This thesis conducts a comparative analysis of Anne Rice’s Lestat, in her The Vampire Chronicles and Stephenie Meyer’s Edward, in her Twilight Saga, focusing primarily on the construction of their respective sexualities. Beginning by clarifying the theoretical groundwork for the analysis, I first discuss the theory of the Gothic in which I situate the texts and read some of the theory pertaining to the gothic body. From there I turn to queer theory and identity politics, introducing the concept of the thematic / problematic distinction on which to map the differences and debates between the two – an important area to establish as it resonates throughout the paper. Then I proceed to consider Freud’s Uncanny, touching on the work of Joan Copjec and Barbara Creed. Once this groundwork has been established, I work through Foucault’s arguments in The History of Sexuality, Volume One: The Will to Knowledge, detailing its significance as the focalizing theory for my analysis of the novels – particularly the three related elements of power, discourse and the body. Coupled with other theorist’s readings of Foucault’s arguments, this will then set me up to work the three elements into the thematic/problematic relationship, the uncanny and the gothic body. Once this theoretical work is completed, I will return to a literary analysis of the difference between the two characters based on their construction of sexuality in their subjectivity. Finally, after turning to the novels themselves, I show how Lestat engages with the thematic as he is seen to queer the notions of sex that Edward portrays, and is therefore more effective as a monstrous figure, and more effective in evoking the uncanny. Ultimately, The Vampire Chronicles is more successful in utilizing its possibilities for ‘dissent’ as a gothic novel, than the Twilight Saga. / published_or_final_version / Literary and Cultural Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Thesis (M.A.T.S.)--Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-92).

No description available.

Thesis (B.A.)--Haverford College, Dept. of English, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

A defining element of Yves Theriault's work, sexuality has frequently been perceived by various critics as a motif which serves to reinforce other, often extraliterary readings. It is my intention on the other hand to study this phenomenon from the viewpoint of its fundamental importance as the primary theme in order to delimit its significance on the structural level. I mean to accentuate not only the principal parameters of the sexual identity of Theriault's characters but also the environment which oversees and influences the origins and the development of their sexuality. It follows from this that nature in his novels and short stories shows itself to be a highly eroticised presence which serves as a model for man in his perpetual struggle for the key to a harmonious relationship with woman. I begin by giving an overview of Theriault's erotic universe before going on to study in greater depth the specificity of the sexual exchange between man and woman. This leads us to the formulation of a more precise idea of the sexual centre of his work. My conclusion takes us inexorably back to the outset of the study, for it underlines the essential contribution of an eroticised nature to the development of a healthy sexual and emotional relationship within the couple. The general direction of this procedure reflects to no small degree the cyclical, never-ending quest of a writer who is continually striving for the salvation of mankind through his art.

The myth of Circe and Odysseus has been told, interpreted and retold from Homer's time to the present. This thesis begins with a detailed study of Homer's balancing of positive and negative elements of the myth and argues that Homer's Circe is connected with age-old traditions of goddess worship, particularly of Artemis of Ephesus. Chapters III and IV investigate the cultural context in which the purely negative Circe of the Homeric allegorists developed and how this allegorical Circe affected works by other ancient writers, particularly Virgil and Ovid. Later chapters demonstrate how this negative allegorical view of Circe prevailed through the Renaissance and seventeenth century, as evidenced in mythographies, Calderon's plays and by Spenser's Acrasia. The study concludes that allegorical interpretations of the Circe myth were founded on body-soul dualism, so that not until this belief is questioned and abandoned by Joyce and Atwood in the twentieth century are more original and/or positive Circes found.

Originally presented as the author's Thesis (Brown University, 1999), under title: Autres voix : sexuality and literary genre in the works of Marguerite Yourcenar and Julien Green. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [135]-139).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: [42]-45)

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009. / Open access. Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-95).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2007. / "Graduate Program in Spanish." Includes bibliographical references (p. 313-322).