Malory's Le Morte Darthur has become one of the most popular medieval romances, and it has remained continually in print since Caxton's 1485 edition. The "noble chyvalrye, curtosye, humanyté, frendlynesse, hardynesse, love, frendshyp, cowardyse, murder, hate, vertue, and synne" which William Caxton found within the book have captivated both scholars and average readers for centuries. Curiously absent from the critical record, however, have been examinations of gender and the family, themes which are of the utmost importance to the characters within the Morte Darthur. This thesis investigates the theme of family interactions within Malory's "Tale of Sir Gareth," examining the tale itself as well as looking at several analogous stories to determine if the theme is Malory's own or if it could have come from a probable source. "The Tale of Sir Gareth" follows the thematic patterns set forth early in the Morte Darthur. The tale's main interests are knightly gaining of worship and how knightly families interact. The two themes are connected by the proof-of-knighthood quest which calls for a combat between family members. Gareth operates within a realm dominated by familial groups. Outside of Arthur's court, knights rely on family links for protection and honor. Even within Arthur's Round Table fellowship, knights cleave to kin groups. Gareth enters Arthur's kitchens with the intention of discovering who his true friends are. He breaks the normal pattern of familial association: after gaining worship, he separates himself from his brothers. Malory's "Tale of Sir Gareth" has been troubling to scholars, as "Malory had before him in the writing of this 'Tale' no 'source,' at least not in the sense that we use in considering the other segments of Le Morte Darthur." While no clear source is available, many analogous Fair Unknown Romances exist. Five romances which have been suggested by Robert H. Wilson and Larry D. Benson are Le Bel Inconnu, Lybeaus Desconus, Wigalois, Erec and Enide, and Ipomadon. In these romances, the theme of familial conflict is not an important one. This suggests that Malory inserted the theme of familial violence into his tale. The majority of the action within the Morte Darthur comes in the form of knights on quests to gain honor and worship. Being a member of a knightly family is a necessary pre-condition for being a great knight as knights rely on their family for honor and renown and also must fight against close family members as proof of their prowess. This creates a destabilizing force within Arthur's Round Table Fellowship, and the majority of the conflicts within Malory's Morte Darthur can be traced to interfamilial conflict.

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In this dissertation I examine Isaiah Berlin's view of pluralism. Where some have claimed that Berlin cannot justify his commitment to liberalism given his ideas about moral pluralism---that his views are subjective---I argue that he can justify his commitment to liberalism, and avoid the problems of relativism. The departing point of my study is that unlike many, I do not think it is necessary to explicate Berlin's opinions about history, nationalism, or similar ideas---that what he says about pluralism is logically distinct from his other views. My argument has two basic parts. In the first I argue that Berlin's conception of pluralism is best understood as a response to monism, and not necessarily as a position which stands alone. As I argue, Berlin's commitment to liberalism depends less upon direct links between liberalism and pluralism, than a critique of monism which shows how vis-a-vis the corruption of positive liberty, monism leads to authoritarianism. The second part of my argument revolves around the idea that pluralism and relativism are distinct ideas, as seen in their treatment of the idea of incommensurability. Pluralism, I argue, unlike relativism, allows for comparative judgments to be made between values and cultures, because of certain assumptions it holds regarding human nature. Thus the charge that Berlin is a relativist is incorrect, in so far as it fails to consider the theoretical differences between pluralism and relativism.

Isaiah Berlin's idea of value pluralism has traditionally been seen as supportive to liberalism. Recently however, the idea of an implicit connection between pluralism and liberalism has been questioned by theorists arguing that there is no theoretical link between both, and that in fact, pluralism presents obstacles to liberalism. / In this thesis, I present pluralism as being a romantic response to Enlightenment-inspired liberal theory. My claim is that liberalism, even though it cannot be derived from a pluralist moral theory, provides strong support, both in practice and historically, to our pluralist moral condition. In chapter 1, I explain Berlin's conception of history and the importance of the context. I also contrast pluralism with other liberal theories to lay the foundation of my argument. In chapter 2, I present Berlin's highly original conception of human nature, and his defence of negative liberty. In chapter 3, I demonstrate how pluralism is a romantic response to traditional liberalism by exploring two liberal themes that were both redefined in new terms following the romantic revolt, namely rationality and tolerance. Finally, in chapter 4, I argue that pluralism does not entail liberalism, but that none the less a liberal society is the political arrangement best suited to the fact that human beings disagree about ends, and that values and ways of life are incompatible and incommensurable.

This thesis thematically examines Sir Edwin Landseer's 0802-73> visual images of the Scottish Highlands. From consideration of Landseer's art and its social context it is argued that it is possible to gain an understanding of changing conceptions of both landscape and nature and the symbolic role of Highland Scotland in British middle class consciousness over the period 1820-1870. The text is contained in Volume One and all illustrative plates are contained in Volume Two. In Chapter One recent reformulations of the concept of culture are examined, some approaches to cultural theory reviewed and a cultural materialist framework adopted. The changing nature of Scottish rural imagery over the period 1750 - 1870 is examined in Chapter Two. Chapter Three provides both a brief biographical sketch of Edwin Landseer and a commentary on the nature of the Victorian art market. The re-presentation of the Scottish rural poor in landscape art is examined in Chapter Four. In Chapter Five particular attention is given to the ideological nature of Landseeer's royal commissions while the changing symbolic role of animals in nineteenth century thought is examined in Chapter Six. Chapter Seven examines Landseer's "Flood in the Highlands" (1845-1860) and argues that this work encapsulates a historical study of human responses to a specific hostile environment. It is further argued that this work represents an essentially Christian analogical view of the relationship between man and the natural world. In conclusion Chapter Eight re-examines the symbolic role of the Highland Image in popular consciousness over the period 1820 - 1870. It is argued that Landseer's Highland works reflect and articulate two central traits in early and mid Victorian thought - the value of the rural and the pull of the past. In a brief postscript it is suggested that the immense popularity of Landseer's Highland image helped prepare Victorian society for a subsequent historicist reaction which illustrated the power of the past in shaping the regional development of the Highlands.

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Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1960. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-93).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1972. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

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