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Mikhail Bulgakov's preoccupation with evil in Master i Margarita is set against the background of spiritual barrenness which is outlined in the essays of Vekhi (1909) as dominating Russian radical thought at the beginning of the 20th century. The themes of loss of spirituality, utilitarian faith or atheism, man-godhood, split personality, lack of faith in people and ethical inaptitude, as depicted in Vekhi, re-emerge in Bulgakov's novel more than two decades after the publication of the essays. The devil's genealogy is examined in relation to the sources which Bulgakov is known to have used while writing the novel. The study of the devil's role reveals that, in the case of the conformist characters, Woland appears as a manifestation of the irrational and metaphysical aspects of existence while, in the case of the ordinary Moscow citizens, he advocates a more common sense, rational attitude to life than that which relies on magic and witchcraft. The writer's dilemma in a philistine, authoritarian society is examined through the phenomenon of split personality (Ivan Bezdomny versus the Master). Throughout the thesis C. G. Jung's ideas are employed to illustrate how Bulgakov shapes the myth which gives meaning to the life of a writer whose work might never be published. The Pontius Pilate story is shown to contain the philosophical kernel of the novel; in accordance with Jungian ideology moral absolutes are conceived by Bulgakov, not as opposites, but as part of a paradoxical whole. The joint immortality of Pontius Pilate and Jeshua serves as a most explicit metaphor of this view which is echoed in Woland's question: what would happen to good if there were no evil?Yet, as a whole Master i Margarita must be seen to demonstrate that there may be justification, but there is no consolation, for a person who turns away from truth.

In dealing with the individual works, I have attempted to analyze the structural element first, and then to deduce the novel's meaning, or theme, making use, wherever it is possible, of the results of the analysis of structure. In addition, I have attempted to reveal the development of certain themes from one novel to another, and certain developments in characterization and general design. I have attempted to reveal the relationship of the structure and thematic aspects of the individual works to Fizgerald's work as a whole. Finally, I have attempted to demonstrate Fitzgerald's relationship with certain of this peers and forebears in the American novel.

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This thesis focuses on the creative work of Edgar Allan Poe, and pieces together how various references to music in his poems and tales function in ways that echo throughout his oeuvre. By taking into account the plots and themes that surround references to music in Poe’s works, this thesis explores how Poe uses and describes music as it inhabits real world settings, liminal spaces, and otherworldly sites. The literature this thesis draws from ranges from tales little-discussed in Poe criticism, such as “The Spectacles” and “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether,” to more complex and popular tales such as “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Masque of the Red Death”; the same is true of the poems, which range from “Fanny” to “Annabel Lee.” The exploration of the less critically popular texts in conjunction with the more critically popular ones brings to light a clear hierarchy of music’s function in the tales and poems of Edgar Poe in ways that converse with his treatment of madness and the divine. The work of music and literature scholars will serve as the basis for distinguishing and historically positioning Poe’s use of certain musical terms, as well as ultimately providing a means to express the mythical, philosophical, and theological implications of music’s place in Poe’s works.

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This dissertation presents a thematic study of the novels of John Nichols. Intended as an introduction to his major works of fiction, this study discusses the central themes and prominent characteristics of his seven novels and considers the impact of the Southwest on his work. Chapter One presents biographical information about Nichols, focusing on his political awakening and subsequent move to Taos, New Mexico. A visit to Guatemala, after the publication of The Sterile Cuckoo. his first novel, brought Nichols to a realization that America was not a benevolent world power. He began to consider capitalism a voracious, destructive economic system, a view which informed the subjects and themes of his five novels written after The Wizard of Loneliness. In 1969, Nichols left New York City, moving to Taos, New Mexico, an area with a history of physical and economic aggression against its predominantly Native American and Hispanic population. The five polemical novels, all set in northern New Mexico, were written after this move. Chapters Two through Four discuss Nichols's seven novels, analyzing theme and reviewing critical response. /V Chapter Two discusses The Sterile Cuckoo (1965) and The Wizard of Loneliness (1966), novels written prior to Nichols's political awakening. Both of these books are rite-of-passage novels which focus on relationships. Chapter Three analyzes The New Mexico Trilogy: The Milagro Beanfield War (1974), The Magic Journey (1978), and The Nirvana Blues (1981). These three novels depict the exploitation of people, the displacement of cultures, and the despoliation of land in the name of progress. Chapter Four considers A Ghost in the Music (1979) and American Blood (1987). Although these two books differ greatly in tone and subject, they are similar in the general theme of waste--waste of human potential and human life. Chapter Five identifies the prominent characteristics and reviews the major themes of Nichols's novels. It concludes with a discussion of the impact of the Southwest on Nichols and his literature.

Four themes dominate Balzae's Pere Goriot: Paris, ambition, money, superman. Paris is described physically, socially and morally all strata of society are cruel and corrupt. The contrast between poverty and luxury arouses the ambition of young provincial Rastignae. While his ambition is mainly social, most of the characters of the novel have financial ambitions; money is their only valued Vautrin would kill and Goriot's daughters would reduce their father to pauperism for profit. Beth Vautrin and Goriot are presented as supermen, but while the former is a strong-willed ruthless ex-convict, the latter is a monomaniac, utterly blinded by paternal love. The four themes reflect contemporary society as well as Ralzac's own life and character. They recur throughout the Comdie Humalne but are skilfully condensed in Le Pere Goriot.

I focus on four operas premiered in Europe and the United States between 2009 and 2016 in which elements of the medieval, ritual, ancient, religious, and mystic emerge through their source material: _Adam and Eve: A Divine Comedy_ (2015, Norway), by Cecilie Ore and Bibbi Moslet; _Kalîla wa Dimna_ (2016, France), by Moneim Adwan and Fady Jomar; _Lilith_ (2009, USA) by Anthony Davis and Allan Havis, and _Paradise Reloaded (Lilith)_ (2013, Austria), by Peter Eötvös and Albert Ostermaier. This dissertation argues that these operas, rather than seeking a renaissance or rebirth of the mythic, draw inspiration and narratives from what I am calling “distant pasts,” reimagining universal or “timeless” narratives of humanity through a specific contemporary lens in an explicit and deliberate interrogation of the political present. Mapping out different modes of staging these distant pasts in response to cultural and political change in the twenty-first century, I suggest new modes of conceiving adaptable operatic “networks of comprehension” that encompass the multiple subject positions and geographical and cultural contexts that shape opera today. Each opera is presented as a case study in a single chapter, balancing musical analyses with political, historical, and cultural critique. Interviews with “stakeholders” (composers, librettists, singers, directors), many of which I conducted, form an integral part of this process. My analyses explore these four operas’ unconventional attitudes towards time, narrative, and drama, and in probing each opera’s idiosyncratic relationship with its distant pasts, I chart the complex manifestations of recent political discourse in Europe and the United States, especially concerning the intersection of feminism, race, religion, and secularism.

In this thesis, I demonstrate how I use leitmotif in a programmatic context in my original orchestral suite, The Legend of Two Rings.