Early nineteenth-century Eurocentric perceptions of natural history led to the flora and fauna of Australia being thought of as deficient and inferior compared with those of other lands. By the 1820s, Australia had become known as ???the land of contrarieties???. This, and Eurocentric attitudes to nature in general, influenced the expectations and perceptions of immigrants throughout the century. Yet at the same time there was developing an aesthetic appreciation of the natural history of Australia. This thesis examines the tension between these two perceptions in the popular natural history writing of the nineteenth century, mainly through the writing of five authors ??? George Bennett (1804-1893), Louisa Anne Meredith (1812-1895), Samuel Hannaford (1937-1874), Horace Wheelwright (1815-1865) and Donald Macdonald (1859?-1932). George Bennett was a scientist, who saw Australian plants and animals more as scientific specimens than objects of beauty. Louisa Meredith perceived them in the familiar language of English romantic poetry. Samuel Hannaford used another language, that of popular British natural history writers of the mid-nineteenth century. To Horace Wheelwright, Australian animals were equally valuable to the sportsman???s gun as to the naturalist???s pen. Donald Macdonald was the only one of these major writers to have been born in Australia. Although proud of his British heritage, he rejoiced in the beauty of his native land. His writing demonstrates his joy, and his novel attitude to Australian natural history continued and developed in the present century.

Proefschrift--Amsterdam. / Published also without thesis note. "Stellingen": 2 leaves laid in. "List of books consulted": p. [194]-202.

Following a general historical discussion of the idea of nature, the study continues with an analysis of the main sources for Tennyson's nature, concept. Here some stress is put upon the temperament of the poet as well as upon his scientific, philosophical and religious affinities with the doctrines of progress and evolution. Chapter three deals with the view of nature in Tennyson's poetry. That Tennyson regarded nature merely as the physical world interpreted by science is demonstrated by a treatment of his poetry that recognizes the different moods of the poet. The conclusion arrived at is that, no matter what mood he was in, Tennyson viewed nature with suspicion. His attempts to embrace pantheism or to escape actuality through mysticism, transcendentalism, or romantic primitivism indicated his failure to reconcile his idea of nature with religious beliefs that demanded personal immortality and absolute morality for man. Because of these emotional needs, Tennyson, especially after the publication of Darwin's scientific treatises on evolution, was forced into a dualism that separated moral (or spiritual) man from a vast, cruel, immoral (or amoral) nature that Tennyson saw as antagonistic to both man and God. For Tennyson man's progress had nothing to do with nature. Chapter four argues that Meredith adopted Goethe's idea that nature is a vital, benevolent being that includes man and God in a unity of the real and ideal worlds. Because Meredith avoided the contradictions that science and Kantian transcendentalism introduced into Tennyson's philosophy, he was able to attain to a conception of the creative and ethical oneness of Earth. Hence he could use Darwinism to clarify his basically Goethian concept of nature, for he abjured the ideas of personal immortality and absolute morality and saw man as a creature of Earth who was progressing toward the harmonious altruistic balance of blood, brain, and spirit that existed in essential humanity. Meredith could rejoice in the struggle of life, which he saw as a struggle for balance and not for existence, because he had from the beginning accepted nature as a beneficent Earth to whose operations man must adjust himself. The last chapter discusses the different approaches of Tennyson and Meredith to nature, their attitudes to nature's law, and their ideas concerning man's place in nature. One argument resulting from this comparison is that Tennyson, applying Kant's transcendental theories and his own emotional reactions to his scientific interpretation of nature, was pessimistic about nature, whereas Meredith, approaching nature by way of the Goethian synthesis and a happy outlook that discerned a desirable mean in all nature's operations, was optimistic about her. Moreover, Meredith's idea of nature was more modern than Tennyson's, for Meredith's belief in altruism and co-operation being the primary law of nature is supported by certain present-day biological and sociological theories. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

"If a man's work is to be of value the best of him must be in it," wrote George Meredith to Mrs. J. B. Gilman of Concord, Massachusetts. To this credo he subscribed during this long career as a writer. The rare gifts of a richly endowed nature he brought to his work, for he was a philosopher, a poet, a humorist, and a subtle psychologist. The characters he created in his novels add much to his merit as a writer and it is with the delineation of certain of these characters and their prototypes in actual life, that I propose to deal.

No description available.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / On title page: Master of Philosophy (Ancient Cultures). Bibliography.

This investigation was based on a production performed by the Irving, Texas, Community Theatre in March, 1978, directed by the author of this thesis. The paper concerned the problems of producing a play under adverse conditions, such as lack of money, inadequate technical equipment, and a small stage. Chapter I included an investigation of the reviews of the original production in order to establish criteria by which to judge the Irving production. Chapters II and III dealth with varied technical aspects and their application under the adverse conditions. Examples of the technical factors were included in Chapter IV, with a scene synopsis. Chapter V contained a primarily favorable analysis based on the critic's and the audience's judgments, indicating most production elements to be successful.

No description available.

Thesis (MPhil (Ancient Studies)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / The question that this thesis aims to examine is how the motifs of the myth of Demeter and Persephone have been perpetuated in three modern works of fiction, which are Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood by Meredith Ann Pierce, Chocolat by Joanne Harris and House of Women by Lynn Freed. It is the aim of this work to substantiate that the issues that the ancient myth of Demeter and Persephone highlights, are still of value in this modern world and that the same human issues that women had to come to terms with then, continue to be relevant today. Briefly, the myth of Demeter and Persephone is about Demeter, the Olympian goddess of agricultural fertility, whose daughter Persephone is abducted by Hades, the god of the Underworld. The myth tells of Demeter’s grief at the loss of Persephone, and her desperate search for her daughter. Due to her grief, she stops all plants from growing which could be fatal to the mortals, and would have repercussions for the immortals that they serve. Demeter and Persephone are eventually reunited and the earth flourishes with growth once more. However for one-third of the year Persephone must descend to the Underworld to be at the side of Hades, at which time it is winter and plants do not grow. Then for two-thirds of the year she ascends to be with her mother, Demeter, and plants blossom and ripen, and it is the time of spring and summer. The impact of myth is not dead.