Cette thèse a pour objet d’étudier le personnage de la reine transgressive sur la scèneespagnole du Siècle d’Or à partir d’un corpus de huit comedias publiées entre 1609 et 1653 pardes dramaturges célèbres (Virués, Tirso de Molina, Guillén Rojas Zorrilla, Lope de Vega,Calderón de la Barca). L’introduction permet d’asseoir les bases d’une réflexion qui entendfaire émerger des types de reines particulières, des figures héritées d’une traditionmythologique, biblique ou historique. Un double critère a contribué à sélectionner le corpus età établir un plan : le rapport du personnage féminin au pouvoir et son lien avec une violencequi conduit nécessairement à un ou plusieurs crimes. Les chapitres de la première partie del’étude prennent en compte le cadre historique, social et idéologique de la figure de la reinedans la lignée des gender studies et analysent des exemples de souveraines qui à la foisdérangent, troublent mais fascinent. Notre référence-clé est celle de la reine-roi, un personnageexcessif qui subvertit les normes du genre et de l’autorité jusqu’à devenir un rôle d’exceptionpour les actrices de l’époque. La deuxième partie s’intéresse aux accès au pouvoir de la reineroi,à son exercice et à ses dérives tyranniques. L’analyse porte essentiellement sur les outilspropres à la scénographie, le travestissement mais aussi à la rhétorique. Dans une dernière partie sont abordées les perspectives psychologiques, criminologiques et judiciaires des violencescommises par les reines. Nous postulons des déviances parfois proches de folies ou depathologies irréversibles qui trouvent un dénouement exceptionnel sur la scène, à la hauteur de ces femmes hors normes. / The object of this thesis is to examine the character of the transgressive queen on theSpanish stage of the Golden Age, from a corpus of eight comedias published between 1609 and1653 by well-known dramatists (Virués, Tirso de Molina, Guillén de Castro, Rojas Zorrilla,Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca). The introduction helps to lay the foundations of a thoughtprocess which aims to bring out specific types of queens, inherited figures from a mythological,biblical or historical tradition. Two criteria contributed to selecting the corpus and shaping aplan - the female character’s relationship with power and her ties to violence which inevitablylead her to commit one or more crimes. The chapters in the first part of the study take intoaccount the historical, social and ideological representations of the Queen in line with thegender studies, and analyse examples of sovereigns that are both disturbing and unsettling andyet fascinating. Our key reference is the Queen-King – an excessive character subverting thegender and authority standards and whose role will be exceptional for actresses at the time. Thesecond part looks into the Queen-King access to power, her reign and her tyrannical outbursts.The analysis mainly pertains to the tools of scenography, of distortion but also of rhetoric. Thelast part deals with the psychological, criminal and judicial perspectives of violence, committedby the queens. We claim that some of the deviances occasionally border on madness orirreversible pathologies which find an exceptional outcome on stage, worthy of theseoutstanding women.

L’objet de cette thèse est de faire connaître un poème inédit du XIVe siècle, conservé à la bibliothèque du Château de Chantilly sous la cote 1477.Nous proposons une édition annotée de ce texte et complétée par différents glossaires et index qui permettent de le situer dans l’histoire littéraire du Moyen Âge.Dans un deuxième volet, nous avons cherché à apporter des réponses sur l’histoire du manuscrit, son auteur, les dédicataires à qui il était destiné. Nous avons également tenté de restituer le contexte culturel, historique et religieux du Livre royal ainsi que les intentions de son auteur. La dédicace indique qu’il était destiné à Philippe VI de Valois, premier roi de la dynastie des Valois et sa famille ; cette dédicace permet de dater l’ouvrage de 1345-1347. Il est donc royal par sa destination et sa qualité artistique ; il peut s’apparenter à un Miroir aux princes ou plutôt aux princesses car il semble destiné en priorité à un public féminin pour lequel il est rédigé en français. Il reflète les vicissitudes du temps puisqu’il fut composé lors de la première phase de la guerre de Cent Ans qui opposa le roi à Edouard III souverain anglais. Dans le domaine politique, le Livre royal apparaît comme l’œuvre d’un publiciste du pouvoir en place. Il témoigne également des préoccupations morales et religieuses de son auteur, soucieux de contribuer à la formation des élites et, à ce titre, il est un exemple de vulgarisation religieuse. Le Livre royal qui puise dans des sources nombreuses et variées se présente donc aussi bien comme un témoin de la circulation des textes et de leur réception dans le milieu des lettrés que le témoin d’une