Venus and Adonis and Lucrece, though rarely studied, were Shakespeare's bestsellers: reprinted fourteen times during his lifetime, they generated considerable commentary providing rare accounts both of men and women as readers of Shakespeare and of Shakespeare's reputation among his contemporaries. This thesis examines issues of gender and sexuality in venus and Adonis and Lucrece by turning both to contemporary accounts of reading the poems and to the actual reading environment of Shakespeare's elite readers. The Elizabethan and Jacobean elite home was extraordinarily rich in visual images. Elite men and women read Shakespeare's Ovidian poetry in an environment itself furnished with Ovidian imagery. But connections between textual representation and the immediate context of reading -- by which I mean the actual rooms in which men and women read - - have rarely been examined. Despite claims for greater interdisciplinarity in Renaissance literary criticism, we still know very little about the habitats of early modem readers. However, questions of gender and sexuality currently examined in Renaissance literary criticism can be powerfully interrogated in the furnishings of rooms in which men and women read. Though little known to literary critics, the striking images that appeared upon the walls, chairs, chests and beds of Shakespeare's elite readers represent a rich source for studying early modern oeconomy -- 'or what appertains to the house'. In this thesis, I seek to show both how Shakespeare's bestselling works explore the making of oeconomy, and how his readers could have interpreted them in the making of their own oeconomies. In so doing, I explore the implications of reading Shakespeare in the early modem elite home.

[pt] Tito Lucrécio Caro (95 a.C. 54 a. C) é conhecido por ter escrito aquele que é, talvez, o maior poema filosófico da Antiguidade: o De rerum natura (sobre a natureza das coisas). A partir de uma tradição de pensamento que remonta a Leucipo e Demócrito e, sobretudo, a Epicuro, Lucrécio retoma e aprofunda as teses atomistas que afirmam o acaso como força criadora de todas as coisas. Assim, o pensamento de Lucrécio é, pois, um naturalismo ocupado em pensar a natureza não como uma potência exterior que informa a matéria, mas como a natureza das coisas (rerum) em sua existência dispersa. Mas o naturalismo de Lucrécio é também uma ética que afirma o prazer como bem máximo e identificado à imperturbabilidade dos deuses (tranquilla pax; placida pax; summa pax). É através desse caminho que o tema do comportamento regular da natureza reaparece no poema: o conhecimento da natureza é a condição necessária para a identificação do falso e dos temores que dele decorrem. Vale dizer, deste modo, que o pensamento de Lucrécio não prescinde da afirmação de um tipo de necessidade natural. Assim, pode-se afirmar que a articulação entre os temas aparentemente divergentes de um acaso soberano e de uma necessidade natural é o leitmotiv do De rerum natura. Lucrécio pensa a estabilidade e o equilíbrio não como formas primeiras que antecedem a fundação da natureza das coisas, mas como efeitos solidários de um movimento universal que comporta em uma mesma medida o instável e o desequilíbrio. / [fr] Titus Lucrèce Carus (95 a.C.-54 a.C.)est connu pour avoir écrit ce qui est peut-être le plus grand poème philosophique de l`Antiquité: le De rerum natura ( De la nature des choses). A partir d`une tradition de pensée qui remonte à Leucipe, Democrite et surtout à Epicure, Lucrèce reprend et approfondit les thèses atomistes qui affirment le hasard comme force créatrice de toute chose. La pensée de Lucrèce est donc un naturalisme occupé à penser la nature non comme une potence extérieure qui informe la matière mais comme la nature des choses (rerum) dans son existence éparse/dispersée. Mais le naturalisme de Lucrèce est aussi une éthique qui affirme le plaisir comme bien maximal, identifié à l`imperturbabilité des dieux (tranquilla pax; summa pax). C`est par cette voie que le thème du comportement régulier de la nature réapparaît dans le poème: la connaissance de la nature est la condition nécessaire à l`identification du faux et des craintes qui en découlent. Ca vaut la peine de dire, de cette façon, que la pensée de Lucrèce ne contrecarre/ne s`oppose/ne contredit pas l`affirmation d`un type de nécessité naturelle. D`où, on peut affirmer que l`articulation entre les thèmes apparemment divergents d`un hasard souverain et d`une nécessité naturelle est le leitmotiv du De rerum natura. Lucrèce pense la stabilité et l`équilibre non comme des formes primaires qui anticipent la fondation de la nature des choses, mais comme effets solidaires d`un mouvement universel qui comporte dans une même mesure l`instable et le déséquilibre.

