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1	A type of king : the figure of Arthur in mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century literature Gabriel, Schenk January 2014 (has links) This thesis analyses the figure of Arthur, in a period spanning the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, when that figure became increasingly protean and multifaceted, and the audience for the Arthurian legend grew in both size and variety. It argues that many authors wrote through Arthur, as well as about Arthur, using the figure to understand and test their own ideas about ideals (e.g. of manliness, kingship, or heroism) as well as problems (such as war, despotism, or ungodliness). This thesis analyses Arthur by considering him as a 'type', using a definition of the term that highlights a paradox: a type, in a scientific sense, is both perfect (an exemplary model) and normal (common enough to be representative). When applied to Arthur, it means that he is both a perfect, or near perfect, example, but is also to some extent a 'normal' human being. Different authors analysed in this thesis emphasise different aspects of the figure, according to whether they focus on Arthur's perfection or his normality. Other meanings of the word 'type' are also applied when relevant: the idea is not to force all versions of Arthur into a single or definitive category, but to retain the complexity of how Arthur is characterised and written about in texts. The ultimate aim of this thesis is to put the figure of Arthur into critical focus, and explain why he has been returned to so often in history. 820.9
2	Confronting eternity : strange (im)mortalities, and states of undying in popular fiction. Bacon, Edwin Bruce January 2014 (has links) When the meritless scrabble for the bauble of deity, they ironically set their human lives at the “pin’s fee” to which Shakespeare’s Hamlet refers. This thesis focuses on these undeserving individuals in premillennial and postmillennial fiction, who seek immortality at the expense of both their humanities, and their natural mortalities. I will analyse an array of popular modern characters, paying particular attention to the precursors of immortal personages. I will inaugurate these analyses with an examination of fan favourite series Immortality Undeath Undying Magic Science Pseudoscience Life Death Eternity God Alchemy Phoenix Popular Fiction Pop Culture William Shakespeare Hamlet Doctor Who The Doctor The Master Buffy the Vampire Slayer Gulliver's Travels Struldbrugg Jonathan Swift Sherlock Holmes Moriarty Arthur Conan Doyle Merlin The Once and Future King T.H. White The Mask Batman The Joker Scream Ghostface Saw The Jigsaw Killer Hanz Lungwitz Breaking Bad Walter White Heroes Sylar A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man James Joyce The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde Emily Dickinson Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Roger Ebert Judith Butler J.R.R Tolkien Dylan Thomas Robert Louis Stevenson

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A type of king : the figure of Arthur in mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century literature

Confronting eternity : strange (im)mortalities, and states of undying in popular fiction.