A mid-nineteenth century feminist anxious to enlist the support of the illustrious George Eliot in her cause would have found in the novelist a curious blend of progressive and conservative responses to the "woman question." Marian Evans' own struggle for a literary career coupled with the materialistic world view which she adopted from Ludwig Feuer-bach gave her an acute understanding of the oppression women endured under a patriarchal system. But at the same time she felt that women had a distinctive psychological makeup which meant they could exercise a special beneficent moral influence in social life. She would not admit woman's full equality with man because she felt that the complete emancipation of her sex might coarsen the feminine nature. George Eliot's contradictory attitudes to the position of women are reflected in her fictional writing, often marring the unity of her presentation of female characters. In The Mill on the Floss, Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda brilliant analysis of the effects of male supremacy turns into blind worship of the Victorian vision of woman as "the angel in the house." My argument is not with the traditional view of woman per se; but that in George Eliot's work it is in direct opposition to a stronger and more aesthetically satisfying radical interpretation. The presence of stereotyped images of women in otherwise brilliant novels reduces complexity to artifice, realism to idealism and hard-edged irony to facile sentiment. In The Mill Maggie Tulliver is clearly struggling for some personal identity other than the strictly "feminine" one her brother Tom insists on. However, by the end of the novel Maggie has apparently found fulfilment in passive submission to Tom's male superiority. Similarly In Middlemarch Dorothea's quest for some greater meaning in her life than the cloistered position of a gentlewoman usually allows for is answered first with an idealized marriage to Will Ladislaw, and second with Vague references to her goddess-like perfection. One of Eliot's greatest achievements as a novelist is her determination to take the bitch seriously. With both Rosamond Vincy and Gwendolen Harleth she probes the usual stereotype of the evil woman to show that these two are as much victims of a repressive patriarchal society as are the more attractive characters such as Dorothea and Maggie. But she does not carry through her sympathetic understanding of the bitch character. Rosamond is finally declared to be the unregenerate evil woman who "flourishes wonderfully on a murdered man's brains." Gwendolen does change but as is implied by the comparison to Mirah Lapidoth, it is only to be removed from one role, the bitch and placed immediately in another, the good woman. This pattern is repeated in Felix Holt the Radical by measuring Mrs. Transome against Esther Lyon. The ambiguous treatment of the female personality does not arise in George Eliot's other novels because none of the women characters is ever lifted far enough above stereotype for there to be any question of a departure from realism. However Adam Bede, Silas Marner and Romola are briefly discussed with Felix Holt in Chapter IV. Although this thesis dwells largely on certain aesthetic weaknesses in the fictional writing of George Eliot, I am not suggesting that her reversion to traditional images of the feminine character destroys the novels. On the contrary recognizing and exploring these obvious areas of failure dramatically points up the brilliance of the initial feminist perspective (i.e. the recognition that much of what is called the female character is in fact a response to patriarchal values) which George Eliot takes in introducing her women characters. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

Nikolai Gogol has been an enigma that many scholars have attempted to understand. No one disputes his artistic genius, yet no one can satisfactorily define it. Both in his artistic works and in his life, Gogol was original, or rather, he was true to himself, a feat that set him apart from Russian society during Nikolai I's reign. Gogol did not have any love affairs nor did he marry. This fact has led many critics to formulate the opinion that Gogol feared women. Theories of an Oedipal or homo-erotic complex, or regression have been set forth as explanations for this fear. Yet did Gogol fear women and do his works reflect this fear? The Oedipal and regressive theories are justified by selecting examples from Gogol's literary works. However, these attempts, to date, have been usually based on one or two works, while the rest of Gogol's works are disregarded. It is the purpose of this study to give a comprehensive analysis of Gogol's life and works before any conclusions are arrived at. The intent is to be objective rather than subjective. To do this, I have had to rely heavily on actual quotations from the author, his works, and opinions voiced by critics. The study has been divided into four chapters. The first chapter deals with Gogol's biography. His early life, his mother's influence, his aspirations and friendships will be surveyed. The second chapter consists of four summaries of recent critiques of Gogol. These four have been chosen on the basis that they reflect a diversity of present-day opinions of Gogol. Setchkarev analyses Gogol's work from an artistic point of view. Erlich regards Gogol as a great grotesque writer whose works reflect existential problems. Driessen and McLean illustrate what can be done when a psychoanalytical approach is used. The third chapter is an examination of Gogol's method of presenting his women characters. As Gogol developed philosophically and artistically, his attitude to women changed. Therefore I have divided the chapter into four parts, each reflecting a different attitude to the subject, women. The parts are called modes and consist of the lyrical, subjective, caricature and idealized mode. The milieu of the women characters, their physical appearance, actions and functions in the stories will be looked at. The last chapter presents my conclusion. On the basis of a textual analysis of Gogol's works, I have arrived at the conclusion that Gogol had a high regard for women. Women are a completely separate entity from men and should be appreciated for what they are. Gogol finds fault with men for expecting too much from women; rather, men should seek contentment within themselves. However, women as objects to behold are an everlasting pleasure to Gogol. / Arts, Faculty of / Central Eastern Northern European Studies, Department of / Graduate