Cette étude analyse l’emploi des couleurs dans l’intégralité des oeuvres de Lucrèce, Catulle, Virgile, Horace, Tibulle, Properce et Ovide. Cette étude a été conduite à partir d’un référentiel de termes de couleur unique et considérablement élargi par rapport à l’habitude en ce domaine : aux termes courants, comme albus, niger, ruber, etc., ont été ajoutés un grand nombre d’autres termes porteurs implicites de couleur comme aurum (l’or), ebur (l’ivoire), marmor (le marbre) ou encore sanguis (le sang), dès lors que l’occurrence était pertinente. Un inventaire exhaustif et quantifié de tous les termes de couleur, de toutes leurs occurrences dans chacune des oeuvres fait l’objet d’un document annexe (292 pages), enrichi de tableaux de synthèse et de ratios : il est ainsi possible de vérifier immédiatement la présence ou l’absence d’un terme, de connaître sa fréquence d’apparition chez chaque poète, dans chacun de ses poèmes. L’étude s’est attachée à analyser et comparer les emplois de chaque terme chez chacun des poètes, à souligner les symbolismes, les alliances et les contrastes de couleurs que privilégie chaque poète, à étudier la manière dont chacun peint portraits, paysages, scènes diverses, à s’interroger sur les raisons des lacunes ou des concentrations de couleurs au sein des poèmes. Ainsi on a pu mettre en évidence selon les thèmes (épopée, élégie ou satire), la profonde cohérence entre le style, la personnalité de chaque poète et sa palette de couleurs, sa manière d’en user. / This study examines the use of color in the entirety of poetic works by Lucretius, Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Tibullus, Propertius, and Ovid. This study was conducted using a single reference tool of color-related terms, which allows a more thorough analysis of early Latin poetry than has typically been the case. To common terms such as albus, niger, and ruber, have been added numerous terms which implicitly signal the presence of color within the text, such as aurum (gold), ebur (ivory), marmor (marble), and sanguis (blood). A comprehensive inventory of color terms appears in a 292-pages appendix that contains summary tables showing where each term can be found in the works studied. It is therefore possible to immediately verify the presence or absence of a color term, and to map the frequency with which it appears in a particular poem or in the work of a particular poet. This study seeks to analyze and compare the use of color terms as used by each poet ; to highlight the symbolism as well as the color combinations and contrasts favored by each poet; to study the ways in which each poet paints portraits, landscapes, and various other scenes with words ; to raise questions about the absence or concentration of color in the heart of particular poems. By doing so, it becomes possible to demonstrate - in the case of epic, elegy, or satire - the profound coherence linking poetic style, the personality of the poet, the color palette, and the manner in which it is used.

