postmodernism experiences a revival of revised metanarratives through &lsquo / fabulation&rsquo / , the process masterfully depicted in Julian Barnes&rsquo / s novels Metroland (1980), Flaubert&rsquo / s Parrot (1984), History of the World in 10 &frac12 / Chapters (1989) and England, England (1998). The age of postmodernism with its undermining irony, hopelessness, pessimism and the sense of the looming end could not but leave the world in a state of despair, characterised by a propagated rule of the simulacra and the subaltern, hybridism, uncertainty, absence and inconclusiveness. As a result, the world witnessed the appearance of various calls for the re-institution of metanarratives as the only cure to rescue mankind from continuous deferral of signification, which tends to feel secure only with a score of guiding narratives. The same holds true of Julian Barnes&rsquo / s fiction. While many consider the writer&rsquo / s works to be typically postmodern, it is far from being so, as alongside the propagation of multiplicity and flexibility of meaning, it emphasises the existence of the Truth and the necessity to fabulate metanarratives, which are the only guiding poles in human progress through life in post-postmodernism.

Murdoch&rsquo / s fiction has been influenced by dramatic elements, particularly comic elements. This influence has been revealed as parody. Murdoch parodies the comic character types of the eiron, alazon, buffoon and agroikos by exaggerating and mixing their functions and themes of love, separated lovers and metamorphosis in her novels, The Nice and the Good, The Black Prince, and The Sea, The Sea. In addition, she makes parodic uses of Shakespearean plays, As You Like It and Love&#039 / s Labour&#039 / s Lost, Hamlet, and The Tempest, in her novels in question. Her use of parody as a weapon against the genre of romantic comedy, its character types and main themes is the result of her philosophical view of drama and the dramatic. She argues that comedy and tragedy deal with appearance whereas drama and the dramatic ought to involve reality. In her novels in question, she shows that the dramatic is the conflict of selfish self with itself to reach self-knowledge. Murdochian self- knowledge is the knowledge of what lies beyond self. This kind of knowledge is achieved by unselfing, a process through which a solipsistic self recognizes its solipsism and challenges it by means of love and art.

This study scrutinizes parody in Stoppard&rsquo / s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Real Inspector Hound, and Dogg&rsquo / s Hamlet, Cahoot&rsquo / s Macbeth. After a historical survey of the definitions of parody with a stress on its definitions in our era, this study puts forward its definition of parody which is mainly based on Bakhtin&rsquo / s dialogic criticism. Parody then can be defined as a deliberate imitation or transformation of a socio-cultural product that takes a stance towards its original subject of imitation. Based on the original subject of parody, three kinds of parody are distinguished: genre, specific, and discourse. Following determining the kinds of parody that each of the aforementioned plays exhibits, this study expounds how Stoppard applies parody of the characters, plots, and themes in relation to their original subjects of parody. Later, a close critical study of these parodies will be conducted to elaborate on their functions and significances in each of the plays, their relations with and efficacy in the thematic context of the plays, the techniques used to achieve them, and how far they are applied in line with or opposite to the post-modern&rsquo / s ideas.

ABSTRACT MATURATION OF SHAVIAN WOMEN: A STUDY OF THE MATURATION PROCESSES OF FEMALE PRATOGONISTS IN PYGMALION AND MRS. WARREN&#039 / S PROFESSION M.A., Department of English Literature May, 2009, 112 pages George Bernard Shaw is a celebrated playwright for his depiction of emancipated women. His women, regardless of the conditions they are in at the beginning of the play, experience a maturation process in the flow of the events and especially discussions which direct the change in his characters. In this thesis, the maturation processes Vivie Warren and Eliza Doolittle experience are analyzed in the plays Mrs. Warren&#039 / s Profession and Pygmalion, respectively. Vivie is a typical Shavian heroine who is educated and free-spirited even at the beginning of the play. At the end, she chooses to start a professional life breaking with the domestic and social boundaries by rejecting to see her mother or marry Frank. Likewise, Eliza, who is a simple flower girl at the beginning of the play, seems to bear the free spirit Vivie has because she earns her living and makes her own decision of taking phonetics courses, which causes the events in the play to take place. At the end, she rejects marrying to support her life and chooses to pursue phonetics as a profession to earn her living. As a result, her free-spirited personality leads her to her maturation process. In this study, it is concluded that no matter what their starting point is, both Shavian women bear the characteristics of New Woman at the beginning of the play which facilitates their progress into New Women at the end of the plays.

Some cultures have customs against women. The sati tradition in India is one of them. According to sati, if the husband dies the woman is set on fire with his corpse. These women are believed to become immortal saints. A woman who dies burning herself on her husband&rsquo / s funeral fire is considered virtuous, and are believed to go to Heaven. Another tradition is &ldquo / female circumcision.&rdquo / It is performed in African countries. People believing in the necessity of this custom circumcise women by cutting their clitoris. Circumcised women cannot have sexually pleasure. These women are there to satisfy men&rsquo / s desires and give birth to babies. The third tradition is the general name of which is t&ouml / re is performed in the eastern parts of Turkey. According to t&ouml / re, women are put on trial by their families and killed if they have any sexual relationships without marriage bond. In other words, even if a woman is raped, she is found guilty because of having a sexual relationship. In this thesis, these issues and how women are degraded in cultures will be discussed by using the works of famous Indian, Black American and Turkish writers. The books that are discussed in this thesis, Nayantara Sahgal&rsquo / s &ldquo / Rich Like Us,&rdquo / Lakshmi Persaud&rsquo / s &ldquo / Raise the Lanterns High,&rdquo / &ldquo / Possessing the Secret of Joy&rdquo / by Alice Walker and &ldquo / Bliss&rdquo / by Z&uuml / lf&uuml / Livaneli all contribute to this study showing how women are oppressed by different customs in different countries, the common point of which is to serve men&rsquo / s interests.

This thesis analyses the ostracising of the unlike as social criticism in H.G.Wells&rsquo / s The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau and The Invisible Man against a background of T.H.Huxley&rsquo / s cosmic pessimism in his work Evolution and Ethics. The thesis claims that Wells puts mankind&rsquo / s future on an ever darkening line of evolution, or in other words devolution. Wells, although he is an admirer of Huxley, shows a more sceptical and cynical attitude in the assessment of the capabilities and nature of mankind. The three novels constituting the subject of the present study bears the stamp of this scepticism in increasingly pessimistic degrees.