<p>I intend to investigate the narrative style of Charles Dickens in three of his critically most interesting novels and to show that the selective development of certain technical devices was due in part to his peculiarly close relationship to his reading public.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

Master of Arts (MA)

Master of Arts (MA)

Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The paper which follows is intended to refute a marxist interpretation of the nature and function of Hemingway's realism.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>Critics have generally thought that George Meredith's discussion of marital breakdown in Modern Love was in advance of its time. It must be granted that the married couple in the poem do not conform to the image that the Victorians liked to project of themselves, but in my view the narrator's attitude toward his wife, in fact, reflects a very conventional Victorian standpoint. Instead of taking an honest look at the marriage, the narrator blames his wife and unseen forces for their problems. The narrator's share of responsibility is revealed, however, in his manner of narration, in his responses to his wife, and in his way of handling his problems when he begins to suspect her adultery.</p> <p>When the narrator places the blame beyond himself, he has the least awareness of and control over his life. When he accepts responsibility for some of the blame for the failed marriage, he is generally stronger, and able to influence the course of his life, instead of yielding to invisible forces. Because of his weak sense of self the narrator is paralyzed by conflict and is unable to take effective action to improve his situation.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how and why Frost employs irony. The types of irony Frost uses can initially be classified into two categories; "natural" and "artificial" irony. The distinction between these two terns will be elaborated and the various aspects or types of irony encompassed by each tern will be discussed. The reasons for Frost's use of irony will also be examined. The poetry to be studied consists of selected long dramatic poems from three of Frost's early books: North aof Boston (1914), Mountain Interval (1916), and New Hampshire (1923). The observations arising from an examination of these works should sufficiently elucidate frost's uses of irony.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The women of Dreiser's Cowperwood Trilogy are supporting, not central, characters in the novels; however, to understand them and the roles they play is important for a reader trying to understand the protagonist, Cowperwood, himself. Dreiser has chosen to write about a man who seems to be a superman, but who is in the long run just as weak and vulnerable as those more ordinary souls who surround him. Cowperwood is a complex man, who has strength which is sometimes merely the illusion of strength, who is intelligent, but only up to a point, and who is attractive, sometimes destructively attractive, to those he meets and associates with. Because of the kind of man he is, he lives in almost total spiritual and emotional isolation, an isolation impinged upon by a very few people, all of them women.<br /><br />The three major relationships of Cowperwood's life are his two marriages and his affair with Berenice Fleming. The three women involved are very different from one another, and each opens up for scrutiny different sides of Cowperwood's nature. Lillian Semple, a very ordinary, respectable sort of woman, helps point up Cowperwood' s immaturity, and his lack of understanding of human nature, a lack which is never corrected throughout his life. His cold-bloodedness also shows through very early on, to be more obviously demonstrated when he comes to be involved with Aileen Butler. Aileen is, next to Cowperwood, the most important character in the Trilogy. Their relationship is the most disastrous of them all, and best illustrates the tragic effect Cowperwood's narrow obsessed dogmatic personality has on those around him. Through Aileen, Dreiser not only amply demonstrates the inhumanity of Cowperwood obvious enough without her presence, but also how little different he is from other men, and how much he is a victim of illusion. Berenice takes the process one step farther; she is like Cowperwood in many ways, but is able to transcend the same limitations under which he suffers. <br /><br />The Cowperwood Trilogy is concerned with philosophical matters in which Dreiser took an intense interest throughout his life, but it is also a personal story about one man and the women he knew, loved and, in some cases, injured deeply. This second aspect sheds light on the first, and has never been sufficiently examined. Dreiser is one novelist who chose to write searchingly about women, and in the Cowperwood Trilogy he has created several female characters worthy of close attention.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>Saul Bellows six novels all show the same pattern, an inward quest by the protagonist with a double, or alter-ego as teacher, guide or saviour. The device of alter-ego is used in different ways in each of the novels, sometimes centrally, sometimes marginally, but seems to be an essential part of Bellow's fiction.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)