This thesis deals with autobiographical reflections in selected novels of Jane Austen. The theoretical part looks into the social, historical, and cultural background in Jane Austen's lifetime. It also gives a general outline of literary genres in the late 18th and early 19th century. The practical part is focused on the analysis of various aspects in six Austen's books within the context of the available information about the writer's life. These novels are: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion. This part deals with the question concerning an extent to which Austen's writing, the fictional worlds of her novels, can be attributed to the influence of her personal life and experience.

Subject to this degree work is the character of prostitutes in French society in the 19th century reflected in eight selected works of French authors of the time. In the first part of my thesis the history of prostitution from "religious prostitution" in ancient Greece to its "golden age" in France in the 19th century is described. The decay of moral principles in the post-Revolutionary period (as a result of religious and social taboos collapse) causes a great spread of prostitution and venereal diseases. Because of these reasons it was necessary to take the legalizing and organizing precautions - the French System. The second part of this work takes addresses the different (romantic and naturalistic) representations of the character of the prostitute in the literature of the 19th century. The representative of the romantic interpretation of the courtesan who is driven to sin due to poverty (the myth of the "fallen angel" redeemed by pure love) is Honoré de Balzac and his novel "The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans". The opposite pole to the romantic interpretation of prostitutes is a naturalistic beast which chooses the oldest profession herself as a means of executing social revenge. In this second, analytical, part of this work the comparison of both of these kinds is made. Key words:...

This master thesis discusses the roots, concepts and the subsequent interpretations of the so- called "romantic discussion", which took place in Italy between the years 1816-1826. Based on the overview of selected debate entries and their critical interpretations, we will try to explain the relatively scarce attention paid to the Italian romanticism by critics outside of Italy. The polemic on romanticism started with the article "On the Manner and Usefulness of Translations" by Madame de Stael, in which the author as a solution to the crisis affecting Italian literature suggested to translate more of French and German production, as it already reflected the upcoming romantic aesthetics. This modest proposal sparked a fierce debate which gradually dealt not only with the question of adopting foreign cultural impulses, but also with need to redefine the roots of Italian cultural traditions and build a modern Italian identity. The most important responses to Madame de Staël's article - written by Ludovico di Breme, Giovanni Berchet and Pietro Borsieri - are now considered "manifestos" of Italian romanticism. Unfortunately the inputs by Giacomo Leopardi and Alessandro Manzoni, even though they are considered very interesting and intellectually stimulating, cannot be considered part of the discussion as...

The diploma thesis is focused on analysis and interpretation of Nathaniel Hawthorne?s literature work and its specific theme: the role of the forest and its ethical aspects in particular stories. The principle of this work is focused on general relationship between American literature and the theme of the forest, which is deeply rooted in the history of American colonization and creating new American nation. The main aim is to point out the specific role of the forest in American literature (especially the influence of puritanism and transcendentalism). Another aim is to find out if the forest really represents important moral aspects and influences the behaviour of both individuals and the whole society in Hawthorne?s work. Answers to these questions can be found in the fundamental part of the diploma thesis, which is based on the literary analysis of particular texts, novels and short stories, in which the world of the forest is confronted with the problems of morality and faith.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to introduce Victorian authoresses of the second half of the 19th century and concept of fictional novelistic spaces. Firstly, the thesis will shortly present the main authoresses of the Victorian novels in the social context of the 19th century (the Brontë sisters, George Eliot). Secondly, it will focus on the analysis of the last of George Eliot's novels, 'Daniel Deronda' (comparing it with her earlier novel 'The Mill on the Floss') with the emphasis on the changes of the concept of space in the novel, in which the Jewish theme dominates, and it will also describe searching for the roots and traditions in the personal life of the hero. Finally, the thesis will aim at European context of the concepts of novelistic spaces and it will evaluate the importance of the last novel written by George Eliot.

The thesis deals with a handwritten literary oeuvre by Francophone noblewoman Alexandra of Dietrichstein, born Shuvalov, which represents, by its extent, the unique case for the Bohemian lands. In what follows we interpret Princess Alexandra of Dietrichstein's political, religious, social and her literary opinions as well as her conception of sentiment and love on the basis of nine literary texts. Each of them represents a different genre there are short stories, novellas, novels and an educational treatise. Furthermore, her work originated within Francophone aristocratic culture in the Romantic period. Primarily, we focus on the development of the Francophone culture in Russia. Thanks to methods of cultural history and literary analysis of aesthetic norms we were able to demonstrate how her literary work developed over time in terms of ethics and aesthetics and point at the influence of the political and cultural changes in the period called in the Bohemian lands "in between times".