culture, celle d’un clerc du XIVe s. / The purpose of this thesis is to present an original poem of the fouteenth century, preserved in the library of the Château de Chantilly in classification mark 1477.We therefore propose an annotated edition of the text and supplemented by various glossaries and indexes that situate him in the literary history of the Middle Ages.In a second phase, we sought to provide answers about the history of the manuscript, the author, the didicatee in which it was intended. We also attempted to restore the cultural, historical and religious context of the Royal Book and the intentions of its author. The dedication says it was intented to Philippe VI, the first king of the dynasty of Valois and his family ; this dedication makes it possible to date the book from 1345 to 1347. The manuscript is a royal destination and its artistic quality ; it can be likened to a mirror for princes or princesses rather because it seems aimed primarily at a female audience for which it is written in French. Il reflects the vicissitudes of time since it was composed in the first phase of the Hundred Years War that pitted the king Edward III English sovereign. In politics, the Royal Book appears as the work of a publicist in power. Il also reflects the moral and religious concerns of its author, anxious to help train the elite and as such, it is also an example of religious outreach. The Royal Book that draws from many diverse sources presents itself both as a witness to circulation of texts and their reception in the middle of the scholars that the witness of a culture, that of a clerk of the fourteenth century.

abstract: The Iberian Queen Sancha (r.1037-1065), of the kingdom of León and Castile has received minimal attention from scholars. As the last Leonese heir, Sancha had the sole responsibility of ensuring that imperial traditions of patronage never waned. Her acts of giving and the commissioning of objects have been attributed by (male) scholars as an obligation to legitimize her husband, Fernando I of Castile. Persuasive evidence found in documents suggests that her involvement in donation transactions was predicated on more than formality. My thesis argues that Sancha used the act of giving, the act of commissioning objects, language in documents, and the powerful institution of the infantazgo, to assert an agency identical to her male predecessors to gain political influence. Creating a “donor profile” of Sancha that examines the total of her donating practices enables the exploration of her conscious and unconscious motives for donation. My investigation into these acts supports a new theory that the building construction projects of Sancha and Fernando I began at the beginning of their reign rather than after 1053 as is currently believed. As the first woman to use the titles regine emperatriz and regina totius Hispaniae, Queen Sancha did more than just legitimize her husband, she built a legacy that established a new female center of power in León that endured until the thirteenth century. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Art History 2017

Altruism is defined as a trait in an individual that increases some other individual’s fitness at the expense of her own. Therefore, existence of such traits in a population is an evolutionary paradox, as natural selection should eliminate such a trait. Extreme altruism in the form of eusociality where individuals relinquish their own reproduction to help raise other’s offspring has been an enigma in evolutionary biology since Darwin. Primitively eusocial organisms provide one with a unique system to study the evolution and maintenance of altruism as in these kind of species most of the individuals are capable of developing their reproductive organs, although at a certain point in time, only one or a few individuals actually reproduce. Ropalidia marginata is a primitively eusocial wasp belonging to the insect order Hymenoptera, Family Vespidae. R. marginata colonies are monogynous, although serial polygyny is observed in a colony’s lifetime. Colony initiation happens either by single founding or multiple founding. Newly founded colonies may accept individuals from other colonies, but mature colonies seldom do. Production of males is irregular, and once eclosed, they generally leave their natal nest within a week. The haplodiploidy of Hymenopteran species, i.e. the males being haploid and the females diploid, make them uniquely genetically predisposed for eusociality to evolve as was shown by William Donald Hamilton in his kin selection theory. Primitvely eusocial Hymenopteran species, being susceptible to experimental manipulation, allows one to test the predictions of this theory. In this thesis I have addressed three aspects of the biology of R. marginata using microsatellite markers, which are the following: 1) Distribution of nestmate genetic relatedness in early founding (pre‐emergence) and