[pt] Os problemas relacionados à legitimidade e alcance da teoria do conhecimento epicurista têm provocado intensos debates desde a Antigüidade. As dificuldades em torno do tema podem ser aferidas pela diversidade de interpretações que, ainda hoje, ocupam as produções de comentadores que se dedicam ao estudo destes problemas. A pretensão de identificar este kanon ao que geralmente denominamos lógica não faz senão dificultar nosso acesso ao sentido conferido pelos epicuristas ao problema do conhecimento. Propomos, no presente trabalho, que uma exposição coerente do kanon epicurista deve ser feita segundo uma perspectiva que considere as teses fundamentais da física e as aspirações éticas que constituem o corpus da doutrina. Assim, o estado fragmentado do Todo, o acaso originário e o antifinalismo que caracterizam o pensamento desta filosofia são evocados na determinação dos procedimentos segundo os quais o pensamento opera em sua tarefa de determinar nossas possibilidades de conhecimento. / [fr] Les problèmes relatifs à la légitimité et à la portée de la théorie de la connaissance épicurienne ont provoqué d’intenses débats dès l’antiquité. Témoigne des difficultés autour du thème la diversité d interprétations qui, aujourd hui encore, occupent les productions des commentateurs qui se consacrent à l étude de ces problèmes. La prétention d’identifier ce kanon à ce que l’on nomme généralement logique rend plus difficile encore notre accès au sens conféré par les épicuriens au problème de la connaissance. Nous proposons, dans ce travail, qu’une exposition cohérente du kanon épicurien doit être faite dans une perspective qui tient compte des thèses fondamentales de la physique et des aspirations éthiques que constituent le corpus de la doctrine. Ainsi, l’état fragmenté du Tout, le hasard originaire et l’antifinalisme qui caractérisent cette philosophie sont évoqués dans la détermination des procédés selon lesquels la pensée opère dans le but de déterminer nos capacités de connaissance.

This feminist analysis addresses Lindsey Collen’s intertextual use of myth in The Rape of Sita and how her reformation of the parodied texts becomes a resistance to patriarchy. Collen’s examination of possible counteractions against patriarchy is analysed and it is determined whether or not she posits writing, especially demythologization, as the best resistance to patriarchal discourse. Also, her assertion that transformation and a unity of the sexes are needed to bring about equality is studied. The methodology used is qualitative and inductive. The sources are examined and interpreted through close-reading strategies which reveal the complexities of the text and the way in which Collen subverts myth. Classical and Hindu myths and other texts, such as T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, are re-read and re-examined to investigate to what extent they have challenged or championed patriarchal ideology, through which it is hoped that a greater understanding of the way in which mythology contributes to attitudes to rape is gained. Three other texts dealing with rape are also studied, in order to better place Collen’s novel in context of the genre. Primarily, feminist criticism, particularly with an African feminist viewpoint, is used. However, because a conflation of post-colonial and postmodern approaches is embedded within feminism, these concepts are dealt with also. Theorists drawn upon include Michel Foucault, Roland Barthes, Mircea Eliade and Margaret Atwood. / Dissertation (MA (English))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / English / MA / unrestricted

This thesis traces the use of pity in early modern English literature, highlighting in particular the ways in which the emotion prompted personal anxieties and threatened Burckhardtian notions of the self-contained, autonomous individual, even as it acted as a central, crucial component of personal identity. The first chapter considers pity in medieval drama, and ultimately argues that the institutional changes that took place during the Reformation ushered in a new era, in which people felt themselves to be subjected to interpersonal emotions – pity especially – in new, overwhelming, and difficult ways. The remaining three chapters examine how pity complicates questions of personal identity in Renaissance literature. Chapter Two discusses the masculine bid for pity in courtly lyric poetry, including Philip Sidney's Astrophil and Stella and Barnabe Barnes's Parthenophil and Parthenophe, and considers the undercurrents of vulnerability and violation that emerge in the wake of unanswered emotional appeals. This chapter also examines these themes in Spenser's The Faerie Queene and Sidney's Arcadia. Chapter Three also picks up the element of violation, extending it to the pitiable presentation of sexual aggression in Lucrece narratives. Chapter Four explores the recognition of suffering and vulnerability across species boundaries, highlighting the use of pity to define humanity against the rest of the animal kingdom, and focusing in particular on how these questions are handled by Shakespeare in The Tempest and Ben Jonson, in Bartholomew Fair. This work represents the first extended study of pity in early modern English literature, and suggests that the emotion had a constitutive role in personal subjectivity, in addition to structuring various forms of social relation. Ultimately, the thesis contends that the early modern English interest in pity indicates a central worry about vulnerability, but also, crucially, a belief in the necessity of recognising shared, human weakness.