The aim of this Diploma Thesis is to bring attention to the resemblance between the work of one of the most important Hispanic American authors of 20th century, the Mexican Juan Rulfo, and his less well-known Chilean colleague, María Luisa Bombal. Even though the work of these writers has often been associated with the beginnings of the so-called Magical Realism, so far literary critics have not studied the parallelism in their poetics in detail. This work observes the deviation of these authors from the type of literature dominant in their time, and their effort to renovate it. Furthermore, it concerns the similarity in the approach to death in their work; it pays attention to the influence of the Nordic literature on their literary production. Another part of this work is dedicated to the parallels between the character of Susana San Juan from Rulfoˈs Pedro Páramo and Bombalˈs female characters. In addition to that, the work reflects the personal relationship between the authors in question.

This paper closely examines fairy tale films with road movie components, in particular those films featuring female protagonists. The study’s objective is twofold: first, to further develop existing research on the road movie by exploring one of the lesser known constituents of this broad genre and, second, to address gaps in scholarly literature on road movies when it comes to themes in female-led trips and the characterization of travelling females. Through a detailed analysis of the journeys of female characters in recent voyage-oriented fairy tale films—Peter Pan (P.J. Hogan, 2003), Alice in Wonderland (Tim Burton, 2010) and Tangled (Byron Howard and Nathan Greno, 2010)—the investigation shows that these new heroines significantly differ from those of old. Their travels are portrayed as being less difficult, and the traits that they exhibit while on the road, namely fearlessness, rationality and an undying optimism, are rather favourable when compared to those exhibited by former road heroines. Although these protagonists still face characters who wish to impede their movement away from a domestic setting, it is demonstrated that the protagonists are ultimately successful in not only acquiring power in the surroundings that they find themselves in, but also in carrying over their goals and dreams to their own worlds upon their return, privileges that most former road heroines did not have. Ultimately, the study shows that females can be as efficient travellers as males, and in some cases are portrayed as even more competent than their male counterparts.

Esta tese traz a análise das personagens arrivistas femininas das obras romanescas de Machado de Assis e Marcel Proust. São elas: Guiomar, Helena e Sofia, de A mão e a luva, Helena e Quincas Borba, respectivamente, e Odette e Madame Verdurin de À la recherche du temps perdu. Em A Mão e a luva e Helena, Machado engendra as tramas no Rio de Janeiro dos anos 1850, período estável do Segundo Reinado. A trajetória ascensional de Guiomar e Helena, em uma época de pouca mobilidade social, justifica-se pelo fato de serem personagens singulares, dotadas de grande habilidade. Aqui, o destino repara o equívoco do nascimento desprivilegiado. Quincas Borba, por outro lado, ambientado entre 1867 e 1871, apresenta uma sociedade mais dinâmica e fluida. A mudança gradativa de classes operada por Sofia e Cristiano Palha se deve ao grande senso de oportunismo nos negócios e às ações pouco escrupulosas do casal. De todo modo, as narrativas brasileiras tratam predominantemente do desejo de pertencer à burguesia rica. Em À la recherche du temps perdu, Proust mostra uma sociedade complexa e estratificada, em que a burguesia e a nobreza, a despeito da Revolução Francesa, continuam divididas em várias subcategorias na Belle Époque. Por isso, Odette e Madame Verdurin têm de cumprir muitas etapas no decorrer de quatro décadas para conquistarem seu espaço no faubourg Saint-Germain. Considerando as diferenças históricas e espaciais dos romances brasileiros e franceses, analisamos a construção das figuras femininas citadas através do cotejamento de trechos das obras. Com isso, foi-nos possível apontar pontos de aproximação como o casamento, a maternidade e a importância dos salões, vistos sob os pontos de vista das condições sócio-culturais de cada país. / This thesis provides an analysis of female social-climber characters in the novels of Machado de Assis and of Marcel Proust. They are: Guiomar, Helena, and Sofia, from A mão e a luva, Helena, and Quincas Borba, respectively; and Odette and Madame Verdurin, from À la recherche du temps perdu. In A Mão e a luva and in Helena, Machado unwinds his plot in the Rio de Janeiro of the 1850s, a stable period of the Second Reign. The upwards trajectory of Guiomar and Helena during a time of limited social mobility is justified by the fact that they are singular characters, gifted with great abilities. Here, destiny corrects the mistake of underprivileged birth. Quincas Borba, on the other hand, set between 1867 and 1871, presents a more dynamic and fluid society. The gradual changes in class accomplished by Sofia and Cristiano Palha is a result of the couples enormous sense of opportunism in business and the relative lack of scruples in their actions. Regardless, the Brazilian stories deal predominately with the desire to belong to the wealthy bourgeoisie. In À la recherche du temps perdu, Proust shows a complex and stratified society where the bourgeoisie and nobility, in spite of the French Revolution, continue to be divided into various categories of the Belle Époque. As a result, Madame Verdurin has to pass through many stages during a period of four decades to conquer her space in the faubourg of Saint-Germain. Considering the historical and spatial differences between the Brazilian and French novels, we analyze the construction of the abovementioned female characters through a comparison of excerpts from the works. In so doing, it was possible for us to show points of similarity, such as marriage and maternity and the importance of salons, viewed through the eyes of each countrys sociocultural conditions.