mature ( post‐emergence colonies) and their comparison (Chapter 3) 2) Role of relatedness and fertility in predicting the queen’s successor (Chapter 4) 3) Genetic structure of populations (Chapter 5) CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION: This chapter gives a brief outline of the field of molecular ecology putting its techniques to the context of insect sociobiology. CHAPTER 2. METHODS: This chapter gives a general outline of the molecular genetic methods involved. In addition, the issue of the mutation process in R. marginata microsatellites has also been addressed. There are two main models of mutation for microsatellite evolution i.e. infinite alleles model (IAM) and the step‐wise mutation model (SMM). To understand the actual process of mutation in R. marginata, sets of alleles with continuous sizes were sequenced and aligned. This was repeated for several of the loci. Seven out of the nine loci genotyped revealed clear step‐like mutation pattern and was binned accordingly. Two loci were dropped as the actual nature of step‐sizes in these two loci was unclear. Therefore, the final dataset consisted of genotype for 7 loci. This chapter also discusses the initial steps in data formatting and analysis. CHAPTER 3. GENETIC RELATEDNESS IN DIFFERENT STAGES OF COLONY DEVELOPMENT: In this chapter I have estimated nestmate genetic relatedness using seven polymorphic microsatellite loci in two different stages of colony development of the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidiamarginata and compared them. In both kinds of nests the average colony relatedness was observed to be less than 0.75, i.e., what is expected for full sib females in Hymenoptera. Moreover, it was observed that the nestmates at the initial colony founding stage are on average less related to each other than in mature colonies. From this, one may postulate that the indirect component of inclusive fitness plays a relatively minor role than its direct component as individuals chose to leave a higher relatedness background in favour of a lower relatedness background. As newly founded colonies are relatively smaller in size than mature colonies, the probability of an individual wasp becoming the queen in this kind of colony is higher than in mature colonies. CHAPTER 4. TESTING THE ROLE OF RELATEDNESS AND FERTILITY IN PREDICTING THE QUEEN’S SUCCESSORS: R. marginata colonies are headed by docile queens. When this queen dies or is removed, one of the workers becomes extremely aggressive. She is known as the potential queen because within a few days she becomes the new queen of the colony and her aggression comes down. Predicting the successor in the presence of the queen has eluded most of the approaches attempted so far. The probability of an individual becoming the queen has been found to be uncorrelated with her body size, aggression, ovarian status or mating status. The only trend that has been observed till date, is a positive correlation with age, but the pattern is not perfect. However, the workers themselves seem to be perfectly aware of who their immediate successor going to be. In this chapter, I have tested several models of queen succession constructed in an inclusive fitness framework. These models have been tested both using relatedness alone as well as using fertility along with relatedness. Predictions of none of the models actually matched the observed sequence of successors. The wasps do not seem to be choosing their successor to maximize their inclusive fitness. CHAPTER 5. GENETIC STRUCTURE OF NATURAL POPULATIONS: I have also looked at the genetic structure of R. marginata populations in a large part of its natural distribution. I have used both F and R statistics to estimate the level of structuring and compared them. Both Fat as well Rst were found to be significantly larger than 0. Also Fis and Ris both were small and not significant suggesting lack of inbreeding. Rst was observed to be higher than Fst. Permutation test revealed a higher contribution of mutation in this structuring than migration, suggesting Rst to be a better measure of genetic structuring in this case. Similar pattern was observed with Anlysis of MOlecular VAriance. Pairwise Fst/(1‐Fst) values were found to be uncorrelated with distance, whereas barely significant trend was observed with Rst/(1‐Rst). The scatter across the trend line in both the cases suggested lack of migration drift equilibrium, with drift being more relative to migration. Higher level of structuring was observed at the level of the colony. However, colonies were rather outbred as was suggested by high and negative values of Fia and Ria values. This is not at all surprising as nestmates are related to each other. The pattern of isolation by distance at the colony level was similar to that observed in case of the populations. However, there was even higher degree of scattering of the individual points in this case. CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSIONS: Hamilton’s inclusive fitness theory has received a wide attention from and acceptance by sociobiologists, and relatedness have been measured in a wide variety of social insects. In this thesis relatedness in the context of colony founding was measured and compared with mature colonies. Also, several models constructed in an inclusive theory framework were experimentally tested. In both, support for indirect fitness was found wanting. The population genetic structure of R. marginata revealed that the sub populations are small in size and migration among them low. It also suggested significant contribution of colony level structuring on the population genetic structuring. Using more modern molecular genetic and statistical techniques, these and similar other questions can be addressed with higher precision and rigour, and such studies are expected to greatly advance our understanding of the basic premise of this thesis, i.e., how can eusociality evolve and be maintained? We hope that the current work will encourage others to ask such questions in other species.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo comparar o estabelecimento de sauveiros iniciais em duas áreas de cultivo de cana-de-açúcar com solos de diferentes texturas (médio-argilosa e argilosa) e verificar a influência dos fatores químicos e microbiológicos desses solos no estabelecimento de formigueiros iniciais de A. sexdens rubropilosa. Os sauveiros iniciais foram demarcados após a penetração das içás no solo a partir da revoada. As avaliações foram conduzidas após 40 dias da revoada e foram mantidas semanalmente, por um período de 120 dias ou até a reabertura do canal inicial dos ninhos para forrageamento. No experimento de laboratório, as rainhas foram acondicionadas em potes com solo das duas áreas em 25 ± 2ºC e UR 70%. As avaliações de laboratório foram feitas seguindo-se a mesma metodologia de campo, verificando a atividade dos sauveiros. Os sauveiros mortos foram descartados e as rainhas, foram utilizadas para isolamento de microrganismos para associá-los à causa da morte. As análises dos fatores químicos e microbiológicos do solo incluíram macro e micronutrientes, carbono da biomassa microbiana, contagem do número mais provável de fungos, bactérias e contagem de unidades formadoras de colônias de actinomicetos. Houve uma maior sobrevivência dos sauveiros iniciais de A. sexdens rubropilosa em solos contendo textura argilosa do que médio-argilosa em laboratório. Nas áreas com solo de textura argilosa e médio-argilosa, a sobrevivência dos ninhos foi de 47,8 e 26,7%, respectivamente. No campo, por sua vez, não foram observadas diferenças no estabelecimento dos sauveiros iniciais para as duas áreas de cana-de-açúcar. O carbono da biomassa microbiana bem como o número mais provável de bactérias foi superior no solo de textura médio-argilosa comparativamente ao de textura argilosa. Diferentemente dos resultados de laboratório, os estudos de campo indicaram que à ação dos microrganismos do solo no estabelecimento de sauveiros novos de A. sexdens rubropilosa não foi tão expressiva. / The objective of the present study was to compare the establishment of new ant nests in two sugarcane growing areas with different soil types (sandy clay and clay) and to verify the influence of chemical and microbiological soil factors on nest establishment. In order to determine nest establishment, initial ant nests were marked and accompanied with other activities immediately after nuptial flight. Evaluations for verification of nest establishment were made weekly after 40 days for the period of 120 days. In laboratory experiment, mated queens collected from the two areas with different soils were maintained in plastic pots containing soil from respective areas at 25 ± 2ºC and 70% RH. To verify activities of the ants, a method similar to the one used to the field study was adopted. Dead ants were discarded while dead queens were used for isolation of associated microorganisms to determine the cause of mortality. The analysis of chemical and microbiological factors of the soil determined macro and micro-nutrients including carbon biomass, the most probable number of fungi, bacteria and counting of the colony forming units of the actinomycetes. The establishment of new ant nests occurred significantly more in the sandy clay soil than clay soil in laboratory. In the areas of sandy clay and clay soil the establishments were 47.8 and 26.7%, respectively. In the field was not observed difference in the establishment of new ant nest in both areas. The carbon biomass and most probable number of bacteria were significantly higher in the sandy clay soil when compared with clay soil area. Differently from laboratory results, the field studies indicated that the establishment of new ant nests of A. sexdens rubropilosa was not only based on the soil microrganism.

