This dissertation covers five female Victorian authors (Elizabeth Gaskell, M.E. Braddon, Dinah Craik, Juliana Horatia Ewing, Edith Nesbit) and the representations of masculinity in their novels. By taking a masculinity studies approach, this dissertation finds that these novels, in an attempt to gain authority and legitimacy in the male-dominated social sphere, often promoted middle-class masculine gender identities as the dominant, ideal masculinity for others. I will argue that female authors in the Victorian period took part in this struggle over re/defining hegemonic male gender identity in different ways, in different genres, for different purposes. Gaskell’s Mary Barton and North and South seek to ensure middle-class dominance over the working classes. Braddon’s novels Lady Audley’s Secret and Aurora Floyd illustrate the unnaturalness of gender (and thus to call into question notions of “natural” differences between men and women, or men and other men) and broaden the definition of acceptable gender identities for men and, by extension, women. The authors of late-period children’s literature created texts that either changed or shield from change both male and female gender identities to define the proper way to educate children during a time when gender roles were undergoing changes due to innovations in industry, education, and calls for equal rights for women and non-hegemonic men. All of these texts display a great amount of confidence in the power of literature to shape gender identity. The male characters in novels covered in this dissertation help govern the individual from abstract potential to concrete reality in terms of how masculinity is lived in the everyday world. While pamphlets, medical journals, and conduct books can instruct the reader on ideal conduct (or, conversely, warn against inappropriate conduct) for men, women, boys, and girls, these texts often function in the abstract. The belief held by these authors in the power of literature is enables them to position fictional men in the real world under the assumption that these characters are therefore able to “live out” these ideas of what is and what is not appropriate in performing one’s male gender identity. / Department of English

Thesis (M.A. in Church History)--Cincinnati Christian University, 2007. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-108).

Thesis (Ph.D) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of English, 2001. / Bibliography: leaves 466-497.

Bibliography: l. 106-108. Thesis (M.A. in Church History)--Cincinnati Christian University, 2007.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Open University. BLDSC no. DX217762.

Thesis--Paris. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 739-778).

Thesis (doctoral)--Université de Paris III. / Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 210-224).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007. / Title from PDF title page screen. Advisor: Christopher Hodgkins; submitted to the Dept. of English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 30-33, p. 66-70).

This study is a psychobiographical study, aiming to explore and describe the life of John Henry Newman (1801-1890), a theologian, priest, and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, through the application of Erik Erikson’s theory of Psychosocial Development. Newman is a significant figure in the English-speaking Christian world and his life and thought remains of interest and importance, particularly in the fields of philosophy, theology, ecclesiology and education. Newman was beatified in 2010 and therefore this study also considers the hagiographical nature of biographical data. This study utilises a qualitative single case study approach and the subject was selected through purposive sampling based on interest value. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources to enhance validity. The data were analysed by organising and reducing information obtained regarding Newman’s life and then displaying it for discussion. The study considers Newman’s life, reconstructed from birth, through adolescence and adulthood to his death and also considers his posthumous legacy. The main themes of discussion revolve around Newman’s development of his religious identity and his life as a churchman and an academic. It considers how a psychosocially functional individual such as Newman manifests certain dystonic, maladaptive or malignant tendencies such as doubt, shame, guilt and overextension, and how these impact the formation of religious identity and the experience of God and the spiritual life. Basic trust, celibate intimacy and generativity emerged as three significant areas of importance in the Newman’s life and identity. The study highlighted the value of psychobiographical studies and of Erikson’s theory in understanding development. Recommendations for future research in this field are made in the hope of further uncovering and understanding personality, religious identity and psychosocial development.