This dissertation discusses the intellectual interests of George, Count of Buquoy (1781-1851), who gained fame in the first half of the nineteenth century through his inventions of new technical devices, his efforts to improve manufacturing technologies used on his estates, his contacts with leading scientists and philosophers of the time, and his original scientific and philosophical treatises. This dissertation scrutinises the writings kept in Buquoy's archival estate, as well as his published works, and discusses the reactions his thoughts elicited among contemporary scientists and various other people within Buquoy's intellectual milieu. Methodologically, I draw on contemporary approaches to studies of intellectual history, which aim to interpret and contextualise particular ideas with regard to the author's immediate background and the broader intellectual climate of the time. Aiming to avoid biographical fallacy, I focus on pivotal moments of Buquoy's scientific career without attempting to integrate them into a biographical narrative by means of supposed causality. The thesis is structured as a chronologically ordered discussion of key themes and defining moments in the development of Buquoy's thought. Particular attention is paid to the influences which formed Buquoy's intellectual outlook, including his upbringing, education, the experiences he gained during travels, the knowledge he absorbed from scholarly treatises, and the views he exchanged with contemporary scientists. I show how these factors influenced the themes Buquoy chose to discuss in his treatises and the ways in which he presented his arguments. An important part of the thesis is a deconstructive analysis of Buquoy's self-presentation strategy, through which he sought to align himself with the scientific community. Finally, the thesis discusses the fundamental philosophical views underpinning Buquoy's intellectual endeavours in the field of science.

(in English): The main objective of the thesis Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly between romanticism and decadence is not only to describe Barbey's novels Un Prêtre marié and L'Ensorcelée but specially to put these two works into context of decadent aesthetics. At the beginning of this work stood the question of whenever we can consider Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly (similarly to Charles Baudelaire) to be a pioneer of the decadent movement. We will be analysing generally universal themes, such as love, pride or revolt, but we will see them through the prism of decadence, allowing them to obtain new meanings. The same motive of love, standing for passion in a romantic work, attains in Barbey's universe a character of a pathological instinct. We have divided our work into three chapters. The first one represents a theoretical part, in which we had put Barbey's work into its literary-historical context, and we had shown the topics of the generation of "disenchanted" romantics preceding the generation of decadents. Consequently, we have arrived at the main motives of decadence par excellence. The second chapter, in which we focus on the novel Un Prêtre marié, is then the essential core of our work. Through character analysis we study motives such as hysteria, incest, pride, sadomasochism, sexuality and others,...

The thesis examines the phenomenon of Romantic authorship as a conceptual tool of literary criticism. It compares the concept of Romantic authorship, in which the authorial personality plays a crucial role in determining the meaning of a literary work of art, and various positions of the author in relation to the meaning of their text in English Romantic literature itself. The introductory theoretical chapter develops the idea that the Romantic emphasis on the authorial subject and its primacy in interpretation of a work of art is, to a certain extent, a creation of late 19th - and 20th - century criticism. The thesis then examines the authorial position in Romantic thought and connects it with contemporary debates about language and the transfer of meaning between the subject and the outer world. The case study interprets selected poems by and the autobiography of Samuel T. Coleridge against the background of the debate on language and communication, presenting a number of authorial images in which centrality of the author's self for interpretation of a literary text is problematized.

Carolina Coronado is often being compared to Rosalía de Castro or even Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer and the truth is that even Bécquer found his inspiration in her. The fact that in the Czech Republic nobody has ever studied this author before made me choose her as the subject of my thesis. Writing this work was complicated, since there is no literature available in the Czech Republic, so I was constrained to find an appropriate literature in Spain. The goal of this thesis is to present the author and analyze her life and work depending on the romantic tendencies in order to lay the foundations for future study. We are going to study her childhood and outer impulses that had later influence on her work, just as her first liberal and feminist thinking. Then we will familiarize ourselves with a very original way of composing verses, the very first poetry and publication. We are going to analyze her life together with the political and social situation in Spain and we will present the author as a feminist pioneer. We will find out that all those aspects depended on the romantic tendencies of those times and comparing the author with other romantic authors we will understand that her themes and expressive forms were not novelty. Finally we are going to summarize all of her work and analyze her poetry. In...