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Anne Rice writes popular fiction. She is best known for her iconic Vampire Chronicles series. This thesis focuses on the first three volumes of this series: Interview with the Vampire (1976), The Vampire Lestat (1985), and The Queen of the Damned (1988). The main objective of this thesis is to show that whilst Rice's novels often seem very liberal, an examination of her subtext reveals a conservative message. This message helps entrench socio-cultural and political hegemonies because it does not challenge the status quo. In order to see how these conservative leanings are entrenched by Rice, this thesis examines archetypes of the female and the Feminine. Louis is male, but can be viewed as a Feminine character because of his meek subservience to Lestat (the protagonist of the series). Claudia is their daughter, but she is also a woman trapped in a child's body. Claudia seems to have great intellectual freedom, but she is trapped within her body and cannot mature. Gabrielle is Lestat‟s mother. When Gabrielle becomes a vampire, Rice tries to empower Gabrielle by androgynizing her character. However, we find that this androgyny is not empowering because Gabrielle returns to her role as a mother. Akasha is the ancient queen and source of vampirism. She wants to bring about a radical, gynocentric world by killing most men. But subtextually, Akasha‟s defeat represents the defeat of feminism in favour of patriarchy. Despite the seemingly liberal nature of the texts, subtextually there is a trend towards negating the power these characters carry in the text. To explore the flux between the text and the subtext, an array of post-modern reading tools and theoretical approaches have been used. The primary reading strategies include a close reading of the novels, informed by Feminist perspectives, together with other reading strategies such as, Queer Theory, Marxism, deconstruction and the role of the Fantastic. Little academic study has been devoted to Rice‟s work. Her work shows deep philosophical and artistic integrity which lends an elegance and beauty to her texts, but this is undermined by the conservative undertones of her work. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / English / unrestricted

This study of Shelley's intellectual development as it is reflected in these philosophical poems is offered in the hope that knowledge of Shelley's idealism may inspire faith in the beauty which life can possess and trust in the high ideals which alone can create such beauty.

The Diplom's Thesis "Mariology of Louise M. Grignion de Montfort and Leo XIII" The Marian worshiper Louis Maria Grignion of Montfort worked in France as a Catholic priest and missionary at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. Grignion, the promoter of the rosary prayer and marian veneration, which Pope Leo XIII blessed in 1888, on the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, left in his writings a spiritual message and taching, the elements of which we find in the works of Pope Leo XIII. This Pope is the author of Marian encyclicals promoting the rosary prayer. The tematic similarity in his view of the figure of the Virgin Mary and her influence in history appears in both, Grignion and Leo XIII, in the field of mariological expression and in the inseparable trinitological basis of mariology. The first chapter of this work contains the biography of the priest and missionary Louis M. Grignion of Montfort. It is followed by a biography of Gioacchino Pecci, the pope of the Roman Catholic Church since 1887. The second chapter clarifies the periodic conditionality of Grignion's works and outlines his partial mariology and Marian veneration. The third chapter maps the thinking of Louis M. Grignion implicitly present in the Marian encyclicals of Leo XIII on a general level and then in the...

The aim of this essay is to examine how the biblical Queen of Sheba has been depicted in a selection of artworks. The main focus is on how her otherness has been visualized, in relation to King Solomon in particular but also to the Western, European, christian and white self-image at large. The material that has been analyzed comprises the following artworks: Solomon and the Queen of Sheba by Nicholas of Verdun (1181), Procession of the Queen of Sheba; Meeting between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon by Piero della Francesca (ca 1452-1466), The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon by Lavinia Fontana (1599) and The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon by Edward Poynter (1890). In examining the artworks Erwin Panofsky's three- step analysis model has been applied in combination with a theoretical framework consisting of postcolonial studies and critical white theories.  The results show that the Queen of Sheba has been depicted in a variety of ways. In the artwork by Nicholas of Verdun, the Queen is black, carrying the symbolic notion of sin; in Piero and Fontanas artworks she is depicted as white. In Piero's depiction, only small signals, such as clothes, marks her status as “the other”, in Fontanas case, her signs of otherness seem in contrast completely absent. Poynters artwork contains a spectacular display of exotic elements and the Queen has been given a sensual appearance in line with the image of the erotic Orient. One conclusion that the author reaches is that, as Edward Said has argued, in attempting to represent “the other” the Occident documents itself. This is also similar to how the dichotomy between black and white is constructed and how whiteness in relation to black individuals in these pictures gathers its strength and is, rather than being neutral, imbued with meaning.