A partir de quatre romans sénégalais, MaTmouna d'Abdoulaye Sadji, O Pays mon beau peuple ! de Sembène Ousmane, Les Bouts-de-Bois-de Dieu du même auteur et de Buur Tilleen de Cheik Aliou N'dao, nous avons étudié la condition de la femme africaine telle que les auteurs la décrivent. Le choix des oeuvres a été guidé par le sujet d'étude, aussi avons-nous retenu les romans satisfaisant aux conditions suivantes : l'importance de la place de la femme dans l'oeuvre et le lieu de l'action limité en Afrique. Les femmes y apparaissent sous deux aspects distincts, d'une part les femmes attachées à la vie traditionnelle, d'autre part les femmes participant à la vie moderne. Entre les deux, se détachent les femmes traditionalistes en voie d'évolution qui indiquent que les romanciers s'intéressent à une société de transition. Il se dégage que les personnages féminins portent le reflet du conflit entre la tradition et le modernisme dans la société africaine en évolution constante au contact des sociétés européennes. Ce conflit s'incarne plus particulièrement dans l'aspect contradictoire du rôle de la femme en tant que mère et dans le rôle de la femme en tant qu'épouse. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

"The purpose of this paper is to present the life of Caroline Gordon in relation to her works and to give a critical evaluation of her works as found in contemporary reviews. The procedure followed in writing the paper was first to seek out all the novels, short stories, and critical articles written by Miss Gordon and the articles written about her. Tools that were useful in compiling the list were Essay and General Literature Index, Fiction Catalog, International Index to Periodicals, Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, and Short Story Index. Next all of the works of Caroline Gordon and all of the articles written about her works that were available were read. Critical reviews of her writings were traced through Book Review Digest and the original reviews were examined with care. Chapter I gives a sketch of Caroline Gordon's life; Chapter II discusses the novels of Miss Gordon; and Chapter III discusses her short stories and critical articles. A brief summary evaluates her works as adjudged by critics; and a bibliography of sources consulted concludes the paper"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "August, 1955." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Agnes Gregory, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-52).

"The purpose of this paper is to present the life and works of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings by writing her biography with a summary of her contributions to the field of regional literature. The writer of this paper, a native Floridian, developed an interest in Mrs. Rawlings and her works because of Mrs. Rawlings's importance as a Florida novelist and the local settings of her novels and short stories. He has attempted to present an overall picture of the life of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in relation to her literary works dealing basically with her novels and short stories"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "August, 1954." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Agnes Gregory, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-43).

Bertha von Suttner lived in fin-de siècle Vienna. She wrote her romantic novel Die Waffen nieder in 1889 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905 for the novel’s influence on the German peace movement. This thesis looks at the effect Suttner’s gender had on the novel and its reception. As a woman writing about peace, Suttner was aware of the societal limitations placed upon her treatment of a political subject. Suttner carefully and consciously chose the novel’s genre. Her synthesis of content and form epitomizes her pacifist and feminist cause. The protagonist’s rhetorical language and the novel’s genre compliment each other by using nineteenth century assumptions about women to persuade the reader to reevaluate their contemporary notions about war.

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