The topic of this master thesis is a description of female characters in short stories by Silvina Ocampo. The main goal is a study about how Silvina Ocampo works with female characters present in her stories and whether they share any similar characteristics. The stories were selected from the books: La furia, Las invitadas, Los días de la noche. The thesis analyzes typology of female characters and their relationships with other characters. Fantastical elements such as the theme of doppelganger and transformation are also part of the analysis. Key words: Silvina Ocampo, short stories, fantastic fiction stories, female characters, cruelty

The female characters in James Joyce's fiction have received considerable critical attention since the publication of his writings and are often denigrated as misogynist portrayals of women. However, a textual and historical analysis of the female characters in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Dubliners, Ulysses, and Finnegans Wake shows them in a more constructive light. Such an analysis reveals them to be sympathetic portrayals of the situation of Irish women at the turn of the twentieth century. An historical contextualization of the characters is essential in any reading of Joyce, but is particularly important for his female characters. An historical and textual analysis also reveals a noticeable shift in the characterization of women from his early novel to his later novels. Additionally, approaching Joyce's fiction from this angle highlights the significant influence of Nora Barnacle, whom he eventually married, on Joyce's characterizations of women. Joyce started writing A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man as a very young man, before he met Nora, and this fact coupled with the choice of an adolescent boy as the narrator explains some of the criticism leveled at the novel. The subject of the novel, an artist as a young man, requires that the narrator be a self-centered youth. Consequently, the aesthetics of the novel are not focused on the female characters, but this is a result of the somewhat narcissistic adolescence of the narrator, not Joyce's purported misogyny. A close textual reading reveals the female characters as somewhat fleeting as a result of the age of the narrator, but not misogynist creations. The discussion of Portrait serves as an introduction to the larger subject of the admirable aspects of his female characters in Dubliners, Ulysses, and Finnegans Wake. Numerous parallels can be found between the female characters in "Araby," one of the first short stories in Dubliners, and the female characters in Portrait. However, throughout the progression of the collection of short stories, the female characters become more detailed, in part because the narrator is no longer an adolescent and has become more socially aware. This textual analysis of the female characters in "Araby," "Clay," "Eveline," and "The Dead" is enhanced by an historical analysis that clarifies the similarities between the women in the stories and the situation of Irish women as Joyce observed them, as discussed by Joyce in some of his published letters. An awareness of these close parallels between the characters and the historical setting reveals the characters as sympathetically drawn, eliciting a reader's pity rather than judgments of misogyny. A similar textual and historical analysis, when applied to Molly Bloom in Ulysses, reveals the mosaic-like quality of her characterization. Although she speaks only in the "Penelope" episode, Molly Bloom's characterization is established from the beginning of the novel through frequent references to her by her husband Leopold Bloom, and other characters throughout the novel. The layered or mosaic-like approach to her characterization is a departure from Joyce's earlier style, but the resultant character is engaging and intricately detailed. An historical and textual analysis accounts for the stylistic aspect of her character and allows for a more engaging perspective of Molly. Always innovative, Joyce transforms the mosaic style of characterization used for Molly in the characterization of Anna Livia Plurabelle and Issy in Finnegans Wake and, instead, creates the characters on an entirely differentscale, that of myth. Ulysses is a daytime walk through Dublin that could also function as a founding myth for Ireland; Finnegans Wake is the nighttime counterpart to a walk through Dublin. Joyce chose to stylistically obscure the language in the novel in order to create the nighttime setting for his dream-like comment on Dublin's founding myths. The characters of Finnegans Wake are rooted in mythic tradition also, which serves this aesthetic choice well. An historical and textual analysis of ALP and Issy reveals the universalized and nuanced characterization inherent in their creation and execution. From A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man to Dubliners, Joyce's early female characters are notable in their own right, and function as important precursors to Joyce's visionary approach to characterization which culminated in Ulysses and Finnegans Wake with Anna Livia Plurabelle.

The aim of this thesis is to understand the way the fan community of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) perceives Marvel’s female characters. This study was focused on Marvel’s fandom on Reddit, which is a social media platform hosting millions of users. The research was conducted by using two methods – netnography and content analysis. Netnography helped for tracing Marvel fans’ behavior and engagement with other fans in an online environment, which were caused by their shared interests on discussing Marvel movies and their characters. Their comments on two key movies – ‘Black Widow’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ were analyzed, because these productions host female characters with major roles. Fans’ discussions on six key female figures were considered and content analysis was used for analyzing the comments of the fans. In order to understand the results, two theories were applied – affective disposition theory and feminist media (film) theory. The first one explains the way fans can form affiliations towards the movie characters, therefore it was used to understand the way they perceive the characters. The second one explains the stereotyped image of the woman in media and the way the audience perceives it. The research paradigm of interpretivism was considered for the outcome of the research, which leads to generalizations of the results. The results of this study show that there is no universal perception of the female character in Marvel, but many controversies arise. In the end, this paper discusses the limitations of this research and describes the recommendations for further research.

Shelby Hearon's four novels--Armadillo in the Grass, The Second Dune, Hannah's House, and Now and Another Time--are unified by the common elements of the vital female character and her quest for selfawareness, self-integration, and fulfillment. This study examines the four novels chronologically in order to understand the development of this character and the themes which are common to all four. The concluding chapter offers an assessment of Hearon as a novelist whose work is both universally lasting and relevant.

Ce mémoire porte sur les quatre premières tragédies lyriques de Quinault et Lully, soit Cadmus et Hermione (1673), Alceste (1674), Thésée (1675) et Atys (1676), et étudie la représentation des personnages féminins dans leur rapport à la violence. Se fondant sur des considérations sociohistoriques et dramaturgiques, il cherche à déterminer si, par leur liberté formelle, les premiers opéras français ont pu promouvoir une image plus libre et plus forte de la féminité que celle véhiculée par la doxa. Le premier chapitre aborde la question de la violence dans la société française du XVIIe siècle et du rapport des femmes à la violence, tant subie qu’engendrée. Il s’attarde ensuite aux particularités de la violence dans la tragédie lyrique, convoquant les notions de pathos et de catharsis, d’effet tragique et de représentation scénique. Recourant à une méthodologie basée sur les études littéraires et dramaturgiques et complétée par de brèves analyses musicales, le second chapitre analyse le rapport à la violence chez les personnages féminins du corpus : d’abord les mortelles, puis les surnaturelles, avant de comparer leur représentation dichotomique à celle plus diversifiée des personnages masculins. / This master's thesis will focus on the first four lyric tragedies that were written by Quinault and Lully, that is Cadmus et Hermione (1673), Alceste (1674), Thésée (1675), and Atys (1676), and examine the representation of female characters in their relation with violence. Based on socio-historical and dramaturgical considerations, it seeks to determine whether, through their formal freedom, the first French operas were able to promote a freer and stronger image of womanhood than the one conveyed by the doxa. The first chapter addresses the issue of violence in the French society of the 17th century and discusses women's relation with violence, suffered, as well as caused. It then details the peculiarities of violence in lyric tragedy by summoning the notions of pathos and catharsis, tragical effect and theatrical representation. Using a methodology based on literary and dramaturgical studies, complemented by short musical analysis, the second chapter analyzes the corpus' female characters' relation to violence – first, the deadly, followed by the supernatural, before comparing their dichotomous representation to the more diversified one of the male characters.

The following text deals with the problem of the representation of female characters in Arthur Schnitzlerʼs work. The initial point of the interpretation is the basic division of the literary types of the turn of the century into femme fatale, femme fragile and femme enfant. Based on the analysis of seven selected works (Märchen, Liebelei, Reigen, Frau Berta Garlan, Fräulein Else, Traumnovelle, Therese. Chronik eines Frauenlebens) it discusses their position in the narrative structure. In the end, it comments the question of the typification of these figures and Schnitzlerʼs tendency to relate them to concrete groups.

This diploma thesis focuses on the personality, life and work of German author Helga Königsdorf and the analysis of selected prosaic works. The aim of the first part is to provide a well-arranged and comprehensive set of biographical information about this author with an emphasis on her literary career, work and socio-political context. The second part is devoted to the study of selected prosaic texts with an emphasis on providing the detailed analysis of female characters. The aim of this part is to provide an overview of topics and standpoints related to the status of women in the society at that time. The analysed female characters deal with topics such as women's position in science at that time or problems in partner, family or professional relationships related to women's emancipation. The conclusion of the thesis offers a brief summary and comparison of differences and similarities considering the personalities, opinions and priorities of these female characters. KEY WORDS German literature, GDR literature, Helga Königsdorf, literary analysis, female characters' analysis